Why is everyone obsessed with Nvidia
Aug 29, 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 …
According to one recent study, carbon offset projects claiming to cut back on deforestation are overestimating their impact.
Researchers from Stanford and UC San Francisco are creating a brain implant that will restore fluid conversation to individuals with paralysis.
Byju, India’s most highly valued startup, discovered a system misconfiguration that exposed sensitive student data.
Nvidia made history with a swoon-worthy Q2 earnings report showing revenue up 88% from last quarter and profits up a whopping 843% year over year.
Instance-based learning (IBL) is on the rise and has the potential to solve the AI-black-box problem.
For the less rushed reader …
Climate science just got scandalous. Carbon offsets are a popular choice for cash-flooded corporations looking for an easy out on climate action. Well, we’ve got some bad news for big business buckos. According to one recent study, carbon offset projects claiming to cut back on deforestation are overestimating their impact. The real issue lies in certification methods and active monitoring. The merits of carbon offsetting are in heated debate given that climate science, including forest protection, is still under development. How can you measure something that is constantly changing?
Why is it always analysis paralysis and never paralysis analysis? Researchers from Stanford and UC San Francisco are changing that by creating a brain implant that will restore fluid conversation to individuals with paralysis. Two recent papers published in Nature share the findings. Stanford’s team translated 64 words per minute (WPM) with their patient, while the UCSF team translated 74 WPM – healthy progress towards the average conversational 160 WPM. Isn’t it a refreshing change to hear about brain implants that don’t threaten to take over the world (*cough* Neuralink *cough*)?
If there’s one thing Jack and the beanstalk taught us, giants can fall. Byju, India’s most highly valued startup, discovered a system misconfiguration that exposed sensitive student data. Critical information, including student names, phone numbers, addresses, email IDs, and loan details, was accessible to anyone who connected to the server’s queue, where they could then download and read messages. The good news is no students were compromised because a security researcher found the fault; the bad news is this isn’t the first security concern for Byju. Guess you could say Byju just got schooled.
I would be shocked if Nvidia isn’t on the top 100 list for the most popular baby names in 2023. Nvidia made history with a swoon-worthy Q2 earnings report showing revenue up 88% from last quarter and profits up a whopping 843% year over year, which took every tech publication by storm and glued every investor to their computer screen. One key question keeps circling: when will the AI hype bubble pop? There’s two sides to every coin. While most signs suggest Nvidia will be a steady leader in the chip-hungry AI market, the explosive growth of the company’s profitability is largely due to a supply-chain bottleneck that can’t last.
Someone give the AI models some water, so they can stop hallucinating already. AI platforms are largely black boxes, and when they spit out wrong information, there’s rarely an explanation as to why. Luckily, instance-based learning (IBL) is on the rise and has the potential to solve the AI-black-box problem. IBL traces every decision back to the corresponding training data, which can hold models accountable when there’s a mishap. The question is when they might replace the generative AI programs currently feeding the frenzy.
Fire Up the Pre-Seeds🔥
Highlights from this week’s pre-seed raises:
Climatetech
Advanced Ionics - When it's good to be gassy
The Problem: Heavy industry represents a third of global carbon emissions.
The Tech: Efficient hydrogen electrolyzers that can be used to power heavy industry with lower costs and electricity requirements.
Recently Raised: $12.5 million Series A funding led by BP Ventures.
Also Note: The company launched a paid pilot study in March sponsored by the Repsol Foundation, which has proved the efficacy of its tech.
Healthtech
Neurowyzer - BBE, big brain energy
The Problem: Early brain decline, specifically dementia, is debilitating and difficult to measure.
The Tech: A digital neuroscience assessment for more efficient cognitive testing.
Recently Raised: $2.1 million in seed funding co-led by Jungle Ventures and Peak XV’s Surge.
Also Note: Its product is currently available at health screening centers in Singapore, and the new funds will be used to expand across Southeast Asia and India.
Viome Life Science - Trust your gut
The Problem: The future of medicine is at home, not in hospitals.
The Tech: At-home kits for analyzing your microbiome composition and monitoring gut health.
Recently Raised: $86.5 million Series C funding co-led by Bold Capital and Khosla Ventures, bringing the total raised to over $250 million.
Also Note: The raise comes at the same time as Viome’s launch of its Gut Intelligence Test in 200 CVS locations across the U.S.
FINTECH
Ramp - Say no to spendthrifts
The Problem: Businesses are pressured to operate efficiently, which means they need to smartify (yes, that’s totally a word) their spending.
The Tech: A finance automation platform to help businesses spend less.
Recently Raised: $300 million in Series D funding co-led by Thrive Capital and Sands Capital.
Also Note: This fresh funding values Ramp at $5.8 billion, which is 28% lower in valuation compared to its last raise in March 2022 at an $8.1 billion valuation.
TECHBITS
Hugging Face - Parad(AI)gm shift
The Problem: AI is how we build software, but where does AI call home?
The Tech: An AI-model hub to power collaboration for building, training, and deploying ML programs.
Recently Raised: $235 million in Series D funding led by Salesforce and joined by a high-profile list of investors (Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, IBM and Sound Ventures) – did someone say group hug?!
Also Note: In the beginning of August, Hugging Face announced a partnership with Nvidia to expand access to AI compute.
Outro🚪
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