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Six bullets of updates

1. 🎯 Why are European VCs eyeing the US? Berlin-based Best Nights VC (BNVC), created during the pandemic, has embraced this opportunity.

2. 🗽 Index Ventures is expanding its investment team in NYC to boost its U.S. presence and capitalize on local opportunities.

3. 📃 California's Gov. Newsom vetoes controversial AI bill SB 1047 amid debates over AI regulation, impacting tech startups. Gov. Newsom.

4. 🥇 AI dominated Y Combinator Demo Day and startup news, with 50% of the startups showcasing AI.

5. 💥 Fidelity has slashed X's value by 79% since Musk's $44B acquisition, highlighting market shifts.

6. 👓 Meta unveils its highly anticipated Orion smart glasses with advanced AI features, touted as the iPhone killer.

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Going to jail for your users?

It’s not news that Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, was recently arrested in Paris under confusing circumstances. He commented on the matter, stating: "Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach.” Durov further added: "Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.”

Can a platform be held responsible for what its users do? In this video, we explore that question through the stories of two tech founders—Kim Dotcom (Megaupload) and Pavel Durov. From jail cells to massive raids, we dive into how legal gray areas have sent people to prison for user-generated content and why the rules aren’t applied equally across companies. Is this fair, or should things change? Let’s break it down.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Tomorrow! From Pitch Deck to Funding | October 2 | Webinar

2. Breakthrough, by 6sens | October 7 - 10 | Las Vegas

3. StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund) | October 10 | USA

4. Crash Course in Financial Modeling | October 10 | Webinar

5. Financial Modeling Bootcamp | October 14 - 18 | Webinar

6. Techstars New York City Accelerator | November 20 | New York City

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FreshBooks: Professional Invoices, Quick Payments, Hassle-Free Accounting

You shouldn’t need an accounting degree to know where your business stands. FreshBooks, named the Most Implementable Accounting Software for SMBs by G2, makes it easy to stay on top of your books.

Create professional invoices, bill fast, and get paid even faster with FreshBooks’ all-in-one accounting software. Try it for free to start saving time and money so you can focus on growing your business.

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These companies just raised money

1. 🧑‍⚕️ Startup Medicare Advantage (MA) insurer Zing Health has raised $140M, which it intends to use to enhance its special needs plans. 

2. 🖇️ Whatfix, a digital transformation firm that offers a platform that demos how to use third-party software, closed a $125M Series E.

3. ⭕ Supabase, a Postgres-centric developer platform, raised an $80M Series C round led by Peak XV and Craft Ventures.

4. ☁️ Ujet Raises, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered cloud contact center solutions provider, has $76M in Series D Funding. 

5. 🏥 Centavo raises $75M to build a radically affordable healthcare solution that benefits employers and employees.

6. 🧮 Harmonic announces series A funding round of $75M to accelerate the development of mathematical superintelligence.

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VCs predict low-rate loan startup surge

VCs anticipate a surge in startups offering lower-rate mortgages and other loans following the Federal Reserve's rate cuts. This financial shift allows fintech innovators to capture market share by providing more affordable lending solutions. 

For entrepreneurs, this could mean increased investment opportunities and a favorable environment for new financial products. The landscape is ripe for disruptive financial technologies that leverage lower rates to attract consumers and investors. Read more! 

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