A mice-y achievement for de-extinction 🐁
Mar 5, 2025
Kaley Ubellacker
Market Stirrings 🚩
Here's what the week looked like in pre-seed:
$18.9M
14
Data aggregated from proprietary research and Crunchbase; valuation estimate based on 10-20% ownership stake.
$40 MILLION PRE-SEED VALUATION CAP - NO CAP
In 2024, crypto, biotech, and hardware startups achieved the highest pre-seed valuation caps. Hardware topped the list, with rounds exceeding $1 million reaching valuations of around $40 million.
Good Reads 📖
For the rushed reader …
A recent TechCrunch list dives into 16 startups that now belong to OpenAI’s venture empire.
Perplexity AI is diving into the venture capital world with a $50 million fund focused on early-stage startups.
Colossal Biosciences, the Texas-based biotech startup aiming to resurrect woolly mammoths, has made a fur-tastic breakthrough with the creation of "woolly mice."
For the less rushed reader …
AI-lluminating the future
OpenAI’s Startup Fund is diving into the startup world like it’s a high-stakes poker game, placing bets on both pre-seed gems and later-stage powerhouses. A recent TechCrunch list dives into 16 startups that now belong to OpenAI’s venture empire. Funded by external investors like Microsoft and other OpenAI partners (no, OpenAI isn’t betting its own lunch money), the fund has backed early-stage companies like Anysphere, an AI-powered coding assistant, and Class Companion, an edtech tool helping teachers give personalized feedback. OpenAI’s fund has also played a role in later-stage investments, such as Figure AI’s massive $675 million Series B. One thing’s clear: the fund’s focus is squarely on AI-driven startups, particularly those with the potential to shape the future of artificial intelligence. Only time will tell if OpenAI has a good OpenA-eye for spotting rocketship startups.
The tr(AI)l continues ...
There’s finally some justice for AI search engines that want to be investors too. Perplexity AI is diving into the venture capital world with a $50 million fund focused on early-stage startups. Led by Kelly Graziadei and Joanna Lee Shevelenko, formerly of f7 Ventures, the fund will draw most of its capital from outside investors, but Perplexity itself will be an anchor. With access to a network of 80,000 developers and insights into the most active users of its API, Perplexity has a unique edge in spotting early-stage talent. As the company continues to position itself as a competitor to Google, this move is more than just financial—by investing in the next generation of AI startups, Perplexity is strategically placing itself at the center of the future of AI-driven search and beyond. The best way to challenge an industry leader is to help fund the future that will outshine them.
A hair-raising announcement
Keen on adopting a new pet? Colossal Biosciences, the Texas-based biotech startup aiming to resurrect woolly mammoths, has made a fur-tastic breakthrough with the creation of "woolly mice." By editing the genes of these rodents to include mammoth-inspired mutations, they’ve produced shaggy-haired mice with traits linked to cold tolerance and fat storage. While the mice represent progress in Colossal's quest to genetically engineer mammoth-like elephants, critics argue it’s still far from true de-extinction, with some calling it more of a cute science experiment than a major scientific advance. De-extinction remains a controversial topic, raising ethical concerns about reintroducing species that could disrupt ecosystems, and questions about whether resources might be better spent protecting existing endangered species. Nonetheless, Colossal’s $10 billion vision continues, one adorable, fuzzy step at a time.
Fire Up the Pre-Seeds🔥
Highlights from this week’s pre-seed raises:
climatetech
Gripp - Rooting out agricultural challenges.
Gripp raised $1.5 million led by Ag Ventures Alliance. Gripp is developing a mobile-first platform that helps farmers digitize and manage their operations through a simple QR-based system.
healthtech
Sonar - A teen-y solution.
Sonar raised $2.4 million led by Nina Capital. Sonar is creating an AI-driven mental health platform providing on-demand, personalized support to students, addressing the adolescent mental health crisis.
healthtech
Tandem - AI-powered tech that's vetted.
Tandem raised $10 million. Tandem is building an AI-driven operating system that offers a wide range of veterinary services, including telehealth, mobile clinics, wellness visits, and pharmacy services.
legaltech
WilsonAI - Law-ing future legal foundations.
WilsonAI raised $1.7 million led by Nomad Ventures. WilsonAI is developing the world’s first AI paralegal, designed to integrate with in-house legal teams to improve overall efficiency.
Outro🚪
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