Just out: the newest StrictlyVC Download, featuring fan favorite Michael Kim of Cendana Capital, a Bay Area fund of funds that has backed Forerunner, Lerer Hippeau, and Founder Collective, among roughly 70 other venture managers. Kim, who has $600 million in fresh capital to invest, talked with us about some of his newest bets; how it came to pass that 2024 -- a lousy year for most private company investors -- was his second best in terms of liquidity; and why, given the advancements we're seeing with AI, Kim thinks that "LPs really need to think through how they want to deploy capital in this chaos." 

You've probably heard by now that Alphabet purchased the cybersecurity startup Wiz today for $32 billion, but there's an important caveat: Alphabet will have to pay Wiz a $3.2 billion termination fee if regulators nix the tie-up. The Financial Times has more here.

And yet more on Wiz: The Wall Street Journal digs into the startup's history, including its connections to Unit 8200, a shadowy cybersecurity unit of the Israeli Defense Forces. More here. 

And then there's this: Sequoia's 10% stake in Wiz could earn it up to $3 billion, a 25x return. (Sequoia's Doug Leone writes that when co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport first met him in 2013, he thought Leone was Don Valentine.) Bloomberg has more here. 

Bloomberg is reporting that the TikTok deal that is taking shape would allow parent company ByteDance to maintain control of the TikTok algorithm while giving Oracle the job of ensuring that no customer data makes its way back to China. The Verge has more here. 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced two "personal AI supercomputers" at the company's GTC 2025 conference today. TechCrunch has more here. 

Find out why your firm might need a new approach to due diligence in Affinity’s upcoming webinar with Vanessa Larco, a former Partner at NEA. Register for the webinar on April 3 to learn how due diligence is evolving, ways to combine investor instinct with AI-driven tools, and tips to help your firm strengthen its diligence practices. Don’t miss out on insights from a seasoned investor who is applying a new way of thinking to her new fund! Register today.

By Ingrid Lunden

Tuesday’s big news that Google is acquiring security startup Wiz for a record-breaking $32 billion comes with a very big qualifier. Google says it will position Wiz as a “multicloud” offering, meaning Wiz will not be a Google-only shop.

The reality is that Google had no choice but to do this, and a closer look at the reasons behind the decision also highlights Google’s weak spots in the months ahead.

Customer retention

Wiz brings a massive customer list to Google. As of today, the startup has already reached an annual revenue rate of $700 million. Before the news broke on Tuesday, it was on track for that to grow to $1 billion.

“Before the news broke” is the operative phrase here. Google and Wiz surely hope the acquisition will create an interesting new funnel of customers and revenue, but first and foremost, both will need to ensure they keep existing customers from shopping around for another security provider.

Many of these customers already use a hybrid cloud arrangement and may not use Google Cloud at all. One of the key reasons some of them chose Wiz in the first place was its ability to support multiple cloud platforms.

If Google cuts off that ability, it risks alienating those users.

That’s why Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport and other senior leaders were calling customers in the hours leading up to the deal, reassuring them that it’s just business as usual.

More here.

Apptronik, a nine-year-old Austin startup that develops humanoid robots designed to handle tasks such as case picking, palletizing, and machine tending in industries like manufacturing, logistics, and retail, raised even more(!) money: a $53 million Series A extension, increasing the total size of its February round to $403 million. B Capital and Capital Factory were the co-leads, with Google, Mercedes-Benz, Japan Post Capital, ARK Invest, Helium-3, Magnetar, RyderVentures, and Korea Investment Partners also participating. The company has raised a total of $431 million. The Robot Report has more here.

Arbor Biotechnologies, a nine-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA, that develops gene-editing therapies for genetic diseases, raised a $73.9 million Series C round co-led by Arch Venture Partners and TCGX, with QIA, Partners Investment, Revelation Partners, and Kerna Ventures as well as previous investors abrdn, Ally Bridge Group, Arrowmark Partners, Deep Track Capital, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital, Surveyor Capital, Temasek, T. Rowe Price Associates, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals also piling on. BioPharma Dive has more here.

Cognition AI, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that has built an AI-powered coding assistant designed to assist software developers by automating coding tasks and improving productivity, raised "hundreds of millions of dollars" at approximately a $4 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. The deal was led by 8VC, says the outlet, which has more here.

Graphite, a five-year-old New York startup that aims to help developers by providing a platform for creating, reviewing, and merging code changes, raised a $52 million Series B round led by Accel, with Anthology Fund (a joint venture between Anthropic and Menlo Ventures), Shopify Ventures, Figma Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and The General Partnership also opting in. TechCrunch has more here.

GrubMarket, an eleven-year-old San Francisco company that connects consumers and businesses with local farmers and food producers through an online marketplace, raised a $50 million Series G round at a $3.5+ billion valuation. 3Spoke Capital, Joseph Stone Capital, Liberty Street Funds, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Pinegrove Capital Partners, Portfolia, and ROC Venture Group invested in the deal. TechCrunch has more here.

Nerdio, a nine-year-old Chicago company that provides an automated platform to help organizations deploy and manage Microsoft cloud technologies, including Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365, raised a $500 million Series C round at a $1+ billion pre-money valuation. The deal lead was General Atlantic, with additional participation from Lead Edge Capital and StepStone. TechCrunch has more here.

Gradial, a two-year-old Seattle startup that uses AI to automate marketing operations, particularly content management tasks, raised a $13 million Series A round led by Madrona, with Pruven Capital, General Advance, Outsiders Fund, and DLA Piper also investing. More here.

Halliday, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that  allows developers to automate complex workflows on blockchain networks by safely involving AI agents and third parties, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Avalanche Blizzard Fund, Credibly Neutral, and Alt Layer also joining in. The company has raised a total of $26 million. The Block has more here. 

Inn-Flow, a sixteen-year-old startup based in Raleigh, NC, that provides tools for hotel operators to handle accounting, labor management, payroll, procurement, sales, and facilities management, raised a $45 million. Mainsail Partners provided the funding. More here.

Kela, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that helps organizations and governments worldwide monitor and analyze cybercriminal activities, enabling them to proactively defend against potential attacks, raised $39 million across two seed and Series A rounds. Sequoia Capital led the seed, and Lux Capital led the Series A. In-Q-Tel was also an investor. Globes has more here.

NymCard, a seven-year-old Abu Dhabi startup that provides banking-as-a-service and card issuing infrastructure that allows MENA-based businesses to create and manage payment cards, raised a $33 million Series B round led by QED Investors, with Oraseya Capital as well as previous investors Lunate, Dubai Future Fund, Mashreq Bank, Knollwood, Reciprocal, FJLabs, Endeavor, and Shorooq Partners also taking part. Sharikat Mubasher has more here.

PhilosopherKing, a two-year-old London, Las Vegas, and Istanbul startup that aims to develop an AI-driven gaming platform that creates dynamic, real-time storytelling where players' choices shape the game’s narrative, characters, and world, raised a $3 million seed round from 468 Capital and 212. More here. 

Seadronix, a ten-year-old South Korean company that is developing autonomous navigation systems for ships and AI-powered port management tools, raised an $11.3 million Series B round. Investors included LB Investment, KB Investment, and the Korea Development Bank as well as previous investors Wonik Investment Partners and Lighthouse Combined Investment. More here.

TurinTech, a seven-year-old London startup that uses AI to analyze existing codebases in order to enhance performance, security, and scalability, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Oxford Capital, with Circle Rock and IQ Capital also contributing. The company has raised a total of $20 million. TechCrunch has more here.

VulnCheck, a four-year-old startup based in Lexington, MA, that provides real-time intelligence on software vulnerabilities and potential exploits, raised a $12 million Series A round led by Ten Eleven Ventures and including previous investors Sorenson Capital and In-Q-Tel. The company has raised a total of $19.75 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Evera, a five-year-old Paris startup that provides electric vehicle subscription services tailored for businesses, raised a $2.2 million round. Investors included Groupe Magellim and Newfund NAEH Innopy as well as previous investors MCapital and AstoryaVC. EU-Startups has more here.

Occuspace, an eight-year-old startup based in Westlake Village, CA, that provides real-time occupancy monitoring for physical spaces using plug-in sensors that detect Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals, raised a $6 million Series A round led by Lewis & Clark Ventures, with previous investors Shadow Ventures, Okapi Ventures, Cove Fund, and Hamilton Ventures also stepping up.The company has raised a total of $14 million. More here.

PlaysOut, a one-year-old UAE startup that enables developers to integrate mini-games into social media and messaging apps like Telegram, Discord, and YouTube, raised a $7 million seed round at a $70 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by KBW Ventures, with participation from OKX Ventures and Pacific Century Group. CairoScene has more here.

Affinity spoke to Lauren MacDonald, Principal at Sozo Ventures, about the firm’s successful CRM implementation. The outcome? This comprehensive yet simple-to-follow checklist, covering every step from pre-implementation planning to ways you can maximize CRM adoption and business impact. With MacDonald’s best practices spread throughout the checklist, this is your essential companion to launching a new CRM in your firm. Download the checklist now.

Sofinnova Partners, a Paris venture firm founded in 1972, has closed a $180+ million biotech fund with backing from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Pfizer Ventures. It expects to back 50 to 60 startups with the money. BioPharma Dive has more here. 

Susa Ventures, a 12-year-old San Francisco VC firm, raised a fifth fund in the amount of $175 million. The firm targets pre-seed and seed-stage startups in areas like "Alternative AI Architectures" and "Custom Software & GenAI." More here. 

The IPO of CoreWeave, a buzzy seven-year-old New Jersey startup backed by Nvidia that provides infrastructure-as-a-service tailored for industries like AI, is shaping up to be a major test of the public markets' appetite for AI startups. The New York Times has more here. 

Last year, Elon Musk apparently purchased $150 million in X shares despite already owning almost 74% of the company. Bloomberg has the scoop here. 

A group of 400 Hollywood creatives including Ben Stiller and Paul McCartney has penned an open letter to the Trump administration, urging it to deny AI companies like OpenAI permission to train their LLMs on copyrighted material. Variety has more here. 

Forget about sucking it up at work. GenZ is all about "revenge quitting." Vice has more here. 

The demise of doggy bags.

3D tattoos.

How to fool a self-driving Tesla.

Han Solo's blaster from the first Star Wars movie will soon hit the auction block, with bids expected to reach up to $3 million. 

Having trouble sleeping? Maybe it's time to try a luxury sleeping train.