TechCrunch Summary (2023-05-23 07AM)

Source: Threading the needle: A peek at Paul Judge’s plans for Softbank’s Open Opportunity Fund

Summary
SoftBank’s Open Opportunity Fund has launched its second fund with a $150 million target, which aims to open the gates to minority entrepreneurs and startups. The Opportunity Fund’s first fund invested in 75 companies, half of which were early-stage ventures, and its portfolio now consists of five unicorns in addition to heavy hitters such as Greenwood, Brex, and Cityblock Health.

Fact
💰 The Opportunity Fund launched a second fund with a $150 million target.
🌟 The Opportunity Fund’s first fund invested in 75 companies, half of which were early-stage ventures.
🤝 The fund aims to open its doors wider to underrepresented communities by allowing anyone to submit pitches on its website or email address.
❌ Black founders only received 1% of all venture funding last year.

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Source: Apple partners with Broadcom to build 5G components in the United States

Summary
Apple has signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Broadcom in the US for designing and building 5G components to meet its commitment towards American manufacturing. Apple had previously committed $430bn to the US economy over five years and it is on track to hit that goal.

Fact

👩‍💼 Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed his belief in America’s future and willingness to invest in US economy

📈 Apple committed $430bn to the US economy over five years and is on track to achieving this

📱 Brooks is already a supplier to Apple and it operates facilities in Colorado and Pennsylvania

💻 Last year, Mac Pro desktop was the last product to receive its final assembly in America

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Source: Looking Glass taps ChatGPT for holographic cartoon animals

Summary
Brooklyn-based 3D display startup Looking Glass has introduced a conversational hologram called “Liteforms” that is powered by ChatGPT responses. The start-up claims that “Liteforms” will usher its customers to the world of talking, living holograms.

Fact

👥The desktop Portrait is priced at $399, making it more accessible to a wider audience compared to the 32- and 65-inch systems.

👩‍💼 Looking Glass has been prototyping the creation of holograms through communication. The ‘Liteforms’ hologram has been created to allow interactions with humans.

🤖 The conversation hologram system might be applied to the smart assistant’s industry, indicating that there is a future for smart assistants like Alexa and Google Home.

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Source: Anthropic raises $450M to build next-gen AI assistants

Summary
Anthropic, the generative AI startup co-founded by OpenAI veterans, has raised $450 million in a Series C funding round led by Spark Capital. The round includes investment from several tech giants such as Google, Salesforce, and Zoom. The company uses AI to perform conversational and text processing tasks and claims to have over a dozen customers in industries such as healthcare, HR, and education.

Facts

💰 Anthropic has raised $450 million in a Series C funding round led by Spark Capital, bringing their total funding to $1.35 billion.

🤖 Anthropic uses AI to perform conversational and text processing tasks.

🚀 Google, Salesforce, Zoom, and several undisclosed VC parties have all invested in the financing round, highlighting the potential of Anthropic’s tech.

🌐 The company claims to have more than a dozen customers across the healthcare, HR, and education sectors.

😎 The CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, split from OpenAI after a disagreement over the startup’s focus and launched the company in 2021 as a public benefit corporation.

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Source: Singapore-based BandLab Technologies raises $25M at $415M valuation

Summary
BandLab Technologies, the Singapore-based parent company of social music creation platform BandLab has raised $25m in series B1 funding led by returning investor, Cercano Management, pushing the firm’s valuation to $425m.

Fact

💰 – $25 million funding raised in series B1 led by Cercano Management with participation from Prosus Ventures.

👥 – BandLab Technologies has 60 million registered users across its properties.

🛠️ – The funding will be used on hiring, developing new music tools and BandLab for Education initiatives.

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