Gm. Congrats to the Warriors fans on winning the NBA championship last night. 

It's a good thing they won this year—none of the VCs who sat court side are going to be able to afford it next year. 

FRESH POWDER

Looking at three funds that recently topped up their coffers.

Startup to watch: Rune Labs is a really cool company that uses the Apple Watch’s Movement Disorder API to help people with Parkinson’s manage their symptoms. It was just granted clearance by the FDA to collect and measure data from the Apple Watch, a major win for patients who love the familiar tech. Tech + meaningful health impacts = a company to watch. (More here)

VENTURE CAPITAL   

The party’s over

In an effort to put an end to the historic inflation that’s been raging for the last few months, the Fed hiked interest rates 0.75% this week, the biggest increase since 1994. It’s led to all sorts of headaches for startups that have benefited from the abundance of cheap money over the last decade. Here’s who’s feeling the heat. 

Fast-delivery startups are slowing down

It was fitting that the Fed hiked rates on the same day that delivery service Jokr announced it was winding down its US operations. 

• It wasn’t a hard choice: Jokr estimated last year that its US arm would generate just $6.6 million for the year while burning through at least $24.4 million.  

During the pandemic when the prospect of getting some snacks delivered straight to your doorstep was irresistible, that grow-at-all-costs mindset was encouraged. 

But with interest rates on the rise, investors are looking closer at the bottom line, and delivery companies are dropping like flies—in March, two fast-delivery companies, Buyk and Fridge No More, shut down operations. And last month, two Jokr rivals, Gorillas and Getir, announced sizable layoffs. 

There is one bright spot  

With inflation booming, interest rates rising, and recession fears looming, VC’s are betting that companies will make an increased effort to track and control spending. Those factors have turned attention towards a little known sector of the startup world—AI accounting. 

• Startups building AI-powered accounting software received $233 million in VC funding during the first three months of the year, more than the $210 million raised in the entirety of 2021. 

• The pace of deals is also increasing. Pitchbook recorded six funding deals involving AI accounting startups during Q1 2022 which is on pace to surpass the 17 deals struck last year.

Bottom line: Fast delivery startups and AI accounting software won’t be the only ones affected by interest rate hikes—just look at the state of crypto right now—but both are illustrative of how the next stage of the venture market might play out. 

TWITTER 

Elon talks to the tweeps

Elon addressed Twitter employees in an all-hands yesterday. Everything from user goals (Elon wants to hit 1 billion) to aliens (yes, aliens) were discussed. Here's what else went down. 

• He’s going to be hands-on: Elon told employees he’s going to be “very involved” in product decisions. Just what employees want to hear from their new owner who has never worked in social media before. 

• WFH is okay: After telling Tesla employees they need to be in the office, Elon softened his stance for the Tweeps telling high-performing Twitter employees they can keep working from home.

• Be more like TikTok: Elon roasted Twitter’s algorithm calling it boring and told the company that they should strive to surface more interesting and relevant content like the clock app.

• Change the world: Musk also said that Twitter should focus on “contributing to a stronger, longer lasting civilization where we are better able to understand the nature of reality.” No pressure though.

Zoom out: While Elon was pacifying one portion of his employees, another set took up arms against him. SpaceX employees drafted an open letter to other execs at the company complaining about Elon’s behavior mainly in regards to his “embarrassing” Tweets.

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: The days of hopping on Twitter to laugh at dumb memes are growing numbered. A new study from Pew Research Center found that 33% of American adults on the platform tweet about politics, up from 13% in 2019. And if your parents are on Twitter, they’re the worst offenders—despite making up only 24% of users, American’s over the age of 50 produced a whopping 78% of the political content on the timeline. 

Story we’re watching: TikTok is the fastest growing social media app of all time—but even historic growth is not enough to fend off the Google juggernaut. YouTube Shorts is already drawing more than 1.5 billion viewers a month, per a WSJ report, numbers that put it on par with TikTok’s audience. With Instagram also rolling out tests this week for a new full-screen mode, TikTok is finding out just how big “Big Tech” really is. 

Rabbit hole: The cult inside google (Medium).

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Databricks, a $38 billion data management company, is planning to hire 2,500 workers this year despite the downturn. 

• Elon Musk, Tesla, and SpaceX are getting sued over claims they were part of a dogecoin pyramid scheme.

• Anna Sorokin, of Netflix fame, is launching an NFT collection to escape her “scammer persona.”

• YouTube Music is rolling out seasonal recap playlists to compete with Spotify Wrapped.

• Internet Explorer is officially shutting down after 26 years.

GUESSTIMATE

There are a ton of graphs similar to the one below, but can you guess what this particular asset is?

It's up +251,844% overall, but wayyyyyy down in the last year. 

Hint: it's crypto.

FUNDRAISING FRIDAY

When Bill Gurley writes threads on the current state of the market, you read it. 

LAYOFFS TRACKER

Aggregating recently laid off tech talent looking for new roles.  

Wealthsimple

• Industry: Fintech

• Amount laid off: 159

• Date of layoffs: June 16

• List of employees affected: Wealthsimple Talent list 

Notarize

• Industry: Legal

• Amount laid off: 110

• Date of layoffs: June 15

• List of employees affected: N/A

NEWS FROM THE HOUSE

Finally, an NFT membership club with real utility: free food. 

Omelette Brunch Club members can redeem their NFT for 1 free omelette at every Launch House brunch event where omelettes are served. Forever.

It's a fun way to meet new people and get access to exclusive events. And it's 100% free. 

FOUNDERS CORNER

The best resources we came across this week that will help you become a better founder, builder, or investor.

📚 A library of 175+ free resources for founders

💸 An essay on how to properly evaluate web3 opportunities

🤼 A guide to everything acquihire related

GUESSTIMATE ANSWER

Shiba Inu.