The Rundown: Edition 39 – Social media bans, tech sovereignty, and robotaxis
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SpaceX nears lift off on $75bn IPO
Elon Musk’s Texas-based space rocket business is seeking to raise $75 billion in the biggest initial public offering of all time. The company’s record-breaking plans would target a valuation of about $1.75 trillion. FT
UK Government launches social media ban pilot scheme
A Government pilot involving 300 teenagers is underway to assess the impact of measures such as media bans, digital curfews, and time limits on apps. The trial will feed into the Government’s ongoing consultation. Guardian
HMRC hands AWS £473m deal with no competition
HMRC has awarded AWS a £473 million contract to migrate services from three Fujitsu-run data centres and host them for up to a decade. An AWS subsidiary was the only provider to submit a tender. The Register
Barclays reduces small business lending
Barclays has scaled back asset-based lending to smaller borrowers following the failures of Market Financial Solutions and Tricolour Holdings. The bank is believed to be raising prices to reflect higher perceived risks and shifting its focus to larger corporate debt. Bloomberg
Granola raises $125m in unicorn round
Granola, an AI note-taking tool that transcribes and summarises meetings, has become the UK’s latest unicorn with a $125 million Series C round. This was led by Index Ventures, with further investment from Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed and Spark Capital. Times
Air Street Capital closes new $232m fund
Air Street has raised a $232 million fund, taking assets under management to $400 million and making it Europe’s largest solo VC. The fund’s previous investments include British tech stars Synthesia and ElevenLabs, as well as Germany’s Black Forest Labs. FT
Immutrin raises £65m Series A
In a round led by Frazier Life Sciences, the Cambridge-based biotech, which was co-founded by Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) and leading academics, is developing heart-repair antibody therapies. Times
Proptech Giraffe360 secures $10m Series B
Giraffe360, a property-focused AI platform, has raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Cipio Partners, with additional funding from Founders Fund, Hoxton Ventures, LAUNCHub Ventures, and Change Ventures. TNW
Eunice raises £6m in new funding
Eunice, which uses AI agents to assess digital asset trading decisions, has secured £6 million in a funding round led by Moonfire Ventures and Speedinvest, with participation from Openspace Ventures and angel backers. UKTN
Labour leaps left
As the Labour Party navigates populist parties on the right and left of the political spectrum, Steve Rigby, CEO of Rigby Group, thinks a “lurch to the left” would mean an “even greater tax burden put on fewer shoulders”. FT
Climate crisis inspires innovation
UNCAGED Innovations is among the 50 innovative small companies working to tackle the climate crisis. At #5 on the list, the biomaterials startup is doing its part for the green transition by transforming grain by-products from soy, corn, and wheat into sustainable leather alternatives. Fast Company
An AI travel agent to call my own
AI agents may soon handle complex tasks like end-to-end travel planning, making services faster, cheaper, and more personalised. According to Ted Lappas, CTO of Conscium, the real challenge isn’t the AI itself but building trust, verification, and coordination between multiple AI agents. FT
Robot rumble royale
Europe’s first robot boxing match took place in Zurich, where student-built humanoid robots fought in a ring controlled by people using game controllers. Florian Schroeders, Co-Founder of RoboTUM, believes that many of the students in the room “will build the next unicorns”. Sifted
Maximising motivation
In the latest ‘Founder in Five’, Matthew Wilson, CEO and Co-founder of Jack&Jill, explains why hiring self-motivated people, not constant management, is key to success. He also advises to stay curious and experiment with new tools, and not to settle on a tech stack as the pace of innovation keeps accelerating. UKTN
Amazon’s self-driving vehicles business, Zoox, is expanding its fleet of electric robotaxis in Las Vegas and San Francisco, as well as rolling out testing in new cities. Zoox invested heavily in engineering the first-of-its-kind model – unlike competitor Waymo, which modifies existing vehicles – and now has federal permission to operate on public roads in certain cities. Never one to be left behind, Uber has announced three new robotaxi partnerships in the past few weeks with Zoox, Wayve-Nissan, and Rivian. This collaboration “spree” may be more about Uber fending off the risk of Waymo or Tesla scaling on their own, enabling Uber to become the robotaxi “aggregator of choice”. Yet, many questions remain around the remote assistance (RA) programmes these providers offer. Meanwhile, Ryan McNamara, VP and Global Head of Operations at Waymo, denied the US Senate’s claim that the company’s vehicles are “simply remote-controlled cars”, as Waymo’s RA agents – many of whom are overseas contractors in the Philippines – can only provide data and advice. Let’s see what happens when Waymo’s driverless taxis are rolled out in London this September.
Another one to watch: the US has banned new foreign-made consumer internet routersover national security concerns. This move by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) puts routers in the same category as foreign-made drones, which were banned at the end of last year. The push for tech sovereignty is a global concern. Europe is championing its homegrown technologies with over 20 execs from European cloud and digital service providers urging the European Commission to legislate for real tech sovereignty in the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA). However, some European companies have warned that the EU’s push for tech sovereignty could hurt profits and weaken competitiveness.
A firm that certainly understands how to turn a profit is Hummingbird Ventures. The London-based VC, which has backed the likes of Lovable, Revolut, Kraken, and Deliveroo, is on a global search for “misfit” founders. Barend Van den Brande, Founder of Hummingbird, is after “anomalies…[who show] signs that they almost built their own theory of the world”. Is this the profile of the ‘ideal’ entrepreneur? Whether it’s misfits or solo founders utilising vibe coding, the checklist for a founder is certainly changing. You know what else is changing? The need for a pitch deck no longer seems to be as important as the founder’s personal brand.