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Built By Berkeley
$1.35B Raised from Nuclear to UGC
Xan Wood
October 28, 2024
Welcome to Built By Berkeley, where we announce all the funding rounds by Berkeley-founded companies. This is a community effort, so please let us know if we missed a company here. 🐻
Autonomous Driving Bears: Waymo just raised $5.6B, and guess where one of the original founders went…Berkeley! Anthony Levandowski was one of the two co-founders. I won’t dive into the drama that followed his departure, but it's fascinating that the journey of Waymo—and in some sense autonomous driving —began on the Berkeley campus. So, next time you're in a Waymo, remember where it all started.
AI has gone Agentic: Anthropic recently showcased an impressive new feature, ‘Computer Use’ enabling AI to operate a computer much like a human—clicking, typing, and navigating screens. It is still early, but this feels groundbreaking. If AI can act like a human, it opens up possibilities for handling repetitive tasks, conducting research, and more.
Does anyone else feel that Anthropic is David… if David had billions of dollars and Amazon behind him. And OpenAI is Goliath? Anthropic appears to be executing exceptionally well in this head-to-head.
Summary by the #️⃣ & 💰:
14 Berkeley-founded companies funded
$1.35B of capital raised from the 21st October to 27th October
💡 Got any ideas or feedback on how to improve this weekly digest? Just hit reply.
Acquired
📊 Chapter 11 Dockets. Undisclosed Buyout 🇺🇸 Bankruptcy data provider.
🐻 Randall Reese, President & Founder. Haas MBA.
🔬 Manipal TRUtest. Undisclosed Acquisition 🇮🇳 Diagnostic services in India. 💰 Undisclosed
🐻 Homer Paneri, Co-founder & Director. BA Chemistry. Article.
🧬 Opus Genetics. Undisclosed Acquisition 🇺🇸 Gene therapy treatments.
🐻 Jean Bennett, Co-founder. PhD Zoology. Article.
Closed Rounds
🔋 Pacific Fusion. $900.0M Series A 🇺🇸 Nuclear fusion energy via magnetic inertial fusion. 💰 General Catalyst, Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
🐻 Will Regan, Founder & President. PhD Physics. Article
💼 Zip. $190.0M Series D 🇺🇸 AI-procurement management software. 💰 Adams Street Partners, BOND Capital.
⚡ Redaptive. $100.0M Growth Round 🇺🇸 Energy efficiency solutions. 💰 ATLAS SP Partners, CBRE Group, CPP Investments.
🐻 Arvin Vohra, CEO. BA Economics. Article.
📞 Infinitus Systems. $51.5M Series C 🇺🇸 Automating healthcare calls. 💰 Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Gradient Ventures.
🐻 Ankit Jain, Founder & CEO. BA & MS EECS. Article.
🚍 BasiGo. $42.0M Series A 🇰🇪 Electric buses for Africa. 💰 Keiki Capital, MCJ.
🐻 Jit Bhattacharya, Co-founder & CEO. Haas MBA. Article.
🎨 Genmo. $28.4M Series A 🇺🇸 Generative AI for media. 💰 Gold House Ventures, The House Fund, WndrCo.
🐻 Paras Jain, Co-founder & CEO. PhD EECS.
💻 Pantheon AI. $25.0M Seed 🇺🇸 AI-powered architecture tools. 💰 8VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Company Ventures.
🐻 Georgios Kontominas, Co-founder. MA Architecture. Article.
🔒 ZeroBase. $5.0M Seed 🇺🇸 Privacy-preserving technology. 💰 Binance Labs,
🐻 Shawn Chong, Co-founder. Visiting Scholar. Article.
💄 Hue. $4.5M Seed 🇺🇸 UGC for the beauty industry 💰Fika Ventures, Courtyard Ventures
🐻 Sylvan Guo, Co-founder & COO. BA Business Administration. Article
🌊 Algenesis. $3.0M Seed 🇺🇸 Sustainable bioplastics. 💰 Circulate Capital.
🐻 Stephen Mayfield, Founder & CEO. PhD Molecular Genetics.
🎬 ShoBizzy. $2.0M Seed 🇺🇸Finding you the best talent in entertainment. 💰 Undisclosed
🐻 Kevin Eberly, Co-founder. BA Business Administration. Article.
🧩 Glencoco. $1.5M Seed 🇺🇸 Diagnostic tools for personalized health. 💰 BOND Capital, Browder Capital, Crossbeam Venture Partners.
🐻 Jason Bai, Co-founder & CTO. BA EECS.
🧬 IrisMed. $0.3M Seed 🇺🇸 AI-driven diagnostics. 💰 Antler, Banyan Ventures,
🐻 Han Jing, Founder & CEO. BA Economics.
🔋 Unigrid. Undisclosed Seed 🇺🇸 Energy storage solutions. 💰 Foothill Ventures, Union Square Ventures.
Built By Berkeley Tracker
Date Built By Berkeley Started | Companies Funded | Total Raised ($M) |
7/8/24 | 155 | 13,520 |
Our goal is to document the startup ecosystem of Berkeley-founded companies. Please share this newsletter with any Cal Bears in your network so we can crowdsource information about all investment rounds and job opportunities.
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