gm gm. Ready for the most 2022 sentence of all time? Last night, YouTube deleted the Nelk Boys podcast with Donald Trump—it had 5 million views in 24 hours. 

What a strange, strange timeline we live in. 

TECH

ARrrrr ya ready kids? 

Much like your aunt’s famous mystery casserole at Thanksgiving, the AR industry has struggled to win over consumers. But with the metaverse rising to prominance, companies are more bullish than ever on adding a digital layer to the real world. The latest update: Niantic, the company behind Pokémon GO, announced the acquisition of AR development platform 8th Wall yesterday. 

What is 8th wall?

Well, for starters, it's 2x better than breaking the 4th wall. Other than that, dear reader, 8th Wall is the biggest development platform for web-based AR apps. Even if you’ve never heard of the company you’ve probably seen its handwork: companies like Netflix, Microsoft, Universal Pictures, and more have all used it to create AR activations. 

• Why acquire it? Niantic is still very bullish on the “real world metaverse” due to the massive success of Pokémon GO. The game continues to be a money machine, raking in over $1 billion in 2020. But Niantic knows it can’t rely on Ratatas and Pokéballs forever, so it’s looking for its next AR win, especially after its Harry Potter game flopped hard. Niantic is betting that 8th Wall can help reestablish it as an AR leader.  

Wearables are also regaining momentum 

Magic Leap, the secretive AR headset developer that has raised $3 billion in capital, finally let some select reporters try on its next gen headset. Reviews have been generally favorable with a field of view that’s nearly twice as large as its predecessor. There's still the issue of having to carry around a a disc shaped external computer, though. Not all the kinks have been solved. 

Zoom out: All in all, after a quiet few years on the AR/VR front, 2022 is shaping up to be a monster year: Meta, Sony, and Apple are all expected to drop new AR/VR headsets in the coming months. 

VENTURE

VC fund round up

A fresh take on a web3 incubator. Jeff Morris Jr. of crypto fund Chapter One took to Twitter to announce Studios, a new web3 incubator for projects in DeFi, cross-chain interoperability, and more. The program will offer 6-month partnerships with only three teams at a time, which Morris argues will give Studios a leg up over larger, less accessible incubators. Each team also gets a million bucks in cash, which can’t hurt either.

Last year they took an L but inaugural VC funds have bounced back. The pandemic made fundraising tough in 2020, but 2021’s numbers set all kinds of records. The average size of first-time North American funds jumped a whopping 61.7% between 2020 and 2021, good for the all-time yearly fundraising record. The market was similarly frothy across the pond as first time European funds notched their third biggest year ever since 2012. 

A huge bet on NFT art. A group of crypto heavy hitters has backed a new fund dedicated to NFT art to the tune of $30 million. The list of backers reads like the roster of an all-star game: Chris Dixon, Marc Andreessen, Andrew Chen, and more. Half of the fund’s capital will go to established collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, while the other half will go to up-and-coming projects.

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: Rivian has lost $117 billion in market value over the last four months alone. Why the massive drop? Well for an electric truck maker it doesn't make a whole lotta trucks. It shipped just under 1,000 in all of 2021. 

Startup: We’ve seen this movie before: genetic engineering firm Colossal Biosciences just raised $60 million to revive long-extinct species. The company aims to use CRISPR to build a “practical working model of de-extinction,” which could lead to major advances in a wide range of scientific fields. Colossal’s first priority? Bringing back the wooly mammoth. Life finds a way. More here.

Rabbit hole: Why are cars ugly now? (The Outline)

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Meta’s VP in charge of youth-focused projects—including a kids’ version of Instagram—stepped down amid controversy about the impact of the company’s products on children.

• Google announced that it will deploy an air raid alert system to Android phones in Ukraine.

• Peloton is testing a new monthly subscription program, One Peloton Club, that includes a lease on its pricey bikes.

• TikTok launched SoundOn, a new music distribution service.

• Goldman Sachs became the first major American bank to cut ties with Russia.

GAMES

Three of these acronyms are real, but one we made up. Can you spot the fake?

A. HTC - High Tech Computer

B. 3M - Multinational Materials Manufacturing Company

C. EPCOT - Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

D. SPAM - Shoulder of Pork and Ham

FRIDAY FUNDRAISING

How to evaluate crypto projects

Okay so this thread isn't exactly about fundraising, but it's still a great read about evaluating crypto projects.

Our advice: take everything Casey talks about, then ask yourself if your project checks her boxes. 

TID BITS

🤨 This Tim Urban question broke our brain. 

📱 Substack finally launched an app and it's actually kinda nice.  

🤝 Meet Tradle. It's Worlde, for world trade. Trust us, it's fun. 

GAMES ANSWER

B. 3M stands for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company.