ChatGPT goes to school 📔
Necessary Nuggets
Happy Wednesday! If you’re new here, welcome to Necessary Nuggets, your one-stop pre-seed shop. We deliver updates from Necessary Ventures and helpful tidbits on our little corner of the world. Every edition is also on our blog.
Jobortunities 🚨
Taro: Taro increases access to healthcare while reducing costs and physician burnout via direct primary care based health insurance.
| Product Engineer |
Arc Boats: Electrify watercraft. Build the Tesla of boats. Arc’s aim is both sustainability and high performance.
| Test Engineer |
Forage: Create a unified API that helps low-income Americans buy online groceries. It’s Stripe, but for Electronic Benefits Transfer.
| Security Software Engineer |
Reach out with any questions! All 113 open job postings are listed here.
Market Stirrings 🚩
Carta released some SaaSy new data. Judging by pre-money valuation medians for primary SaaS rounds, the rumors are true: valuations shifted downwards, and seed is the only exception with no change from 2022 to 2023. This is backed up by the distribution of rounds where there’s significant growth in lower tier buckets, especially valuations up to $100 million. Additionally, there have been less rounds across the board. For the sake of SaaS, we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed 2024 is more sweet.
Good Reads 📖
For the rushed reader …
ChatGPT is making an official break as an edtech tool with its first higher education customer, Arizona State University.
Leading quantum company Quantinuum landed $300 million in equity at a pre-money valuation of $5.3 billion.
ArcTern has re-entered the climate tech space with $335 million in fresh funding for its next fund, the third and largest to date.
For the less rushed reader …
PROFESSOR AI: Tired of seeing real people at the lecture stand? ChatGPT is making an official break as an edtech tool with its first higher education customer, Arizona State University. What will the integration look like? It’s still up in the (AI)r. In February, ASU plans to run a challenge with faculty and staff to collect ideas on ways to use ChatGPT for student success, new research, and organizational processes. This collaboration signals a shifting tide for AI in edtech, where the space was once littered with skeptics. Tech is advancing faster than curriculums, and there’s only solution: become a robot – I mean, adopt the tech.
CAT'S OUT THE BOX: We quantinue to be amazed by what researchers can accomplish with a little fuel (i.e., billions of dollars from governments, private companies, and venture capitalists). Last year, Google and Colorado-based startup Quantinuum announced groundbreaking results that would create a topological qubit, an imagined mechanism to manipulate and hold onto information more robustly than current designs. This finding sent a surge through the quantum community. Last week, Quantinuum landed $300 million in equity at a pre-money valuation of $5.3 billion. Better yet, Pitchbook revealed that a record number of deals occurred in the quantum computing space in 2023. Despite a decline in deal value, the increase in investor activity is significant given a drop in deal count for most tech sectors. While we quant fully understand the science, the growth is worth watching.
NEW GREEN FOR GREEN: Although climate tech deals have experienced a polar plunge in recent months, new hope has arrived. ArcTern has re-entered the climate tech space with $335 million in fresh funding for its next fund, the third and largest to date. The firm will focus on investments in climate-focused startup that can deliver quick returns. To paint the prettier picture, ArcTern is searching for companies with technology that already exists and will make an active impact in the climate transition happening over the next ten years. Historically, the firm has invested in earlier stage (near seed) startups with a keen interest in decarbonizing mobility. One could say the seed-level is rising. Moo-lah-la!
Fire Up the Pre-Seeds🔥
Notable pre-seed raises in …
Healthtech
Coral Care - Not kidding around
The Problem: Children missing early developmental milestones struggle to find the support they need due to long waitlists, high costs, and a lack of providers.
The Tech: A curated network of vetted pediatric specialists that care for children with distinct needs.
Recently Raised: $1.3 million from Reach Capital and PurposeBuilt Ventures.
Also Note: Founder Jennifer Wirt is a venture partner at PurposeBuilt Ventures.
EDTECH
TrueLeap - Digi-demand
The Problem: There are 2 billion K-12 students worldwide, but only 640 million have access to the internet. Of that 640 million, only 390 million have access to digital learning tools.
The Tech: A comprehensive approach to edtech, including hardware infrastructure, digital content, training, support, and digital intelligence.
Recently Raised: $610k (oversubscribed from its $500k target) led by Maya Investments Limited.
Also Note: The startup targets schools in emerging markets with operations currently in the U.S., India, and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Outro🚪
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