"Chat with RTX", robotic microsurgery, AI foundational model for biology, key questions to ask when investing in deeptech, and many more...
What's Up Tech? #171
Welcome to our 171st newsletter. It was written with 🖤 by Justine Pelisson and our dear partner Sharpstone.
Our applications to the next baby vc bootcamps are still open until tomorrow 💛!
Submit your application right here. 🔗
Fundraisings from last week with MMI, Planity and Bioptimus
News from last week with Google’s latest features, NVIDIA’s “Chat with RTX” launch, and Truecaller’s recording feature’s expansion to India
Our content of the month by Sharpstone on the key investment criteria for a VC fund when investing in deeptech
Internships & Job offers of the week
Enjoy the read! 🌞
💉 MMI secured record $110M funding for Symani® surgical system (🇮🇹)
MMI (Medical Microinstruments, Inc.), an Italian obotics company specializing in enhancing treatment options for patients with complex conditions, has secured a groundbreaking $110 million in Series C financing - marking the largest investment in microsurgery innovation. 💰
The funds will drive the global commercialization of the Symani® Surgical System, supporting studies for clinical evidence, technology advancements, and operational scalability. MMI envisions rapid growth, anticipating the market for eligible robotic microsurgical procedures to surge from 3 million to 22 million annually by 2028. 🚀
The Symani System, a pioneering robotic technology, enables surgeons to replicate natural hand movements at a micro scale, expanding treatment possibilities for soft tissue surgeries. 🤖
💇 Planity raised €70M to transform beauty industry appointment management (🇫🇷)
Planity, a French tech platform revolutionizing the beauty and wellness industry's appointment management, has secured €70M ($80M) in a Series C funding round. The funds will fuel Planity's international expansion, enhance its platform features, and strengthen its position as a leader in salon and spa digitization. 💻
The platform enables seamless appointment booking, staff management, and client engagement, catering to the evolving needs of beauty businesses. This substantial investment marks a milestone for Planity as it propels its growth trajectory in the competitive beauty tech landscape.🌍
Planity raises $48 million because even hair salons need their own SaaS product
🧬 Bioptimus secured $35M to pave the AI path in biology (🇫🇷)
Bioptimus, a Paris-based Generative AI startup, secured a $35 million seed round led by Sofinnova Partners to develop a specialized AI foundational model for biology. With unique challenges in accessing sensitive clinical data, Bioptimus aims to advance disease diagnosis, precision medicine, and biomolecule discovery. 🔬
Co-founded by Jean-Philippe Vert and backed by partnerships with Owkin and Amazon Web Services, Bioptimus emerges as a significant player in the intersection of AI and biology research.🌱
Bioptimus Raises $35 Million Seed Round to Develop AI Foundational Model Focused on Biology
🔍 Google unveils new features at MWC in Barcelona
Google introduced new features at the Mobile World Congress for its phones, cars, and wearables. In case you missed it 👇✒
Gemini Messages: Rolling out in Google Messages beta, allows crafting messages using Gemini, despite facing criticism.
Android Auto: Reads summaries of long messages, provides quick reply suggestions, enhancing driving experiences.
Accessibility Enhancements: Lookout app generates AI captions for images, improved screen reader support for Lens in Maps.
Productivity Updates: Handwritten notes on Android docs, Spotify support through output switcher.
Fitbit App Redesign: Data integration from AllTrails, Oura Ring, MyFitnessPal for comprehensive health tracking.
Wear OS Improvements: Direct access to Google Wallet passes, voice-guided transit directions, and compass-guided navigation.
Google Announces New Accessibility and Productivity Features at MWC
🤖 NVIDIA launches "Chat with RTX": your offline personal AI companion 🤖
NVIDIA unveiled "Chat with RTX," an AI chatbot running locally on PCs, allowing users to personalize it offline. The tool, free to download, requires Windows 11, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30/40 Series GPU, 16GB+ RAM, and Driver 535.11+. 🖥️
Chat with RTX easily connects to local files, supporting various formats, and lets users query contextually relevant answers without relying on cloud-based services, ensuring data privacy. 🔐
NVIDIA unveils ChatGPT-rival ‘Chat with RTX’, an AI chatbot that Runs Locally on your PC
📞Truecaller introduces call recording and transcription in India
Truecaller, a caller identity company, is expanding its call recording feature for premium users in India. Premium users can now seamlessly record calls with English and Hindi transcriptions. 💬
Aiming to boost premium subscriptions, Truecaller continues to enhance user experience amid recent revenue challenges. 📱
Our content of the month is brought to you by our partner Sharpstone. Massive thanks to Marie Aristide for having written the piece below as well as to Charlotte Adam-Allais ! ✍️
🔍 What are the investment criteria for a fund to invest in a deeptech?
The number of deeptech startups in France has continued to grow in recent years. In 2022, 320 deeptech startups were created, representing a 27% increase from the previous year. 📈
The factors that an investor will consider before investing in a deeptech startup are:
👥 Team : Deeptech startups, characterized by a strong technological component, often require founders with a background in research. However, venture capitalists also assess their ability to be business-oriented, evaluating their strategic vision and understanding of the market.
🌐 Market: The solution must address a problem. The market needs to be analyzed, competitors identified, penetration strategy optimized, and the go-to-market strategy clear.
🔧 Technology: At this stage, the project's added value lies in the technology. Therefore, a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or a patent attests to technological progress and demonstrates the added value.
📚 Intellectual Property: Venture capitalists are vigilant about the terms of intellectual property exploitation.
💰 Financial: The business model must be valid. The financing roadmap is constructed based on the Tech and business roadmap, with specific stages.
🚀 Traction: Publishing research papers, having an experienced board of advisors, and having gone through incubators/accelerators are ways to demonstrate traction.
Interested in reading the full arctile (in 🇫🇷)? Find it right here!
Internships
Digital Venture Intern - Bpifrance (Paris)
Deep Tech VC analyst - Elaia (Paris)
Venture analyst InsurTech - Plug and Play (Valencia)
Jobs
Venture Capital Analyst - Concentric (London)
Associate - Episode 1 Ventures (London)
Finance and Investor Relations Associate - Visionaries Club (Berlin)
👉 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! 🤝
Have a wonderful week and see you next Tuesday!
The whole baby vc crew 🖤