Mistral AI back with more money, the EU AI Act still on the table, Low-Tech sustainable startups on the trend, and many more...
What's Up Tech? #161
Welcome to our 161st newsletter. It was written with 🖤 by Chiara Bagaini, Mila Ruiz, Andy Yu, Justine Pelisson and our dear partner Sharpstone.
Fundraisings from last week with Mistral AI, SumUp, Tacto, and Singular VC
News from last week with the European AI Act
Our content of the month by Sharpstone on Financing Sustainable Startups in a Digital Age
Internships & Job offers of the week
Enjoy the read! 🌞
👑 Mistral AI raised €385M, on a mission to become a global AI champion (🇫🇷)
French AI startup Mistral AI has secured €385 million in funding, propelling its valuation to €1.86 billion! Mistral AI, with just under a year of existence, has recently unveiled Mixtral 8x7B, an open-source language model that outperforms Meta Llama 70B in benchmarks. It has also just signed a key partnership with Google Cloud.☄️
Notable for its commitment to open source, the startup raised €105 million in just four weeks, drawing attention from industry leaders and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Moreover, Mistral AI's involvement in the Kyutai project, a non-profit research lab dedicated to open science in AI, solidifies its impact on the French AI landscape. 🔎
Backed by influential figures and government support, Mistral AI, led by co-founder Arthur Mensch, is shaping the future of AI in France - and beyond. 🔭
Mistral AI, a Paris-based OpenAI Rival, Closed its $415 Million Funding Round
↗️ SumUp secured €285M to provide accessible financial solutions to small enterprises (🇬🇧)
SumUp, the UK-fintech specializing in financial services for small businesses, has announced a €285 million founding round. Founded in 2012, SumUp provides payment solutions and financial services to over 4 million global businesses. With a profitable track record since Q4 2022 and sustained annual revenue growth exceeding 30%, the company has expanded to its 36th market in Australia and established key partnerships with industry players like JCB and Apple. 🤝
This latest funding is poised to fuel SumUp's global expansion, enabling the delivery of tools and services crucial for small merchants to initiate, manage, and grow their businesses. 💳
🌐 Tacto raised €50M for AI-powered supply chain solutions (🇩🇪)
Munich-based startup Tacto, an innovator in AI-driven supply chain management for SMEs, has announced a substantial €50 million funding injection. 🚀
This capital boost is set to enhance Tacto's AI technology, which streamlines supply chain processes for mid-sized industrial companies. Tacto's system offers strategic supplier management and compliance with ESG regulations, simplifying complex procurement tasks. CEO André Petry emphasizes the tool's potential to maintain competitiveness amid increasing supply chain challenges. 📊
With this funding, Tacto aims to revolutionize supply chain management, making it more efficient, compliant, and sustainable for the SME sector. 🌿
Tacto Secures 50 Million Euros for The Development of Future-Proof Supply Chains in the SME Sector
🙌 French VC Singular has closed a new €400m early-stage fund (🇫🇷)
After its first €225m fund launched in early 2020, Paris-based VC Singular has just closed a new €400m early-stage fund, placing it up there with some of France’s biggest investors. Singular VC is a venture capital firm that is focused on investing in early-stage startups in the United States and Europe in a wide range of industries, led by experienced investors and entrepreneurs. 💸
This means that from now on Singular is competing with funds raised by some of France’s most established investors. 🪄
How Secretive French VC Singular Raised Over €600m in Just Three Years
🤖 Decoding the EU's AI Act: Navigating Regulations and Uncertainties (🇪🇺)
Since April 2021, the European Parliament has been working on the first EU regulatory framework for AI, aiming to shape the future of AI governance. The Parliament’s priority is to make sure that AI systems used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly. ✍️
In a landmark move last week, the European Union has provisionally agreed on its groundbreaking AI regulation. The act says that AI systems that can be used in different applications are analysed and classified according to the risk they pose to users. Yet the act, initially proposed in 2021, has undergone last-minute compromises and is not expected to take full effect until 2025, allowing major players like OpenAI and Google time to navigate regulatory challenges. The intricate rules, influenced by the level of risk an AI system poses, sparked debates and compromises, and raised concerns around blocking innovation.❓
The act addresses issues like data transparency and copyright concerns, but falls short of creating new laws around data collection. While the impact on AI behavior around data is debated, the act still provides transparency requirements and data nutrition labels for companies. 📝
The EU's AI Act sets a global standard, pushing nations, especially the US, to speed up regulations. Reflecting EU's commitment to AI governance, experts stress global collaboration for ethical AI. Expected to be voted on by early 2024, with an effective date two years after passage, these would be the world’s first AI rules...🌐
Our content of the month is brought to you by our partner Sharpstone. Massive thanks to Pauline Peroni from the team for having written the piece below as well as to Charlotte Adam-Allais and Marie Aristide ! ✍️
🔍 From High-Tech to Low-Tech: Financing Sustainable Startups in a Digital Age
In a world dominated by technology, the "low-tech" lifestyle is gaining ground. Nowadays, technological innovation is seen as a key to success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, despite its verification, this thesis is not an absolute truth. 🔎
Offering more efficient products, that require less material and energy to produce, lowers their cost, but potentially leads to a rebound effect. For instance, digital technologies, while facilitating exchanges, have significant systemic effects. Energy consumption related to digital use is rising by 9% annually, reaching 3.7% of global emissions in 2023. 🤯
In this context, the term "low-tech" has emerged in recent years. Low-tech refers to products employing simple, inexpensive technologies that are accessible to everyone and easily repairable. It represents a form of innovation aiming to adhere as much as possible to the principles of resilience, ecology, and circular economy. ☘️
Finding suitable funding for low-tech startups has become easier thanks to more and more actors. Examples include impact funds like Arkéa Capital, Serena, and R&CO4Generation. Incubators such as 0.6 Planet, MT Lab, and Explore are also highlighted. ADEME (The French Agency for Ecological Transition) and calls for projects are also an option. 🤝
Interested in reading the full article by Sharpstone (in 🇫🇷)? Find it here!
Internships
Visiting Investment Analyst - Heliad Equity Partners (Frankfurt)
VC Analyst Intern - Debiopharm (Lausanne)
VC Investor Relations Intern - OneRagtime (Paris)
Jobs
Investment Associate - twentyAI (London)
Investment Associate Deep Tech- MIG Capital (Munich)
Associate Venture Capital - Oyster Bay Venture Capital (Hamburg)
👉 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 🖤