| Hey Insiders, Lots of exciting startup news to follow on a Monday! AI boom continues as Inflection AI and voice.ai raise funds for expansion. Deep tech firm Nomad Atomics also announced new funding. Read on for more! Nicolas
p/mobilitynerd | |
| 1 | | Inflection AI, a startup co-founded by Google DeepMind's Mustafa Suleyman and LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, has raised $1.3B. Investors, including Microsoft and Nvidia, led the round. More: - The company, which is only a year old and has about 35 employees, now has a valuation of $4B.
- The startup's chatbot Pi utilizes generative AI technology to interact with users and perform various tasks similar to that of ChatGPT from OpenAI or Bard from Google.
- The Palo Alto-based company, which released its chatbot Pi last month, aims to develop a fully personal AI assistant. It plans to utilize the funding to build further computing power and scale its operations.
- The AI industry has been attracting increased attention from investors as companies recognize the potential of AI technology to transform various aspects of their operations, including:
- Transformational potential offers the promise of automating processes, enhancing decision-making, and improving efficiency.
- Scalability and cost-efficiency, making them more accessible and scalable to streamline operations, reduce costs, and drive revenue growth.
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| 2 | | Niantic, the maker of Pokémon GO, laid off 230 employees. The second round of layoffs within a year comes as the company faces challenges with new projects and revenue generation. More: - Despite the success of Pokémon GO, recent game releases have not lived up to expectations reducing expected in-app purchase revenue.
- Niantic canceled four projects, including a Transformers game, during the previous round of layoffs, and additional game cancellations are expected again.
- The CEO, John Hanke, attributed the layoffs in part both to overhiring during the pandemic and underwhelming revenue from newly expected projects.
- The move comes at a time when the company plans to further develop and enhance its successful projects to ensure continued growth and success as Pokémon GO remains a major revenue source, generating over $1B annually.
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| 3 | | Voice.ai, a voice-changing tech app, has landed $6M in funding to expand its voice modification technology into new areas. The round was led by Mucker Capital and M13 to further build out its voice simulators. More: - The company's approach retains the core elements of a user's speech while replacing the voice, allowing for unique and real-time voice modifications.
- Voice.ai looks to differentiate itself by focusing on making voice AI technology accessible to individuals and consumers rather than catering solely to enterprises.
- With the new funding, the Santa Monica-based company plans to hire more technical talent, develop new software development kits (SDKs) and APIs, and add support for additional platforms, such as singing.
- The company's tools, which offer over 50,000 voice filters, are currently popular among gamers, content creators, and Vtubers on various platforms.
- The funding round comes at a time when numerous companies in the AI space are gaining increasing traction and investment.
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| 4 | | NLM Photonics raised $1M for its hybrid electro-optic modulation technology to enable semiconductors to use less power. The startup was founded in 2018 as Nonlinear Materials, with assistance from the University of Washington's CoMotion Labs. More: - The round included participation from advanced electronics company Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co. (TOK) and recurring investor Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.
- As part of Hamatsu's investment, NLM will collaborate on developing shelf-stable inks using its materials.
- NLM received a $256,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and a $230,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
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| 5 | | Deep tech startup Nomad Atomics announced a $10M round led by Blackbird. The company formed by Australian National University physicists works on miniaturized quantum sensors for underground mining and exploration. More: - Nomad, founded in 2020, is working on quantum accelerometers and gravimeters.
- The company plans to use the funds to relocate from Canberra to Melbourne to scale manufacturing and operations.
- "This has never been done, especially not on this timescale. We custom designed and built nearly everything, and because of all that, today we have the most highly integrated, smallest sensor of its type in the world," said co-founder Kyle Hardman.
- The startup plans to build two new prototype sensors for airborne exploration and inertial navigation.
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| 7 | | Community Corner Last week, we asked our startups community, "What is the biggest sacrifice you've made to pursue your startup dream, and how has it shaped your perspective on success?" Here are some highlighted responses we received: - Stephen Kapaun (p/steve641315), Founder at GeoVention, answered: "the biggest sacrifice...? My entire life... a lost relationship, continuous flirtation with bankruptcy for over a decade, sleeping 5 hours a night (on a good day), constant & chronic stress, a twelve year run without a vacation, blah blah blah... this is the plight faced to varying degrees by every founder. After enduring the maelstrom ... what then is success? Sometimes I would say just having a break from worries about money - those are the down days. The big vision remains - help people, make money. My definition of success would be widespread adoption of our tech... which would enable me to go back into the lab to create the next innovations - unfettered by anxieties about capital. Ultimately, the sacrifices I've made have defined my scope of personal success - at long last, I know what I want to be when I grow up."
- Muirgheal Montecalvo (p/muirelle), CEO at Vacayou, answered: "I started a travel company right before Covid. I even had one investor suggest I shut it down. I continued to be resilient and pursue that we could go this. I haven't taken much of a salary in 4 years and I have made sacrifices with my children's time to see it all the way through. That investment group is now one of our biggest champions!"
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| 8 | | Quick Hits: - The powerful probiotic Halle Berry swears by to improve her sugar & carb metabolism. Inside readers get 20% off the first month of any Pendulum membership with code INSIDE20.*
- Revenue acceleration platform for med tech, MedScout, raised a $5M seed round.
- The state of Maharashtra, in India, confirmed its commitment to $1.5B in incentives to moped-scooter network Gogoro for the production of batteries.
- Seattle-based recycling startup is expanding to seven states.
- Amsterdam-based employee relocation platform Settly raises €6M ($6.5M).
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INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Sr. Analyst | | Nicolas S. is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering transportation and startup trends. He is an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped startups. Follow him at @MobilityNerd. ______
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Robel Kelkile is passionate about all things tech, venture, and financial education. He has previously served both universities and state governments in their engagement strategy and tracking legislation. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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