xAI raising $6bn to buy 100k Nvidia chips
Sources say xAI is raising up to $6 billion – $5 billion expected from sovereign funds in the Middle East and $1 billion from other investors – at a $50 billion valuation. The money will be used to acquire 100,000 Nvidia chips. Tesla’s Full Self Driving is expected to rely on the Memphis supercomputer.
Musk seeks £5bn xAI funding at $45bn valuation
Musk’s xAI is in early talks with new and existing investors for fresh capital to compete with OpenAI and other AI competitors. Musk has reportedly approached investors in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with a potential valuation of $45bn, as well as existing investors inclusing Sequoia Capital and Valor Equity Partners, which is expected to lead the round.
Musk borrowed $1 billion from SpaceX in same month of Twitter deal
The Wall Street Journal reports that Musk borrowed $1 billion from SpaceX in October 2022, the same month he bought Twitter. The loan was backed by some of Musk’s SpaceX stock and Musk drew all of the funds down the same month. According to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, as of March 2023, Musk is SpaceX’s largest shareholder with a 42% stake and almost 79% of its voting power. SpaceX had $4.7 billion in cash and securities on hand at the end of 2022.
Twitter signs and equipment to be auctioned
In part due to its rebrand, X announces it is auctioning off a large number of Twitter-branded items, including the bird logo that was previously on the outside of the building. Other items for sale include sculptures, booths, chairs, computers, couches, musical equipment and artworks.
The auction, hosted by Heritage Global Partners, will start on September 12 at 7 a.m. PST and end on September 14 at 9 a.m. PST. All items have a starting bid of $25. They are all being sold out of X headquarters in San Francisco. According to HGP’s terms and conditions, buyers must use the items in their businesses and cannot purchase them for personal use.
Neuralink raises $280 million from Founders Fund
Nuralink announces it has raised $280m from Founder’s Fund, a venture capital company established by Peter Thiel.
We’re happy to announce our $280M Series D round led by @foundersfund. We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink.
We’re happy to announce our $280M Series D round led by @foundersfund. We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink.
If you’d like to help make the first human experience incredible and work on engineering challenges to restore vision and mobility, come join!…
— Neuralink (@neuralink) August 7, 2023
Musk says Twitter deal will close on Friday
In a video call with bankers who are providing $13 billion in debt financing to his purchase of Twitter, Musk says that he will close the deal on Friday, 28 October. Musk has pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covers the $44 billion price tag plus closing costs. Equity investors, including Sequoia Capital, Binance, Qatar Investment Authority and others have received paperwork for the financing commitment from Musk’s lawyers.
Musk has to comply with a Delaware court judge’s deadline to complete the transaction by the 28th. Twitter declined to comment.
The Boring Company offers extra $15M for San Antonio Loop
The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority says Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has offered an additional $15 million to finance the San Antonio Loop, increasing its initial offer of $27 million to $45 million to support the first phase of the project. Alamo RMA:
That’s a lot of money that’s not coming from taxpayers to improve community transportation. I don’t see anybody else coming and giving us $50 million that’s not funding by taxpayers in some way, shape or form..
The 7.6 mile tunnel is expected to generate a net revenue of $25 million per year from 112,000 commuters daily, with fares between $10 to $13 per passenger.
TrulySocial investment
Nazara Games, London Venture Partners and Supercell’s Hollanda-Grönberg invest in TrulySocial. Nazara CEO Manish Agarwal:
We see a perfect fit with TrulySocial’s contemporary social world and are working with them to bring a completely new genre of gaming to India. With TrulySocial we are delighted to have an opportunity to see ourselves along with key international players.
£1 billion UK malaria funding
The UK government is to create a new £1 billion fund, called The Ross Fund, in partnership with US philanthropists, Bill and Melinda Gates. The fun, named after Sir Ronald Ross, who first found the link between mosquitoes and malaria in 1902, aims to eradicate malaria and other infectious disease. The fund will come from the UK’s overseas aid budget over the next five years, with £115m earmarked for research into new drugs, diagnostics and insecticides for malaria, TB and other infectious diseases, and £188m to be spent on improving biodefences and rapid response systems to fast-spreading epidemics such as Ebola. UK Chancellor Osborne:
[The government’s commitment to overseas aid helps to] promote our national security and interests around the world. [Working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will help us in] our joint ambition to see an end to this global disease in our lifetimes.
Gates:
With the combined skill and expertise of British scientists; leveraging the weight of both public and private financing; and the continued leadership of George Osborne and the UK, [the] announcement of the Ross Fund will play a key role in reaching that goal [ eradicating malaria and other poverty-related infectious diseases].
Shark Tank appearance
Foot Cardigan accepts an offer on Shark Tank from Cuban and Carter, who is appearing as a guest shark, to co-invest $250,000 for a 20% ownership stake in their $9-a-month sock subscription service. The company says it earned $1.36 million in the past three years ($900,000 in the past 12 months) and projects $1.5 million for 2015. It currently services 6,000 monthly customers with seasonal increases to approximately 12,000 subscribers.
Help Is Coming charity release
Crowded House re-releases Help Is Coming, introduced by Cumberbatch, to raise money for refugees fleeing to Europe to escape conflict. The fund-raising video features footage from refugee camps and shows people attempting to travel to a country of sanctuary. Crowded House’s Neil Finn and Capitol Records have agreed to donate all the royalties to Save The Children.
$35 million funding
Sweetgreen receives $35 million in additional investments from T. Rowe Price and Revolution Growth bringing the company’s total funding to $95 million. The investment will be used for technology, building its supply chain and building the sweetgreen team, both at the corporate level and hiring employees for new stores.
We’re making huge investments in training and development. . . . We want to bridge the gap between health and convenience, but do it at a national scale.
Eychaner fundraises for Clinton
Eychaner throws a fundraiser for Clinton in his Chicago home. He states:
Everybody working together needs to make Hillary the next president.
When asked if he would become a major donor to Priorities USA Action he responds:
I assume so. Nobody has approached me about a super-PAC yet. Don’t open up the floodgates, but nobody has called about the subject.
On the subject of the at least $25 million in contributions to the Clinton Foundation:
If you want to try to go to a sports analogy, that’s a career total for support starting in 2001, for the library and for HIV and for everything else along the way, for general operating support sometimes and for their endowment. So, it’s all reported. None of it is lacking in transparency.
About himself he says:
I’m not a billionaire and I’m not a mogul. I’m a retired media executive.
$150 million first fund
Gouw and Fonstad raise $150 million for Aspect’s first fund. Gouw:
We’re targeting $2 million to $5 million checks, but wanted to be small enough to also be able to work with a bigger platform firm if it’s a $10 million round — and there are a lot more of those now than there used to be. We’ll also devote around 20% of the fund to seed deals with the intention of then leading the A round.
Cross Culture VC raising $50m fund
Carter and Nichols are raising a $50 million fund for Cross Culture Ventures, according to a regulatory filing. The fund will target seed and Series A tech startups.
Sprint, Softbank invest at $250m valuation
Sprint and parent SoftBank buy a minority stake in Jay Z’s subscription music service. While the size of the investment couldn’t be learned, sources said the deal values Tidal at around $250 million. At the launch event, Tidal’s chief investment officer, Vania Schlogel, said the service had been working closely with Sprint’s CEO. Sprint is preparing to offer Tidal’s service on its phones although the details and the pricing are unclear.
$18.5 million funding
Revolution Growth invests another $18.5 million into sweetgreen bringing its total to $40.5 million.
The words ‘seasonality’ and ‘fast food’ are rarely used together, but at sweetgreen, we believe that the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive — it just takes a commitment to standing behind our food ethos and working with farmers that share the same values.
They currently have 27 stores on the east coast.
Reddit $50m Series B funding
Altman leads Reddit’s $50 million Series B round with Andreesen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, as well as individual investors including Leto, Dogg, Kushner, Livingston, Kevin and Julia Hartz, Mariam Naficy, and Reddit CEO Yishan Wong. Valuation is $500 million. Altman:
I’m willing to be very patient. I don’t have any particular timeframe in mind. I believe that the community is very valuable and that the value will continue to increase. Up to the company if they want to share cashflow details, but they run the company efficiently.
Donations top $100 million
The ice bucket challenge raises over $100 million to date for ALS. During the same period last year, July 29, 2013 to August, 29 2013, the ALS Association raised $2.8 million. In the fiscal year 2014, the organization raised approximately $26.3 million in total, which means the amount raised in several months is quadruple that of what was raised last year. ALS President and CEO Barbara Newhouse:
The word gratitude doesn’t do enough to express what we are feeling right now.
$90M investment
The investment firm announces a $90 million investment in the enterprise management, that helps IT professionals secure and manage devices.
https://twitter.com/pmarca/status/480848821535010817