The Flowlie Times #43
A backstage pass for the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried; an interview with LATAM's Super Angel; Reg. CF stories; not missing the AI train; new seed rounds; and more.
Welcome to The Flowlie Times,
This edition is brought to you by Aura.
Podcast highlight
A new episode of The VC Architects podcast is available now. In this episode, Ivan Montoya of NuMundo Ventures, the original LATAM Super Angel, joins Vlad, our co-founder and CEO. They discuss investment strategies, fundraising, and more.
Articles we enjoyed:
1️⃣ Our favorite article of the week is “The insider: how Michael Lewis got a backstage pass for the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried” by Guardian.
As the author of The Big Short and Moneyball, Michael Lewis is perhaps the most celebrated journalist of his generation. Now he delivers an astonishing portrait of the fallen crypto billionaire. But did he get too close?
2️⃣ A great article by Data-driven VC. Includes a framework for accessing the potential of AI for 1) the company’s workforce and 2) the company’s own product.
3️⃣ Canva is launching Magic Studio, a suite of AI-powered design tools to make content creation more accessible. Magic Studio features like Magic Switch can transform designs into various formats, while text-to-video capabilities and new photo editing tools are added. Canva is also introducing Canva Shield for safety and privacy controls and a Creator Compensation Program, allocating $200 million to pay designers whose content trains the AI models.
Podcast highlight
A new episode of The Fundraising Debrief podcast is also available now. In this episode, Brad Larschan, founder and CEO of Avadain, joins Vlad Cazacu, our co-founder and CEO, to discuss their success in raising over $10M with $6M of that through equity crowdfunding.
Venture announcements that caught our eye:
1️⃣ Gradient, raises $10 million in funding, simplifies AI app development using large language models (LLMs) in the cloud. It offers tools to deploy specialized LLMs at scale, with a focus on affordability. Gradient aims to differentiate itself by allowing companies to "productionize" multiple LLMs simultaneously.
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2️⃣ French startup Pivot is modernizing procurement processes for fast-growing companies by providing a streamlined spend management solution. The platform simplifies financial management, automates workflows, and integrates with existing tech stacks, aiming to save time and reduce complexity in procurement. Pivot has secured €5 million in pre-seed funding and is already working with initial clients, with gradual expansion plans.
3️⃣ Fintech startup Frec has secured $26.4 million in funding, led by Greylock, to offer accessible and automated investment strategies through its products. Frec's flagship offering, Frec Direct Indexing, combines customized index investing with tax optimization and daily tax-loss harvesting, potentially increasing returns by 2.11% annually, positioning it competitively against robo-advisors and wealth managers.
Have a great week,
Mike from Flowlie