Gm. May you all be as successful in your startup endeavors as Joey Chestnut is at consuming hotdogs.

FRESH POWDER

Looking at three funds that recently topped up their coffers.

Startup to watch: Black Swan Data analyzes public social media data to identify trends for big CPG companies like PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz. The 11-year-old London startup, which just raised $18.5 million, says its crown jewel is its AI which identifies “emerging trend signals earlier” and helps brands decide if the world needs another variation of flamin’ hot Cheetos.

FUNDS

Sequoia wants it all

Turns out that pessimism sells. One month after warning founders not to expect a quick recovery from the current downturn, Sequoia’s Chinese affiliate is about to close $9 billion in fresh capital across four new funds.

It’s a historically chonky amount

In fact, it’s the biggest pool of capital ever raised by a single VC firm earmarked for Chinese tech startups. Sequoia’s original target for the fund was $8 billion, but the fund ended up 50% oversubscribed with investors ready to commit a total of $12 billion.

• Sequoia eventually settled on $9 billion number spread out across four different funds: a seed fund for early-stage companies, a venture fund targeting middle-stage deals, and one growth and one expansion fund for mature private startups.

What makes the fund size even more impressive is the fact that other regional entities, including top-tier Chinese firm Matrix Partners, struggled to close funds less than 15% the size of Sequoia’s.

What’s the thesis?

Western investors might look at the rout in the Chinese stock market, the global economic downturn, and the regulatory issues faced by domestic tech companies and conclude that China is a market to avoid.

Consumer-facing tech companies like ride-sharing giant DiDi are clearly out of favor in Beijing, so Sequoia is looking more into hard tech like industrial robotics and healthcare, according to the Information. Sequoia is also bullish on the Chinese government's increased interest in promoting the development of advanced tech like semiconductors and AI.

Bottom line: Reading about $9 billion mega-funds closing during the worst startup market in years is always a tad confusing. But, Sequoia is proof that some firms like to quote “Be greedy when others are fearful,” while others actually put it into practice.

VENTURE CAPITAL

Jake Paul turns on the content machine

When Jake Paul announced the formation of his venture fund, Anti Fund, last March, it was met with the appropriate amount of eye rolls. But after delopying $20 million of the initial $23 million it raised (with good returns so far), Paul is doubling down on his strengths: yesterday, Anti Fund launched a content hub.

Advice not shout outs

Paul and his business partner Geoffrey Woo clarified to Axios that the content hub provides founders with marketing advice and consulting, not necessarily direct access to Paul's 100 million+ audience: "We're not here to do a Jake promo—Jake is not your brand ambassador," Woo said.

• Still, Paul’s audience is a tantalizing carrot Woo and Paul can dangle in front of founders they’re trying to invest in: so far, Paul has posted around 15% of Anti’s portfolio companies on his social media accounts.

Bottom line: Every VC firm can offer cash, but not everyone boasts Paul’s mastery of the modern social media landscape. Anti Fund is small, but Paul’s outsized influence means its content ambitions are something everyone in the industry should make note of.

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: Global venture capital deal activity dropped 23% this quarter compared to last year as the most active investors slammed the breaks on new investments. In fact, all of 2021’s most active investors rolled back their pace of deals in Q2, as shown in the chart above.

Story we’re watching: FIFA announced that it will incorporate AI-powered cameras at the 2022 World Cup to help referees make offside calls. The software takes the form of a sensor in the soccer ball that can track 29 points in players’ bodies. It’s a huge score for refs, whose close calls can shape the outcomes of matches. Now we just need an AI that judges whether a player is diving…

Rabbit hole: How TikTok turned the new Minions movie into a $200 million blockbuster (Twitter)

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Twitter is suing the Indian government for asking it to take down hundreds of accounts and Tweets criticizing government polices.

• Facebook is discontinuing Novi, its flagship crypto project intended to let users send each other cryptocurrencies.

• A hacker is offering to sell access to a police database that allegedly contains information on one billion Chinese citizens.

• Joey Chestnut won his 15th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Monday, passing Rafael Nadal for the most wins at a single event in sporting history.

LAYOFFS TRACKER

Notable layoffs this week

Celsius: 150 people (23%)

Chessable: 29 people (35%)

THREE LIES AND A HEADLINE

Three of these headlines are from the satirical news publication The Onion, while one is actually real. Can you determine real from fake?

A. “Poll finds Americans would endure at least 150 million dead in exchange for cheaper burrito bowls.”

B. “NASA announces plan to put moon on Mars by 2040.”

C. “Over $300,000 raised for Burger King employee who never missed work in 27 years and got a backpack, movie ticket, and Starbucks cup as a gift.”

D. “Pharmacist denies woman birth control pills on grounds that he’s her son from future.”

FOUNDERS CORNER

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

👀 7 strategies to grow a large Twitter audience as an entrepreneur.

📈 A 6-part playbook for kickstarting and scaling a consumer business.

🐉 7 lessons from Dungeons and Dragons about storytelling.

It’s Kevin Ford, the Burger King employee, who’s now enjoying retirement after an unlikely GoFundMe page went viral.