The Flowlie Times #39
Discover more from The Flowlie Times
The Flowlie Times #39
Good retention, Arm's IPO, Code Llama, AI for education, coding, and more.
Welcome to The Flowlie Times,
This edition is brought to you by Bull Street Talk.
New episode of The Fundraising Debrief podcast is available now. In this episode, we sit down with three-time founder Lamine Zarrad, to discuss his latest $15M Series A for StellarFi, his previous exit, and much more. This is an insights-packed coversation with a tenured entrepreneur that is not afraid to be as transparent as he can be. You don’t want to miss it.
Articles we enjoyed:
1️⃣ “What is good retention” by Lenny Rachitsky
Although retention is widely considered to be the most important metric to get right when building (and investing in) a business, it’s also one of the least understood.Why? Because unless you’re a growth expert or an experienced investor, you’re often relying on anecdotes, dated blog posts, and misguided benchmarks. I ran into this problem myself many times when working with startups.
2️⃣ Chip company Arm files for Nasdaq listing in IPO anticipated to be this year’s biggest
Arm, a UK-based chipmaker owned by SoftBank, has filed for a Nasdaq listing after announcing preliminary IPO paperwork earlier.
Arm's IPO is expected to be the largest in 2023; however, Bernstein analysts value the company at around $40 billion, and the financial information provided in Arm's F-1 filing may influence this estimate.
Arm joins grocery delivery company Instacart which recently filed for a long-awaited IPO. Is the IPO window finally opening up?
3️⃣ Introducing Code Llama, an AI Tool for Coding
OpenAI has released "Code Llama," a large language model (LLM) specialized in generating and discussing code.
It has the potential to improve developer workflows, assist learners, and enhance the creation of well-documented software.
It's designed to generate code, and perform code completion, and debugging across multiple programming languages.
Venture announcements that caught our eye:
1️⃣ Sizzle AI has raised $7.5 million in Seed funding, led by Owl Ventures and with participation from 8VC. Sizzle AI offers an interactive app called Sizzle that utilizes AI to guide learners step by step through various problems, fostering critical thinking skills and understanding of concepts. The funding will support the expansion of operations and the app's features, including the addition of more languages and learning benefits.
This edition’s sponsor: ✅ Bull Street Talk. Transform yourself into a more intelligent investor within minutes
Gain valuable insights on the latest news, opportunities, and strategies from our team. Join 5,000+ other investors who ready about up in coming start-ups, and have the opportunity to meet the founders. Subscribe for free.
2️⃣ Qase, a platform for managing software quality assurance testing and reporting, has raised $7.2 million in a Series A round led by Chrome Capital. Qase's platform offers comprehensive organizational views of testing reports and dashboards, syncing tests with ticket trackers, testing frameworks, and CI/CD tools. Qase has gained traction with annual recurring revenue reaching $2 million within three years and serving notable clients like Asana, SeatGeek, and DoorDash-owned Wolt.
3️⃣ Modular, a startup focused on simplifying the development and optimization of AI systems, has raised $100 million in a funding round led by General Catalyst, with participation from GV (Google Ventures), SV Angel, Greylock, and Factory. Modular offers an engine that improves the performance of AI models on CPUs and GPUs, along with Mojo, a programming language designed to combine Python's usability with advanced features.
4️⃣ San Francisco-based Panobi has secured $5 million in Seed funding led by Index Ventures. Panobi offers a growth platform that assists product and marketing teams by consolidating experimentation, metrics, and reports in one place, aiding companies in comprehending effective strategies. The funds will be used to develop the product further and support its commercial launch later this year.
Cheers,
Mike from Flowlie