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Ivelina

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Important News 🟣

• Michael Seibel is stepping down from his role at Y Combinator after 12 years, transitioning to Partner Emeritus while continuing to support the YC community.
  

• Google parent Alphabet’s $32 billion all-cash acquisition of Wiz delivers a massive payday for early investors, with Sequoia set to make $3 billion and Cyberstarts securing a 222x return on its seed investment.
  

• Klarna secures an exclusive BNPL partnership with Walmart, replacing Affirm just as it prepares for its U.S. IPO. The deal, powered by Walmart’s fintech arm OnePay, strengthens Klarna’s position in the U.S. market.
  

• Ribbit Capital is raising a new $500M fund, signaling renewed momentum in fintech. The firm, known for backing Nubank, Robinhood, and CRED, continues its focus on global fintech and crypto investments.
  

• Rippling sues Deel, alleging corporate espionage after discovering a former employee secretly shared internal data with Deel executives, leading to legal claims of trade-secret theft and racketeering violations.
  

• The SEC’s new no-action letter simplifies accredited investor verification for private funds using Rule 506(c), likely leading to more venture capital and private equity funds publicly advertising to prospective investors.
  

• Random fun fact news: Sam Altman’s brother, Jack Altman, launched a podcast.

 
New VC Fund Highlight - Daybreak Ventures 🟣

I’m really excited about Rex Woodbury’s Daybreak Fund I, a $33M vehicle designed to be the first check for founders. The thesis and angle signals a deliberate return to the roots of venture capital.

What really resonates with me is the transparency behind the fund’s journey. By building in public over the past year, Rex has capitalized on one of the toughest fundraising environments and laid out a compelling “why now” narrative, where lower valuations and unlocked talent create ripe opportunities for innovation.

Daybreak’s thesis is built around six strategic pillars; health, sustainability, learning, finance, community, and job creation, which reflect both a keen awareness of emerging technology and behavioral shifts in the market.

Overall, Daybreak Fund I appears well-poised to fill the gap left by larger, less nimble asset managers, offering a more personalized and disciplined approach to early-stage venture investing.

PS: Stay up to date with the latest VC funds here.

 
The Narrative Lately: Seed-Strapping 🟣

Everyone is talking about "seed-strapping" lately. What is it? It's the hybrid approach emerging as AI reshapes startup economics. It’s nothing new really, but this approach to finding balance between funding and growth is gaining traction.

Instead of bootstrapping or chasing endless VC rounds, startups now raise one seed round and then delay (or skip entirely) further fundraising rounds. AI tools automate costly scaling tasks, like sales outreach, customer support, and even engineering workloads, allowing startups to grow rapidly with leaner teams.

This new model means startups can stay nimble, minimize dilution, and avoid the traditional high-burn VC treadmill.

Building Authority and Influence: Tip of the Week 🟣

SEO for LLM Search

AI is undoubtedly changing how SEO works, but, it’s not all doom and gloom. Many are saying you need to optimize your content for LLMs, which is of course, important, but something to keep in mind:

AI-driven search (LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity) sends about 94% less traffic than traditional Google searches, but the traffic it does send converts better. 

Classic SEO metrics don’t really matter for these AI referrals. Instead, AI-chatbot visibility relies on deep, comprehensive, and highly-readable content.

Another surprising finding: brand popularity heavily influences AI-chatbot mentions. Emerging digital-first brands investing heavily in content and social media are already winning.

Takeaway: 
To win the AI-search game, startups must prioritize rich, readable content, build genuine brand popularity, and avoid technical SEO mistakes that block AI bots. That’s what our team is focusing on with some of the startups we work with.

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

• Allo Health, a startup expanding sexual health services in India, raised a $1.9 million round from Rainmatter, Nexus Venture Partners, and others to accelerate its growth.
  

• Utila, a startup that enables institutions to securely manage digital assets across multiple blockchains, wallets, teams, and users, secured an $18 million Series A round from Nyca Partners, Wing VC, and others to accelerate its growth.
  

• Orion Security, a startup whose platform learns how data typically moves within a company and identifies unusual activities, raised a $6 million seed round from Pico Partners, FXP, and Underscore VC to accelerate its growth.
  

• Arcade.dev, a startup that enables AI systems to perform tasks on behalf of users, secured a $12 million seed round from Laude, Flybridge Ventures, and others to accelerate its growth.
  

• Privy, a startup that provides infrastructure that allows users to connect their existing crypto wallets to various apps and websites without additional logins, raised a $15 million round from Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, and Coinbase to accelerate its growth.