Hi there,
Welcome to the 115th 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!
Earth AI - Not Boring by Packy McCormick
The energy transition and the rise of advanced technologies have increased the demand for critical metals, like lithium, cobalt, and copper, essential for EVs, batteries, and data centers. Mining is a $2T global industry and critical metals used in batteries and solar panels account for $320B. The industry does however face a problem: new metal discoveries have slowed dramatically, leading to higher exploration costs, regulatory hurdles, supply shortages, and increased prices. This impedes the energy transition, technological advancement, and economic growth.
As of late, VCs have recognized the industry's potential and are increasingly investing in software companies that enhance discovery rates and mining efficiency. This trend however is still nascent, with only $140M invested in 2023, leaving ample opportunity for further investments. In the past, selling software to explorers has not been a good business, as there is a limited amount of accounts to sell into and adoption is slow. Companies daring to vertically integrate (i.e. to do exploration, drilling, and maybe even extraction) might be able to build the most efficient explorer out there. Enter: Earth AI.
Instead of selling software to explorers, Earth AI is an explorer and a driller. It uses technology to discover new greenfield opportunities and deposits more efficiently, and drills to prove out those deposits more quickly than traditional explorers and drillers. And it's working: they already account for ~7% of the discoveries the whole industry made in 2023.
Earth AI is a prime example of how tech companies can transform the mining industry. By integrating AI with physical exploration and drilling, players can address the current slowdown in metal discoveries but also set a new standard for efficiency and success in the sector. Mining is a critical industry that’s been largely ignored by VCs given its capital intensity, unsexiness, and the unfamiliarity of the business model. However, in the wake of AI, companies that apply new technologies to legacy markets’ key bottlenecks have the potential to grow into massive businesses.
No matter where the future takes us, we will need raw materials that we can turn into natural resources and into the many creative things that we dream up. If we want the energy transition to succeed, we will need a lot of critical metals. An abundant future requires abundant raw materials. Turning the art of finding them into a repeatable science is a worthy mission, and one that benefits us all.
Origins of the Lab Mouse - Alex Telford
Mouse models have been instrumental in numerous medical advancements, providing insights into genetics, cancer, and immunotherapy since the early 20th century. They have played a crucial role in developing vaccines, organ transplants, and gene therapies. Despite their usefulness, reliance on a limited number of standardized strains poses risks, leading to incomplete or biased research outcomes. For instance, breeding from the same genetic pool over extended periods increases the risk of inbreeding. On top of that: only a small fraction of drugs that pass preclinical trials in mice succeed in human trials, highlighting the limitations of mice as model organisms.
Approx. 30M rodents are used yearly in biomedical research in the US and EU, with mice and rats comprising about 95% of lab animals. Mice share 99% of protein-coding genes with humans. However, their genetic uniformity and differences in non-coding regions affect the translatability of findings. Issues such as genetic drift and sub-strain variation further complicate research outcomes.
The dominance of mouse models is partly due to their historical availability and ease of breeding, but this focus may obscure the potential of other models. Biomedical research is increasingly exploring alternatives, such as zebrafish, fruit flies, and other mammals, as well as human organ-on-chip technologies. These technologies offer more reliable models of human biology, reducing the dependence on animal testing. Cutting-edge genomic editing tools like CRISPR can create bespoke animal models tailored to specific diseases, accelerating drug discovery and therapeutic development. Additionally, AI-driven platforms that simulate human biology and predict drug responses can complement traditional animal models, enhancing research efficiency and effectiveness.
While mice have been crucial in biomedical research, their limitations necessitate broader exploration of other models and innovative technologies to improve the translatability of scientific findings to human health.
Ilya Sutskever’ Safe Superintelligence, Bloomberg
Modern Meditations: Bryan Johnson, The Generalist
BI’s Third Form, Benn Stancil
Commoditize Your Complement: Meta AI Edition, David Peterson
The Solar Industrial Revolution is the Biggest Investment Opportunity in History, Casey Handmer
The AI Developer, Marie Brayer
Green Concrete: Building a Solid Future, Iris ten Have
🇪🇺 Notable European early-stage rounds
Skynopy, a France-based startup that is connecting satellites as a service, raises $3.1M with Heartcore🖤/Kima Ventures - link
Tandem Health, a Sweden-based developer of AI copilots for clinicians, raises $9.5M with Northzone. - link
Plancraft, a Germany-based business digitisation platform for construction and other trades, raises €12M with Creandum. - link
Light, a Denmark-based ledger management startup, raises $13M with Atomico/Cherry Ventures. - link
Nory, an Ireland- and UK-based AI-powered operating system for hospitality businesses, raises £12.6M with Accel. - link
Harbor Lab, a Greece-based maritime accounting software startup, raises $16M with Atomico. - link
Ethon AI, a Switzerland-based AI-powered manufacturing analytics startup, raises $16.5M with Index Ventures/General Catalyst. - link
Insempra, a Germany-based biotech enabling bio-based alternatives in manufacturing, raises $20M with EQT Ventures/Henkel. - link
Sona, a UK-based frontline workforce management platform, raises $27.5M with Felicis/Speedinvest/Northzone. - link
Nivoda, a UK-based online jewellery marketplace, raises $30M with Avenir Growth/Headline. - link
🇺🇸 Notable US early-stage rounds
Particle, an AI-powered news startup, raises $10.9m with Lightspeed/Axel Springer. - link
Gamma, a provider of an AI-powered presentation platform, raises $12M with Accel. - link
Lagrange Labs, a blockchain computation startup, raises $13.2M with Founders Fund. - link
Factory, a startup bringing autonomy to software engineering raises $15M with Sequoia/Lux Capital/Mantis VC. - link
Valar Labs, a developer of cancer care prediction tools, raises $22M with DCVC/a16z. - link
Nexus Labs, a zero-knowledge cryptography firm, raises $25M with Lightspeed/Pantera Capital. - link
Finaloop, an e-commerce accounting platform, raises $35M with Lightspeed. - link
Decagon, a developer of AI chatbots for customer service, raises $35M with a16z/ Accel. - link
DatologyAI, a platform for automated data curation, raises $46M with Felicis/Elad Gil/Amazon Alexa Fund. - link
🔭 Notable later stage rounds
Alkira, a US-based cloud connectivity company, raises $100M with Tiger Global. - link
Talkiatry, a US-based psychiatric care startup, raises $130M with a16z. - link
Huntress, a US-based cybersecurity startup focused on small businesses, raises $150M with Kleiner Perkins/Meritech. - link
DeepL, a Germany-based language translation AI, raises $300M with Index Ventures. - link
Mistral AI, a France-based open and portable generative AI startup, raises €600M with General Catalyst/Lightspeed/a16z/NVIDIA/Bpifrance. - link
Wiz, a US-based cloud security giant, raises $1B with a16z/Lightspeed. - link
Scale AI, a US-based data labelling and evaluation startup, raises $1B with Accel/NVIDIA/Meta/Amazon. - link
Wayve, a UK-based self-driving car startup, raises $1.05B, with Softbank Group/NVIDIA/Microsoft. - link
CoreWeave, a US-based AI cloud infrastructure startup, raises $1.1B, with Coatue. - link
xAI, a US-based generative AI startup by Elon Musk, raises $6B with Valor Equity Partners/a16z/Sequoia. - link
🖤 Heartcore News
Our partner and COO, Signe was featured in a TV2 interview about the new entrepreneurial strategy, presented by the Danish Business Ministry. 🇩🇰
Congratulations to Skynopy on their latest funding round of $3.1M for developing its turnkey connection service for LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite operators, led by Heartcore🖤, Kima Ventures, Better Angle, and BPI France. 🛰️
Congratulations to the US-based Heartcore🖤 company, Majority for raising $20M in another Series B tranche to empower migrants in the US by providing them with essential financial services tailored to their needs. 💳
Kudos to another Heartcore🖤 company Natural Cycles, a Sweden-based contraceptive app as a digital form of birth control for raising its $55M Series C funding round led by Lauxera Capital Partners. 🩺
Spain-based Heartcore🖤 company TravelPerk has acquired US-based startup AmTrav to further expand across the pond. They also announced raising $135M in debt financing from Blackstone and Blue Owl Capital. ✈️
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