🕶️ Zuckerberg bought more land. There were graves on it.

Six bullets of updates

1. 🧬 Latent Labs debuts a browser-based AI for protein design, giving scientists instant access to molecular modeling without supercomputers or specialized hardware.

2. 🧘‍♂️ Founders are finally addressing the emotional toll of startup life; normalizing therapy, burnout breaks, and redefining success beyond the hustle.

3. 📬 Startup Akkio is building AI agents that live in your inbox—using plain old email as the interface to make autonomous tools actually usable.

4. 🍸 Las Vegas’ Refined Hospitality Group turned a single cocktail bar into a multi-venue empire, by mixing sharp branding, savvy partnerships, and nightlife know-how.

5. 🛠️ Startups are flocking to Apache DataFusion; an open-source query engine that’s faster, cheaper, and flexible enough to power real-time analytics at scale.

6. 🌐 One founder secured their dream domain without overpaying—by using stealth tactics, decoy emails, and patience to outmaneuver domain squatters.

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🧩 Zeen’s $9M Puzzle Falls Apart

Zeen wanted to reinvent social media with shoppable collages and Pinterest-era nostalgia. Backed by $9M in VC funding, the startup pivoted from Gen Z community platform to creator tool; but neither version gained enough traction to survive. This week, the company confirmed it’s shutting down for good.

Its story echoes a growing theme: the social media graveyard is filling fast. Despite trends like the “creator economy” and affiliate monetization, few new players manage to scale or monetize at a level that satisfies venture capital.

Zeen’s quiet exit is a loud reminder that cool ideas still need ruthless execution, viral adoption, and, increasingly, a plan B that doesn’t rely on another funding round.

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Forbes’ Accidental Criminal Hall of Fame

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These companies just raised money

1. 💰 Betaworks closes $66M Fund III to back early-stage AI startups—focusing on agents, infrastructure, and tools shaping the next wave of the internet.

2. 🚀 Two 21-year-old MIT dropouts just raised $32M at a $300M valuation building AI tools to automate customer support, with Insight Partners leading the round.

3. 🎙️ Joe Budden built a $20M podcast network by betting on ownership, ditching big platforms, and turning raw, unfiltered talk into a business empire.

4. 📡 Amazon backs Lumotive with $13M, betting on its programmable optics tech to boost 3D sensing in everything from AR glasses to delivery robots.

5. 🔋 Nevoya raises $9.3M as its electric truck fleet hits cost parity with diesel, aiming to electrify middle-mile logistics without the premium price tag.

6. ⚖️ OpenLaw just raised $5M to become the “Uber for lawyers,” offering on-demand legal services through a sleek marketplace—and courting SMBs with flat fees.

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🏝️ Zuckerberg’s Island Empire Grows (Again)

Mark Zuckerberg now owns over 2,300 acres of Kauai and some of it sits atop native Hawaiian burial sites. A new WIRED investigation reveals the Meta CEO is expanding his ultra-secretive compound with bunker-like buildings, high-tech security, and nearly 100-person capacity. Locals worry it’s more than just a ranch; it’s erasing history.

Zuckerberg’s estate now dwarfs Kauai’s entire operating budget, and his latest land grab follows a pattern of billionaires quietly buying up Hawaii. While the Meta boss touts conservation and farming, others see a disturbing future: an island reshaped by NDAs, surveillance, and cattle fed beer in a billionaire’s version of paradise.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. TODAY! Crash Course on Startup Fundraising with Caya (Slidebean CEO) l Jul 23 l Online

2. Slidebean’s Crash Course in Financial Modeling l Jul 24 l Online

3. Startupbootcamp | Energy & Sustainability | Deadline: Aug 10 | South Africa

4. Startupbootcamp | Health & LifeScience | Deadline: Aug 10 | Netherlands

5. New York Venture Summit | 9, 10 Sept | NYC

6. Antler Canada | Deadline: Sept 29 | Canada

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