According to Index Ventures partner Paris Heymann, the current wave of AI-powered products and services can be categorized into three tiers.
- foundation model
- AI infrastructure
- AI application
“Some of these applications are almost horizontal,” he writes at TC+. “But many AI applications will also be vertical, or industry-focused.”
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In this market map, Heyman looks at AI stack startups exploring the myriad facets of this exploding sector, shares his thoughts on where “vertical AI” is headed, and discusses how SaaS startups It offers advice on how to approach the inclusion of functionality.
“Own data and distribution will be a winning combination in the race to build both horizontal and vertical AI applications,” he predicts.
In honor of Independence Day, we’re rolling out on a lighter schedule, so I’ll be sending you a roundup of the new TC+ on Friday, July 7th.
Have a nice week!
Walter Thompson
TechCrunch+ Editorial Manager
@your hero
How Sensitive Computing Can Secure the Adoption of Generative AI
Image credit: Mirage C (opens in new window) / Getty Images
The development rush of generative AI is creating new challenges for companies on how to use their own data to build powerful models while maintaining security and privacy.
“Securing training data and models should be a top priority,” says Anjuna CEO and co-founder Ayar Yogeb.
“Encrypting database fields and form rows is no longer enough.”
Big Tech Venture Capital 🤝 Generative AI Startup
Image credit: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
Generative AI startup Typeface emerged from stealth earlier this year, but a $100 million Series B round that just boosted the company’s valuation to $1 billion saw “a tech giant brandish its most powerful weapon: the checkbook. , Alex Wilhelm wrote.
The Exchange explores how Microsoft, Salesforce, and other corporate ventures are entering AI-related products and services.
“As long as the founding team has a background in AI and plans to sell a lot of AI technology to big companies, we can expect a lot of cash from big tech funds and traditional venture investors alike.”
Cryptocurrency losses halved to $204 million in Q2 2023
Image credit: Getty Images
Are the rug pulls, exploits and pump-and-dump schemes that have defrauded so many cryptocurrency consumers becoming a thing of the past?
According to a De.Fi report using information from REKT, “55% loss in Q2 2023 compared to Q1 2023, when the industry lost a massive $462.3 million to hacks and fraud. It has shrunk,” writes Jacqueline Melinek.
Four VCs explain good reason to be optimistic about the machine learning startup market
Image credit: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
Training augmented models to power AI applications is a daunting task. Machine learning startups can charge clients for everything from optimizing ad campaigns to generating huge datasets.
Kyle Wiggers polled four investors to find out what they thought was “Is the ML industry’s hype cycle waning or intensifying?” We discussed obstacles and got some advice for founders starting out in this space.
- Lonne Jaffe, Managing Director, Insight Partners
- Jerry Chen, Partner at Greylock
- Ashish Kakran, Principal Tom Best
- Janelle Teng, Vice President, Bessemer Venture Partners
Ask Sophie: How do I transfer Ukrainian and Russian team members to the US?
Image credit: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
dear sophie
Our startup employs about 30 people worldwide in a combination of direct and co-hiring based on country.
Over the past year and a half or so, we have helped several team members migrate from Ukraine and Russia to non-Schengen countries such as Georgia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
I know it will be expensive to bring these employees to the US, but our startup will be more successful. How do we get them here?
— meaningful money making
Funds of funds are starting to play a different role for venture LPs
Traditional fund of funds has fallen out of favor, but LPs’ appetite for innovative approaches remains. Image credit: Getty Images
Rebecca Szkutak looks back on the slump in fund of funds activity over the past few years and finds that several factors are pushing limited partners to look elsewhere.
“There are more opportunities to invest in VC than ever before,” said Kyle Stanford, senior venture analyst at PitchBook.
“When new LPs entered the market, they didn’t have to go to a fund of funds to get access.”
Pitch Deck Teardown: Super.com’s $60 Million Series C Deck
Image credit: super dot com (opens in new window)
Travel/fintech/e-commerce startup Super.com, formerly known as SnapCommerce, has raised nearly $200 million, including an $85 million Series C in April 2023.
The company, which offers credit-building cashback cards, has shared with TC+ the 17-slide pitch deck it used to close out its latest round.
- cover slide
- mission slide
- traction slide 1
- traction slide 2
- team slide
- Customer (half slide)
- Customer information
- Target customers/market size
- Savings Super App (gap slide)
- why slide now
- “Why Super App” slide
- product slide
- product roadmap slides
- User behavior slide
- Solution slide (“SuperCash is the heart of the experience”)
- Value Proposition Slide (“Personalized Experience”)
- “Ask a question” slide
11 venture capitalists reveal how difficult it was to raise startup funding in the first half of 2023
Image credit: Tommy (opens in new window) / Getty Images
Alex Wilhelm surveyed 11 investors to find out what headwinds their portfolio companies faced in the first half of 2023.
“From their responses, it seems that whether a startup can raise money in today’s climate is based on several key factors such as capital efficiency, market and needs,” he wrote.
