🕶️ Why $90 billion says SF isn’t going anywhere

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Six bullets of updates

1. 🤖 AI startups snagged nearly half of 2024's $209B U.S. funding pie, with xAI, OpenAI, and Anthropic leading the charge.

2. 📉 VC funding in emerging markets plummeted 41% in 2024; early-stage deals and fintech remain bright spots.

3. 🚀 Nvidia's CEO claims their AI chips are improving faster than Moore's Law, with a 30x speed boost for AI tasks.

4. 📰 X recruits ex-WSJ editor John Stoll to lead its news group, aiming to transform journalism on its platform.

5. 🔒 The U.S. to launch Cyber Trust Mark in 2025 for secure internet devices; retailers to promote certified products.

6. 💵 Trump announces a $20B plan for US data centers, supporting AI and cloud tech, following a mixed history of pledges.

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Startup Candyland: Bay Area’s billion-dollar edge

Despite ongoing debates about San Francisco’s decline, data highlights the Bay Area as the global epicenter for venture-backed startups. In 2024, the region attracted $90 billion in VC investment, accounting for 57% of the $178 billion spent worldwide, according to Crunchbase. Major players like OpenAI, based in San Francisco, spearheaded this growth, fueling an AI boom that spawned local startups and massive funding rounds. Notable examples include Databricks’ $10 billion, xAI’s $12 billion, Waymo’s $5.6 billion, Anthropic’s $8 billion, and additional raises by Scale AI and Perplexity. The area’s dominance in AI and its established infrastructure—home to Big Tech giants like Google, Nvidia, and Salesforce, alongside accelerators like Y Combinator and the VC hub of Sand Hill Road—makes it unrivaled.

This momentum seems set to continue in 2025, thanks to the Bay Area’s unparalleled talent density. Nearly half of all Big Tech engineers and over a quarter of startup engineers work in the region, creating a fertile environment for innovation. Founders who relocated to San Francisco in 2024 cite the superior talent and customer pools as game-changers. Anh-Tho Chuong, co-founder of Lago, described the Bay Area as a place where meeting the right people to build a startup is simply easier, reinforcing the area’s reputation as the ideal launchpad for tech innovation.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Today! Crash Course in Financial Modeling | Jan 9 | Online

2. Early-Stage B2B SaaS Founders & Funders | Jan 10 | Online

3. The Art of Getting Noticed: Women in E-Commerce Innovation Brunch  | Jan 12 | NYC

4. Gen Z Cafe CoWorking | Jan 13 | NYC

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These companies just raised money

1. 🤖 Anthropic eyes $2B funding round at a $60B valuation, potentially becoming the 5th most valuable U.S. startup.

2. 📺 Whatnot raises $265M, pushing valuation to $4.97B as it expands livestream shopping categories and markets.

3. 🌏 South Park Commons is raising a $40M fund targeting India, following its entry with Flipkart's Binny Bansal.

4. 🏠 Google invests $1M in 3D design app Rooms, now with 1M+ rooms created and fresh features leveraging Gemini AI.

5. 💳 Nomupay clinches $37M, eyeing growth in Asia's underserved markets with 100% annual revenue surge.

6. 🧦 Siren raises $9.5M, led by Mölnlycke, for smart socks aiming to reduce diabetic foot ulcers by up to 68%.

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When startups fail, Chinese VCs want their receipts

In China, venture capitalists are aggressively pursuing failed startup founders to reclaim investments, a stark contrast to the U.S. approach where losses are typically accepted. According to The Financial Times, Chinese VCs are invoking rarely enforced redemption clauses to demand repayment from founders’ personal assets. This shift, driven by China’s slowing economy, has left some founders owing millions, with many ending up on debtor blacklists that restrict travel and basic privileges.

This aggressive practice is fueling fears of long-term damage to China’s startup ecosystem. Founders may be deterred from raising capital, especially as they already face challenges from government tech crackdowns and strained U.S.-China relations. The trend could stifle innovation and further weaken an ecosystem already under pressure, as reported by TechCrunch.

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Why retro tech conquered the world

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