The unique model of this article was printed on Linkedin.
If you happen to’re new right here, the phrase “Firgun” (pronounced ‘feer-goon’) is a casual trendy Hebrew time period and idea in Israeli tradition (initially Yiddish), which describes real, unselfish delight or delight within the accomplishment of the opposite particular person. It’s the alternative of “schadenfreude” (which stands for being joyful for another person’s misfortune). Firgun is all about genuinely feeling and expressing happiness, delight, or admiration for members of our group’s accomplishments, luck and wins. Extra about Firgun and why it issues on VC Cafe: https://lnkd.in/dg2a86p
My flights to Israel had been cancelled subsequent week following the Houti’s ballistic rocket assault on Ben Gurion Airport. The very fact they succeeded, makes it much less probably they may cease, regardless of Israel’s retaliation. And the cycle continues. President Trump stated this week that indicators of life have been obtained from 21 Israeli hostages held by Ha**s in G**a. They’re being saved in tunnels, in horrible circumstances. It’s additionally been stated that there’s extreme danger of dropping the stays of the others ceaselessly if the warfare continues. Because the world’s consideration shifts, we should not overlook them. Now greater than ever, we should elevate our voices and demand: #BringThemHome ?? Their freedom can’t wait.
Within the wider tech world, OpenAI will continued to be managed by its non-profit arm and transitions to Public Profit Company construction. However Elon Musk is just not dropping his lawsuit. The corporate confirmed the acquisition of AI coding software Windsurf for $3bn, their largest acquisition up to now. Talking of AI coding, Anysphere the corporate behind Cursor raised $900M at $9 billion valuation. DoorDash is shopping for Deliveroo for $3.9 billion. Google‘s Gemini 2.5 Professional accomplished your entire Pokémon Blue recreation. Gemini 2.5 Professional enhanced coding and video-to-code options. The corporate additionally launched a brand new Gemini function for minimally-lossy textual content simplification. Google additionally made vital expansions to its ‘AI mode’ to compete with Perplexity. Be careful startups: Google additionally launched a Labs experiment to assist individuals be taught new languages… Microsoft launched next-generation Home windows AI experiences. As Apple fumbles their AI integration, Microsoft unveiled a brand new Floor Copilot+ PCs with AI capabilities. On a associated observe, Invoice Gates stated he’ll donate 99% of his $200 billion fortune to the poor. Apple partnered with Anthropic for AI-powered “Vibe-Coding” and Anthropic additionally launched App Integrations to attach extra apps to Claude a brand new AI Science program. 94 12 months previous Warren Buffet is stepping down from Berkshire Hathaway after 60 years as CEO. krea.ai launched GPT-PAINT – now you may immediate ChatGPT visually by way of edit marks, fundamental shapes, notes, and reference photos. Midjourney launched Omni-Reference for exact picture creation. Amazon launched Vulcan, a robotic with a way of contact. Mistral AI claims its latest AI mannequin delivers main efficiency for worth. Cisco launched a new quantum chip, opens lab facility.
Theres’ much more to cowl, however I gotta draw the road 🙂
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The true breakthrough comes not from having new concepts however from escaping from previous ones.” – John Maynard Keynes
NEW FUNDING ROUNDS
- Massive congrats Yarden Gross and crew Orca AI in your $72.5M collection B to drive autonomous Maritime transport platform!
- Nicely carried out Neatsun Ziv and crew OX Safety in your $60M collection to alert solely on probably the most crucial dangers within the utility growth and deployment lifecycle!
- Approach to go Shai Cohen and crew proteanTecs on the $50M in new funding, valuing the corporate at over $600M, to trace chip efficiency points remotely!
- Congratulations Dr Yishai Ashlag and crew Onebeat in your $15M collection A to your AI stock administration options for retail!
- Superior information Amit Carmi and crew Sett on popping out of stealth with a $15M collection A (and former $12M in seed funding) to assist cellular recreation studios with storytelling!
- Mazel tov Dori Yona and crew SimpleClosure in your $15M collection A to assist corporations shut down gracefully!
- Nice milestone Yaniv Altshuler and crew Alphabiome.ai in your $8M seed spherical to determine excessive potential biomarkers by decoding the microbiome!
EXITS
MISCELLANEOUS
APPOINTMENTS
LINKS FOR YOUR BROWSER
ISRAEL
- Israel’s Lightricks releases open-source mannequin for AI video.
- “We’re taking a look at one other 12 months or two of ache and uncertainty earlier than a brand new development cycle begins”
- Freed hostage Emily Damari says Pulitzer Prize board ‘failed humanity’
GLOBAL
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Sounds Alarm As 50% Of AI Researchers Are Chinese language, Urges America To Reskill Amid ‘Infinite Recreation’
- Warren Buffett’s prime recommendation for younger individuals helps you ‘discover ways to achieve success at life’—and has nothing to do with cash
VC CAFE/ REMAGINE
- Yesterday we shared our Remagine Ventures publication together with two new investments in Israeli stealth startups… I invite you to test it out and subscribe!
- How Enterprise Capital Companies are altering in 2025 – together with examples from Lightspeed, Common Catalyst, Sequoia Capital and extra.
- The “AI First” Firm – CEOs sign a brand new paradigm shift – together with the ‘leaked’ memos of the CEOs at Shopify, Fiverr, Duolingo and Field
MEDIA OF THE WEEK
Israel ranked prime in R&D spend as a part of GDP in 2023 (sadly, I’m undecided it’s nonetheless the case)
With the American financial system going through uncertainty, IPOs stalled, exits delayed, and returns to LPs shrinking, conventional VC is underneath strain. Because of this, different fashions like PE are gaining traction. (supply: IVC Knowledge and Insights)
World startup funding +5% YoY to $321B in 2024, 2.5x over 10 years (supply: Crunchbase)
U.S. startups obtained 56% of world VC funding in 2024 (supply)
Who will get probably the most site visitors in Generative AI? Your first guess might be appropriate.
A Survey of AI Agent Protocols (supply)
The founding associate of 8VC on Q1 2025 State of Enterprise Replace (supply).
What are the service sectors most definitely to get disrupted by AI? Venrock analysis concludes that Authorized, Insurance coverage and Wealth Advisory are very weak (supply)
How a lot cash do corporations elevate in every spherical? primarily based on newest information (principally US transactions) by Carta
AI startups disrupting drug discovery. Analysis by Scale Enterprise Companions (supply)
The businesses enabling the humanoid robots to turn out to be a actuality. Morgan Stanley‘s ‘Humanoid 100’ record (supply)
Good luck to Yuval Raphael, Israel’s Eurovision 2025 consultant, who survived the Nova Competition Bloodbath. Want her luck as she is receiving a whole lot of hate.
Thanks for studying. There’s lots to have a good time in our “small” group. Carry on creating!
I am a former basic associate at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google’s first bodily hub for startups.
I am additionally the founding father of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing collectively the startup ecosystem on biking challenges in assist of Room to Learn. Since inception in 2012 we have constructed 11 faculties and 50 libraries within the creating world.
