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The prestigious venture firm Sequoia Capital likes to say all its partners invest in every sector. But more than anyone, the growth-stage partner Grady, part of Business Insider's 2024 AI Power List, has led the firm's AI strategy, making bets on companies including OpenAI, Harvey, and Hugging Face. Along with another partner, Sonya Huang, Grady also wrote a public blog post on Sequoia's website inviting AI founders to email them their ideas and pitches directly. A successful deal for Sequoia is more about investing in the best people rather than at the best price, Grady told Business Insider last year. "We don't make money by getting a good deal," he said.See Business Insider's full <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://businessinsider.com/ai-power-list-2024">AI Power List</a>

Sequoia Capital partner Pat Grady is redefining AI investments

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Health startup Roon is raising $15 million at a $65 million pre-money valuation, BI has learned.</li><li>Sequoia, an existing Roon investor, is set to participate in the round.</li></ul>Health information site Roon is raising a new funding round, Business Insider has learned.The startup is raising $15 million at a $65 million pre-money valuation, according to two people familiar with the efforts.Existing investor Sequoia Capital has recommitted to the funding round, according to those people.Roon aims to replace "Dr. Google" with its website and app for consumers to ask their health questions and get expert answers.The company previously raised a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/12/roon-wants-to-educate-patients-with-freshly-sourced-info-on-their-conditions/">$7.5 million</a> seed round in 2022. Firstmark, TMV, and Sequoia Capital led the round, with SV Angel, Maveron, and M13 participating.Terms of the deal are not finalized and could be subject to change. Roon and Sequoia did not respond to requests for comment.Roon pitches itself as a "trusted guide for health" on its website. The company provides accessible medical information to users and partners with trained medical professionals to answer specific medical questions about users' health journeys.Currently, Roon's site says it can help patients navigating fertility and family building, dementia, the neurological disease ALS, or the brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme.The company initially began by providing medical information on glioblastomas, sourcing experts on the specific condition before expanding to additional topics, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/12/roon-wants-to-educate-patients-with-freshly-sourced-info-on-their-conditions/">per TechCrunch</a>. Roon also offers to connect users with other people experiencing similar health conditions.Roon CEO Vikram Bhaskaran, a former Pinterest executive, founded Roon in 2021 after struggling to find accessible information about his loved ones' medical conditions. He partnered with his former Pinterest colleague Arun Ranganathan, who serves as Roon's CTO, and Rohan Ramakrishna, a trained neurosurgeon and Roon's chief medical officer.Today, expert <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/health">health information</a> isn't always easy to find with a simple Google search. Patients may turn to resources like WebMD, forums like Quora, or even social media for advice on their conditions — with unsurprisingly unreliable accuracy.AI platforms, such as Perplexity and OpenAI's ChatGPT, are increasingly becoming a resource for medical questions as well. However, there have been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/software-developers-want-ai-to-give-medical-advice-how-accurate-is-it/">concerns around the reliability and accuracy</a> of these platforms' outputs.Consensus, a search engine that helps people parse scientific papers, raised a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://consensus.app/home/blog/announcing-our-11-5m-series-a-fundraise/">$11.5 million</a> Series A led by Union Square Ventures in July to tackle a similar market.Roon aims to differentiate itself with its focus on "medically vetted" information, Bhaskaran told TechCrunch in 2022."There's so much medical misinformation… it's crazy that patients don't have anywhere to go to answer questions," he said.

Exclusive: Health startup Roon is raising $15 million from Sequoia to replace 'Dr. Google'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Cathie Wood's Ark Venture Fund allows retail investors to invest in high-growth startups.</li><li>The fund's net assets have climbed to $69 million, roughly tripling year over year.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cathie-wood-profile-ark-invest-etf-rise-success-following-tesla-2021-2">Cathie Wood</a> attracted billions of dollars with her fresh approach to betting on tech stocks, combining bold calls on the future with the ability for investors to buy and sell in an instant.Wood's effort to do something similar for venture capital has delivered investments in many of Silicon Valley's hottest deals. Though its investors will have to wait much longer before they see any returns.Wood's firm Ark Invest debuted a new closed-end interval fund in 2022, allowing investors to throw as little as $500 into a vehicle that invests in private startups. Investors can buy and sell shares in the fund just as they do with stocks, with some restrictions."Our goal here is to provide the best venture portfolio in the world to everyone in the world, not just to the rich and the famous," said Brett Winton, who works closely with Wood as chief futurist at Ark Invest and is an architect of the firm's venture capital strategy.The fund, Ark Venture Fund, has now gathered close to $70 million in assets, some distance from venture giants like Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz, or even Ark's other funds. ARKK, Wood's most famous fund, has $5.8 billion in assets, down from a peak of $50 billion.Despite its small size, the fund has clinched deals to invest in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-bets-big-on-humanoid-robots-with-figure-ai-2024-2">Figure</a>, a Jeff Bezos-backed startup developing humanoid robots, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-xai-hiring-spree-ai-tutors-2024-10">xAI</a>, an artificial-intelligence firm founded by Elon Musk, and OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.<div type="image" title="Elon Musk SpaceX" height="2034" width="2712" msid="115254561" hostid="261" sizebytes="675642"></div>It raises the question of why aging startups SpaceX, Epic Games, and Databricks, which have raised billions in funding, bother to include Ark in new rounds. SpaceX is Ark Venture Fund's largest holding, accounting for 13% of the fund's total assets, worth around $9 million.Winton said it's a subject he's frequently addressed in early meetings with founders.First, Ark produces reams of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ark-funds.com/articles">original research</a> on areas of investment. Winton said this research helps the firm win over teams because it demonstrates a grasp of their breakthrough technologies. "It means we can engage in really constructive conversations with them about their strategy," Winton said.Second, because Ark invests in both the private and public markets, it offers relationships with potential customers across the size spectrum of enterprises.Lastly, unlike a traditional venture fund, which has a fixed lifespan to invest the capital and return the profits to the fund's investors, Ark set up its venture fund to continue indefinitely, allowing investors to enter and exit the fund on a periodic basis.This provides flexibility to hold shares of companies after they go public, which can be particularly attractive for founders who are looking for investors with a long-term outlook and a higher tolerance for market volatility.In October, Ark invested at least $250 million into OpenAI's latest round, which pushed the AI startup's valuation to $157 billion.Most of that investment came from a related private venture fund that's only for high-net-worth investors. OpenAI makes up just 5% of the Ark Venture Fund's portfolio, which means it has less than $4 million invested."We would prefer to be able to write larger checks out of the venture fund than we currently can," Winton said.For that to happen, the fund will need to attract more investors.Though the fund is up 36% since its inception date, it's down 3% year to date, according to the website. The S&amp;P 500 in comparison is up 26% this year, with surging tech stocks and <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-election-win-stock-market-today-record-high-sp500-dow-2024-11?_gl=1*nfthw5*_ga*MTQ0NjYxMDEzMC4xNzIyMzAwMzYy*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMTM0MjA0MC4yNDUuMS4xNzMxMzQyMDY4LjMyLjAuMA..">Donald Trump's election win</a> driving record highs.Ark Venture Fund charges a flat fee for investing assets under its control, the same as a venture fund. The fee, 2.75%, is high relative to other interval funds, according to Morningstar, but it doesn't take carried interest or a share of profits.Winton said the fund could accrue assets into the billions of dollars; on a follow-up call, he walked back his comment, saying it's hard to know how big the fund could get."If that happens, then that'll actually become the story of Ark," he said. "Ark kind of changed venture capital."

Ark's Cathie Wood changed Wall Street. Now, she's set her sights on venture capital.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>VCs are lobbing cash at the presidential election and key congressional races, FEC data shows.</li><li>While most VCs favored Democrats, a16z's crypto giving dwarfed all other donations.</li></ul>America is bitterly divided over politics, and the tech industry — once portrayed as a liberal bastion — is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/election-a-distraction-silicon-valley-wants-to-be-over-2024-8">no different.</a> Among the sector's investor class, these disputes typically play out behind closed doors, with checkbooks rather than <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-political-divide-twitter-elon-musk-kamala-harris-2024-8">angry social media posts</a>.This election cycle, investors at the top venture capital firms have plowed tens of millions of dollars into the election, both backing their favored political candidates and just cannily promoting commercial interests.Business Insider trawled political donation data released by the Federal Elections Commission to see how employees at VC firms have donated by candidates and political entities as the hotly contested race enters its final phase.The data is limited, focusing only on a subjective grouping of 10 high-profile firms, and cutting off at varying points over the summer. More recent FEC donor data will be released in the days and weeks ahead of the November 5 general election, often the most turbulent time in any cycle.The sheer volume of donations captured in the FEC filings underscores the significance of the tech constituency in the political arena, how the Silicon Valley elite has embraced politics of late, and just how flooded by money modern American politics has become.<h3 id="dd94bff4-8a0b-4fe4-8f40-59db1deb3131">The big spenders</h3>For venture capitalists, talking politics can invite scrutiny — or worse, turn off founders seeking funds for what might be the next big thing. It's part of the reason why many firms won't take positions on political issues or push a candidate on their employees.While that hasn't stopped individual investors from voting with their dollars, many VC firms are quick to point out that donations do not represent the organization's political stance.Except when they do.Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, is the sole firm in our dataset to make political contributions directly. In this election cycle, it contributed $47 million to groups working to elect blockchain-friendly candidates, including Fairshake, a titanic crypto-industry backed super PAC. The firm is all-in on crypto, investing in Solana and Yuga Labs, and launched a $4.5 billion investment fund focused on this area in 2022.While the names of the firm's founders, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, also appear on filings for donations to these groups, a16z says on its <a target="_blank" href="https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/contributing-to-fairshake-pac/">website</a> that these contributions come from the firm, not the founders personally. Though the distinction a16z draws between itself and its founders might be slightly artificial, given Andreessen and Horowitz created, own, and named the firm after themselves.For all the brouhaha about Andreessen and Horowitz putting <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-vcs-in-silicon-valley-2024-7">millions of dollars</a> behind Trump's latest bid for the White House and Horowitz hedging his bets with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/read-ben-horowitzs-email-a16z-saying-plans-donate-kamala-harris-2024-10">a planned donation to Harris</a>, the data shows the two are a rare breed among venture investors: relatively bipartisan donors.Horowitz sent roughly 59% of his personal political contributions to Republicans and a little under 40% to Democrats, while Andreessen more strongly favored Republicans this election cycle, with 64% of his donations.In the time period covered by the data, a16z even eclipsed Greylock, where outgoing partner and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-billionaires-investors-kamala-harris-mark-cuban-reid-hoffman-2024-8">Democrat megadonor</a> Reid Hoffman has personally pumped nearly $30 million in recorded donations into the presidential election and key congressional races.Investors at Founders Fund, which has backed SpaceX and Palantir, are nearly 100% Republican in donations, though the bulk of contributions came from Keith Rabois, who left the firm in January to rejoin Khosla Ventures. Employees of venerable firm Kleiner Perkins are the opposite, giving almost entirely to Democratic causes, as is the case for Y Combinator, the colossal startup accelerator.Like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital is largely bipartisan. Unlike a16z, its biggest donors are largely split on party lines. Michael Moritz, who left the firm midway through last year and continues to serve as an advisor to Sequoia Heritage, its wealth management group, gives to Democrats, while Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire donates to Republicans.<h3 id="3ae3c5f1-4f98-4417-8e68-d3e367656034">Number-crunching</h3>When a candidate's campaign or other political entity receives political donations, they must report it either quarterly or monthly to the FEC, along with information about the donors, including the donor's employer. The federal agency processes these filings, before releasing them in a searchable format on its website.The data analyzed for this story cuts off on August 31 for entities that report donations on a monthly basis (including presidential campaigns, national party committees, and some PACs), while the cut-off for entities that report quarterly (including Congressional committees and some PACs) is June 30. (The filing deadline for Q3 data for quarterly filing entities was October 15, but this data isn't yet readily available in full online.)Business Insider selected 10 venture capital firms to focus on, taking into account fund size and cultural and industry significance. The list encompasses employees ranging from general partners and firm founders to marketers and executive assistants.The findings should not be interpreted as an exhaustive accounting of all venture capital investors' donations to date, but as a comparative analysis of how some of the industry's most significant players have approached political giving over the summer as the election heated up.Business Insider divided the recipients into three categories: Democrat-aligned, Republican-aligned, and unaffiliated — a grouping that includes both bipartisan groups like Fairshake and independents like West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, as well as organizations like The Lincoln Project, run by self-described Republicans but in practice supporting Democratic causes.<h3 id="383b71f4-35bb-4d3d-9fd8-a1daae48b9df">Hoffman vs. Horowitz</h3>Hoffman, the top individual donor, has developed a reputation as tech's Democratic Party standard-bearer. In this election cycle, records show his efforts include $2 million to help fund an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/01/31/billionaire-reid-hoffman-spent-2-million-on-bidens-new-hampshire-write-in-campaign-fec-records-show/">unusual write-in effort</a> for President Joe Biden in New Hampshire, and millions to joint fundraising committees for Harris after Biden dropped out. Hoffman also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/us/politics/nikki-haley-reid-hoffman-donation.html">gave $250,000</a> to a super PAC supporting Nikki Haley, the last major candidate to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination.Most donors more closely resemble Hoffman than Horowitz: clearly partisan, with an overwhelming majority of their donations going to support one party.Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures is another of the biggest donors on the Democratic side of the aisle, with more than $3 million in recorded donations during the time period to recipients including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Harris' presidential campaign. Khosla's giving puts him just above John Doerr, chairman of Kleiner Perkins and architect of cleantech investing, though he hasn't managed funds for the firm in a decade.Sequoia Capital's Doug Leone is one of VC's most prolific GOP-aligned political donors, giving his almost $3.8 million to the National Republican Committee and other causes.The vehicle of choice for many of these donations is via super PACs, a controversial political fundraising tool that can raise unlimited funds — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate-taking-receipts/contribution-limits/">bypassing FEC limits on donations</a> to candidates and other committees — but cannot directly coordinate with candidates. Asides from Fairshake, some of the biggest super PACs out there favored by VC investors include Future Forward PAC, a tech billionaire-linked Democrat-supporting group, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-trump-america-super-pac-2024-10">America PAC, a right-wing entity founded by Elon Musk</a>.Investors also gave to several joint fundraising committees, which take money for multiple candidates or organizations. They, too, became favored over the years because a joint fundraising committee allows candidates to rake in cash while sharing the costs of fundraising — think website hosting fees, high-end hotels, and catering for splashy Hamptons fundraisers. The most well-loved committees in our dataset were the Harris Victory Fund and Harris Action Fund, the joint fundraising efforts between the Harris campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and state Democratic committees.Reached for comment by Business Insider, none of the named investment firms agreed to make employees available for interviews about their political giving. Perhaps, from the donors' perspectives, they don't need to: They're already putting their money where their mouth is.Have a tip or a story? Connect with Melia Russell via email at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:mrussell@insider.com">mrussell@businessinsider.com</a> or by phone at (603) 913-3085. Reach Rob Price at <a target="_blank" class="" href="mailto:rprice@insider.com">rprice@businessinsider.com</a>. For sensitive matters, use the Signal app on a non-work device for encrypted messaging.

Venture capital is going to war over the election. Here's the data to prove it. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk's OpenAI rival, xAI, says it just raised $6 billion in funding from investors.</li><li>The AI startup is backed by VCs like Sequoia Capital and Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk's</a> xAI just took a critical step in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ai-startup-raising-funding-war-chest-openai-report-2024-1">building up its war chest</a> to take on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-chatgpt-openai-ceo-career-net-worth-ycombinator-prepper-2023-1">Sam Altman's</a> OpenAI.The AI startup said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://x.ai/blog/series-b">blog post</a> on Sunday that it had raised $6 billion for their Series B funding round.The company, which is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-new-company-xai-website-2023-7">barely a year old</a>, counts among its investors prominent VCs like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andreessen-horowitz-ai-reshuffle-a16z-2023-11">Andreessen Horowitz</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-generative-artificial-intelligence-boom-venture-capital-2023-5">Sequoia Capital</a> as well as Saudi Arabia's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-kingdom-holding-500-million-russia-energy-2022-8">Kingdom Holding</a>."There will be more to announce in the coming weeks," Musk said in an <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1794964816211087660">X post</a> on Monday morning.The mercurial billionaire said in a subsequent <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1794975702812426595">X post</a> that xAI's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/business-valuation-an-introduction-to-prepost-money-valuation-2011-4">pre-money valuation</a> was $18 billion. The financial term refers to the value of a company before any equity investment is made.Sunday's announcement marks the first time xAI has talked about its fundraising efforts. Musk had <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1748528116127912030">repeatedly denied </a><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1750995501560807465?s=46">earlier reports</a> from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-20/musk-s-xai-secures-500-million-toward-1-billion-funding-goal">Bloomberg</a> and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/28983bdc-2a38-4103-beae-08d9542ab69d">Financial Times</a> about xAI's outreach to investors.The influx of funding will be essential for Musk, who has envisioned xAI as an alternative to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-openai-company-chatgpt-elon-musk-founded-2022-12">OpenAI</a>, a company he'd cofounded with Altman. Musk <a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/blog/openai-supporters">left the OpenAI board</a> in 2018.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">ChatGPT</a> maker was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-valued-at-80bn-following-deal-employees-cash-out-report-2024-2">valued at $80 billion or more</a> following a deal that allows staff to cash out their shares, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/technology/openai-artificial-intelligence-deal-valuation.html">The New York Times</a> reported in February, citing people familiar with the deal.Musk <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sues-sam-altman-betrays-openai-mission-chatgpt-2024-3">filed a lawsuit</a> against OpenAI in February, where he accused the company of violating its nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft.A year ago, Musk expressed disappointment in what OpenAI had become, saying that it was "<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1626516035863212034?s=20">not what I intended at all.</a>""OpenAI was created as an open source (which is why I named it 'Open' AI), non-profit company to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft," Musk wrote on X.

Elon Musk's xAI says it just raised $6 billion in funding, pulling in big bucks from Sequoia Capital and Saudi Arabia

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Doug Leone wrote on X that he will support Donald Trump for president in this year's election.</li><li>Leone previously rebuked Trump, saying he'd incited the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021.</li></ul>Billionaire venture capitalist Doug Leone, a partner at Sequoia Capital who managed the firm until 2022, reversed his previous critiques of Donald Trump on Monday and said he would support the former president and convicted felon's campaign.He joins a growing list of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-partner-supports-donald-trump-highlighting-shift-silicon-valley-politics-2024-5">Silicon Valley elites</a> backing Trump."I have become increasingly concerned about the general direction of our country, the state of our broken immigration system, the ballooning deficit, and the foreign policy missteps, among other issues," Leone wrote in a post on X. "Therefore, I am supporting <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-to-ai-regulation-under-another-trump-term-2024-6">former President Trump</a> in this coming election."After the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Leone had previously renounced his support for Trump, saying the former president's behavior during the riots caused him to lose "many of his supporters, including me," Leone said in a statement to Vox's Recode at the time.The re-endorsement adds Leone to a growing list of Silicon Valley elites who have said they will be backing Trump following his recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-guilty-verdict-donors-backing-conviction-2024-5">felony conviction</a> in New York. Among them are Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia, and billionaire venture capitalist David Sacks.Leone and representatives for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Sequoia partner Doug Leone once again supports Trump after previously renouncing him

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Shaun Maguire announced he'd be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-guilty-verdict-donors-backing-conviction-2024-5">backing Donald Trump after the former president's felony conviction</a>.</li><li>The Sequoia partner's support highlights a political shift among some in Silicon Valley.</li></ul>Shaun Maguire, a partner at the prominent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-distributed-10-billion-in-2023">venture capital firm Sequoia</a>, announced he'll be cutting a $300,000 check to Donald Trump — just minutes after the former president was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-hush-money-trial-verdict-2024-5">found guilty of 34 felony counts</a>. The timing, Maguire said, was not a coincidence.In a lengthy screed on <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/shaunmmaguire/status/1796293774794268747">X</a>, Maguire, who said he voted for Hilary Clinton in 2016 and did not vote in 2020, outlined his reasoning — including a take about the "double standards and lawfare against Trump."He also acknowledged that it may not be the most shrewd move for business."I know that I'll lose friends for this. Some will refuse to do business with me," he wrote. "The media will probably demonize me, as they have so many others before me. But despite this, I still believe it's the right thing to do."Maguire, who did not respond to a request to comment from Business Insider, may be less alone than he thinks.Following his conviction, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-fundraising-felony-conviction-manhattan-senate-republicans-2024-5">Trump's campaign reported raising</a> a record $34.8 million. And while that amount was mostly from small donors, per the Trump team, some big-money donors and Silicon Valley titans have signaled their support for the former president — and the guilty verdict doesn't seem to have stopped them.Billionaire venture capitalist David Sacks, who is co-hosting a fundraiser for Trump next week, called the trial a "sham." Elon Musk replied in agreement with Maguire. Investor Keith Rabois reposted various takes that criticized the verdict.While Silicon Valley has long been a liberal hub, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-silicon-valley-election-fundraising-gop-cash-gap-2024-5">Trump has been courting the big-pocketed tech executives</a> and venture capitalists there.Chamath Palihapitiya, another venture capital billionaire and Sacks' podcast partner, will also cohost next week's Trump fundraiser at Sacks' home, despite donating six figures to Biden in 2020. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-could-be-donald-trump-advisor-wsj-reports-2024-5">Musk has reportedly been in talks with Trump</a> regarding an advisory role, should he win.Others, like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marc-andreessen-plan-use-ai-save-the-world-regulation-startups-2023-6">venture capitalist Marc Andreeson</a> and Rabois, have not announced their support for Trump but have criticized Biden.The current administration's stance on regulation — particularly the FTC's approach to Big Tech companies — and calls for increased taxes on the wealthy has turned some former Democrats against the party.The members of the monied West Coast class throwing their support behind Trump are mirroring some Wall Street counterparts. Last week, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackstone-ceo-steve-schwarzman-endorses-donald-trump-2024-5">Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman</a> announced he'd be backing the former president. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-ackman-trump-endorsement-reports-2024-5">Hedge fund giant Bill Ackman</a> is reportedly leaning toward endorsing him, too.Of course, the growing number of influential Silicon Valley voices supporting Trump — Sacks and Palihapitiya have their popular podcast, Musk has his an entire social media platform — are not representative of many of the area's wealthy inhabitants.For example, earlier this month, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-investor-vinod-khosla-says-he-works-80-hour-weeks-2023-12">venture capitalist Vinod Khosla</a> hosted fundraising events for Biden.Correction: May 31, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the amount of money Trump's campaign raised following the verdict. It raised $34.8 million, not $34.8 billion.

A Sequoia partner announced he's backing Donald Trump following his felony conviction, highlighting a political shift in Silicon Valley 

<ul><li><keyword id="7716660" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="pristyn-care" source="Orion">Pristyn Care</keyword>, a Gurugram-based health-tech startup, has reportedly laid off 300 employees.</li><li>The company has recently fired 45 employees, citing underperformance.</li><li>Pristyn Care is backed by investors such as <keyword id="122716" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sequoia-capital" source="Orion">Sequoia Capital</keyword> and <keyword id="526777" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tiger-global" source="Orion">Tiger Global</keyword>.</li></ul>Gurugram-based health-tech startup Pristyn Care is the latest to join the list of companies laying off its workforce. In its latest round of layoffs, the company has fired 45 employees. The layoff wave has been arriving in ripples across the Indian companies after affecting thousands in the global market, including big names like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musks-twitter-laid-off-more-than-90-of-staff-in-india-now-only-about-12-employees-remain-report-says/articleshow/95383606.cms">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/meta-says-it-will-lay-off-more-than-11000-employees/articleshow/95405068.cms">Meta</a>, among many others. According to a<a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/exclusive-healthtech-unicorn-pristyn-care-trims-workforce-gst-officials-seek-clarity-on-biz-model/"> report</a> by Inc42, the Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global-backed health-tech firm has fired around 300 employees across departments in the last two months. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What does Pristyn Care do?" comment="subhead" text="What does Pristyn Care do?">What does Pristyn Care do?</cmsannotation> Pristyn Care is a health-tech company founded in 2018 by Dr <keyword id="345234" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vaibhav-kapoor" source="Orion">Vaibhav Kapoor</keyword>, Dr <keyword id="12305824" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="garima-sawhney" source="Orion">Garima Sawhney</keyword>, and <keyword id="11127890" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="harsimarbir-singh" source="Orion">Harsimarbir Singh</keyword> that offers advanced secondary care surgeries across 800 hospitals, 200 clinics, and over 400 super-specialty surgeons. The company has so far <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/surgical-care-startup-pristyn-care-is-the-42-startup-to-be-valued-over-1-billion/articleshow/88157965.cms">raised</a> $177 million from Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Winter Capital and others. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="15% of employees laid off" comment="subhead" text="15% of employees laid off">15% of employees laid off</cmsannotation> The fired employees make up around 15% of the company’s total workforce. The fired employees were junior and mid-level employees working in sales, administration, city teams, and others. The company has claimed that it has fired only 45 employees, and they were let-go due to underperformance. "We have a comprehensive performance evaluation process that helps us understand the efficiency levels across the board. This is a regular process and we found around 45 employees across the organization who were performing consistently below expectations and we had to part ways," a Pristyn Care spokesperson told Inc42. The company has, however, denied claims about a mass layoff and has claimed that it has hired over 300 employees in the last four months. The layoffs come at a time when the company is<a href="https://yourstory.com/2023/03/sequoia-backed-pristyn-care-lays-off-300-employees-shuts-medical-tourism-vertical"> reportedly</a> scaling down its international expansion segment focused on medical tourism. The segment reportedly failed to generate sufficient revenue. Pristyn Care is not the only healthcare startup that has laid off employees. Companies like PharmEasy, MediBuddy, and Innovaccer have recently announced layoffs. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/you-are-not-safe-from-air-pollution-anywhere-in-the-world-finds-a-new-study/articleshow/98471370.cms">You are not safe from air pollution anywhere in the world, finds a new study</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/wedding-bells-ring-in-16-rise-in-february-auto-sales-2-wheeler-sales-yet-to-hit-pre-pandemic-levels-fada/articleshow/98443213.cms">Wedding bells ring in 16% rise in February auto sales, 2 wheeler sales yet to hit pre-pandemic levels: FADA</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/gadgets/news/noise-and-fire-boltt-entered-in-top-five-in-global-smartwatch-shipments/articleshow/98171390.cms">These two Indian brands have together sold more smartwatches than Samsung in 2022</a>

Health-tech startup Pristyn Care has reportedly fired 300 employees in the last two months

Top VC firm <keyword id="136147" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sequoia-capital-india" source="Orion">Sequoia Capital India</keyword> has sold 17.2 crore shares of <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> in two tranches in the open market, lowering down its stake in the online food aggregator to 4.4 per cent from earlier 6.41 per cent. In a fresh filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (<keyword id="35140" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bse" source="Orion">BSE</keyword>), Zomato said Sequoia Capital India sold some 6.7 crore shares in the September 6-October 14, 2021 period and 10.5 crore shares between June 27-August 25, 2022. The stock sales were performed by <keyword id="14821825" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sequoia-capital-india-growth-investment-holdings" source="Orion">Sequoia Capital India Growth Investment Holdings</keyword> I and <keyword id="13302083" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sci-growth-investments-ii" source="Orion">SCI Growth Investments II</keyword>, according to Zomato. <keyword id="10639596" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sequoia-capital-india-investments-iv" source="Orion">Sequoia Capital India Investments IV</keyword> also received 45,153,346 incremental equity shares on August 10 owing to the acquisition of quick-commerce delivery platform Blinkit, which further has a lock-in period of one year. Sequoia Capital India joins a list of private market investors like Delivery Hero, Moore Strategic Ventures, and <keyword id="526777" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tiger-global" source="Orion">Tiger Global</keyword>, which have sold their shares in Zomato in the past months, either in open market or via block deals, as the online food delivery platform's stock gets hammered. On Friday, Zomato shares closed around Rs 61.85. Earlier this month, ride-hailing platform Uber sold its 7.8 per cent stake worth over $390 million in Zomato. Uber, which suffered around $707 million loss in its Zomato investment in the first half of this year, sold its share in the food delivery aggregator via a block deal on stock exchanges that has been bought by several global and Indian VCs. The Zomato block deal was executed at Rs 50.44 per share equivalent to 612 million or 7.8 per cent of total outstanding shares. In a statement to IANS, Zomato had said that "We are a public company and are not privy to what our shareholders are doing with their shares". According to the company, the losses for Blinkit are coming down every month -- from Rs 2,040 million (about $26 million) in January 2022 to Rs 929 million ($12 million) in July. The 10-minute delivery platform was acquired by Zomato for Rs 4,447 crore (about $568 million). SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indices-end-marginally-higher-after-a-volatile-trading-session/articleshow/93802735.cms">Indices end marginally higher after a volatile trading session</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-uks-new-scale-up-visa/articleshow/93799259.cms">Here’s everything you need to know about UK’s new Scale-up visa</a>

Sequoia Capital offloads 2% of its stake in Zomato

Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) company <keyword id="4621694" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="freshworks" source="Orion">Freshworks</keyword> has laid off nearly 90 employees, or 2 per cent of its total workforce, citing rough global conditions behind the move. The company's Founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham told employees in an email that this is not a company-wide layoff but "a structural change". "In all the changes we undertook we have deployed and retained the majority of our teammates, however a few around 2 per cent of 5,200 people or approximately 90 employees for whom we do not have a readily available open position," Mathrubootham wrote in the email. The CEO said that Freshworks will help impacted employees by providing them healthcare coverage and outplacement services. "While we have reported a strong quarter, we are not immune to this slower economy. While new businesses picked up, expansion slowed down even as we reduced our growth forecasts and headcount needs," he wrote. Freshworks joins a growing list of tech companies that have laid off employees amid global macro-economic conditions. The Nasdaq-listed firm was valued at $12.2 billion after it opened 21 per cent above the initial offering price of $36 apiece in September last year. Mathrubootham, in interviews with media outlets, highlighted that the IPO created a lot of wealth for its employees as more than 500 of its employees turned crorepatis (millionaires). He further added that about 70, of these 500 employees, are under the age of 30. The company was valued at $3.5 billion when it raised $150 million funding from investors like <keyword id="122716" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sequoia-capital" source="Orion">Sequoia Capital</keyword>, CapitalG and Accel in November 2019. Founded by Mathrubootham and <keyword id="2167964" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="shan-krishnasamy" source="Orion">Shan Krishnasamy</keyword> as Freshdesk in Chennai in 2010, the company started its journey as a helpdesk software for customer support. It decided to rebrand itself to Freshworks in June 2017 to incorporate the company's growing software suite. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/honda-to-hike-vehicle-prices-by-up-to-30000-from-jan/articleshow/96271533.cms">Honda to hike vehicle prices by up to ₹30,000 from Jan</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/be-prepared-for-export-tariff-walls-by-nations-undergoing-green-transition-fm-nirmala-sitharaman/articleshow/96270382.cms">Be prepared for export tariff walls by nations undergoing green transition: FM Nirmala Sitharaman</a>

You Searched For "Sequoia Capital" and got 10 results

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