It’s 2021 for AI while the rest of the startup market is stuck in 2024 | Equity Podcast

This episode is sponsored by Morgan Stanley atw work visit morganstanley.com Assessment to get your free transaction Readiness assessment [Music] Today hello and welcome back to equity The Tech runch podcast about the Business of startups where we unpack the Numbers and the Nuance behind the Headlines this is Alex good morning Today is January 22nd 2024 and on this Monday show to get you ready for the Week we have the start of earning season Crypto's fading ETF party a new AI Unicorn canvas's upcoming massive Secondary share sale and falling cyber Security fundraising amongst more it's a Pack show this morning let's Go starting off as we always do on Monday mornings with a look at the world Of money and that mean stocks in Asia Shares are mixed today though lower in China after the People's Bank of China Held rates steady some folks want that Bank to lower rates to stir economic Activity but lower rates would put even More pressure on the Chinese currency Over in the EU stocks are mostly higher Today and in the US they are set to rise At the open according to pre-market Trading on the earnings front this week A couple of big names Tuesday will bring Us numbers from n nflix and Verizon Wednesday we'll hear from Tesla and IBM

And then Thursday brings US Visa Intel Nokia and AppFolio an apology I misspoke Last week it's actually next week when Big Tech earnings are really going to Kick off and we'll get a big taste of What the last quarter was Like next up crypto and let me say man The ETF party is a bust so far I thought It very possible that after the Bitcoin Spot ETFs were approved we would see a Nice rally in its value and then a rally In sympathy from other tokens thus far Nope Bitcoin is off 2% in the last day And 4% in the last week ether is off 4% In the last day and 6 and 1 half% in the Last week and Solana's token is off a Little bit more than that today you can Almost get one whole Bitcoin for a flat $4,000 which I am sure fans of the Cryptocurrency are not exactly stoked About there is a reason of course why Old Wall Street maxims like buy the Rumor sell the news have endured for as Long as they have they often apply Crypto or more traditional asset classes Alike we of course are still waiting for The circle S1 filing and whatever Happens in the current coinbase versus SEC [Music] Brewhaha next up big news that matters And today I think the biggest news out Is that 11 Labs a startup that is Developing AI powered tools to create

And edit synthetic voices announced that It closed in $80 million series B Now Entries and horowits helped lead this Round but prior investors including SEO Capital smash Capital SV Angel broad Light capital and Credo Ventures also Took part the company has now raised Just over $100 million and thanks to the Series B is now worth more than a Billion up from around 100 mli last year 11 labs was founded in 2022 in casee you Were curious how fast the world of AI is Moving today it's 2021 in AI while the Rest of the startup Market is stuck in 2024 a Pity Kyle wigers writes for Tech Runch that today 11 Labs is best known For its browser based speech generation App that can create lifelike voices with Adjustable toggles for intonation Emotion Cadence and other key vocal Characteristics the startup is also Working towards building a Marketplace For voices which is pretty important I Think because it has the technology to Use existing speech to train new models Which is very cool and also a little bit Worrisome given the potential for abuse And my concern that voice actors could Wind up out of a job I always find it Very ironic that I a person who has been Told to speak more slowly and learn how To pronounce words does so much Podcasting my only bit of safety when it Comes to AI speech is that I write the

Show with my friend Teresa but maybe in The future that could also be done by AI Hell maybe Equity one day could be Entirely done by computers at least for Now I get to keep doing the show so 11 Labs congrats on the series B just don't Put me out of a job is your company Planning to go public or conduct a Shareholder liquidity program within the Next 18 to 24 months did you know that Proactively planning for your next Private company liquidity event or IPO Can help you maintain greater control Over timelines and outcomes Morgan Stanley at work believes that when you Have the right technology and systems in Place working in harmony leading up to a Transaction you can prepare and execute With more accuracy and ease visit Morganstanley.com Assessment to connect with their issuer Strategy and Excellence team for a free Assessment to find out if your company Is transaction ready again that's Morganstanley.com Assessment to get your free assessment [Music] Today Next up canva is Big according to Bloomberg graphic design software Company canva generated quote more than $2 billion in annualized Revenue in 2023 End quote and the financial news comes On the heels of reporting that the

Company is planning a $1.5 billion Secondary share sale at a$ 26 billion Valuation that's the same price set During a secondary trade back in August Of 2023 Previously canva was valued at $40 Billion but that was back in 2021 when It raised $200 million at a$ 39.8 Billion pre-money valuation most Valuations have come down since 2021 and Going from 40 to 26 just isn't that bad Canva is of course a company ripe for an IPO with those numbers however by Clearing its decks with secondary sales It's likely able to delay its IPO even Further by relieving internal pressure For for a real exit for former employees This is fine news for you and I it's a Massive letdown give us the freaking F1 Firing canva we demand It my former Alma Moder crunchbase news Reports that cyber security startups Raised just onethird of their 2021 era Hall last year Chris matino writes that Quote cyber security startups raised $8.2 billion in 692 Venture Capital Deals last year which was down from 16.3 Billion across 941 deals in 2022 and $23 Billion raised back in 2021 now cyber security is a bit of a Puzzler I wrote the other week that it Seems very odd that during a time of What appears to be increasing breach Frequency and the digital world becoming

Ever more important we're seeing VCS Pull back from the sector so one way you Can think about this is that perhaps Venture interest simply got ahead of the Amount of capital that startups working On cyber security can actually ingest Yearly and that we are now back to a More stable and therefore healthy level Of investment if you want to be a bit of A jerk about it you could say that well Maybe startups simply aren't generating Enough cool ideas and ways to tackle Digital security to Warrant the capital That they once raised regardless I Expect that we will see more Cyprus Security unicorns in the coming years It's just too important a sector to not Generate at least some big [Music] Winners from the that's a surprise Category developers may not be super Stoked about the Apple Vision Pro that's The tech Scuttle butt you need to know This morning essentially after Netflix Decided to not support the face computer Yet at least other well-known companies Like Spotify and YouTube are also Holding back for making apps Mark German Argues that it might be due to Apple's Currently fractur relationship with Developers which is a pretty reasonable Call recall that apple is fighting both Tooth and nail to preserve a roughly 30% Cut of developer revenue generated on

IOS developers think that that is too Rich a tax on their work while Apple Thinks that if you are using its Platform and accessing its users you had Best pay up or go build for Android or Gasp Linux Here's an idea what if we went back to Being a web first species instead of an App first species when the iPhone first Came out Apple hailed it as bringing and I quote desktop class email web browsing Searching and maps to a mobile package That was a great idea I think apps kind Of suck but I think that so long as they Are more lucrative for Apple than the Web the company is going to hold fast to Its biases still developers flipping the New platform the proverbial of bird Really is an indictment for Apple which Used to be able to Marshall the entire Developer world to support its new Platforms at the drop of a dime and if You want more on the Vision Pro its Chances of success and more I have an Interview brewing with a founder and Former venture capitalist that I think You're going to love so stay tuned for That in the coming Weeks other things to know Tik tok's Growth is slowing Tech runch reports Perhaps dinged by consumer reaction to The platform's e-commerce push turns out Short form video is cool short form Videos that try to sell you things

Perhaps less cool elsewhere Lamborghini Is working with some Battery Tech Source From MIT that could be as super cool for The Supercar company and in the EU Consumers are going to be able to unlink Their various meta accounts God bring That to the US Please and before we wrap a quick Reminder that we had aen Lee from Cowboy Avengers on the show last week talking Through her latest unicorn data dive it Was a lot of fun it was a great time I Learned a lot hardly recommend that if You haven't heard it yet and on the show This week we will have Jana tier from Crunch base talking all about the end of 2023 from Adventure Capital perspective And what's ahead this year all right now If you want even more equity in the Meantime before we come back on Wednesday we're Equity pod on both X and Threads you can follow me my name is Alex over on X we have two sister shows Here at Equity Chain Reaction focus on All things crypto and found which of Course deals with founder stories we'll Talk to you soon hugs bye Equity is Hosted by myself editorinchief of Tech Runch Plus Alex Wilhelm and Tech runch Senior reporter Mary an aeto we are Produced by Teresa loans solo with Editing by Kell Bryce Durban is our Illustrator and a big thank you to the Audience development team and Henry

Pette who manages Tech rench audio Products thank you so much for listening And we'll talk to you next Time