The Am(AI)zing Race: Humanoids, Griefbots, and More
May 23, 2023
Kaley Ubellacker
Market Stirrings 🚩
Here's what the week looked like in pre-seed:
Data aggregated from proprietary research and Crunchbase; valuation estimate based on 10-20% ownership stake.
Good Reads 📖
For the rushed reader …
Our favorite stories in…
For the less rushed reader …
What happens when the renewable energy industry becomes the largest waste producer? It’s time to go treasure hunting.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nope, it’s a wind-powered cargo ship. Boats are stepping off the gas pedal with “wingsails.”
The EU gave final approval on cryptocurrency rules which will likely set the tone on how crypto is regulated globally.
Researchers are objectifying pain. One study, also part of a larger clinical trial, is using machine learning to quantify chronic pain.
Does Big Pharma have a big heart? Novartis bought an experimental stem cell gene therapy from cash-constrained Avrobio, providing it enough funding to keep afloat until the end of next year.
Medicine and pandemic may be two sides of the same coin. AI’s entrance into healthcare and synthetic biology raises worries about escaped viruses and bioweapons.
techbits
Neeva surrendered. Neeva gave up its search engine battle against Google, and rumors are circulating that Neeva plans to instead double-down on its AI enterprise.
Sharing is caring: Stability AI released StabilityStudio, an open source version of DreamStudio, its generative-AI-powered design platform. It plans to capitalize on “community-driven development.”
Uber is afloat … on private chartered boats in Mykonos. Some might say this new market expansion is bigger and boater.
Terminator or augmenter? Sanctuary AI unveiled Phoenix, a 5’7” humanoid robot capable of lifting 55 pounds and traveling at 3 miles per hour.
Zoom is zooming ahead. The company plans to integrate Anthropic’s chatbot into its platform.
Intel is chipping away at Nvidia. Intel announced a strategic (and highly competitive) pivot with plans to introduce a new AI chip in 2025.
What if goodbye always meant see you later? China is using AI “griefbots” to help people cope with lost loved ones.
Fire Up the Pre-Seeds🔥
Highlights from this week’s pre-seed raises:
Mitiga - Climate change clairvoyance
The Problem: The world is changing amid global heating, and risk models are getting riskier.
Tech: A data-heavy, physics-based approach to predicting environmental risks driven by climate change
Recently Raised: $14.4 million in Series A funding led by Kibo Ventures
Also Note: The company already has about 20 recurring customers, including energy manufacturers, hedge funds, and other firms.
AMP Robotics - 4 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle, robot
The Problem: Recycling is demanding, and computer vision is an untapped solution.
The Tech: A robotic sorting system that sorts and reclaims materials
Recently Raised: It extended its Series C round to $99 million, including an investment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation fund.
Also Note: Recovering U.S. plastic packaging could represent earnings of $2 billion to $4 billion per year.
Wefox - “Crisis-resistant” insurtech
The Problem: The world needs greater access to insurance through digital solutions.
The Tech: A personal insurance platform offering products from both in-house and external brokers
Recently Raised: $155 million in follow-on funding (half equity and half credit) to accompany its previous $400 million Series D round
Also Note: The company doubled its margins and revenue in Q1 2023 in a time when many fintech companies are struggling with layoffs.
Axis - Small businesses, big money
The Problem: Small businesses drive African economies, but those companies have limited access to online banking, payroll processing, and financing.
The Tech: A mobile wallet providing digital banking for small businesses and their employees
Recently Raised: $8.25 million in seed funding co-led by Tiger Global, Sawari Ventures, and Raba
Also Note: The company emerged from stealth and officially launched its platform to the North African market.
Somethings - We’re missing mentors
The Problem: Modern teens and traditional mental healthcare don’t mesh
The Tech: A youth-specific wellness platform connecting teens with trained mentors who they can reach out to asynchronously
Recently Raised: $3.2 million in Seed funding led by General Catalyst
Also Note: The company addresses an important gap in the market: 40% of teens in the US are consistently sad, but teenagers are more likely to seek mental health support from friends or family than a therapist.
Hippocratic AI - AI is healthy
The Problem: Hospitals don’t have enough nurses.
The Tech: A large language model trained with deep medical knowledge
Recently Raised: $50 million in Seed funding led by General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz
Also Note: The model focuses on non-diagnostic tasks and will one day be able to obtain certification in multiple medical areas and use polite bedside manners with patients.
Anthropic - Open season on OpenAI
The Problem: Regulators are concerned about AI’s potential to spread misinformation.
The Tech: AI systems with an eye for safety; they won’t tell users how to build weapons or use racially-biased language.
Recently Raised: $450 million in funding led by Spark Capital at a $4 billion valuation
Also Note: The company is backed by Alphabet.
Outro🚪
Have any questions, feedback, or comments? Just reply here. We iterate and curate the 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!
