Lordy, how is it already October? If you're looking to schmooze, fundraise, celebrate, or commiserate with your peers, check out the StrictlyVC mini-event inside TechCrunch Disrupt this year. We're gathering at Moscone West in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday, October 28, starting at 3 p.m.

We're co-hosting with Cendana Capital, whose team has generously assembled an incredible lineup of limited partners for an off-the-record conversation about what they're seeing as the "money behind the money" in venture. The five-person panel includes Michael Kim and Kelli Fontaine of Cendana, Lara Banks of Makena Capital, Adam Grosher of the J. Paul Getty Trust, and Matt Hodan of Lexington Partners, followed by a deep dive with investor, entrepreneur, and successful SPAC sponsor Kevin Hartz, who has plenty of insights and predictions to share.

An investor pass to the entire three-day event (well worth it) gets you into this confab; looking forward to seeing you there.:) — CL

Mira Murati and a crew of OpenAI veterans just unveiled Thinking Machines Lab’s first product, Tinker, a tool that lets researchers and even hobbyists fine-tune frontier AI models without having to set up or manage massive GPU clusters, marking the $12 billion startup’s opening shot at making the closed-door world of cutting-edge AI more accessible. Wired has more here.

Meta will begin using AI chatbot conversations to target ads starting December 16, and U.S. users will not be able to opt out. TechCrunch has more here.

The U.K. government has quietly hit Apple with another order to build a backdoor into iCloud backups, reviving its long-running fight over end-to-end encryption and sparking fresh warnings that forcing compliance would undermine user privacy far beyond Britain. TechCrunch has more here.

“Every quarter, we pull together a spreadsheet that we all type PortCo data into. There is a lot of back and forth - when did that board meeting happen? Where are the notes?” 

- Ops team at a $30B Growth Fund 

There’s a better way. Find out how. 

By Amanda Silberling

Tilly Norwood is a London-based actress with about 40,000 Instagram followers. Also, she’s not real — she is an AI-generated character created by Xicoia, the AI division of the production company Particle6.

Eline Van der Velden, the Dutch producer who founded Particle6, introduced the idea of Norwood at the Zurich Film Festival in September. Van der Velden is currently seeking an agent to represent Norwood, who has garnered strong reactions from Hollywood.

Actress Emily Blunt — known for her roles in films like “The Devil Wears Prada,” “A Quiet Place,” and “Oppenheimer” — found out about Norwood while recording a podcast with Variety.

“Good Lord, we’re screwed. That is really, really scary,” Blunt told Variety. “Come on, agencies, don’t do that. Please stop. Please stop taking away our human connection.”

Axiom Math, a San Francisco startup founded this year that is building an AI mathematician to solve and generate complex math problems, raised a $64 million seed round led by B Capital, with Greycroft, Madrona, and Menlo Ventures also participating. Forbes has more here.

Crystalys Therapeutics, a San Diego startup founded this year that is developing a treatment for gout, raised a $205 million Series A round co-led by Novo Holdings, SR One, and Catalys Pacific, with Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds, Lightstone Ventures, AN Venture Partners, abrdn, KB Investments, Pontifax, Longwood Fund, Alexandria Venture Investments, Wedbush Healthcare Partners, and Prebys Ventures Fund also piling on. BioPharma Dive has more here.

Einride, a nine-year-old company based in Sweden that develops electric big rigs, autonomous freight pods, and logistics planning software, raised a $100 million round with investors including EQT Ventures and IonQ. TechCrunch has more here.

Legora, a Stockholm startup that helps law firms automate contract review, summarization, and legal research with AI, is in talks to raise over $100 million at a $1.7 billion valuation in a round expected to be led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with previous investors ICONIQ, General Catalyst, Redpoint Ventures, and Benchmark also stepping up. Tech Funding News has more here.

NORNORM, a five-year-old Copenhagen startup that offers office furniture through a circular subscription model, raised a $58.6 million round. Prior backers Verdane, Inter IKEA, Philian AB, and Banco Santander invested in the round. More here.

Phaidra, a six-year-old Seattle startup that uses artificial intelligence to make data center operations more energy efficient, raised a $50 million Series B round led by Collaborative Fund, with Helena, Index Ventures, Nvidia, Sony Innovation Fund, and Nvidia also taking part. GeekWire has more here.

Aerska, a startup founded this year based in Dublin, Ireland, that develops RNA interference drugs to silence disease-causing genes in the brain, raised a $21 million seed round co-led by Age1, Backed VC, and Speedinvest, with Blueyard, Lingotto, Norrsken VC, Kerna, PsyMed, Saras, and Ada Ventures also opting in. BioPharma Dive has more here.

AudioShake, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to split audio recordings into separate tracks for voices, music, and sound effects, raised a $14 million Series A round led by Shine Capital, with Thomson Reuters Ventures, Origin Ventures, and Background Capital as well as previous investors Indicator Ventures and Precursor Ventures also engaging. More here.

Baselane, a five-year-old New York startup that helps real estate investors manage banking, bookkeeping, rent collection, and tax reporting, raised a $20 million Series B round led by Thomvest Ventures, with Matrix Partners also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $34.4 million. More here.

Cyvl, a five-year-old Boston startup that helps cities and engineering firms use AI and sensors to inspect roads and sidewalks, manage assets, and plan repairs, raised a $14 million Series A round led by Sentinel Global. More here.

Datawizz, a San Francisco startup founded this year that develops specialized AI models to cut costs and improve performance compared to large general-purpose models, raised a $12.5 million seed round led by Human Capital, with BGV and 91VC also joining in. CTech has more here.

Folia Health, a nine-year-old Boston company that turns patient-reported health experiences into structured data for research and personalized care, raised a $10.5 million Series A round led by S3 Ventures, with additional support from Crosslink Capital and Create Health Ventures. More here.

Kanastra, a three-year-old São Paulo startup that provides infrastructure and services for private credit funds and securitizations, raised a $30 million Series B round led by F-Prime, with IFC, Kaszek, Valor Capital, Quona Capital, and Itaú also pitching in. More here.

Lastro, a four-year-old São Paulo startup that helps real estate agencies and property managers use AI to streamline customer engagement and lead conversion, raised a $16 million Series A round led by Prosus Ventures, with FJ Labs, Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures, Canary, QED, and 1Sharpe Ventures also opting in. The company has raised a total of $20 million. LatamList has more here.

MAI, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI agents to automate and optimize performance marketing for e-commerce brands, raised a $25 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins and including Gaorong Ventures and UpHonest Capital. More here.

Predicta Biosciences, a startup based in Cambridge, MA, that develops non-invasive diagnostics for blood cancers and autoimmune diseases, raised a $23.4 million Series A round led by Engine Ventures, with Illumina Ventures, Lightchain Capital, Mass General Brigham Ventures, ACS BrightEdge, Binney Street Capital, and Myeloma Solutions Fund also stepping up. More here.

RunBuggy, a seven-year-old Phoenix startup that connects car shippers and haulers, raised a $37 million Series B round led by Centana Growth Partners, with OMI Capital also contributing. More here.

Simple, a six-year-old London startup that offers an AI-powered health coaching app to help people lose weight, raised a $35 million Series B round led by actor Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Ventures, with Liquidity also joining in. The company has raised a total of $45 million. TechCrunch has more here.

SureCo, a nine-year-old startup based in Santa Ana, CA, that administers Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements for large employers, raised a $23 million Series A round led by Health Velocity Capital, with Kaiser Permanente Ventures also investing. More here.

Visana Health, a six-year-old Minneapolis startup that provides virtual-first women’s health clinics covering reproductive, hormonal, and chronic care, raised a $24 million Series A round led by Noro-Moseley Partners, with Cigna Ventures, Intermountain Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, and Frist Cressey Ventures also investing. Femtech Insider has more here.

Argu.ai, a Tel Aviv startup founded this year that lets users turn camera systems into real-time video monitoring agents with simple prompts, raised a $2 million pre-seed round from Miami-Dade Innovation Authority, 1948 Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and Mekorot. More here.

Athernal Bio, a startup founded this year based in Cambridge, UK, that is developing targeted immunotherapies for high-risk clonal haematopoiesis, raised a $4.7 million seed round from Delin Ventures. More here.

BeSound, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that offers breast imaging for women with dense breast tissue and those under 40 using ultrasound combined with photoacoustic technology, raised a $6.8 million seed round co-led by Overwater Ventures, Kindred Ventures, and Muse Capital, with Lux Capital, Wisdom.VC, Retron VC, Mana Ventures, Pave Health Ventures, and SSC Venture Partners also participating. Femtech Insider has more here.

Boldr, a three-year-old London startup that helps homeowners cut energy costs by linking HVAC systems, EVs, batteries, and solar panels to the grid so they can supply extra capacity when needed, raised a $3.2 million seed round. Investors included Ada Ventures, Unconventional Ventures, Inclimo Climate Tech Fund, Prosegur, Techstars, S20 Fund, and Viva Holdings. More here.

Clarifeye, a Paris and New York startup that helps companies turn expert knowledge into AI agents for industries like law, life sciences, and manufacturing, raised a $4.7 million pre-seed round led by EQT Ventures and including Drysdale Ventures. Tech.eu has more here.

DataJoint, a Houston startup founded this year that helps life sciences and pharma researchers manage multimodal data and run AI workflows, raised a $4.9 million seed round co-led by Nina Capital, Inoca Capital Partners, and Capital Factory. More here.

DJUST, a five-year-old Paris startup that helps businesses run online B2B sales from ordering through payment, raised an $8.2 million Series A extension round led by New Enterprise Associates, with Speedinvest as well as previous investor Elaia Partners also weighing in. More here.

fan3, a four-year-old London startup that helps artists and promoters curb ticket scalping and give verified fans priority access to live events, raised a $5 million round led by Improbable. EU-Startups has more here.

Hupside, a startup founded this year based in McLean, VA, that uses AI to measure and track human creativity in the workplace, raised a $1.7 million pre-seed round led by Ruxton Ventures. More here.

NoBACZ Healthcare, a six-year-old startup based in Cambridge, UK, that develops “liquid bandages” to treat wounds in livestock, raised a $6.5 million round led by The Yield Lab, with Adjuvo, ACF Investors, the University of Cambridge, Parkwalk, The FSE Group, and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures also investing. UKTN has more here.

StackGuardian, a three-year-old Belgian startup that helps enterprises automatically set up and manage IT systems while meeting security and compliance rules, raised a Series A round led by TIN Capital, with Volta Ventures and InvestLink also engaging. More here.

Tato, a two-year-old Montreal startup that uses AI to help system integrators deliver large-scale IT projects like ERP implementations on time and on budget, raised a $5 million seed round led by Ridge Ventures, with Myriad Venture Partners, Betaworks, and RRE Ventures also taking stakes. More here.

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Better Tomorrow Ventures, a five-year-old San Francisco VC firm that backs early-stage fintech startups, raised a $140 million fund, its third. TechCrunch has more here.

TechCrunch has learned that last month Gusto, the $9.3 billion payroll and HR firm, shelled out approximately $600 million to acquire Guideline, a startup that helps small businesses set up low-cost 401(k) plans, and now plans to shed Guideline accounts tied to rival payroll providers as it sharpens its fight with Human Interest, another fast-growing retirement plan startup. More here.

Rose Rocket, a nine-year-old Toronto company that provides AI-driven transportation management software, acquired Centro, a Toronto startup that turns unstructured supply chain emails into structured data, in a deal aimed at automating inbox-to-order workflows and accelerating Rose Rocket’s push into AI-powered logistics. Terms were not disclosed. More here.

Good news for AI infrastructure startups: Fermi, the Rick Perry–backed data center and energy startup founded this year, popped 19% in its Nasdaq debut to a nearly $15 billion valuation despite having zero revenue (!), underscoring just how frothy the AI infrastructure gold rush has become. Reuters has more here.

Microsoft just elevated longtime sales chief Judson Althoff to CEO of its commercial business, consolidating sales, marketing, and operations under his watch as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella bets tighter alignment will fuel increased AI revenue. CNBC has more here.

MIT researcher turned podcaster Lex Fridman goes deep with Telegram’s Pavel Durov, including hitting on topics like Durov’s arrest and his views on censorship. More here.

OpenAI’s freshly launched Sora app has been flooded with eerily realistic Sam Altman deepfakes, including one in which Altman stares into the camera and asks, “Are my piggies enjoying their slop?” TechCrunch has more here.

VC, All-In podcast host, and “SPAC king” Chamath Palihapitiya is warning retail investors not to invest in his new $345 million SPAC, “American Exceptionalism.” TechCrunch has more here.

A new Yale and Brookings study finds that generative AI hasn’t triggered mass U.S. job losses since its 2022 debut, undercutting tech exec warnings of a looming “jobpocalypse” and suggesting the labor market is adapting much like it did with past tech shifts. The Financial Times has more here.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has supercharged Europe’s defense-tech scene, with investors pouring billions into startups like Helsing that are churning out AI-driven drones, ships, fighter jets, and even cockroaches with (get this) remote-controlled backpacks and surveillance cameras. The New York Times has more here.

OpenAI’s splashy debut of its Sora app has sparked internal dissent over whether chasing a consumer social feed undermines the lab’s nonprofit mission or makes sense because it funds more AGI research. TechCrunch has more here.

San Francisco’s well-known dog-friendly culture is drawing complaints as off-leash dogs snatch food, disrupt gyms, and appear in stores, allegedly as service animals.

Backgammon is experiencing a resurgence of interest as young people look to make new, IRL connections.

A new trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein just dropped.

Apple Watches, Fitbit bands, and Oura rings are old school compared to Whoop, which is now offering a blood testing service via a partnership with Quest Diagnostics.

Google unveiled its new Nest lineup today, including indoor and outdoor cameras that add context to notifications, so instead of just "motion detected," you might see "dog jumps out of playpen."

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