Welcome to all the new visionaries here who signed up last week!

Let’s get into this week’s edition on what’s happening in the startup and VC ecosystem. But first, check out these resources:

• 120+ Active Pre-Seed - Series A Investors

• Latest VC Funds announced.

• 350+ SaaS investors.

• LPs investing in VC funds.

• Understanding founder vs VC investment memos.

Partnership & collaboration opportunities. 

Cheers,
Ivelina

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Important News 🟣

• OpenAI has closed a record-breaking $40 billion funding round, valuing the company at $300 billion.
  

• Lux Capital is raising $200 million for its first defense-focused fund, Lux Defense Leaders, reflecting rising VC interest in the sector.
  

• Rippling has released an affidavit alleging that a former employee spied for rival Deel in exchange for monthly crypto payments.
  

• Fintech may be staging a comeback, with VC-backed valuations up 94% YoY in 2024 and exits rising in value by 141%.
  

• OpenAI has launched OpenAI Academy, a free AI education platform open to all skill levels.
  

• Scale AI expects to more than double its revenue to $2 billion in 2025, up from $870 million last year.

 
New VC Fund Highlight - Construct Capital 🟣

A lot of funds are struggling to raise right now. LPs are cautious, check sizes are shrinking, and GPs are having to justify every part of their thesis.

But Construct Capital just announced a $300M third fund.

Construct isn’t a tourist in defense or manufacturing tech, they’ve been building this thesis since 2020. What makes them stand out is their focus on applying modern software to physical industries: manufacturing, supply chains, transportation, and now increasingly, defense.

And they’re not just playing buzzword bingo.

They’ve backed companies like Hadrian which is rebuilding aerospace manufacturing with software, and Veho which is rethinking last-mile logistics for e-commerce

This kind of focus feels especially relevant right now. Between rising geopolitical tensions, reshoring efforts, and renewed interest in industrial policy, there’s a growing appetite for "real-world" innovation. It’s the kind of shift that creates big venture outcomes, but only if you’ve been paying attention early.

Construct’s team, Dayna Grayson (ex-NEA) and Rachel Holt (ex-Uber), bring both the institutional experience and the operational edge. And the fact that LPs are still willing to back them with $300M in this market? That’s a strong signal.

I’ll be keeping an eye on how they deploy this fund.

PS: Keep up with the latest VC fund announcements here.

 
Startup & VC Reports to Read from March 🟣

We’ve handpicked the most insightful VC reports that dropped this month, so you don’t have to dig through LinkedIn threads and investor PDFs.

From defense tech and industrial revival to DeFi infrastructure and global SaaS scaling, these pieces cover the key shifts shaping venture right now.

Whether you're a founder, operator, or investor, there's something in here worth bookmarking.

Let’s dive in 👇

1. First Round Capital
   The Pivot to Product-Market Fit: How Plaid, Clay, Lattice & Other Startups Broke Out
   

2. Coatue

   America’s Industrial Reboot: A Massive Tech Opportunity
   

3. Insight Partners

   Building Locally, Scaling Globally: A SaaS founder’s 7-step guide for global expansion
   

4. Bessemer Venture Partners

   The founder’s playbook for scaling to $1 million ARR
   

5. Harlem Capital

   2024 Diverse Founder Report
   

6. Paradigm

   TradFi Tomorrow: DeFi and the Rise of Extensible Finance
   

7. Carta

   2024 VC Fund Performance

Which one are you diving into first? 👀

 
Links 🟣

• The truth about founder-led sales? It’s not optional, it’s the superpower.
  

• ChatGPT hit 1 million users in 5 days at launch. Now? 1 million in a single hour.
  

• Tech’s big anxiety: fewer jobs, lower pay, more AI.
  

• Mastering the art of negotiation isn’t about pressure, it’s about preparation; here’s how to negotiate like a CEO.
  

• a16z just launched the next cycle of Speedrun: founders can now apply to work 1:1 with a16z and get up to $1M in early-stage funding.
  

• Boost VC just launched FOUNDER START, offering $50K for 5% to help deep tech founders take the leap.
  

• Naval Ravikant made a rare podcast appearance and everybody’s been on the bandwagon of making Twitter threads about it. Here’s the full pod.

Marketing Weekly: 6 Psychological Triggers That Make LinkedIn Posts Perform 🟣

Most posts go unnoticed because they’re built on ideas, not psychology.

If you want content that drives action, whether it’s clicks, replies, or respect, these are the triggers worth knowing:

1. Scarcity
   Only a small % of professionals use this strategy. Even fewer do it well.
   

2. Authority

   “I saw this pattern after working with 50+ startups.”

   Use data or direct experience to ground your insights.
   

3. Curiosity Loop

   “There’s a resource top performers use every day. Most never mention it publicly.”
   

4. Achievement

   “Get [result] in half the time. This framework makes it possible.”
   

5. Pain Point Amplification

   “Still stuck on [problem]? It only compounds unless you address it.”
   

6. Insider Knowledge

   “What insiders won’t say out loud: [unexpected truth].”

Top Pre-Seed to Series A Funding Rounds This Week 🟣

• Ribbon, an AI startup offering a voice interview platform for manufacturing and hospitality hiring, raised an $8 million round led by Radical Ventures with participation from Social Leverage, Cadenza Ventures, and GD1 to accelerate its growth.
  

• Roam, a startup helping homebuyers take over sellers’ low-interest mortgages, raised an $11.5 million Series A led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Founders Fund to accelerate its growth.
  

• Sourcetable, an AI startup building a natural-language spreadsheet interface for data analysis, raised a $4.3 million seed round led by Bee Partners to accelerate its growth.
  

• Kay.ai, an AI startup automating data entry for insurance brokers, raised a $3 million round led by Wing VC with support from South Park Commons and 101 Weston Labs to accelerate its growth.
  

• Gable, an AI startup that scans source code to generate data contracts and flag downstream risks, raised a $20 million Series A led by Crane Venture Partners with backing from Zetta, Databricks Ventures, B Capital, Capital One Ventures, and In-Q-Tel to accelerate its growth.