What happened last week?
In 3 min reading time...
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What happened last week you should know in 3 minutes?
Startup funding
Mistral AI raises huge round
French generative AI startup Mistral AI confirms €385M Series A funding round which brings Mistral AI’s valuation at €2 billion.
This funding round comes just seven months after Mistral AI’s €105 million Seed round.
The French start-up, which was started by former researchers at Google’s Deepmind and Meta, is focused on creating open-source large language models, as a counter to others in the AI market like OpenAI and Google.
Fun fact about them?
Their funding date was in May 2023 😱
More info HERE
In case you are developing your own AI startup, this might interest you. ChatGPT makers OpenAI are expanding its Converge AI startup program.
The program has space for 10 to 15 companies and runs for six weeks from March 11 to April 19, 2024. OpenAI will also cover travel costs for the first and last week of the program, with other weeks able to be completed remotely.
To apply, fill out the form on the Converge website before Friday, January 26, 2024, at 11:59pm Pacific.
Essential AI raises $56 million in Series A funding
Essential AI, San Francisco based startup raised $56 million in Series A funding.
To reinvent how enterprises work, Essential AI is developing full-stack AI products that quickly learn to increase productivity by automating time-consuming and monotonous workflows.
With human feedback and technical breakthroughs, its LLMs will empower users to solve progressively harder tasks and unlock critical skills, scaling the impact of organizations on society.
More info HERE
New proteins on your menu?
EU announced it will invest €50 million next year in helping startups and small businesses scale up the production of alternative proteins using methods such as precision fermentation.
In case you wondered what is precision fermentation 💡
Precision fermentation uses organisms such as yeast to produce animal proteins – such as whey and casein – and other ingredients that deliver the familiar flavour and texture of foods like cheese, meat, and eggs, without using animals.
More info HERE
Tech news
Adobe❌Figma
Adobe’s $20 billion mega-bid to buy rival Figma is now officially dead, after the companies said today that regulatory pushback in Europe had caused them to put an end to the acquisition plans.
P.S.
There's a $1 billion termination fee to pay, too
More info HERE
Société Générale to become first big bank to list a stablecoin
France’s third-largest bank on Wednesday will debut trading of its own stablecoin, called EUR CoinVertible, on Bitstamp, an exchange based in Luxembourg.
The move marks a significant step for a traditional financial institution into a part of cryptocurrency trading currently dominated by specialist digital assets firms.
More info HERE
Curve hits profitability next year?
The founder of London-headquartered fintech Curve Shachar Bialick says it has a “strong potential” to hit profitability in 2024 after making “a substantial reduction in headcount” and improving margins across the board.
Curve consolidates all of a user's credit and debit cards into a single card and app, to make managing their financial life easier. It also has a BNPL product, Curve Flex, in which loans are funded through Credit Suisse.
More info HERE
IBM in a € 2.3 billion shopping spree
IBM is paying €2.13 billion to acquire a duo of data integration assets from Germany-based enterprise software company Software AG.
The all-cash deal will see IBM take ownership of StreamSets, a data integration platform that Software AG had acquired just last year, and WebMethods, which Software AG bought for more than $500 million back in 2007.
More info HERE
X bits
Was there life before GPS 📱📱📱
We should reconsider our education strategy FAST 💡
EBITDA explained 😂
