All posts tagged: fund

Mill Media receives £100,000 to fund subscriptions for under-25s

Mill Media receives £100,000 to fund subscriptions for under-25s

Published by Sam Flores

Newsletter-based local news publisher Mill Media has received a £100,000 boost from the Postcode Lottery which will fund 1,150 subscriptions for people aged 16-25. Since launching in Manchester in 2020, some 200,000 people have now registered to receive Mill Media’s email newsletters while 15,000 people pay for full access to its titles. It now employs 25 journalists across the The Manchester Mill, Sheffield Tribune, The Post in Liverpool, Birmingham Dispatch, Glasgow Bell and The Londoner. David Miller, communications director at Postcode Lottery Group, said: “Strong communities need strong journalism. People should be able to understand what is happening where they live and have access to information they know they can trust. That’s particularly important for young people at a time when misinformation can travel incredibly quickly and AI is changing the information landscape. “Postcode Lottery has a long history of supporting organisations and initiatives around the world that strengthen independent media, advance media freedom and improve access to accurate information. “Mill Media stood out because its model puts local communities at the heart of its …

Lightspeed targets 0M for new India fund, focusing on early-stage AI

Lightspeed targets $250M for new India fund, focusing on early-stage AI

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Lightspeed is sharpening its India strategy around AI, targeting $250 million for a new early-stage fund as the venture firm bets the technology will drive the next wave of startups in one of the world’s largest markets. The Silicon Valley venture firm is already a major investor in AI companies including Anthropic, xAI, and Databricks. In India, it has backed Sarvam AI, one of the country’s leading large language model developers and a startup selected by the Indian government to help develop sovereign AI models. The new fund, Lightspeed India Partners V, will be half the size of its $500 million predecessor, raised in 2022, and has already secured commitments for 80% of its $250 million target, according to a letter sent to investors on Thursday and seen by TechCrunch. In late April, Lightspeed disclosed the new fund in a U.S. regulatory filing, though the filing did not specify its target size. Indian media had previously reported that the firm was looking to raise between $300 million and $350 million for the vehicle. Lightspeed plans …

These life-saving treatments were considered ‘too small’ to fund. Until now.

These life-saving treatments were considered ‘too small’ to fund. Until now.

Published by Jenni Sidey

When 10-month-old Noa Greenwood was diagnosed with Canavan, her parents Lee and Lori were confronted with an idea of a future they’d never prepared for. Canavan is a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by mutations in the ASPA gene. Most children with it never develop beyond the abilities of a six-month-old. The very day that Noa was diagnosed, a trial for Canavan therapy was posted on clinicaltrials.gov. She was among the first children ever dosed. Within months, she began hitting milestones her parents were told she’d never see. Only a few years ago, this story would not have been possible. As with many rare diseases, Canavan represented too small a market for traditional pharma to fund, even when medical researchers had found potential cures. So BridgeBio developed a new model built around portfolio theory: instead of investing in one rare disease treatment at a time, spread the risk across 150 of them. Noa’s story offers hope — not only to those impacted by Canavan disease, but also to the 450 million people suffering from rare …

€705m to fund winners of ERC Starting Grant competition

€705m to fund winners of ERC Starting Grant competition

Published by Miika Tikkanen

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the 421 winners of its latest Starting Grant competition, who will each receive a share of the €705m funding. The Starting Grants will help researchers develop ambitious ideas, build their own teams and establish their independence at a pivotal stage in their careers. Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said: ‘Congratulations to all the successful applicants. I am particularly pleased to see that 21 researchers currently based in the United States and Canada plan to relocate to Europe to pursue their work. Their decision reflects Europe’s growing appeal for frontier research and is an encouraging sign that the EU’s Choose Europe initiative is helping to attract the next generation of scientific talent while reinforcing Europe’s position as a destination of choice for excellent research.’ President of the European Research Council, Prof. Maria Leptin, said: ‘The creativity and ambition of this new generation of grantees are inspiring. Over 50 nationalities are represented amongst these researchers who will carry out their work across Europe. ERC Starting Grants will …

Ventures Platform goes bigger — and broader — with its second Africa fund

Ventures Platform goes bigger — and broader — with its second Africa fund

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Ventures Platform has raised an oversubscribed $84 million second fund as the Pan-African venture firm expands beyond its home market of Nigeria with a strategy shaped by a tougher, more selective venture market. The firm plans to back early-stage founders across a range of sectors, including fintech, healthcare, SaaS, and other areas “where technology can address essential needs and build large, enduring businesses,” Kola Aina, the firm’s founding partner, told TechCrunch.  Of course, AI is part of that thesis. “We’re particularly interested in where AI changes the economics of serving African markets,” he said, pointing to its potential to reduce the cost of delivering services and help overcome labor shortages. “For us, AI is most interesting when it is not simply a feature, but an enabler of an entirely different cost structure, business model or market.”  Ventures Platform, which is headquartered in Nigeria, previously raised a $46 million Fund I in 2022 with a similar, albeit more limited scope. The first fund focused primarily on pre-seed and seed rounds. “It allowed us to demonstrate that …

Situational Awareness, star AI hedge fund that nearly imploded, now being probed by the SEC

Situational Awareness, star AI hedge fund that nearly imploded, now being probed by the SEC

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Situational Awareness, the AI focused hedge fund that was Wall Street’s fleeting obsession, is having a very bad month. The company, led by twentysomething OpenAI alum Leopold Aschenbrenner, went all-in on a variety of AI investments and, for a period, enjoyed phenomenal growth. Then, at the end of July, a downturn in AI stocks erased billions of dollars in value at the firm. Now, federal regulators are reportedly probing the company as well. The New York Times reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission has been subpoenaing banks that did business with the hedge fund. The subpoenas focus on the banks that supervised the fund’s trading and that channeled funding to support it, the outlet says. The government reportedly warned the banks to “preserve any information” about the hedge fund, though it noted that Situational Awareness has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Situational Awareness did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment but told the Times that scrutiny of high-profile funds is to be expected, and that it would “cooperate to the fullest extent …

Live updates: Todd Blanche reaffirms ‘anti-weaponization’ fund is ‘dead’

Live updates: Todd Blanche reaffirms ‘anti-weaponization’ fund is ‘dead’

Published by Sam Flores

Attorney General Todd Blanche joined two network shows on Sunday following his narrow Senate confirmation last week. Blanche appeared on Fox News’s “Fox News Sunday” and NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” reiterating reiterated that the proposed “anti-weaponization” fund is dead after he sought to distance himself from the controversial fund earlier this week. On Fox… Source link

Embattled hedge fund Situational Awareness invests 0M in chip startup Source Foundry

Embattled hedge fund Situational Awareness invests $400M in chip startup Source Foundry

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Situational Awareness may have had to sell off the majority of its public portfolio last month, but the AI-focused hedge fund is still making some big bets. This week, the fund invested $400 million into Source Foundry, a startup founded by Stanford researchers aiming to make chip manufacturing faster and cheaper, according to The Wall Street Journal. That brings its total investment in Source Foundry to $500 million. Situational Awareness was founded by Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher in his mid-twenties who had no trading experience when he launched the fund in 2024. Early returns were reportedly strong, but the fund faced steep losses in recent months amidst the decline in AI infrastructure stocks. At the end of July, Situational Awareness sold off the majority of its public portfolio to Ken Griffin’s Citadel, although the fund held on to its Anthropic shares. Its assets under management reportedly fell from $20 billion to $10 billion. On the bright side, Aschenbrenner didn’t let those setbacks get in the way of his wedding. Source link

Sen. John Kennedy says he’d exclude Jan. 6 rioters from ‘anti-weaponization’ fund legislation

Sen. John Kennedy says he’d exclude Jan. 6 rioters from ‘anti-weaponization’ fund legislation

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday that he would not provide the Trump administration with a “blank check” for the proposed “anti-weaponization” fund and that rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, should not be allowed to benefit from it. Kennedy appeared open to supporting a bill to enshrine the $1.776 billion fund into law, which has emerged as a primary sticking point holding up the nomination of Todd Blanche to be attorney general. Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have said they would only support Blanche if the Justice Department alters the conditions of President Donald Trump’s settlement with the IRS over his leaked tax returns and provides assurances that the fund is officially dead. The settlement had established the “anti-weaponization” fund, which the Justice Department backed off from after bipartisan pushback, though Trump reopened the possibility of pursuing the fund this week. The settlement also established audit protections for Trump, his family members and companies. Last month, a judge extended …