An electric edition for the Fourth 🎆

Necessary Nuggets

Happy Fourth of July! What’s white, blue, and read all over? If you’re a real fan, the answer is the Necessary Nuggets newsletter.

In case 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. 

| 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 130 open job postings are listed here.

Good Reads đź“–

For the rushed reader …

  • Scientists at UMass Amherst accidentally discovered how to produce an electric current from humidity in the air.

  • Eric Duhaime, an MIT alumnus, founded Centaur Labs to gamify medical data labeling by leveraging study tools used by millions of medical students.

  • Visa will acquire Brazilian payment platform Pismo for $1 billion in cash.

  • Mercedes-Benz is undergoing beta-testing to introduce ChatGPT as a voice assistant in its cars.

  • Twitter might have some quitters because they added a limiter.

  • The U.S. is drafting another plan to reign in chip exports to China.

For the less rushed reader …

A new climate technology has literally appeared out of thin air. Scientists at UMass Amherst accidentally discovered how to produce a continuous electric current from humidity in the air. The idea is simple: energy is stored in water molecules in the air, and we just need to harvest it. CascataChuva, a recently founded startup based in Lisbon, plans to commercialize the research by stacking small, humidity-powered discs on top of one another to power households. Maybe all those frizzy hair days will be worth it after all.

You got games on your phone? Eric Duhaime, an MIT alumnus, founded Centaur Labs to gamify medical data labeling by leveraging study tools used by millions of medical students. Duhaime was inspired after observing his wife’s study habits and discovering through research that medical students can identify skin lesions more accurately than professional dermatologists. The company created a mobile app where users review images of skin lesions or audio clips of heart and lung sounds and indicate if there is a problem. If they’re correct, it’s a win-win: the user gets cash, and AI companies get data.

Visa went on a vacation to Brazil. Well, maybe it wasn't a vacation, but Visa certainly made it rain like the Amazon. Visa will acquire Brazilian payment platform Pismo for $1 billion in cash. This is the largest acquisition for Visa since 2021 when it bought Tink for $2.2 billion, and it’s the largest Latin American fintech exit since Nubank went public in late 2021.The acquisition is a strategic move for Visa to expand its presence in Latin America, and it provides a boost of confidence for fintech in the region.

  • According to Mercedes-Benz, it’s about time ChatGPT had a voice. Mercedes-Benz is undergoing beta-testing to introduce ChatGPT as a voice assistant in its cars. From the sound of it, the license plate game for road trips might have some competition. Mercedes-Benz plans for drivers to use ChatGPT to answer complex questions, including anything from details about the destination to inquiries like, “What should I make for dinner?” Drivers who want to opt-in can activate the experimental program with a voice command.

  • We’ll spit some bars for you: Twitter might have some quitters because they added a limiter. Twitter put a 6,000 post limit on how many tweets verified users can read in one day, leaving unverified users with a measly 600. The limit came in reaction to what Musk called “extreme levels of data scraping” and severe “system manipulation” which have induced platform outages. After receiving complaints, Twitter has since raised the limit, but the message is clear: data scrapers be gone, or everyone will suffer.

  • Hot chips just got hotter. The U.S. is drafting another plan to reign in chip exports to China. Among other controls, the new restrictions would ban Nvidia from selling its advanced chip called A800 in China without a special export license.

StartUp, GlowUp 🔥

Notable startup updates in …

Climatetech

  • DePoly - Plastics shouldn’t make things complicated

    • The Problem: 400 million tons of plastic are produced each year, but less than 10% of that amount is recycled.

    • The Tech: A deep tech approach to turning complex plastics into raw materials which can be sold back to industry

    • Recently Raised: $13.8 million in seed funding co-led by BASF Venture Capital and Wingman Ventures

    • Also Note: The company currently operates a pilot plant and processes 50 tons of plastic per year.

  • Nio - The electric race is on

    • The Problem: Vehicle electrification is a key piece of the net zero puzzle.

    • The Tech: Electric vehicles backed by powerful and innovative battery technologies that rival Tesla

    • Recently Raised: $738.5 million from CYVN Holdings, an investment vehicle majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi government

    • Also Note: Nio is a Chinese company, and its entry into the Middle East is its second international venture after targeting the European market. This raise came shortly after Nio cut prices for its cars and delayed some research plans.

Healthtech

  • MyDawa - Democratize access to healthcare in Africa

    • The Problem: Kenyans need better access to convenient, authentic medication and healthcare

    • The Tech: Comprehensive e-health offerings, including an e-pharmacy, online and in-person consultations, and laboratory services

    • Recently Raised: $20 million from private equity investor Alta Semper Capital

    • Also Note: Consumer spending in Africa is projected to reach $2.1 trillion by 2025 and represents one of the continent’s largest business opportunities.

EDTECH

  • Byju - Virtual education with tangible results

    • The Problem: In face-to-face learning set ups, access to high-quality education and personalisation has always been an issue.

    • The Tech: Engaging and personalized learning programs for students everywhere

    • Recently Raised: $250 million from Davidson Kempner in mid-May at a valuation of $22 billion – This past week, Prosus reduced its stake in the company, slashing Byju’s valuation to $5.1 billion.

    • Also Note: The startup’s struggles are numerous. It’s grappling with a legal battle with lenders, the resignation of board members, and the departure of Deloitte due to failed financial results.

TECHBITS

  • CalypsoAI - AI is risky business

    • The Problem: Companies are embracing generative AI, but they’re not thinking deeply about how to fold it into their workflows.

    • The Tech: Software that can test, validate, and monitor AI apps prior to their deployment

    • Recently Raised: $23 million in Series A-1 funding led by Paladin Capital Group

    • Also Note: Notable angels also contributed to the A-1 tranche, including former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki.

  • BentoML - AI packaged in a bento toolbox

    • The Problem: There’s a shortage of skilled developers to keep up with the pace of AI advancements.

    • The Tech: A high-level API that provides a set of tools that make it easier to build, ship, and scale AI applications

    • Recently Raised: $9 million in seed funding led by DCM Ventures

    • Also Note: The company claims BentoML can enable developers to make Visual ChatGPT scalable and cost-efficient for production in as short as two days.

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!

© 2023 Necessary Ventures

San Francisco, California

Kaley UbellackerComment