Rising Star

Pinecone Raises $100 Million, Chainsmokers Duo Eye Third Fund, and Hugging Face CEO Starts New AI-Focused Venture Firm.

Author

Adam from VC Brags
April 28, 2023

Welcome Shareholders,

In this daily edition of the Brags Newsletter, weā€™ll cover Pineconeā€™s AI Ascension, Mantis VC looks for a Triumphant Third Act, and the founder of Hugging Face looks to embrace the future of the AI Revolution with his new venture firm.

So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy!

Startup of the Day

  • AI Software support startup Pinecone has secured $100 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at $750 million.

The new round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, who was joined by Iconiq, Menlo Ventures, and Wing Venture Capital. The proceeds from the round will be allocated towards R&D, recruitment, and business expansion. Last valued at $168 million in February 2022 following a $28 million Series A round, the New York-based company has experienced a surge in its valuation due to the booming AI startup market.

Pinecone offers vector data storage for large language models like chatbots, serving as the essential long-term memory infrastructure for AI tools. It enables businesses to develop intelligent, data-driven AI applications with clients such as Shopify, HubSpot, Zapier, and Gong. In Q1 2023, Pinecone added 1,400 paying customers.

Whoā€™s Raising?

  • Mantis Venture Capital, which is founded by Chainsmokers Alex Pall and Drew Taggart is now looking to raise a third fund to target AI and Web3 startups.

The venture firm raised $41 million for its inaugural raise and $81 million for its subsequent fund. Backers of the new fund will include existing investors such as Founding Partner of TPG Jim Coulter, Shark Tankā€™s Mark Cuban, Founders Fund partner Keith Rabois, and angel investor Ron Conway.

The firm has written several seed checks since its founding in 2020 (averaging around $250,000 per round) in Fintech startups like Trace Finance and Vise, Coffee Mug Insulation company Ember and Loan Processing Service LoanSnap.

Venture Today šŸ‘

  • ClĆ©ment Delangue, Hugging Face's co-founder and CEO has joined forces with former Betaworks Ventures partner Matthew Hartman to launch Factorial Capital, a new venture firm targeting investments across AI startups.

Factorial Capital, Hartman's new venture firm, will collaborate with angel operators, averaging $100,000 in investments, targeting AI-focused firms first. The venture firm has already invested in two startups including flower.dev, creating privacy-conscious AI training systems, and Nomic AI's GPT4All, an open-source chatbot library.

With a $10 million debut fund, Factorial's expert partners, including Delangue, will manage individual portfolios and share economics equally with the firm. Delangue believes Factorial's investments will help open-source startups compete with closed-book rivals by providing crucial capital for costly AI infrastructure and computing resources, with the potential for even bigger initiatives in the future.

Fresh Finds

  • Microsoft Designer now offers AI-generated images and design suggestions based on user input, enabling the creation of unique visuals by simply describing the desired outcome.

  • The platform incorporates motion into designs, allowing users to create dynamic graphics with customization options.

  • Enhanced text generation and image creation capabilities, powered by AI, provide users with powerful suggestions to improve their designs and messages while also offering customization features like resizing and applying brand colors.

Memes and Other Things

The Headlines

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