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🎂 Happy birthday to: RANIA BELKAHIA (EQT VENTURES), VINCENT KLINGBEIL (EDG), MICHAEL NOBLOT (TECHNOPOLE DE L’AUBE EN CHAMPAGNE), STÉPHANE MILLET (DEMOOZ)
BREAKING NEWS
Howard Lutnick does his little business before entering the TRUMP government
While it is expected as future Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, president of Cantor Fitzgerald, New York-based financial services company active in bond markets, investment banking and digital asset custody solutions is quickly strengthening the ties between its company and Tether Holdings Ltd.issuer of the USDT stablecoin.
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Cantor Fitzgerald plans to launch a $2 billion crypto loan program, collateralized by Bitcoin, with Tether as a potential partner.
CHIPS Act: Raimondo accelerates before TRUMP arrives
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is accelerating the commitment of 50 billion euros from the CHIPS Act to secure semiconductor investments before Donald Trump takes office in January 2025. The goal is to finalize contracts with INTEL, MICRON, SAMSUNG and SK HYNIX to consolidate a program presented as essential to national security and supported in a bipartisan manner. The Commerce Department, under Raimondo, has moved toward managing critical technologies, notably through the organization of AI security summits. Despite the change in administration, Raimondo remains confident in the sustainability of the CHIPS Act initiatives.
Bluesky against the EU
The European Commission has reported that Bluesky, a competitor to X and Threads, does not comply with transparency obligations imposed on platforms operating in the European Union. According to a Commission spokesperson, Bluesky did not publish the number of users in the EU or their legal location on its website, as required by regulation. The Commission has asked European member states for information on Bluesky’s presence in the EU.
Bluesky would count 13 million users 🌍 according to the figures indicated on its site
👉 Read our article on BLUESKY
Telegram sees record growth 🚀
Telegram posts a turnover of $525 million in the first half of 2024 (+190%). Its net profit reached $335 millionand its digital assets jumped to $1.3 billion 📈 (compared to 400 million at the end of 2023).
THE CYBER MINUTE
Is your email really secure? 🤔
WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram… According to ANSSI, these general public messaging systems have significant flaws: incomplete encryption, risky synchronization, massive collection of information. For truly secure exchanges, professional alternatives are essential. 👉 Read the full article
THE FIGURES OF THE DAY
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- META invested 60 billion dollars in virtual reality, including 17.4 billion over the last 12 months. 🎮
- Robotaxis trips in California exceed 350,000 journeys/month 🚗.
- SHOPIFY generated a GMV of 270 billion dollars over one year, or 35% of AMAZON’s volume. 📦
The startup of the day
Bending Spoons: a build up strategy not to be missed
BENDING SPOONSItalian scale-up, continues its targeted acquisition strategy by purchasing BRIGHTCOVE For 220 million euros. This American company specializing in the monetization and marketing of video content will be delisted from the stock exchange after the transaction. This model, already applied with WE TRANSFER, EVERNOTE And MEETUPis done via a structured Bending Spoons approach: acquiring companies in difficulty to integrate and turn them around. It restructures, rationalizes costs, and exploits untapped long-term potential. The post-acquisition layoffs, already observed at Filmic, Meetup, and Evernote, underline this logic of reorganization. For the moment the build up has not experienced any failures, however the restructuring, necessary to optimize costs, involves operational expertise in several sectors. This model could inspire other Build-ups in Europe, a good way to compete with American players.
👉 Read the full article
FUNDRAISING
Serviceform raises 2.45 million euros to strengthen its presence in Europe
The Finnish startup Serviceform, specializing in marketing tools for European SMEs, has raised 2.45 million euros. The funding round was supported by Virta Equity, BackingMinds, Gorilla Capital and investor Lasse Järvinen.
Emma raises 16.2 million euros to accelerate its cloud management platform
Luxembourg startup emma has raised €16.2 million ($17 million) in Series A, led by Smartfin with RTP Global. This funding brings its total to 21.9 million euros in two years.
PlayAI raises $21 million for its voice cloning and AI agent solutions
PlayAI, specializing in AI voice cloning starting at $49 or $99 per month, has announced a $21 million seed round. This round was co-led by 500 Startups and Kindred Ventures.
Appcharge raises $26 million to support game developers
Based in Tel Aviv, Appcharge helps game developers create websites to sell virtual currencies and other digital goods. The company raised $26 million, reaching a valuation of $100 million
Halcyon reaches unicorn status 🦄
The anti-ransomware startup HALCYON lifted 100 million dollars with EVOLUTION EQUITY PARTNERSreaching a valuation of 1 billion dollars.
FRENCHWEB VC
Sequoia Capital: a 25% jump for its flagship fund despite the absence of returns
Sequoia Capital increased the valuation of its flagship American venture capital fund launched in 2020 by 24.6%, the Sequoia Capital US Venture XVIIin the 12 months ending June 2024, according to a PitchBook analysis based on a University of California Regents report.
This fund, which closed with approximately €808 million, has seen total growth of almost 30% over the past two years, and is between the median and top quartile of the market with a TVPI of 1.34x.
However, the fund did not make any distributions to its investors (DPI below the median). This contrast illustrates the current tensions in venture capital: hypergrowth startups, particularly in AI with boosted valuations, and exits which remain rare, limiting capital returns for LPs.
In 2023, Sequoia had redistributed 10 billion euros thanks in particular to the IPO of Instacart.
JARGONATOR:
💡 TVPI (Total Value to Paid-In) : Ratio representing the total value of a fund, including realized gains and unrealized valuations, in relation to the capital invested by LPs.
💰 DPI (Distributions to Paid-In) : Ratio which indicates how much a fund has returned in cash or liquid assets to its LPs in relation to the capital invested.
🚀 Dry Powder : Amount of uninvested capital available in a fund, ready to be used for new investments or follow-ups.
+ MARKET:
Klarna cuts losses, boosts revenue ahead of IPO
Klarna reported revenue of approximately $1.85 billion between the first and third quarters of 2024, up 23% from the previous year. Pre-tax loss fell 99% year-over-year to around $180,000, while third-quarter net profit rose 57% to around $19.7 million. These results come as the company prepares its IPO in the United States
Zoom records slight growth in third quarter 2024
Zoom reported third-quarter revenue of $1.18 billion, up 4% from a year earlier, beating estimates of $1.16 billion. Net profit reached $207.1 million, compared to $141.2 million in the same period last year. In addition, the company announced its name change to Zoom Communications Inc.
MOVEMENTS
- Célia Grémy becomes Digital Climate Director at GREENFLEX.
- Thomas Allaire joins the Group TELEGRAM as Data Innovation Manager.
- Anthony Hamelle is promoted to Chief Innovation Officer at TBWACHIATDAY.
- Donatienne Lefort becomes Digital Manager at BIOGEN.
BOOKS
Genesis: an essay on the societal and strategic impact of AI
In Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit, Eric Schmidtaccompanied by Craig Mundie and the deceased Henry Kissingeranalyzes the impact of artificial intelligence through strategic, ethical and societal prisms.
The book examines the acceleration of AI capabilities, now capable of outperforming human experts in complex disciplines, and asks urgent questions: how can we limit the use of AI in military contexts? What safeguards should be established to protect privacy and the integrity of human relationships in the face of systems capable of becoming “close” to their users?
Eric Schmidt believes that governments and cultures are not ready to manage this revolution, which could redefine humanity’s relationship with technology in the next five to ten years.
JOB OFFERS OF THE DAY
- UNESCO: IT Streamlining Consultant and Project Manager
- WINAMAX: Head of Growth
- JACQUEMUS: Ecommerce Director
