Jun 25, 2025
Kaley Ubellacker
Market Stirrings 🚩
Here's what the week looked like in pre-seed:
$2.4M
3
Data aggregated from proprietary research and Crunchbase; valuation estimate based on 10-20% ownership stake.
DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN ROUNDS -JAY SEAN
The 2021 dream is over, and down rounds are the new normal. The share of down rounds in Q1 2025 held steady with Q4 2024 and Q1 2023, signaling that startups are still battling to defend valuations in a market that isn’t buying the hype. For founders, it’s a reminder to focus less on optics and more on building capital-efficient businesses.
Good Reads 📖
For the rushed reader …
Databricks and Perplexity co-founder Andy Konwinski is committing $100 million of his own capital to launch the Laude Institute, an AI research fund structured like grants.
Meta is doubling down on AI with heavy spending to rebuild its dream team, following a $14.3 billion acquisition of Scale AI, complete with hiring founder Alexandr Wang, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and AI leader Daniel Gross.
In today’s fast-moving startup world, many founders are adopting extreme schedules like China’s 996 work culture, grinding 9am - 9pm, six days a week.
For the less rushed reader …
Laude and clear
It was due time for a venture fund worth app-Laude-ing. Databricks and Perplexity co-founder Andy Konwinski is committing $100 million of his own capital to launch the Laude Institute, an AI research fund structured like grants. The board includes heavyweights like UC Berkeley’s Ion Stoica, Google scientist Jeff Dean, and Meta’s Joelle Pineau. Laude has already pledged a $3 million per year, five-year grant to Berkeley’s new AI Systems Lab. The best part is the Laude Institute is down for all shots: both slingshots (early-stage, grant-backed research) and moonshots (long-horizon projects across science, civic tech, healthcare, and workforce reskilling). Beyond its nonprofit mission, Laude also operates a for-profit VC vehicle, anchored by Konwinski and ex-NEA VC Pete Sonsini, that has already backed AI-agent startups like Arcade. With his massive Databricks and Perplexity exits, Konwinski is building a structure that blurs the lines between independent research and venture-backed innovation, offering founders extensive R&D support and potential commercial runway. Do we think Andy graduated summa cum Laude?
Meta-morphosis
The Wall Street Journal called it an “AI Recruitment Blitz,” but I think “Drama Llama” is more fitting. Meta is doubling down on AI with heavy spending to rebuild its dream team, following a $14.3 billion acquisition of Scale AI, complete with hiring founder Alexandr Wang, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and AI leader Daniel Gross. Zuckerberg’s aggressive push comes as pressure mounts: Meta’s Llama 4 release underwhelmed developers, and the company is far behind compared to OpenAI and Google in foundational AI research. With capital expenditures now forecast between $64 and $72 billion for data centers and AI infrastructure, Meta is taking a massive risk to drive future growth. Even tech giants sometimes need a sharp pivot, and talent is the critical differentiator in the AI arms race. Top talents should Zuck and cover - or run towards the $100 million pay package, your choice.
Sleep is for the exited
Building a startup seems hard, but this version seems more like Mission Impossible without the much-needed stunt double. In today’s fast-moving startup world, many founders are adopting extreme schedules like China’s 996 work culture, grinding 9am - 9pm, six days a week. Some see this hustle as necessary for early success, but studies show 72% of founders face mental health struggles and over a third burn out, with productivity dropping sharply after 50 hours a week. Burnout can derail startups by causing poor decisions and founder departures, but few founders discuss this with investors. While some VCs now offer mental health support, AI tools that speed up work by up to 55% could help with the burden. PitchBook’s major takeaway: intense work is sometimes needed, but enforcing the 996 schedule puts founders, their teams, and their startups at risk. The suggested move is tactical sprints, not a permanent grind. To quote the wisdom of Rebecca Black, “It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.”
Fire Up the Pre-Seeds🔥
Highlights from this week’s pre-seed raises:
climatetech
NovaSpark Energy - Grid happens.
NovaSpark Energy raised funding from Boot64 Ventures. NovaSpark is building a mobile hydrogen generation system for use in rugged, off-grid environments.
AI
mysite.ai - Emily in Paris with an AI upgrade.
mysite.ai raised $2.4 million led by Inovo VC. mysite.ai is developing an AI assistant for small businesses like local tradespeople and solo operators, managing all things marketing and growth..
Outro🚪
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