AI dominated both YC Demo Day and startup news

This week has been a busy one for the startup and VC world, with a variety of funding news and, in fact, the most recent edition of YC Demo Day.

The most interesting startup stories of the week

Yes, AI, AI, AI. But there’s more happening here than meets the attention.

Departures: Several key individuals are leaving OpenAI — CTO Mira Murati, in addition to the corporate’s chief research officer and vp of research. There’s more context than we will summarize here, so should you’re so inclined, read on.

I keep that in mind: : Now it has been confirmed that former Apple designer Jony Ive is working on launching the AI ​​device with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. The unnamed enterprise could seek to boost as much as $1 billion by the tip of the 12 months.

AltGPT: Letta, the substitute intelligence startup founded by the researchers behind MemGPT and positioning itself as an “open alternative to OpenAI”, has come out of hiding and raised a variety of expectations.

Pipelines: Data Launch Airbyte launched Airbyte 1.0 with a concentrate on AI use cases. It has also provided a universally managed service for enterprises.

The most interesting collections this week

COVID-19 almost killed some businesses and strengthened others. Now firms from both groups are finding their place and further trends are being confirmed.

Exercises: German fitness startup EGYM has closed a $200 million Series G funding round, confirming investor interest within the broader preventive health trend.

Digital transformation: Whatfix, a San Jose-based company whose platform demonstrates the way to use third-party software, raised $125 million in a Series E round led by Warburg Pincus.

The power of artificial intelligence: Open source development platform Supabase raised an $80 million Series C round. The company currently positions itself as Postgres-focused and takes advantage of artificial intelligence developments; 10% lively databases for AI use cases in Power Power Services.

Beaming: Marvel Fusion raised €62.8 million in a Series B round to work towards making business fusion power with lasers a reality.

In the highlight: British startup Raycast has raised $30 million to make its Mac productivity app available on Windows and iOS, with a concentrate on “prosumer” users.

The most interesting VC and funding news this week

Exit time: Peak XV Partners, the biggest VC fund focused on India and Southeast Asia, has accomplished roughly $1.2 billion in exits since separating from Sequoia last 12 months, TechCrunch has learned from sources.

Rapid growth: European defense technologies will attract $1 billion in VC funding this 12 months, in response to a brand new report from Dealroom. This significant increase in comparison with previous years can also be related to the increased interest in dual-use technologies.

Sailing: Spanish VC firm All Iron Ventures has modified its name to Acurio Ventures and closed its third fund value $166 million, which can only make further investments.

No less vital

Taking place on September 25 and 26, Y Combinator’s online demo day for its summer 2024 batch was once more dominated by AI use cases, a few of which were particularly exciting. The format itself is changing: in the long run, there can be 4 Demo Days a 12 months, and YC CEO Garry Tan said the following one, which can be held on December 4, will include an in-person element.