Weekly Download #17

If you thought the govt buying Intel equity was peak 2025, wait until you hear about Oracle "securing" an algorithm they don't understand for a platform that 170M Americans can't quit.

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🎯 BLUF: Bottom Line Upfront

• TikTok's "American Dream" Deal: ByteDance jumps from $230B to $400B valuation as Trump orchestrates a deal where Oracle pretends to understand the algorithm while the Murdochs join the board

• H-1B Nuclear Option: Trump's $100K visa fee just broke India's $280B IT sector and sent tech workers racing to airports with 48-hour deadlines

• AI Infrastructure Insanity: OpenAI commits $450B through 2030 while DeepSeek trains GPT-4 level AI for $294K using leftover chips

• Figure Hits $39B: Humanoid robot startup valued more than Ford Motor Company despite robots that can barely high-five

• SoftBank Fires Winners: Vision Fund axes 20% of staff after best quarter since 2021 to feed Masa's $500B Stargate addiction

🎭 TikTok's Great American Makeover: When National Security Meets Reality TV

📱 The Deal That Makes WeWork Look Financially Responsible

After months of threatening to ban TikTok, Trump announced a deal structure:

• The Board: 6 Americans, 1 ByteDance rep who's excluded from the security committee

• The Investors: Oracle, Silver Lake, A16Z, and somehow the Murdochs

• The Algorithm: ByteDance creates a copy, leases it to the US entity, and Oracle "secures" it

• The Timeline: Another 120-day extension, because why not

💰 ByteDance's $170B Victory Lap

ByteDance's valuation rocketed from $230B to $400B on news of the deal, with the math not adding up:

• Ownership: ByteDance keeps <20% but somehow gains $170B in value

• Control: US investors get majority control of an algorithm they're leasing

• Verification: Oracle gets to "verify the retraining" of code that probably has more parameters than they have employees

• Audience: 170M Americans keep their dopamine dispenser

🤔 The "National Security" Theater

Press Sec Karoline Leavitt claims they're "100% confident" the deal is done and the algorithm will be "controlled by America." Meanwhile:

• The algorithm is still owned by ByteDance

• It's being leased, not sold

• Oracle is handling security who had a major security breach in 2023

• The Murdochs are somehow involved in national security now

Reality Check: This isn't protecting America from China. It's protecting America from having to explain to 170M voters why their favorite app disappeared before the 2026 midterms.

💣 The $100K H-1B Bomb: When "America First" Costs More Than a Tesla

🎯 Trump's Nuclear Option on Tech Talent

In a late Friday news dump that sent tech executives into cardiac arrest, Trump signed an EO imposing a $100K fee on H-1B visas:

• Amazon (14K+ H-1B employees), Google, and Microsoft sent urgent memos: "GET BACK TO THE US NOW"

• Deadline: Sept 21 at midnight (48-hour window)

• JPMorgan told employees to cancel all international travel indefinitely

• Tech workers are literally racing to airports

Commerce Sec Howard Lutnick's Hot Take: "Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs."

💸 The Math That Breaks India's Entire Business Model

India's $280B IT services sector just watched its business model get obliterated:

• Indian IT firms typically make $15-20K profit per H-1B worker

• The $100K fee = 5-6 years of profit per employee

• Infosys and TCS's margins just went from "tight" to "nonexistent"

• Over 70% of H-1B visas go to Indian nationals

Plot Twist: India's government is already planning retaliatory measures, because nothing says "trade war" like weaponizing visa programs.

🌏 The Unintended Consequences Speedrun

While Big Tech can absorb $100K/employee like a rounding error, here's who's actually screwed: early-stage startups, biotech companies, universities, and hospitals.

What Actually Happens Next:

1. Offshoring Boom: Hire entire teams in India over paying $100K+ salaries

2. Canada/Mexico Arbitrage: Start "near-shoring" talent from our neighbors

3. Remote Work Victory: Remote work has a resurgence as Zoom doesn't need a visa

4. Startup Exodus: Incorporate in Toronto over Delaware to avoid the fees

The Bottom Line: In trying to save US jobs, Trump just made US companies uncompetitive, accelerated offshoring, and turned the H-1B into a luxury product that only the Mag 7 can afford.

🤖 The AI Infrastructure Arms Race: When $450B Isn't Enough

💸 Everyone's Writing Blank Checks to Nvidia

The AI infrastructure spending is entering "monopoly money" territory with OpenAI committing $450B through 2030 and signing a $100B partnership with Nvidia for 10GW of compute.

The Spending Insanity:

• OpenAI: $350B for training/inference + $100B for "backup servers" = $450B total

• Nvidia-OpenAI: Nvidia "invests" $100B in OpenAI... as OpenAI buys $100B of Nvidia chips (circular economy at its finest)

• Meta: $20B to Oracle + $10B to Google + $600B on own servers = "yes"

• Oracle: Collecting checks from everyone: OpenAI ($300B), Meta ($20B), and xAI (undisclosed)

Sam Altman: "Everything starts with compute."

Translation: "Jensen Huang owns my soul."

🤯 Plot Twist: DeepSeek Trained GPT-4 Level AI for $294K

While Silicon Valley burns GDP-sized piles of cash, Chinese startup, DeepSeek, just announced they trained their reasoning model for $294K using 512 Nvidia H800 chips.

The Implication: Either everyone else is monumentally inefficient, or DeepSeek figured something fundamental out. Given that OpenAI needs $100B in "backup servers" for "unforeseen breakthroughs," we're betting on the former.

🐉 China's Response: Build Smarter, Not Richer

Faced with US sanctions, China is building a distributed AI grid connecting regional clusters via Huawei's networking tech. Their Wuhu cluster's $37B investment looks quaint next to US spending, but when you can train GPT-4 for $294K, they may be onto something.

The Bottom Line: We're watching the largest infrastructure buildout in history, where OpenAI alone plans to spend more than Norway's GDP, while a Chinese startup proved you could do it for less than a Bay Area house down payment.

⚡ Startup Quick Hits: From Robot Billions to Tiny Home Millions

🚀 xAI's $200B Valuation Despite Executive Exodus: Musk's AI company raised $10B at a $200B valuation (up from $150B in weeks), even as executives flee over "management concerns and unrealistic projections."

💻 Groq Bags $750M at $6.9B for Being "Not Nvidia": The AI chip startup known for blazing-fast inference secured one of hardware's largest rounds ever. Their pitch: "We're 10x faster than GPUs for inference." The catch: Training still needs Nvidia.

🤖 Figure Hits $39B Valuation Because Humanoids Are So Hot Right Now: The SF-based robot maker raised over $1B Series C led by Parkway Venture Capital, with everyone from Nvidia to T-Mobile piling in. At the moment, their robots can barely walk.

📊 AppZen's $180M for Being "AI-First Since 2012": The finance automation startup raised Series D from Riverwood Capital, claiming they've been "AI-first" since founding. After 13 years and $290M raised, they're still doing expense reports and AP automation.

🏠 Samara's $34M for Backyard Tiny Homes: Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia's prefab housing startup raised Series B from Thrive Capital after hitting $100M revenue. They're shipping 10 homes/month in California with 7-18 month wait times.

⚡ Investor Quick Hits: Everyone Wants Their Own Fund

💰 Jack Altman's Lightning-Fast $275M Fund: Sam's brother closed Alt Capital's second fund in ONE MONTH (most commitment talks happened in a single week). Jumping from $150M to $275M in under a year proves the Altman surname is basically a money printer. The fund’s focus will be on AI startups disrupting SaaS.

🔪 SoftBank Vision Fund Axes 20% of Staff Despite Best Quarter Since 2021: In peak SoftBank logic, the Vision Fund is laying off 60+ employees globally right after posting its strongest performance in years (thanks to Nvidia gains). Why? Masa Son needs bodies for his $500B Stargate fever dream with OpenAI.

📈 Robinhood Launches Venture Fund for Retail Investors: Robinhood wants to let retail investors buy startup equity through a NYSE-traded closed-end fund (ticker: RVI). Because if there's one thing retail investors need, it's access to illiquid, high-risk startup investments they can't properly diligence.

💸 In Other Funding News

Here's a roundup of notable recent funding rounds across various sectors:

🤖 Business Process Automation & AI

• Invisible Technologies: Raised $100M Round for an ops automation platform that combines AI and human intel.

• Hyperbound: Raised $15M Series A. AI sales coaching & role-play platform to upskill revenue teams.

• Myriad AI: Raised $8M Seed led by CV for reliable and controllable AI platform to put compliance on autopilot.

• Airbuds: Raised $5M Seed led by Seven Seven Six for social music software meant to bring users together through music experiences.

• Airbuds Widget: Raised $5M Seed for mobile app that allows friends to share their music listening activity in real-time through a widget.

• DianaHR: Raised $4M Seed led by SNR.vc for AI HR tools that streamline management for small businesses.

• Upscale AI: Raised $100M Seed led by Maverick Silicon. Networking with purpose-built solutions for high-performance compute.

• Keplar: Raised $3M Seed led by Kleiner Perkins for AI market research platform that enables natural voice conversations with customers.

🔧 Developer Infrastructure & Tools

• CodeRabbit: Raised $60M Series B led by Accel & Flex Capital for an AI code review platform that helps devs ship secure code faster.

• Console: Raised $23M Series A led by DST Global, Thrive Capital for platform for managing cloud infrastructure, APIs, authentication, and user access for dev teams.

• Blacksmith: Raised $10M Series A led by GV for the fastest way to run GitHub Actions.

• Luminary Cloud: Raised $72M Series B led by N47 for Physics AI platform for design exploration and optimization of physical products.

🤖 Robotics

• Dyna Robotics: Raised $120M Series A led by CRV, First Round & RoboStrategy for developing advanced robotic manipulation models.

• Roam Robotics: Raised $242K Round for a robotics company developing mobility through powered orthotics.

• Omni Design: Raised $35M Series A led by CDIB -TEN Capital for developer of ultra-low power semiconductor embedded circuits.

💳 Fintech

• PayNearMe: Raised $50M Series E led by AVP for web and mobile-based cash payments platform designed to facilitate online purchases and bill payments.

• Numeral: Raised $35M Series B led by GV & Menlo Ventures for an API platform for accounting and finance workflows.

🏥 Healthcare & Biotech

• Dualitas Therapeutics: Raised $65M Series A led by Qiming Venture Partners USA. Bispecific antibody treatments for inflammatory and immunological disorders.

• Tioga Cardiovascular: Raised $23M Venture Round for healthcare company providing valve replacement solutions for mitral and tricuspid applications.

• MedSetGo: Raised $2M Seed led by Turbostart for at-home care platform.

• Aecor Bio: Raised $2M Funding Round for development and discovery of peptides.

• Hospitality.ai: Raised $500K Seed for SaaS, mobile app, EdTech platform.

🏢 Other Notable Rounds

• PostSig: Raised $4M Seed led by Differential Ventures for automating the post-signature contract management process.

• DACLab: Raised $3M Seed led by Peter Relan for climate tech company specializing in scalable, cost-effective direct air capture solutions for carbon dioxide removal.

• Rec Technologies: Raised $11M Series A led by Crosslink Capital for IT firm.

• Audioshake: Raised $19M VR for AI to separate music and speech to help make audio more interactive and accessible.

• Volcano Platforms: Raised $5M Seed for IT software firm dev tech for CFD simulation software to generate dataset for AI/ML models training.

• AtlasNova: Raised $2M Seed for comprehensive, one-stop AI SaaS platform offering customized multi-modal AI solutions.

• CoreThink: Raised $1M FR for platform that offers capable AI systems to access, control and customize solutions across enterprise workflows.

Please note that we're still working on building our data pipelines to identify pre-seed rounds as they come.

🤝 M&A Activity

• 🔒 CrowdStrike Drops $260M on Pangea for "AI Detection & Response": After their kernel update took down half the planet in July, CrowdStrike's buying their way back to relevance with Pangea's AI security tools.

• 🛡️ Check Point Acquires Lakera for ~$300M to Secure "Agentic AI": The cybersecurity giant is panic-buying AI security capabilities. Lakera specializes in protecting "agentic workflows" (autonomous AI agents).

• 🏥 Innovaccer Buys Story Health for "Continuous Specialty Care": The healthcare AI company continues its acquisition spree (4th in 2 years), adding Story Health's specialty care platform.

• 🎬 Rembrand Merges with Spaceback for AI Ad Creation: Two companies you've never heard of are merging to create an "AI-powered creative platform" that turns social content into ads and does virtual product placement.

🌟 Editor's Note

At Startup Intros, our mission is to bring the latest founder-investor news straight to your inbox, keeping you ahead in the fast-paced world of Silicon Valley. Our free weekly newsletter delivers curated insights, deals, and trends to help you navigate the startup ecosystem.

💭 Parting Thoughts

That's a wrap on another week where a company spending half a trillion dollars on servers coexists with a startup that achieved the same results for less than a Ferrari, and where the solution to competing with China is apparently to become China but with worse efficiency.

Forward to a friend or hit reply to let me know what you're seeing in your world.

Till next time!

P.S. Raised this week, and we missed you? Want to be featured? Have tips or funding questions? Reply or DM us as we’re here to help.

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