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<keyword id="19913963" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-startups" source="keywords">Indian startups</keyword> have experienced a remarkable surge in funding during the first eight months of 2024, with a significant increase of 53.1% compared to the same period in 2023, according to a report by <keyword id="19910824" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="GlobalData" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="GlobalData" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="GlobalData">GlobalData</keyword>. From January to August 2024, Indian startups secured $7.5 billion in <keyword id="19913965" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital" source="keywords">venture capital</keyword> funding, a sharp rise from the $4.9 billion raised during the same timeframe in the previous year. The report highlighted that not only did the total funding amount grow, but the average deal size also increased. A total of 780 venture capital deals were completed between January and August 2024, compared to 742 deals in the same period in 2023. These deals contributed to the $7.5 billion raised this year, marking a 5.1% rise in deal volume alongside the impressive 53.1% growth in funding value. GlobalData's report emphasised India's growing prominence in the Asia-Pacific region as a major hub for venture capital investments, ranking second only to China. Globally, India secured a spot among the top five countries in terms of both the number of venture capital deals and the total funding value. "The marked increase in venture funding value highlights the burgeoning investor confidence in India's <keyword id="19930407" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup-ecosystem" source="keywords">startup ecosystem</keyword>,” explains Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData. "India's performance signals a promising landscape in the <keyword id="20948843" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="VC-funding" source="keywords">VC funding</keyword> market". From a global perspective, India accounted for 7.3% of the total venture capital deals between January and August 2024, with a 4.6% share of the total funding value. Additionally, India saw a notable increase in high-value VC deals, with several investments exceeding $100 million. Some of the standout funding rounds this year included <keyword id="12437554" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zepto" source="Orion">Zepto</keyword>, which raised $665 million and $340 million in two separate rounds, Meesho's $300 million round, <keyword id="20201450" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pharmeasy" source="keywords">PharmEasy</keyword> securing $216 million, OYO raising $173.5 million, and Radiance receiving $150 million. These impressive funding rounds underscore the continued momentum and strength of India’s startup ecosystem in 2024, setting the stage for further growth and innovation in the coming years. (With inputs from ANI)

Indian startup finance ecosystem still going strong, report shows over 50% growth in VC funding over last year

India's investment ecosystem is undergoing a seismic shift, with index investing gaining unprecedented traction among investors, according to a report by Motilal Oswal. The younger generation, including Gen Z and Millennials, shows a stronger inclination towards index funds as compared to older investors. They also prefer index funds over ETFs for better returns and liquidity. A recent report by Axis AMC also highlighted the growing appetite for ETFs, which witnessed net sales of Rs 15,403 crore in October 2024. While 46% of younger investors favor index funds, only 35% of Gen X and Boomers do so. Millennials and Gen X investors also have a keen interest in factor or smart beta funds, reflecting their appetite for innovative, albeit aggressive investment strategies. Passive funds have become a core component of investor portfolios, with 80% of investors increasing their allocation to these funds in 2024, compared to 53% last year. The Axis report echoed similar sentiments, noting that net sales in the passive category inched up to Rs 8,025 crore in October 2024. The combined assets under management (AUM) of passive funds have surged from Rs 7 lakh crore in September 2023 to over Rs 11 lakh crore by September 2024—a 1.5x growth in just one year. The survey also noted a growing popularity of ETFs, with 57% of respondents investing in them, up from 41% in 2023. Of these, 26% invest solely in ETFs, while 31% have diversified between ETFs and index funds. This rising preference is matched by a commitment to long-term investment. A significant 81% of investors plan to hold their passive investments for over three years, highlighting sustained confidence in the growth potential of these funds. Sectoral indices like Nifty IT and Nifty Bank dominate as the top choice for passive fund investors, selected by 67% of respondents. Benchmark indices such as the Nifty 50 and Nifty 500 follow closely, preferred by 61% of investors. A recent, similar report by stock broker Angel One also throws a spotlight on how young India plans and prefers mutual funds when it comes to savings and investments. The report, titled "Young Indians' Saving Habits Outlook 2024," compiled by Fin One, stated that 45% of respondents aged 22-35 have made it a point to save up some of their savings in mutual funds. A year ago, this figure stood at just 32%. Most of these investors make their way into mutual funds via SIPs, or systematic investment plans. 52% of respondents in the age cohort of 22-35 are now using SIPs to invest in mutual funds, up from 44% in the previous year. As for what was the driving factor behind beginning their investment journey, 42% underlined the past performance of funds, while 38% noted that advice from financial advisors remained a key consideration. 38% of young Indians are now increasingly focusing on building an emergency corpus, compared to 28% the year before. This shift underscores the drastic change in financial sensibilities brought forth by the pandemic and the consequent desire for greater financial resilience. In fact, approximately 4 out of every 5 surveyed investors maintained a dedicated, separate savings account. Out of the 1,650 individuals studied under the FinOne survey, a staggering majority made their first foray into the stock market in their early twenties. Nearly 2 in every 5 investors pick stock as their preferred choice of investment, followed by mutual funds and then savings bank accounts. While 45% of those surveyed picked stocks as their chosen investment avenue, 20% preferred mutual funds, and 15% wanted to keep their money in a savings bank account.

Gen Z and Millennials prefer stocks and mutual funds; index funds trump over ETFs, say recent reports

Our ancestors in caves spent countless hours sharpening and smashing rocks together. Eventually, the right combination of stone, spark and sun-dried leaves came together to create flame, an invention that would quickly catapult our species into the tippy-top of the <keyword id="19912640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="earth" source="keywords">Earth</keyword>’s food chain. What if we told you that a similar, albeit exponentially more massive, smashing of rocks billions of years ago could have set the stage for <keyword id="22593154" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="life-on-Earth" source="keywords">life on Earth</keyword>? According to a recent study,a <keyword id="21075363" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meteorite" source="keywords">meteorite</keyword> the size of four Mount Everests slammed into our planet 3.26 billion years ago. To say this impact was colossal is an understatement. Scientists now believe that the event, dubbed the "<keyword id="23639569" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="S2-impact" source="keywords">S2 impact</keyword>," caused a massive chain reaction that may have helped shape life as we know it. When this meteorite hit, it likely triggered a tsunami so powerful it tore through shallow waters, dragging sediment and debris into the oceans. The researchers explained that the impact was so intense that the top layers of the ocean boiled off, and a thick blanket of dust darkened the skies, cutting off sunlight for photosynthesis. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="114434659" title="Robinhood&amp;#39;s cofounder has joined the rapidly growing commercial space race, and wants to beam solar power from satellites to earth" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Now, this might sound like a doomsday scenario, but for the microscopic organisms living back then, it was an opportunity. According to Nadja Drabon, a geologist at Harvard who led the study, "We think of impact events as being disastrous for life. But what this study is highlighting is that these impacts would have had benefits to life, especially early on." <h2>Life in the wake of destruction</h2>So how exactly did life survive — and even thrive — after such a <keyword id="23639574" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cataclysmic-event" source="keywords">cataclysmic event</keyword>? The answer lies in two elements: <keyword id="23639572" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="iron-and-phosphorus" source="keywords">iron and phosphorus</keyword>. The giant tsunami stirred up iron from the depths of the ocean, while phosphorus was delivered to Earth by the meteorite and increased erosion. Both elements are essential for life, and in the aftermath of the S2 impact, bacteria that could metabolise iron likely had a field day. Drabon's team found evidence that bacteria quickly bounced back after the meteorite hit, and their populations surged. These iron-loving <keyword id="20361299" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="microorganisms" source="keywords">microorganisms</keyword> might have found their perfect environment in the chaotic post-impact world. "What this study is showing is that these impacts might have actually allowed life to flourish," Dragon explains. The clues to this ancient event are hidden in the <keyword id="23639570" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Barberton-Greenstone-Belt" source="keywords">Barberton Greenstone Belt</keyword> in South Africa. This region, one of the oldest geological formations on Earth, contains layers of rock that preserve evidence of past meteorite impacts, including the S2 event. By painstakingly examining these rocks, Drabon and her team have pieced together a picture of the world as it was billions of years ago. <h2>Not a one time event</h2>Their research involves collecting rock samples just centimetres apart and analysing them for chemical signatures that hint at ancient tsunamis, changes in ocean chemistry, and the rise of <keyword id="23639573" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="early-bacterial-life" source="keywords">early bacterial life</keyword> — essentially solving a 3-billion-year-old mystery, one thin slice of rock at a time. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="114397797" title="Trump aims for the stars as he links his campaign to Elon Musk&amp;#39;s success at SpaceX" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>From this, the researchers also deciphered that this wasn't just a one-time event. The Barberton Greenstone Belt contains evidence of at least eight major meteorite impacts, suggesting that Earth was regularly bombarded by space rocks during its early years. Each impact may have played a role in shaping the course of life on our planet. Drabon and her team plan to continue exploring the Barberton region, hoping to uncover more details about these <keyword id="23639571" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ancient-impacts" source="keywords">ancient impacts</keyword> and how they influenced Earth's early ecosystems. The more we learn about these dramatic events, the clearer it becomes that, while destructive, they were also key drivers of change. The findings of this study have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and can be accessed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2408721121">here</a>.

A 3-billion-year-old meteorite might have sparked life on Earth, study asserts

New Delhi: The <keyword id="21833060" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fintech-ecosystem" source="keywords">Fintech ecosystem</keyword> of the country now cumulatively valued at over USD 100 billion, is at a pivotal stage of evolution, with the potential to create two to three times its current value over the next decade, as per a report by <keyword id="20058186" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BCG" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="BCG" meta.hostid="269" meta.entityid="BCG">BCG</keyword> and Z47. The report highlighted that India remains one of the top three global Fintech destinations, with the ecosystem witnessing exponential growth across all levels. It added that over the past four years, the number of <keyword id="22974213" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Minicorns" source="keywords">Minicorns</keyword> (valuation at least USD 1 million but less than USD 1 billion) in the country has increased by 3.5 times, while the number of <keyword id="19944451" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Unicorns" source="keywords">Unicorns</keyword> and Soonicorns (startup that is growing quickly and has the potential to become a "unicorn" valued at USD 1 billion) has tripled. The report noted that in 2023, the country's Fintech market achieved a revenue size of USD 25 billion, marking a 56 per cent year-on-year growth which is a remarkable contrast to the global Fintech growth rate of just 13 per cent during the same period. However, the report also added that despite generating over USD 100 billion in value within the last decade, Indian Fintechs are still considered to be in the "middle" phase of their development, especially when compared to traditional incumbents who have created USD 600 billion+ in value over 30 to 50 years. The report mentioned that now the growth and the further expansion of the fintech ecosystem in the country is expected to come from the Tier 2 cities where majority of the Indian population resides. "With 63 per cent of the Indian population outside the top cities, huge opportunity exists to serve Bharat with next wave of penetration expected to come from Tier 2 cities" the report added. As Fintechs mature, profitability has become a central focus across the sector, with over 40 per cent of founders and CXOs (Chief Experience Officers) prioritizing unit economics alongside market expansion. Those preparing for or currently undergoing the IPO process are increasingly emphasizing governance, investment in infrastructure, and security. The report noted that in a recent survey of over 60 executives from top Fintechs, the majority cited market share expansion and growth as key priorities, especially for early and growth-stage companies. Post-IPO stage Fintechs, however, are placing greater emphasis on profitability and investments in technology, infrastructure, and security. "Mature Fintechs preparing for or in the IPO journey are emphasizing governance, investment in infrastructure, security Across survey of 60+ Executives of top Fintechs, market share expansion &amp; growth emerged as priorities for early and growth stage" added the report. Notably, the report stated that the profitability outlooks are improving year-on-year across all segments, with Neobank and InsurTech showing the most significant positive shifts since 2022. However, the industry is not without its challenges, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity. Over the past two decades, more than USD 20 billion has been lost to cyber and digital attacks.

Minicorns, Unicorns tripled in USD 100 billion Indian fintech ecosystem: BCG, Z47

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The University of California, Berkeley, is the top producer of alumni starting tech companies.</li><li>Founded by Jeremy Fiance, The House Fund targets Berkeley-affiliated startups like Databricks.</li></ul>In the last year, tech investors have plowed tens of millions of dollars into Perplexity, the developer of a search engine built from scratch with artificial intelligence. The two-year-old startup <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perplexity-raising-new-funding-generative-ai-2024">takes in cash like oxygen,</a> having raised <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-startups-rapid-funding-rounds-2024-9">back-to-back funding rounds</a> just months apart, and is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-startup-perplexity-in-funding-talks-to-more-than-double-valuation-to-8-billion-54d36787">said to be in talks</a> to raise a fourth round that would value the startup at $8 billion.Landing a spot on Perplexity's cap table is fiercely competitive, making it all the more noteworthy that The House Fund, a bespoke venture capital firm born from the University of California, Berkeley's ecosystem, secured a place.In 2016, tech investor Jeremy Fiance set up a venture capital firm at his alma mater to invest in startups with ties to top-tier public schools. From an office across from the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society, investors at The House Fund scour their networks for students, faculty, and alumni working to build the next Perplexity, whose CEO Aravind Srinivas is a Berkeley alum, or Databricks, one of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/databricks-acquires-startup-lilac-ai-to-beef-up-its-llm-offerings-2024-3">world's most important data science firms</a> with a private valuation of $43 billion, started by a group of seven Berkeley researchers. The House Fund has backed both."There are only so many companies that matter every year, full stop, in venture," said Zachary Hargreaves, a managing partner at The House Fund. Each year, more firms are "birthed out of Berkeley."<div type="image" title="Two men looking relaxed smile for a photo against a black backdrop." height="2250" width="3000" msid="114433088" hostid="261" sizebytes="116306"></div>In early 2020, Hargreaves <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/30-rising-venture-capitalist-investors-silicon-valley-tech-2018-4">left Founders Fund</a>, where he worked closely with startups like SpaceX and Stemcentrx, to run his own playbook as an advisor and angel investor. During this period, an old classmate from Berkeley, Fiance, started asking his advice about which companies in the portfolio he should reinvest in."I was learning more and more about what The House Fund is from the outside in," Hargreaves said. "It feels very small but then from the inside out, it's actually very big in terms of the opportunity set."In the two years since Hargreaves went full-time, The House Fund has deployed over $125 million into companies. His move from Founders Fund to The House Fund hasn't been previously reported.Investors pay much attention to Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their conveyor belts of entrepreneurial talent. Neither have spawned quite as many startup founders in the last decade at Berkeley. According to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/pitchbook-university-rankings">PitchBook data</a>, Berkeley has the highest tally of alumni entrepreneurs who have raised venture capital of any public or private school worldwide.Hargreaves predicts that the group will grow as the use of artificial intelligence makes it cheaper and faster for students and alumni to spin up new businesses. "You can actually be three kids in a garage and launch pretty fierce products," he said.With Hargreaves on board, Fiance hopes to invest later in companies it previously backed. His hiring gives the firm the resources and knowledge to help founders shape their businesses into the next generation of Berkeley-born unicorns, as well as diligence them for potential follow-on financing. The House Fund said it can write checks up to $10 million.The House Fund has raised over $330 million from backers, including the Berkeley Endowment Management Company, UC Investments (the office that manages the working capital, retirement savings, and endowment funds for the University of California system), and Ahoy Capital, a boutique fund manager.Hargreaves put the firm's value add this way: "If we are on your cap table, we are a shortcut to anything Berkeley."

These tech investors are trawling UC Berkeley to fund the next Perplexity or Databricks

<ul class="summary-list"><li>OpenAI's $6.6 billion funding raise attracted some big names across the industry.</li><li>The investors had to fork over huge sums and reportedly avoid future investments in OpenAI's rivals.</li></ul>Sam Altman has taken his share of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-openai-note-more-staff-exits-barret-bob-2024-9">bumps</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ilya-sutskever-leaving-openai-6-months-after-failed-altman-ouster-2024-5">and</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-ousted-fired-openai-ceo-chatgpt-maker-2023-11">bruises</a> over the last year, but he proved yet again that he can convince investors to pour hundreds of millions into <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-softbank-investment-ai-vision-2024-10">OpenAI.</a>The latest funding round appeared to be the hottest ticket in Silicon Valley, drawing a who's who of investors looking to get in on the buzzy AI startup's latest capital raise.The $6.6 billion round gave OpenAI a $157 billion post-money valuation and minted it into one of the most valuable startups in the world. The startup's valuation is now in the same neighborhood of publicly traded companies like Uber or AT&amp;T.In a statement posted to its website, OpenAI said the funding will "accelerate progress on our mission" and that it was "grateful to our investors for their trust in us."The investors' participation — which <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/66e0653e-c446-47b2-8a7f-baa54ccbfb9a">reportedly carried the stipulation</a> that they shouldn't invest in rival AI companies — comes as OpenAI is discussing how to transform from a nonprofit organization into a more traditional <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-openai-needs-to-do-to-become-for-profit-altman-2024-9#">for-profit company</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-leaders-who-left-since-2023-sam-altman-leadership-struggle-2024-9">several high-profile executives</a> have left to join rivals or start their own venture.Here's who broke out their checkbooks.<h2 id="c2afb3aa-677c-429d-a122-909331dfe44f">Thrive Capital</h2><div type="image" title="A photo of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman walking next to Anderson Cooper and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner at the Sun Valley conference." height="3881" width="5760" msid="113886506" hostid="261" sizebytes="589644"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joshua-kushners-thrive-capital-invests-in-studio-a24-2024-6">Thrive Capital</a> led the funding round, a spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider. The VC firm, founded by Josh Kushner, has made early investments in several now-prominent companies such as Slack and Instagram and previously invested in OpenAI.The venture firm invested about $1.25 billion, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-nearly-doubles-valuation-to-157-billion-in-funding-round-ee220607?mod=breakingnews">according</a> to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Thrive also has the option to invest another $1 billion in OpenAI next year at its current valuation if a revenue goal is reached, Reuters <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/openai-sees-116-billion-revenue-next-year-offers-thrive-chance-invest-again-2025-2024-09-28/">reported</a> last month.Besides being an investor in OpenAI, Kushner is close with Altman, The Information <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=1cab063bf769ea9eb48814eb0a6d6dc829f20d25d9d18c766002829154b96aba&amp;postID=66fd750c0c43543ec7a4b399&amp;postSlug=openai-investors-latest-funding-round-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theinformation.com%2Farticles%2Fwhy-josh-kushner-became-openais-fundraising-sherpa">reported</a> last month. "i have been fortunate to work with many great investors; there is no one i'd recommend more highly than josh," Altman wrote in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/sama/status/1821340757225078966">a post on X</a>, formerly known as Twitter, in August.<h2 id="736a35a4-d4e2-49f2-9f06-528a5fbc3cd5">SoftBank</h2>The highly anticipated funding round also attracted newcomers like SoftBank. A source close to the Japanese media-technology conglomerate told Business Insider that it had invested $500 million.The deal gives the Tokyo-headquartered firm, led by enigmatic founder Masayoshi Son, its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-softbank-investment-ai-vision-2024-10">first major stake in a company developing the large language models (LLMs)</a> that have powered buzzy apps like ChatGPT in the generative AI boom.While SoftBank led several investments into AI-linked Silicon Valley firms before the generative AI boom through its $100 billion Saudi-backed Vision Fund, it has been slow to invest in a post-ChatGPT world as it has sought to repair its reputation following its disastrous WeWork bet.However, Son has signaled in recent months that he would be ready to make an investment splash again to capture the opportunities in the generative AI frenzy.At the company's annual meeting in June, the SoftBank founder told shareholders that past investments were just a "warm-up" for AI and advancing the technology is "what I was born to do."<h2 id="b79edc35-3e70-45b0-9358-2c370180b278">ARK Venture Fund</h2><div type="image" title="Cathie Wood" height="683" width="1024" msid="113886505" hostid="261" sizebytes="29948"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cathie-wood-ark-venture-openai-funding-2024-10">Cathie Wood's ARK Venture Fund agreed to invest</a> at least $250 million into this funding round, which is its second investment to the company, Business Insider first reported. Ark has also invested in several other big-name startups like Anthropic, xAI, SpaceX, FigureAI, and Databricks.Wood compared the state of artificial intelligence with that of the internet in the early 1990s in an <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=a7010832e1d44d01ab25c98a17ab9f24fb271b74f6a8c21c378eb8a0ef13469b&amp;postID=66fd750c0c43543ec7a4b399&amp;postSlug=openai-investors-latest-funding-round-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningstar.com%2Ffunds%2Farks-cathie-wood-tesla-ai-bitcoin">April interview</a> with Morningstar."We had just begun, and we had miles to go," Wood said. "In fact, we're still learning how powerful the internet is. That is where we are with artificial intelligence today."ARK did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.<h2 id="5d016f09-af75-4bcf-beba-b9511454f495">Microsoft</h2>Microsoft invested a little under $1 billion into OpenAI's latest funding round, according to The Wall Street Journal report. The tech giant has a partnership with OpenAI and has already invested a reported <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-satya-nadella-openai-partnership-competition-collaboration-2024-5">$13 billion into the company</a>. Rival <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-microsoft-rivalry-deepens-with-openai-funding-round-talks-2024-8">Apple</a> reportedly mulled its own investment in OpenAI, though <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-falls-out-talks-invest-openai-wsj-report-2024-9">nothing came of the talks</a>.Microsoft has also added OpenAI's technology to Bing, its search engine, and its Copilot AI tools, as well as some of its other products.Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.<h2 id="4c5792d3-7b4d-4ead-9769-659377bc0dc4">Nvidia</h2><div type="image" title="Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang." height="3335" width="5000" msid="113886507" hostid="261" sizebytes="342642"></div>Nvidia is no stranger to the AI spotlight, with its chips the best-in-class option for companies like OpenAI that are building frontier AI models.Nvidia invested about $100 million in OpenAI's funding round, according to the Journal's report.Nvidia declined to comment, referring BI to OpenAI.<h2 id="e1270d87-4463-4ac3-8d68-0f45347c3b60">Tiger Global</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiger-global-openai-latest-funding-round-2024-10">Tiger Global Management also invested</a> in OpenAI's latest funding round, Business Insider reported. The amount of the contribution couldn't be learned.The company aggressively invested in tech in recent years, making 335 investments in 2021, according to Crunchbase. The firm has since <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crossover-funds-tiger-global-d1-deals-2024-2023-12">pulled back on its number of investments</a> per year as the market soured, but it purchased $125 million in OpenAI shares in 2021.<h2 id="e98b1792-d5c0-48d7-b6d8-2766c05647d5">Fidelity</h2>Fidelity also participated in OpenAI's latest funding round. The asset manager recently participated in a funding round for Elon Musk's xAI.Fidelity often invests in late-stage startups that could go public in IPOs a few years later. The strategy can help big mutual fund firms get in ahead of potentially hot IPOs at a lower price.<h2 id="6d05f1b3-01e2-4e70-b574-f8fe21b1f9c6">Altimeter Capital Management</h2>Altimeter Capital Management also contributed to OpenAI's latest funding round, according to reports. Altimeter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.Brad Gerstner, CEO and founder of the investment firm, said at an AI conference on Wednesday after the founding round announcement that OpenAI's next move should be an IPO."Having the opportunity for every retail investor in America to share in the upside that gets created by AI at a time we're going to have massive social disruption, jobs lost, and other things, I think it's critically important," Gerstner said, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.geekwire.com/2024/openai-investor-says-the-next-step-for-the-chatgpt-maker-should-be-to-go-public/">according</a> to GeekWire.<h2 id="59757869-f9b3-4325-827e-57256dbfbbd3">Khosla Ventures</h2><div type="image" title="Portrait of Vinod Khosla with purple/blue lighting" height="5354" width="8028" msid="113886504" hostid="261" sizebytes="613812"></div>Khosla Ventures also participated in the funding round.Vinod Khosla, who cofounded Sun Microsystems, recently wrote in a lengthy <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.khoslaventures.com/ai-dystopia-or-utopia/?campaign_id=4&amp;emc=edit_dk_20240923&amp;instance_id=135030&amp;nl=dealbook&amp;regi_id=71823306&amp;segment_id=178573&amp;te=1&amp;user_id=f058385abc0a81f5ba25805ecd26bcd9#02-c">post</a> on his VC firm website that AI would reduce costs and take over most of the work humans do — and do it better, for the most part. He also predicted there would be one billion robots in the next 25 years.Khosla previously invested in OpenAI.<h2 id="9217eb9c-0bd6-4a0e-a57f-18b634e4595e">MGX</h2>MGX, an investment firm backed by the United Arab Emirates, participated in OpenAI's latest round, Reuters <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/openai-closes-66-billion-funding-haul-valuation-157-billion-with-investment-2024-10-02/">reported</a>. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.The firm was set up earlier this year to invest in artificial intelligence and semiconductors, Bloomberg <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-11/abu-dhabi-said-to-target-100-billion-aum-for-ai-investment-firm">reported</a> in March. At the time, MGX was reportedly aiming to have $100 billion under management in the coming years.

The investors behind OpenAI's historic $6.6 billion funding round

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Major banks like Goldman Sachs walloped Wall Street expectations thanks to dealmaking fees.</li><li>Investment banking has made a comeback, and bigger bonuses are in the cards, too.</li></ul>Christmas came early for investment bankers.The biggest banks on Wall Street reported a huge boost in dealmaking fees this quarter after a two-year slump. Investment bank revenue surged 30% on average at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-3q-results-dealmaking-trading-resurgence-david-solomon-2024-10">Goldman Sachs</a>, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, according to Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo."We continue to believe we are in the early stages of a multiyear capital markets recovery," Morgan Stanley CFO Sharon Yeshaya said during an earnings call. Morgan Stanley's investment bank revenue surged 56% year over year to $1.46 billion, beating Wall Street expectations.Several tailwinds are at play, including tempering inflation and pent-up demand. Debt underwriting has surged as companies rushed to take advantage of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-cuts-interest-rates-how-much-september-fomc-powell-inflation-2024-9">interest rate cuts</a>, S&amp;P Global's Nathan Stovall told BI. After years of recession fears, there is more optimism the Federal Reserve can deliver a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-recession-outlook-prediction-labor-market-job-additions-interest-rates-2024-10">soft landing</a>, he said."You're seeing corporates get more comfortable with the world they're operating in, and they're willing to take more risks, and this leads to more M&amp;A activity, more equity raising, things like that," said Stovall, director of financial institutions research.An incoming flurry of dealmaking could reflect a broader economic recovery, as lower borrowing costs make it easier for companies to fund acquisitions. This past quarter saw several <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/megamergers-deals-m-a-wall-street-comeback-2024-9">megamergers</a>, such as candy giant Mars buying the maker of Pringles for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-buying-pringles-cheez-it-maker-kellanova-36-billion-deal-2024-8">nearly $36 billion</a>. Citi advised Mars and provided $29 billion in debt financing with JPMorgan. Paramount <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/paramount-global-agrees-to-merge-with-skydance-shari-redstone-2024-7">agreed to merge</a> with David Ellison's Skydance Media. Bank of America is one of Skydance's advisors on the $8 billion deal.Wall Street CEOs, however, are cautious about their enormous wins. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-earnings-q3-jamie-dimon-economy-geopolitics-banking-wall-street-2024-10">JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon </a>warned on an earnings call that the favorable interest rate conditions "may not prevail or be the ongoing conditions late next year" and of geopolitical turmoil that is "treacherous and getting worse." Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon noted that while the bank had a healthy backlog, M&amp;A and equity activity is still well below 10-year averages.Risks to this comeback loom large, Mayo wrote in a research note."There's little question to us that activity and revenues reflect a degree of bull market banking," he wrote. "This could end based on potential results and reactions to the upcoming November elections, a stock market decline, and/or unexpected changes in rates (esp. higher)."Portfolio manager Cole Smead described the results as a "head fake." Smead is watching the US's ballooning deficit, concerned it could <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fixed-income-investing-tips-national-debt-yield-curve-steepening-treasury-2024-9">push up bond yields</a> and the cost of borrowing, which would discourage dealmaking."This can go on for maybe a quarter or two more, but it is likely going to fall apart long before it ever gets back to anywhere near the numbers of 2021," said the CEO of Smead Capital Management, which owns shares of Bank of America and JPMorgan. "Ultimately, this equity market, with many risks out there, is complacent and doesn't care. The problem is when the chickens come home to roost, this activity will go back to low levels again."<h2 id="d7f46fb6-2aae-4454-a462-5b0acb5aa3e8">The potential 'X-factor'</h2>While the risks are real, this quarter's upswing isn't necessarily a blip. For the five banks, Mayo estimated that capital markets revenue will grow 8% in 2025 to $31.7 billion and another 7% to $34 billion in 2026.There's also what Mayo calls "the X-factor": the $1 trillion-plus of dry powder held by private equity firms.Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of private equity giant Blackstone, said that anecdotally, the number of confidentiality agreements more than doubled in September compared with a year ago."Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to turn into that volume of deals. But it clearly shows you there is more enthusiasm," Gray said during the firm's earnings call Thursday. "And we know in the private equity world, there's a lot of companies that need to be sold, similar story in real estate."Finance professor David Stowell told BI that while the upcoming US election and overseas conflict pose economic risks, the sponsors can't sit on the sidelines indefinitely."They know that they always have to risk-adjust their investments," said Stowell, an investment banker for two decades before joining the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "They pretty much have to spend the money, or their kind of business goes away."Stovall acknowledged that one quarter doesn't make a trend but said that economic data, such as job creation numbers, points to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-economy-outlook-data-points-to-soft-landing-no-recession-2024-9">soft landing</a>. This bodes well for dealmaking for the rest of the year and 2025."I'm cautiously optimistic," he said. "It is wise to not jump up and down and say things are going to go straight up from here, but I do think it's more encouraging than it's been for a while."For now, some Wall Streeters can already count on larger bonuses, according to compensation consultant Alan Johnson. With debt and equity capital markets thriving, underwriters will get the biggest gains. For debt and equity underwriters, he estimated bonus increases of 25% to 35% and 20% to 30%, respectively. M&amp;A bankers will have to wait longer for a significant boost and should expect maybe a 5% or 10% uptick this season."Traditionally, the sexiest area would be M&amp;A — the pipeline looks really good, but most of the closing fees would be for 2025," said the founder of Johnson Associates. "The headlines around M&amp;A are really going to be next year's story."

Investment banking has made a multibillion-dollar rebound, but it's too early to pop the Champagne 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Business Insider's Seed 100 and Seed 40 lists are created based on data from Termina.</li><li>Termina began with data on over 1,800 investors, analyzing 25 success attributes, such as exits.</li></ul>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/seed-100-best-early-stage-vc-investors-2024-5">Seed 100</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/seed-40-best-women-early-stage-vc-investors-2024-5">Seed 40</a> lists are derived from a statistical analysis of investor track records. We've been working with Business Insider to publish these lists for the past four years, but this is the first year we're doing so under the <a target="_blank" href="https://termina.ai">Termina</a> brand. Incubated by Tribe Capital, Termina is an AI-software platform that powers quantitative due diligence for leading investors around the world.Our methodology is the same as it was in past years. It analyzes each investor's performance in 25 areas using Crunchbase and PitchBook data. Since one of our goals is to analyze investor's potential success rather than focus solely on past achievements, we only assess investors who have made a minimum of five investments between 2009 and 2024. Our list includes <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solo-capitalists-startup-investors-shaking-up-venture-capital-2021-9">solo venture capitalists</a> and angel investors who are assessed based on their investments in US companies.To be named to the list, seed investors must have:<ol><li>Investments that performed well, including successful IPOs or acquisitions (exits that were meaningfully above "liquidation preference" or showed increased company value rather than simply raising capital).</li><li>Show intermediate signs of future success with seed investments that consistently receive follow-on investment.</li><li>Be active in the seed-investing ecosystem, with moderate-to-high levels of activity over the past two years.</li></ol>Though each criterion is weighted equally, exits (IPOs or acquisitions) statistically have the most influence in differentiating investors.Over 1,800 investors met the above criteria, an 18% increase from last year. The seed-investor ecosystem grows every year, making the list more competitive. We're also delighted that there were 187 female candidates with sufficient data, a significant increase that allowed us to release an expanded Seed 40 list this year. Ten percent of all seed investors in scope were women, up from 8% when the first Seed 100 was released in 2021.The final rankings had 35 new investors, 21 who improved their rank, and 39 with the same or lower rank as last year.<h2>AI is storming seed investing and beyond</h2>One reason we look at seed-stage investments is because they tend to be leading indicators of innovation in the coming years. OpenAI released their GPT-4 model just over a year ago. The model reached an inflection point of capability that has ignited the imagination of entrepreneurs and investors worldwide. The result in just one year is the largest-ever rebalancing of how investors allocate seed capital across sectors. In our analysis, AI tech receives over 16% of all seed-investing capital, with a significant jump in the 12 months following GPT-4's release.In the chart below, we show five seed-investment categories to contextualize the growth of AI investment. This is not an exhaustive view of seed-investment sectors. In this view, though there has been a steady expansion of AI investing at the seed stage, the jump last year clearly stands out.<div type="image" title="For Seed 100 methodology post" height="637" width="1600" msid="109881431" hostid="261" sizebytes="52084"></div>We believe AI will allow more seed-stage companies to bring products to market with less capital, similar to how cloud computing accelerated processes and reduced the capital required to launch products. If true, this will make seed-stage investing even more critical as AI begins to form the infrastructure that launches new tech products and services.Jake Ellowitz is the chief technology officer and cofounder of Termina.

How Termina selected and ranked the 2024 Seed 100 and Seed 40 lists of the top early-stage venture capitalists

<ul class="summary-list"><li>New York-based BBG Ventures has raised a new $60 million fund.</li><li>The latest fund will invest in both female founders and those with diverse backgrounds.</li></ul>Only a handful of VCs sought out women entrepreneurs when AOL media execs <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/susan-lyne-bbg-gilt-groupe-2017-12">Susan Lyne</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-vcs-startup-investors-new-york-city-2023-10#jessica-lin-work-bench-40">Nisha Dua</a> launched BBG Ventures in 2014 to exclusively back female founders. Ten years later, the seed stage fund has raised a new $60 million fund and is moving beyond just backing female founders to any entrepreneur from a diverse background."This is not about abandoning women, but expanding our mandate to back a diverse founding team," Lyne told Business Insider.Founders from diverse backgrounds have taken a hit amid the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/venture-capital-funding-crunch-will-continue-2024-2023-12">funding slump in venture capital.</a> In the first half of 2024, Black-founded US startups received $228 million in funding — or about .3% of the nearly $79 billion that went to U.S.-based startups, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://news.crunchbase.com/diversity/black-founded-startup-venture-funding-fearless/">according to Crunchbase data.</a> The dollar total is a 60% drop from the first half of 2023. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/30-best-women-early-stage-seed-vc-investors-startups-2023-5">Lyne</a> and Dua teamed up at AOL in 2014 to create a $10 million fund, BBG, to back female founders and invested early in Spring Health, which was mostly recently <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.springhealth.com/news/fortune-exclusive-ai-powered-mental-health-startup-boosts-valuation">valued at $3.3 billion,</a> and toy brand KiwiCo.When <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/verizon-to-buy-aol-2015-5">Verizon bought AOL</a> in 2015, BBG Ventures separated and raised a new $50 million fund. For the first time, it raised capital from institutional investors, including the State of Michigan Retirement Services and Illumen Capital. Investments include genAI startup Topline Pro and skincare company Starface.Dua said that these LPs returned to back their newest fund and also increased their commitments. New investors in the fun include Fairview Capital, Pivotal Ventures, California Endowment, and Mizuho. Previous investors Nordstrom, Verizon, and Bank of America also invested in the $60 million fund.Dua explained that the decision to move beyond exclusively backing just female founders reflects the duo's shift in thesis around innovation. "There are underrepresented groups around not just gender but also race, age, and income," said Dua.She emphasized that female founders are still a huge focus area but that the firm is excited to back strong, underrepresented founders in healthcare, fintech, and the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-startups-rapid-funding-rounds-2024-9">investment area nearly all VCs clamoring to back:</a> AI. The new fund has already backed an AI recruiting startup for hourly workers, UpWage.BBG isn't becoming an AI-focused firm anytime soon though, Dua cautioned. "Some funds are building a portfolio of just AI companies," she said. "That's not us." She highlighted a recent investment out of the new fund in Nara, a startup that has created an FDA-approved, certified organic whole milk formula. "It's important for us to be circumspect where AI can drive growth in certain startups," added Dua.For Dua and Lyne, being an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jordan-wan-cofound-partners-emerging-manager-fund-2023-10">emerging fund manager and raising a new fund</a> is "not easy." "The vast majority of VC funding this year goes to a very small pool of funds, and sub-$100 million funds have a tougher time raising," said Lyne. She added because of the competition to raise funds from LPs, many funds are taking longer to make decisions and waiting to see what returns a fund makes before investing again."Many of our LPs believe in impact and trying to broaden access to capital," said Lyne. "We raised more than our last fund, and I think it's validation of our thesis."

BBG Ventures raises $60 million for its latest fund and moves beyond just backing female founders 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Chinese takeover of Taiwan risks investments there and far beyond.</li><li>A hedge fund turned to a tabletop wargame to see how the crisis could play out.</li></ul>As China's fleets and bombers stalk the narrow strait and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-showed-how-easily-no-notice-it-can-surround-taiwan-2024-6">threaten Taiwan's</a> seven decades of de facto self-rule, a British hedge fund commissioned a wargame to answer an increasingly pressing question: What is the optimum strategy for investors if China invades?Taiwan is the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/16/2-charts-show-how-much-the-world-depends-on-taiwan-for-semiconductors.html">world's leading supplier</a> of the semiconductor chips essential to electronics of all kinds, from fighter jets and supercomputers to dishwashers, and a Chinese takeover of Taiwan's industry would immediately buzzcut exposed investors. But the wargame makes clear that would be the first wave in an economic tsunami."The conclusion was that most investing entities would take a huge hit and keep being hit for months to follow, with many likely collapsing," Finley Grimble, president of Knightsbridge Strategic Group, the British consultancy that designed and ran the game, told Business Insider. "Opportunities could follow a bit later though for those who survive."Wargaming is a common technique in government and military circles to explore issues and assess potential responses. But it also is becoming popular in business as a way to prepare for crises like this that would send tremors through the world's economy and short-circuit tech stocks.In the case of the British hedge fund, which Knightsbridge did not identify, the tabletop game began with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-taiwan-china-chip-war-2024-6">China invading Taiwan</a> on May 2, 2025 — two years before a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-missing-how-china-could-seize-taiwan-without-invading-experts-2024-5">reported Chinese mandate</a> to be ready. The hedge fund players (played by actual officials of the hedge fund in question) responded by "liquidating as many of its investments as possible in all adjacent countries to the South China Sea, and rapidly reducing its exposure to investments reliant on South China Sea freedom of navigation," according to KSG's summary report.But this still left the fund with substantial exposure to its global investment, including those in the US and Europe. The next step was to shift investments toward US government bonds, buying US dollars, and investing in South America. "The major short- to medium-term decision taken was to pull out of high-tech companies given semiconductor chip shortages were likely on the horizon, which would harm the share price of tech giants," KSG noted.In the second phase of the game, soon after the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/red-flags-tell-us-when-chinas-ready-to-invade-taiwan-2024-4">Chinese invasion began</a>, US forces were said to have engaged and stopped the Chinese amphibious assault, though China continued to bombard Taiwan.In the economic sphere, the EU, as well as the US, Japan, South Korea and Australia imposed sanctions on China.<div type="image" title="Taiwanese soldiers fired artillery as part of August drills to defend their coast." height="1333" width="2000" msid="113147893" hostid="261" sizebytes="358550"></div>This caught the hedge fund players by surprise: they had assumed EU sanctions were unlikely because of the depth of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/xi-europe-tour-eu-companies-china-economy-investor-confidence-low-2024-5">China-Europe trade</a>, which reached $815 billion annually in 2023. The hedge fund "agreed that any room for avoiding a total divestment from China and the South China Sea was now completely lost, and market re-entry was probably many years away."The final phase of the wargame began a month into the war. Global trade was said to be in crisis, the US had imposed a blockade on goods headed toward China, and there was a global rush to buy gold as a safe haven, along with US Treasury bills and high-quality US dollar assets. There was also stress on the global financial systems, including more and larger stock margin calls, more hedging, stiffer demands for collateral, higher credit spreads and deteriorating credit quality."Experts in finance assessed that this scenario did not look so dissimilar to the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis, the impact of Covid-19, the First Gulf War, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine," KSG noted. To be sure, China's economy is nearly nine times the size of Russia's as estimated by GDP.The hedge fund responded by choosing to invest heavily in semiconductors manufactured in regions not affected by the war. The fund also boosted investments in the defense industry and, on the assumption that the war would drive up energy prices, also invested in oil and alternative energy.A post-game analysis by former British government economists and security experts, as well as a former investment banker, concluded that a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-taiwan-war-us-no-allies-2024-7">Chinese invasion of Taiwan</a> would devastate the world economy far more than even the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/recession-vs-depression">2008 meltdown</a>.Governments would pump liquidity into their economies for years to come, including investing in semiconductor manufacturing. If an invasion of Taiwan resulted in sanctions on China, this might be a boon to Western manufacturers who would no longer have Chinese competition (though consumers might be unhappy as lack of competition drives up prices).An interesting side effect would be that Chinese investment in the so-called Global South — which includes Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia — would probably be slashed, leaving space for other lenders to step in. "This would provide potential opportunities for new players to emerge in the Global South, particularly if loans can be collateralized," Knightsbridge noted. "A major example of this would be mining in Zimbabwe."In the end, the value of business wargames is that they give companies and investors a chance to go beyond theory and explore the consequences of making various choices."It's easy to think about consequences in your own head, or in a regular meeting," Grimble said. "But a wargame allows for consequences to be examined, and that is vital for entities looking to invest enormous sums of money and compare options, or prepare mitigations and alternatives in a time of urgency."Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.twitter.com/@mipeck1">Twitter</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mipeck/">LinkedIn</a>.

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