✨ Deeptech 2024 wrapped, a thread on DeepSeek R1, TravelPerk's $2.7B valuation
Heartcore Insights Edition #120
Hi there,
Welcome to the 120th edition of Heartcore Insights, curated with 🖤 by the Heartcore Team.
If you missed the past newsletters, you can catch up here. Now, let’s dive in!
Everything that happened in deeptech in 2024 - Realtech News
In early January, Sam Cash published his annual wrap-up of deeptech advancements for 2024, spotlighting groundbreaking progress across several fields, particularly robotics. Below are the highlights that stood out:
Robotics and Manufacturing
Multimodal AI Models for the Physical World: These models gained significant traction, with notable funding rounds for World Labs ($230M) and Skild AI ($300M). These investments reflect growing confidence in AI systems capable of integrating multiple sensory inputs for real-world applications.
Vision-Language-Action (VLA) Models: Remarkable improvements were made in VLA models, enhancing robots' ability to understand and navigate complex environments. Innovations such as SpatialVLM and Wayve's LINGO-2 have significantly boosted spatial comprehension in robotic systems, especially in autonomous driving scenarios.
Physics-Integrated AI: Substantial progress in incorporating physics into deep learning was led by ArchetypeAI's Newton model and PhysicsX's Large Physics Model (LPM). These advancements bridge the gap between AI and the physical world, enabling more accurate simulations and predictions.
Open-Source Robotics: The field saw a notable expansion, with significant contributions such as The Well's 15-terabyte dataset and Hugging Face's LeRobot framework. These resources are democratizing access to robotics development and fostering widespread innovation.
Autonomous Vehicles
Major Funding Milestones: Wayve secured $1 billion in funding and established critical partnerships with Uber, cementing its position as a leader in end-to-end learning approaches for autonomous driving. This development underscores a growing shift in investor confidence towards AI-first solutions for autonomy.
High-Profile Exits: Apple discontinued its long-running Project Titan, and General Motors ceased Cruise operations after a $10 billion investment. These high-profile exits highlight the immense challenges of bringing fully autonomous vehicles to market and suggest potential industry consolidation on the horizon.
Defense and Geopolitics
AI in Defense: AI played an increasingly central role in defense, with Scale AI's "Defense Llama" and a collaborative effort between Palantir and Anthropic on "Claude 3.5" for defense-specific use cases. These developments underscore the growing reliance on AI in national security strategies.
Advancements in Drone Technology: Drone autonomy took significant strides forward, particularly in GPS-denied navigation and the development of low-cost, attritable units. These innovations are reshaping military tactics and advancing reconnaissance capabilities.
Palantir's Role in Defense Contracts: Palantir emerged as the first software prime contractor for the Department of Defense, marking a historic shift in how the military procures and integrates software solutions. This milestone could pave the way for more technology firms to engage directly in defense contracts.
Three Future States of the Early-Stage VC Ecosystem, Charles Hudson
PE is the new great vilain, Yoni Rechtman
What to watch in 2025, Mario Gabriele
Nuanced thoughts on DeepSeek R1, Gavin Baker
Sell the work/service/product, Thomas Renaudin
🇪🇺 Notable European early-stage rounds
Alteva, a Germany-based startup that develops battery cells for the decarbonisation of the global transport sector, raises €1.7M with HTGF - link
Nexos.ai, a Lithuania-based startup that helps enterprises take AI projects from pilot to production, raises $8M with Index Ventures - link
Sereact, a Germany-based startup developing hardware-agnostic AI models, raises €25M with Creandum/Point Nine - link
Robeauté, a France-based startup developing neurosurgical micro-robots, raises $28M with Plural/Cherry - link
Coave Therapeutics, a France based biotech startup developing gene therapies in rare CNS diseases, raises €32M with Novo Holdings/Bpifrance - link
🇺🇸 Notable US early-stage rounds
Alta Resource Technologies, a startup developing proteins that break down e-waste for rare earth metals, raises $5.1M with DCVC - link
Tapestry, a social infrastructure protocol for the Solana ecosystem, raises $5.75M with USV - link
Merit Systems, a startup developing an attribution protocol for open-source project, raises $10M with a16z crypto/Blockchain Capital - link
General Proximity, a biotech startup developing a platform that enables precise and selective modification of disease-driving proteins, raises $16M with Felicis - link
Gridware, a continuous power grid monitoring solution provider, raises $26.4M with Sequoia - link
Collate, an AI startup streamlining documentation for Life Science companies, raises $30M with Redpoint - link
🔭 Notable later stage rounds
Fundment, a UK-based investment platform for financial advisers, raises £45M with Highland Europe - link
Umoja Biopharma, clinical-stage company which specializes in vivo cell therapies, raises $100M with DCVC Bio - link
Hippocratic AI, the company that built the first healthcare LLM for patient-facing non-diagnostic clinical tasks, raises $141M with Kleiner Perkins - link
TravelPerk, a business travel management platform, raises $200M with Atomico/EQT - link
Whatnot, a livestream shopping app, raises $265M with DST Global - link
Anthropic, the public benefit startup behind generative AI chatbot Claude, raises $1B with Google - link
🖤 Heartcore News
We raised our Fund V of €170M. 🍾
We welcomed Heidi as Head of Capital Formation at Heartcore Capital and Tomas as an Investment Consultant on the Heartcore Web3 team. ❤️
Neo4j has reached an incredible milestone, surpassing $200M in revenue! 🎉
Kudos to TravelPerk 🖤 for acquiring Yokoy and raising $200M Series E at $2.7B, which is twice its valuation from last round. 🚀
Superform 🖤 raised $3M in a strategic round led by VanEck and participation from us. 🤩
We welcomed Wingbits to our Web3 portfolio, participating in a strategic funding round of $5.6M co-led by Borderless Capital and Bullish Capital. 🎊
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