Should AI come with a warning label?

Necessary Nuggets

Happy Tech Tuesday! If you’re new here, welcome to Necessary Nuggets. We deliver exciting updates from Necessary Ventures and some helpful tidbits on the tech world to you bimonthly. Every edition is also on our blog.

Jobortunities 🚨

Taro: No fuss healthcare. Patients get help without the stress. Taro increases access to healthcare while reducing costs and physician burnout. 

| Product engineer |

Arc Boats: Electrify watercraft. Build the Tesla of boats. Arc boats’ aim is both sustainability and high performance. 

| Manufacturing Engineer |

Forage: Create a unified API that helps low-income Americans buy online groceries. It’s Stripe, but for Electronic Benefits Transfer.

| Full Stack Software Engineer |


Reach out with any questions! All 110 open job postings are listed here.

Good Reads 📖

For the rushed reader …

  • Vertical farming systems have been in the works for years, but can they shine without any sun?

  • China might be triggering the next bitcoin price bull run.

  • Grail incorrectly informed about 400 patients that they may have cancer.

  • 3D printers are entering the next-gen tech scene once again with a revitalized mission to build homes.

  • The biggest tech event of the year, COMPUTEX Taipei, happened from May 30 to June 2. 

  • Tech stocks saw their first 6-week rally in over 3 years.

  • Hundreds of AI scientists and tech executives signed a letter warning that AI poses an existential threat to humans.

For the less rushed reader …

Vertical farming systems have been in the works for years, but can they shine without any sun? With vertical farming, farmers can grow indoors, using significantly less land and enabling food to be grown closer to where it will be eaten. And the sunshine problem? Easy – companies use special lighting setups instead. Plenty is one such company that may have cracked the indoor farming code.

Is crypto emerging from its crypt? Although cryptocurrencies have struggled to gain momentum so far this year, China might be triggering the next bitcoin price bull run. China broadcasted a segment on bitcoin ATMs in Hong Kong and announced it will allow licensed trading platform operators to serve retail investors.

Health tech company Grail accidentally hit send. Grail incorrectly informed about 400 patients that they may have cancer, caused by a software issue from their telemedicine vendor. Insurers have questions – everyone has doubts. One thing seems poignant: how many hits can the health tech industry take after Theranos?

  • Is E.T. phoning home or building it? 3D printers are entering the next-gen tech scene once again with a revitalized mission to build homes. Experts predict 60% of buildings that will exist in 30 years have yet to be built, but current technology can’t keep up with this growth. Additionally, the built environment is responsible for 40% of global CO2 emissions. 3D printing with concrete can automate construction, increase efficiency, and reduce concrete used by 75%.

  • Start placing your bets that Nvidia is taking over the world. The biggest tech event of the year, COMPUTEX Taipei, happened from May 30 to June 2. What have we learned? Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang shared groundbreaking AI systems that will not only create new business models, but also significantly enhance efficiencies across all industries. Some highlights:

      • Nvidia officially launched Grace Hopper, an all-in-one module to empower enterprises with AI.

      • Nvidia introduced DGX GH200, an AI supercomputer with super memory.

      • Got games on your phone? Nvidia unveiled the Nvidia Avatar Cloud Engine which allows developers to deploy custom AI models for speech, conversation, and animation.

  • Maybe your retirement savings aren’t doomed after all! Tech stocks saw their first 6-week rally in over 3 years. Nvidia and Tesla led the way.

  • If you’re afraid of oblivion, close your eyes quickly. Hundreds of AI scientists and tech executives signed a letter warning that AI poses an existential threat to humans. OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman was one of the signees. *Cue shivers and teeth chatter*

StartUp, GlowUp 🔥

Our favorite startup stories …

Climatetech

  • Amini - An environmental data party in Africa

    • The Problem: Climate change is projected to impact Africa most heavily, but farmers are plagued with data scarcity.

    • The Tech: AI meets satellite technology in a data aggregation platform.

    • Recently Raised: $2 million in pre-seed funding led by Pale Blue Dot

    • Also Note: CEO and Founder Kate Kallot worked in deep tech roles for companies such as Arm, Intel and Nvidia.

  • CUR8 - If you can’t build it, buy it

    • The Problem: 2050 net zero deadlines are fast approaching, and carbon reductions need to be more accessible for all businesses

    • The Tech: A global market for carbon removals

    • Recently Raised: £5.3 million in pre-seed funding led by Google Ventures

    • Also Note: The platform’s carbon removals portfolio includes tech like direct air capture, enhanced rock weathering, and durable soil carbon.

  • Newtrace - Heat up the hydrogen market

    • The Problem: Green hydrogen production needs to be cheaper, more scalable, and more efficient

    • The Tech: Patent-pending electrolyzer technology for obtaining ultrapure hydrogen with 60% less production costs

    • Recently Raised: $5.65 million in seed funding led by Sequoia Capital India and Aavishkaar Capital

    • Also Note: The company plans to expand its solution for long-term storage and conversion of hydrogen and ammonia.

Fintech

  • Nymbus - Not a regular bank, a cool bank

    • The Problem: Banks and credit unions have fallen behind in the technology stack.

    • The Tech: A cloud-based banking solution that offers traditional banks features like API access and robotic process automation

    • Recently Raised: $70 million in Series D funding led by Insight Partners

    • Also Note: Nymbus’ offering is unique because it creates a fully managed digital bank with a unified data stream.

Healthtech

  • ElevateBio - Harness the power of human cells and genes

    • The Problem: It’s time to bridge the gap between discovery and widespread delivery of cell and gene therapies as everyday medicine.

    • The Tech: Expansive technology platforms that accelerate the development of cell and gene therapies

    • Recently Raised: $401 million in Series D funding led by Matrix Capital Management

    • Also Note: This was the year’s largest biotech VC deal. ElevateBio also signed a development and commercialization partnership with Novo Nordisk.

TECHBITS

  • Cortex - Inside an engineer’s brain

    • The Problem: Software developers struggle to wrangle and organize microservices architectures

    • The Tech: An internal developer portal for software engineering teams

    • Recently Raised: $35 million Series B funding led by IVP

    • Also Note: From conversations with customers, Cortex has not only noticed increased productivity but also a cultural change within organizations when its platform is integrated.

Outro

Feel free to reply to this email with all questions, feedback, or comments. We’ll be iterating and curating the NVTC newsletter according to your interests. 

Some last matters of business: 

  • If you’re a technologist (engineer or product manager / designer with a technical background) join us on the NVTC LinkedIn group if you haven’t. We’d love to have you! 

  • Sign up here if you’re interested in co-investing with Necessary.

If you’re a startup founder, we’d love to help where we can! Brex provides full-stack finance solutions for startups. Sign up via Necessary and get bonus points.

Thanks for reading, and see you next week!

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San Francisco, California

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