Let's talk about trust issues: seaweed, Binance, and AI
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: Taro increases access to healthcare while reducing costs and physician burnout via direct primary care based health insurance.
| Product engineer |
Arc Boats: Electrify watercraft. Build the Tesla of boats. Arc’s aim is both sustainability and high performance.
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 128 open job postings are listed here.
Good Reads 📖
For the rushed reader …
The Biden administration announced a goal to produce 50 million metric tons of clean hydrogen fuel by 2050.
A focus in the carbon capture industry has been seaweed farming, but data suggests the method does not extract enough CO2.
The Harvard Business Review promotes using perpetual bonds to fund carbon offset projects.
Binance was unable to achieve authorization in the Netherlands.
Virtual clinics might be the key to bridging gaps in women’s healthcare.
Meta released an open-source version of MusicGen, its AI-powered music generator.
OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic have committed to provide “early or priority access” to their AI models for researchers.
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, announced a push for what he called “AI trust.”
For the less rushed reader …
For some pre-read context, 50 million metric tons is the equivalent of over 7 million male elephants. The Biden administration announced a goal to produce 50 million metric tons of clean hydrogen fuel by 2050. If all goes according to plan, the US will cut its current contributions to global warming by 10%. New “hydrogen hubs” will be revealed in September. Will the US regret not going with elephants instead?
Will seaweed ever be more than a sea weed? An article from MIT Technology Review doesn’t think so. A focus in the carbon capture industry has been seaweed farming, but data suggests the method does not extract enough CO2. A new study revealed that a million square kilometers of ocean would need to be farmed to remove just one billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. The UN estimates we need to remove at least 10 billion tons annually to stop global warming on pace.
In order to make the world more green, we need more green. The Harvard Business Review promotes using perpetual bonds to fund carbon offset projects.
Virtual clinics might be the key to bridging gaps in women’s healthcare. Virtual healthcare services can provide a continuity of care that is extremely difficult in antiquated, in-person care models. One startup, Maven, is accelerating quickly in the femtech space with $300 million raised since its founding in 2021. Its health plans cover more than 15 million people from over 175 countries.
Maybe NSYNC was singing about Binance when they said, “Bye bye bye.” Under current regulation, Binance can only operate in EU countries if given approval by registering under each country’s money laundering prevention rules. Binance was unable to achieve authorization in the Netherlands and will no longer be serving Dutch clients, recommending those users withdraw their assets. However, there may still be a gold crypto pot at the end of the rainbow. The regulation is set to change once the EU approves its Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, which Binance plans to capitalize on.
Playing an instrument is so old school. Meta released an open-source version of MusicGen, its AI-powered music generator. Like the ChatGPT we’ve all come to know and love, MusicGen takes a simple prompt from the user to generate music. There’s no phrase more popular in the workforce today than “Why not use ChatGPT?” and the music industry may be the next to be uprooted by AI.
Don’t forget to wear kneepads when you use AI. Evaluation and safety in the AI space is the next hot topic for regulators. The UK government made an announcement that it will host a global AI summit to support safety research. OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic have committed to provide “early or priority access” to their AI models for researchers. An interesting add-on here is Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, announced a similar push for what he called “AI trust.” In the context of Salesforce, which processes vast amounts of customer data, Benioff asserted a trust layer must be built into the program before AI reaches the mainstream.
StartUp, GlowUp 🔥
Our favorite startup updates …
Climatetech
Skytree - Direct Air Capture from outer space
The Problem: The future of controlled environment agriculture depends on clean and inexpensive CO2
The Tech: DAC from ambient air using astronaut-inspired systems
Recently Raised: $6 million in seed funding led by Horticoop
Also Note: The company claims to be the first climate tech company supporting food security through the deployment of DAC technology.
XNRGY - Commercial should not equal more carbon
The Problem: Commercial buildings are carbon intensive and require more sustainable systems that reduce energy consumption.
The Tech: High tech HVAC systems providing superior air quality to critical customers, such as hospitals and data centers
Recently Raised: Substantial growth capital (undisclosed amount) co-led by MacKinnon, Bennett & Co. and Idealist Capital
Also Note: It recently secured financing for phase one of its U.S. headquarters in Mesa, Arizona.
Healthtech
Oova - Revolutionizing hormonal health
The Problem: One in six people are expected to be affected by infertility at some point in life.
The Tech: At-home, daily hormone monitoring with the option to enroll in the Oova Membership, offering personalized healthcare support
Recently Raised: $10.3 million in Series A led by Spero Ventures
Also Note: Oova’s product is FDA registered and HIPAA compliant.
Fintech
Yellow - Open digital doors in Africa
The Problem: Unbanked, low income countries in Africa struggle to finance assets and therefore cannot modernize.
The Tech: Software that enables its sales force to serve customers in Africa with affordable financing for solar and digital products
Recently Raised: $14 million in Series B funding led by Convergence Partners
Also Note: The company was initially founded to bring solar energy to Africa, but it has since grown its footprint across the continent.
TECHBITS
Cohere - AI toolkit for any dev
The Problem: Humans can become 10x more effective at what they do by tapping into AI.
The Tech: Enterprise AI tools that can power copywriting, search, and summarization
Recently Raised: $270 million in Series C funding, including AI giant Nvidia as an investor as well as Oracle and Salesforce
Also Note: The $270 million round was significantly more than Cohere had raised to date at a previous grand total of $175 million.
Outro
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