Ben Bergman

A New York venture capital firm was recently given the opportunity to invest in Scale AI, a buzzy startup that helps companies label vast quantities of data.But the firm passed on the deal after learning of the hefty price tag: A $14 billion valuation, twice what Scale AI raised at three years ago. (The valuation was first reported by the Information)“It seems way too expensive based on the run rate and its ‘old school’ business model,” said an investor at the firm, referring to Scale AI’s heavy…

Cyera, a New York-based data security startup founded in 2021, is raising a new funding round that values the company at as much as $1.55 billion, three sources familiar with the matter told Business Insider.The valuation is a significant increase from the $500 million that Cyera raised at last year in a round led by Accel, according to Pitchbook data. That round brought Cyera’s total funding to $160 million. The startup is raising $150 to $200 million in this latest round, according to multiple…

This is how dire it has become for venture firms in 2024: When founders are raising money for their startups, the first thing they should do is verify the firm they are talking to is actually still in business, multiple founders and VCs told Business Insider.“Ask how many checks they have written in the past year and whether they are actively deploying capital,” advised Anna Barber, a partner at M13.It may seem redundant to ask a venture firm whose only mandate is to invest if they are indeed in…

The tech industry layoffs have continued this year, and many are likely searching for their next opportunity. Business Insider rounded up the startups that are growing. Here are our top picks.

Yumi, a startup backed by a long list of prominent Silicon Valley investors that makes high-end organic baby food, is raising a down round that values the company at around $40 million, Business Insider has learned.The funding represents a substantial discount from Yumi’s Series B round in 2021, which valued the company at more than $300 million, according to Pitchbook data. It also means Yumi has burned through more than twice as much cash, nearly $90 million dollars, as it is currently worth.A…

There are around 300,000 active angel investors, but who are the best of the best? In an industry full of marketing and hype where investments take over a decade to bear fruit, it can be hard to tell.TRAC, a San Francisco-based early-stage venture firm cofounded by Fred Campbell, Joseph Aaron, Scott Pyne, Steve Marek, and Dick Fredericks in 2020, has set about to take a more systematic approach to venture capital.The firm developed a proprietary model it calls “Moneyball for venture capital” tha…

Sequoia Capital, founded in 1972, is widely considered to be one of the most successful venture firms of all time, making lucrative early bets on Apple, Cisco Systems, PayPal and YouTube.Like most venture firms, Sequoia operates with under extreme secrecy, closely guarding the details of its fund performance. But now, Business Insider been able to get a peak behind the curtain.Sequoia told its limited partners in a letter last week it distributed over $42 billion to its investors over the past 5…

A few weeks ago, Ben Lerer, managing parter of Lerer Hippeau, a New York-based early-stage venture firm, set his sights on leading a young enterprise software startup’s seed round. Given it has been a struggle for non-AI startups to raise capital in 2023, he did not expect much competition with other investors.“I thought everyone’s been slow to deploy and we’re in this time where there’s not a bunch of capital availability,” said Lerer, who was not ready to share the startup’s name.But Lerer was…

When I walked into the lobby of Society Las Olas, an Adam Neumann-owned apartment building in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, I felt like I was entering a WeWork. There were playful neon signs on the wall (“Choose Happiness”), colorful midcentury-modern furniture, soft lighting, and lush greenery.I had come here to try to better understand Neumann’s secretive new residential real estate startup, Flow.Last month, Neumann’s people agreed to let me tour Society Las Olas, which will officially be Flow’s f…

Matthew Sorrentino, a young life-insurance broker, was sitting in the coworking space of his Fort Lauderdale high-rise, Society Las Olas, when a 6-foot-5 man with long dark hair wandered over to ask how he liked the building. The man told Sorrentino he owned a lot of real estate.Then he introduced himself as Adam Neumann.“I didn’t know who he was,” Sorrentino said. “I actually pitched him insurance. He was like, ‘I don’t know if they make policies big enough.’“In tech circles, there have been fe…

Andreessen Horowitz is reshuffling parts of its investment organization to sharpen its focus on artificial intelligence, according to people with knowledge of the situation.The changes will center the venture capital firm on two main themes: AI applications and AI infrastructure, the people said. They asked not to be identified discussing private matters.The AI applications group is being headed by general partner Alex Rampell, according to the sources. Rampell also leads the firm’s fintech stra…

It has been an eventful few weeks behind the scenes at UNest, a startup that makes it easier for people to save up for major life expenses like college education, weddings and down payments for homes.As Insider previously reported, Ksenia Yudina, founder & CEO, stepped down last month and warned the company was “insolvent.“She also accused some board members of voting for a hostile takeover of the troubled startup that was ’“illegal and unethical,” Insider reported last week.It was a stunning co…

Ksenia Yudina, the founder of UNest who abruptly resigned as CEO of the startup earlier this month, accused three board members of voting for a hostile takeover of the troubled startup that was ’“illegal and unethical,” according to an email she sent to investors and board members that was obtained by Insider.Yudina also stated that the company is insolvent and is in default by $3 million to Silicon Valley Bank, as Insider previously reported.Reached via LinkedIn, Yudina said she could not comme…

When OpenAI, the now sizzling hot startup behind ChatGPT, switched from a non-profit to “capped-profit” company in 2019, Vinod Khosla, one of the most successful venture capitalists in Silicon Valley history, boldly stepped forward with the first check.His firm invested $50 million, twice the size of any investment Khosla Ventures had made during its 15-year history.Khosla has been a big believer in artificial intelligence as a transformative technology for at least a decade; He wrote two eerily…

Ksenia Yudina, the founder & CEO of fintech startup UNest, sent an ominous email to the college saving app’s investors and advisors Friday morning.“I regret to inform you I resigned from my position as a CEO of UNest following the Board meeting of 10/11,” Yudina wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by Insider. “The company is currently insolvent and is in default with our venture debt provider Silicon Valley Bank in the amount of $3 million.“Yudina, UNest communications, and the comp…

A crime occurs. Someone calls 911. Drones arrive within three minutes to help catch the suspects.This sounds like something out of science fiction movie, but it is actually what Aerodome, a New-York based startup that provides automated drone response system for police and fire departments, is rolling out to five police departments over the coming months.“Our belief is that replacing outdated, dangerous, inefficient and expensive helicopter-based air support programs will allow public safety age…

Late Wednesday afternoon, I was standing near the swimming pool at this year’s Code Conference and saw Julia Boorstin, CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech Correspondent, walking by looking visibly upset as she was about to conduct one of the biggest and most challenging interviews of the year. Months earlier, Boorstin had secured a coveted interview with Linda Yaccarino to make her first major public appearance after being named CEO of X, formerly Twitter. Yaccarino, who previously headed global advertis…

Union Square Ventures — an early backer of Robinhood, Coinbase, and Etsy— is widely considered to be one of the top performing venture firms of all time. But even revered USV is not immune to the severe tech market downturn. This year, the firm marked down the value of seven of its funds by nearly 26%, a far steeper writedown than many other firms, according to investment returns for UTIMCO, which manages the $65 billion endowments of the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems.UTIMCO and USV…

On a recent morning in New York City, Princess Jahnavi Kumari Mewar, representing the 77th generation of India’s most powerful royal family, was sitting in a cafe overlooking Columbus Circle, explaining to a reporter why she and the heads of other family offices almost never talk to reporters.“I see no merit in having a public profile if it is for self-serving purposes,” she said, taking a sip of coffee. “Even though we are known to be the scary family office who — forget about letting you in th…

Brex and Mercury, rivals of SVB, tweeted out calls encouraging startups to move their money and set up new accounts.