AI-designed drug discovery, hybrid-electric planes, Amazon's Rufus assistant, and many more...
What's Up Tech? #168th
Welcome to our 168th newsletter, written with 🖤 by Arnaud Savouré and Justine Pelisson.
Fundraisings from last week with Rebellions, Heart Aerospace, DataSnipper, and Aqemia
News from last week with Amazon’s new chatbot assistant Rufus, the UK’s first AI safety advisory panel, and Next’s Sustainability Next program
Internships & Job offers of the week
Enjoy the read! 🌞
💾 Rebellions secured $124M in funding to advance its AI chip development (🇰🇷)
Rebellions, the Korean AI chipmaker, secured $124M in Series B funding to advance its AI chip development, notably the Rebel chip, in collaboration with Samsung. The round values Rebellions at approximately $658 million. 💻
The funds will support Atom chip production for data centers and hiring initiatives. The partnership with Samsung focuses on Rebel's deployment in large language models, targeting generative AI markets. Rebellions plans to complete Rebel's development by year-end, commencing mass production in 2025.🚀
Korean AI Chipmaker Rebellions Closes $124M Series B Fundraise
✈️ Heart Aerospace raised $107M to revolutionize regional air travel with hybrid-electric planes (🇸🇪)
Heart Aerospace, the Swedish developer of hybrid-electric regional aircrafts, secured $107M in Series B funding, bringing total financing to $145M. 🌍
The funds will advance the ES-30, a 30-passenger hybrid-electric airplane, aiming to revolutionize regional air travel with lower emissions and operating costs. Heart Aerospace plans to unveil a full-scale aircraft demonstrator this year and is on track for type certification with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).🛫
📊 DataSnipper raised $100M, and became Amsterdam’s newest unicorn (🇩🇪)
DataSnipper, the Amsterdam-based AI audit software, has secured a $100 million Series B funding round, reaching a $1 billion valuation! 🦄
DataSnipper serves over 400k auditors across 125 countries, including major firms like Deloitte, KPMG, EY, and PwC. The platform automates up to 90% of menial tasks, contributing to a significant reduction in costs. 💸
DataSnipper aims to tackle challenges in the audit sector, where increased regulation and data volumes have led to significant inefficiencies. The new funding will support further expansion across the Asia-Pacific and Latin American markets 💼
DataSnipper Raises $100M at $1B Valuation to Empower Auditors with AI
🧪 Aqemia secured €60M to accelerate AI-designed drug discovery (🇫🇷)
Paris-based biotech Aqemia has raised an additional €30 million in an extension to its Series A, bringing the total funding for the round to €60 million. 💰
The startup combines generative AI with quantum-inspired algorithms to revolutionize drug discovery, significantly reducing the time and cost traditionally associated with the process. 📉
Aqemia's AI technology, trained on the laws of physics governing molecular structures, invents millions of potential drug candidates, with quantum-inspired algorithms swiftly testing and refining them.💊
Gen AI and Quantum to Design New Drugs: Paris-based Aqemia Completes €60m Series A
🤖 Amazon introduces Rufus: AI shopping assistant in mobile app
Amazon has launched Rufus, an AI-powered shopping assistant, to a subset of U.S. customers in beta, with plans to expand availability to more users in the coming weeks. Rufus is trained on Amazon's product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and web data, aiming to assist customers with product information, comparisons, and recommendations.💡
The generative AI experience can answer queries related to various shopping needs and provide insights, enhancing the overall shopping experience. Customers can engage with Rufus by typing or speaking questions through the Amazon mobile app. 🛒
Amazon Announces Rufus, a New Generative AI-Powered Conversational Shopping Experience
💂♂️ DSIT establishes advisory panel for international AI safety report
On February 1st, the UK's Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) unveiled an advisory panel of AI experts from 30 countries. This panel will guide the development of the first edition of the International Scientific Report on Advanced AI Safety, initially announced at the UK AI Safety Summit. The report aims to contribute to global discussions on AI safety and inform policymaking worldwide. ✍️
DSIT emphasized principles like comprehensiveness, objectivity, transparency, and scientific assessment during the report's preparation. The first iteration is expected to be published by spring 2024. This initiative reflects the UK's commitment to fostering responsible and secure AI practices on a global scale. 🔐
UK: DSIT Announces Advisory Panel to Help Develop Report on AI Safety
🚀 Join the environmental revolution with Next’s Sustainability Next: train, challenge leaders, and become a change catalyst!
Join Next, a startup aiming to contribute to building the impact-driven business world of tomorrow cofounded by Nicolas Dessus (baby vc’s cofounder) and Victor Bocquillon, just introduced Sustainability Next, an 8-week training program for young leaders focused on environmental impact. ☘️
The program will feature online masterclasses, interactive sessions with global executives from top companies (L’Oréal, Meta, LVMH, Vestiaire Collective,…), networking events, and a certification.💫
The first edition will be available starting February 6th, in French, with English content soon to be released. 👌🏻
Internships
VC Analyst - Iris Capital (Paris)
VC Analyst - Varsity (Paris)
VC Analyst - Freigeist (Bonn)
Jobs
Investment Manager/ Analyst - Alpha Future Funds (Munich)
Investment Analyst - D11Z Ventures (Heilbronn)
Venture Analyst Insurtech - Plug and Play (Valencia)
👉 If you’d like to discover more offers, you can check our job board just here or fill this form to submit a new one.
You can also read more about baby vc on our website and follow our updates on LinkedIn, or directly reach out to us at hello@baby-vc.co! 🤝
The whole baby vc crew 🖤