Morning VC Brief丨2024.08.08

Week32 Highlights丨OpenAI, Humane, Anduril, ReflectionAI, Mechanical Orchard, Branch Energy, Bandana, Sweetspot

Morning VC Brief is an expert daily curation of tech and venture news. Feel free to forward; the sign-up is here

00. TL;DR

1/ ChatGPT’s mobile app net 28M revenue in July

2/ Humane’s daily returns are outpacing sales

3/ Defense tech startup Anduril raises 1.5B Series F @ 14B

4/ AI Agent startup ReflectionAI raises Venture Round @ 100M

5/ Legacy software modernizer Mechanical Orchard raises 50M Series B

6/ Retail energy provider Branch Energy raises 10.8M Series A

7/ Hourly job marketplace Bandana raises 8.5M Venture Round

8/ Government contracting startup Sweetspot raises 2.2M Seed Round

01. Tech News

1/ ChatGPT’s mobile app net 28M revenue in July

According to Appfigures, ChatGPT’s app had grossed $28.9 million in May, $34 million in June, and $39.9 million in July before app store fees. And Apple’s App Store accounted for 83% of the app’s revenue. Appfigures estimates ChatGPT saw the addition of 2 million new paying subscribers with the arrival of ChatGPT’s new Advanced Voice Mode. Link

2/ Humane’s daily returns are outpacing sales

Shortly after Humane released its $699 AI Pin in April, the returns started flowing in. At launch, the AI Pin was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews. The Information reported last week that Humane is negotiating with its current investors to raise debt, which could later be converted into equity.

The low sales figures also pale in comparison to the over $200 million that Humane has raised from notable Silicon Valley executives like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Link

02. Venture News

1/ Defense tech startup Anduril raises 1.5B Series F @ 14B

Anduril has ambitions of becoming the next great American defense contractor. Earlier this year, the company beat out Lockheed, Northrop and Boeing in a program to develop and test small unmanned fighter jet prototypes. This round was led by Founders Fund, Sands Capital with participation from Fidelity and Baillie Gifford. This latest round is a massive step up from Anduril’s prior $8.5 billion valuation set in December 2022. Link

2/ AI Agent startup ReflectionAI raises Venture Round @ 100M

ReflectionAI creates personalized chatbots that can chat like the real person. ReflectionAI use users’ writing samples and personal communication (like text messages, emails, transcripts) to train a personalized AI that can chat/write just like them. This round was led by Sequoia Capital. Link

3/ Legacy software modernizer Mechanical Orchard raises 50M Series B

Mechanical Orchard has built technology to transition large organizations away from inflexible legacy IT systems to modern, cloud-based applications. Over-reliance on legacy software persists as a critical, unresolved IT challenge worldwide: $13 trillion of the US economy and a minimum of 71% of the Fortune 500 still depend on aging mainframe systems. This round was led by GV. Link

Founded in 2022/10 by Pivotal Labs founder Rob Mee

4/ Retail energy provider Branch Energy raises 10.8M Series A

Branch Energy is a vertically integrated power provider that balances the grid and provides businesses with long-term energy stability through demand management software and advanced on-site battery storage systems. Branch Energy provides electricity from 100% renewable sources, supporting local wind and solar projects. This round was led by Prelude Ventures with participation from Zero Infinity Partners. Link

5/ Hourly job marketplace Bandana raises 8.5M Venture Round

Bandana creates a platform that rejuvenates the working class of America by making it really easy for them to find better jobs. On the platform, every job lists a detailed description, the pay range, the estimated take-home pay after taxes, a list of benefits and the location on the map. This round was led by General Catalyst with participation from Craft Ventures and Triple Impact Capital. Link

Bandana job marketplace

6/ Government contracting startup Sweetspot raises 2.2M Seed Round

Sweetspot uses AI to help companies navigate the US procurement process. The company starts with a search engine that scours federal contract databases, and has added software that helps companies apply for and track their progress in the federal procurement process. This round was led by 1984 Ventures. Link

All-in-one government sales platform