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| Hey Insiders, Today we are looking at Worldcoin's protocol launch, the 41% growth projected for the global space economy, and why DeepScribe hired contractors to correct errors in the AI transcribing platform. Scroll down for some quick hits, and let us know what other content you'd like to see in future issues. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's cryptocurrency project Worldcoin launched its protocol this week. Tools for Humanity uses iris scans to provide a World ID for proof-of-humanity. More: - "In the age of AI, the need for proof of personhood is no longer a topic of serious debate; instead, the critical question is whether or not the proof of personhood solutions we have can be privacy-first, decentralized, and maximally inclusive," said Worldcoin co-founder Alex Blania.
- The network would enable biometrically-authenticated individuals to transact via an app using the WLD crypto.
- The company has deployed its iris-scanning Orbs, signing up over two million people with a World ID during the beta stage.
- The beta launched in 2021 in cities such as Barcelona, New York, Buenos Aires, and Seoul.
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What the numbers say: The global space economy is projected to grow by 41% over the next five years, per a new report published by a space non-profit organization Space Foundation. The global space economy was worth $546B in 2022, registering an 8% growth over the previous year. The sector is expected to defy the current economic and VC funding slump. Relevance: Global space industry reported $427.6B in revenue in 2022, up from $396.2B in the preceding year. One-third of the total funding was deployed into infrastructure and support activities in space. The surge in revenue was caused by a substantial uptick in commercial launches in 2022. Global governments earmarked $119B of budget towards space programs last year, up 8% over the previous year. Where to see the impact: The U.S. accounted for nearly 60% of the total global civil and defense budgets. China took the second largest share, accounting for 14% of the global share. With several nations increasing their space budgets, the sector is expected to see a boost in spending over the next few years. | | | |
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| 3 | | DeepScribe, an healthtech startup providing AI-powered medical records transcribing service, is relying on 200 contractors to correct errors, current and former workers told WSJ. The platform claims to turn doctors' conversations with patients into medical records using AI. However, due to the nascent technology, AI often adds incorrect medical terminology and medical data to records. More: - The San Francisco, Calif.-based startup is using human contractors as a stop-gap solution to "catch errors that can be a product of nascent technology such as AI and give healthcare providers the confidence of knowing that their notes are reviewed by a training member of our team for accuracy."
- Using humans to catch and rectify errors also helps improve the accuracy of the AI model.
- Co-founders Matthew Ko and Akilesh Bapu recognized that many AI algorithms are prone to suffer from "hallucinations."
- Their AI model is currently able to transcribe nearly 80% of each record correctly.
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| 4 | | Terminal Industries, a startup that uses AI for yard management systems, raised a $17M Seed round as it exits stealth mode. The round was led by 8VC and warehouse giant Prologis, with participation from Ryder, NFI Ventures, and Lineage Logistics, among others. More: - Terminal Industries works on indexing existing camera data at yard locations to optimize for savings through capacity visibility or detecting idle time.
- According to the Austin-based company, 92% of yards do not have the technology solutions to prevent wasted capacity.
- The startup sees opportunities involving the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule, which seeks to reduce the release of nitrogen oxides and diesel particulate emissions in warehouse operations in Southern California.
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| 5 | | Amazon's cloud computing division Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) announced the Compute for Climate Fellowship program. The program will provide resources to help startups build proof of concepts (POC) for leveraging AI and advanced cloud computing to combat the climate crisis. More: - The program will support startups working on six key problems: climate risk and resilience, food security, biodiversity, climate-related health, circular economy, and ESG analytics.
- Startups selected for the program will be guided by experts from IRCAI and AWS.
- They will also receive AWS credits and access to high-performance computing, AI models, generative AI, and other advanced computing services.
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| 6 | | Supermarket chain Erewhon announced an investment in Zuma Valley, which manufactures coconut-based foods. Zuma's products include frozen coconut meat and coconut cream. More: - "Most coconut products are dried or heated to ultra-high temperatures, but Zuma Valley has figured out how to gently pack coconut to preserve the flavor as mother nature intended, without synthetic additives," said Erewhon CEO Tony Antoci.
- The investment, of an undisclosed amount, is the supermarket chain's second after plant-based beverage startup Drink Barcode's Seed round in Feb. 2022.
- Los Angeles-based Erewhon plans to open its tenth store, to be located in Pasadena, California.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Invest in Virtuix before they ship their VR treadmills to their waitlist, a $100M opportunity. This opportunity ends on 8/10.*
- Charlie Shrem, the former chief executive and compliance officer of the defunct crypto startup BitInstant, is now advising startups on strategy, growth, and compliance as a general partner at VC firm Druid Ventures.
- Data from the American Bankruptcy Institute shows that 82 large companies in the U.S. with debt or assets worth at least $100M sought bankruptcy protection in the first half of this year.
- Akooda, a startup leveraging AI to understand an organization's internal software stack, raised $11M in seed funding from NFX, Atlassian Ventures, Village Global, and Founder Collective.
- Data operations platform Nexla raised $18M in fresh funding led by Shield Capital. Existing backers Blumberg Capital, Storm Ventures, Industry Ventures, and others participated in the fundraiser.
- Discover how collagen helps reduce loose skin, deep wrinkles, and dark spots.*
*This is sponsored content. | | | |
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Term of the Day Assessed value: The assessed value is an official estimate of a property's worth that is used to determine the appropriate tax rate for the property. Question of the Week What's your stance on unpaid internships: valuable experience or exploitation? Join the conversation |
INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot.
Nicolas is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering startups and transportation 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 start-ups. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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