2023 was a huge year for progress in robotics and manufacturing. I cover it all, including:
- US manufacturing boom
- El Segundo, the new Silicon Valley?
- Humanoid, AVs
- China EVs dominate, especially in Europe
- market consolidation and mega-rounds
(link below)
So much πͺπΊ-tech FUD, time for some European Optimism:
> Home to 7 of top 20 STEM academic institutions
> π₯world leading AI, Mech, Elec engineers
> Industrial base larger than US, w/ higher % of robotic automation
> Global winners like Spotify, Adyen, ASML, UiPath
Insane energy at London DefenceTech hackathon
Engineers, operators and end users have travelled from Ukraine, Germany, France, Ireland and the US to hack
Ex Cruise CEO
@kvogt
raises $150m inception round for a startup building humanoid for household chores
This, I believe, is a much better market for humanoids than warehouse automation + mftg
Weβve got some exciting news to share π¨
We are thrilled to announce that weβve raised $1.05bn in our latest fundraising round led by
@SoftBank_Group
with contributions from
@nvidia
and
@Microsoft
.
This milestone will propel us in developing and launching our first Embodied AI
π¨New piece just dropped -> RealTech
Why the biggest companies of the next cycle will improve the physical world and how VCs will have to get comfortable with CAPEX (link below)
New post.
I tried to summarize my POV on Europe.
More importantly, i share share two small suggestions that, as a first step, could bring us back on track.
πͺπΊ eu/acc
π’ π π€ I just launched a weekly newsletter, focusing on the intersection of technology and the physical world; real estate, retail, transportation and cities - please subscribe here:
If you want to play DOOM on your HackPack, text "HP " to +1 (586) 474-4625 and then go to My App on the game section of your device.
#SIGNALconf
#hackpack
Facebook is piloting Campus, a section specifically designed for college students to interact with peers at their school, at 30 universities around the US (
@ashleyrcarman
/ The Verge)
I've been captivated by recent examples of
@OpenAI
new GPT-3 model generating text + code
So much so that I decided to write a post on the model and its potential future use cases
1/
Was great to catch up with
@paulbz
on the
@ProjectAcom
podcast, we covered;
- his ambitions for
@lightspeedvp
in Europe
- investing in companies with PMF out of the gate
- reflection from 6 months out (+ co founding
@gokatch_
)
ASML has created a network of suppliers and technology partners that may be the closest thing Europe has to Silicon Valley. And its business model ingeniously combines hardware with software and data
Project A trebling down on London π¬π§ππ¬π§
Welcome to the team! Luc is a data scientist, philosophy major and β€οΈ talking tech geo politics
Early-stage founders ->> we'd love to chat
A delight to chat with two of the best in the game
@rsohoni
and
@tom_wils
,we covered;
- changes in first cheque investing
- UiPath from first money to IPO
- talent clusters across the continent
- what next for European tech?
Cc
@seedcamp
@ProjectAcom
Are 4 million Londoners looking forward to taking the Tube again? Hell nah
Now is the time for personal mobility reform. less cars, less pollution, more bike lanes, new modes of transport - better safety
This is awesome. Mike Ovitz is likely the person Iβve read about the most re my venture career
The industry is different but the lessons on finding and working with talent are the same
@AcquiredFM
@alex_avoigt
Like your posts generally but these recent ones on nuclear are not great. Choosing a single data point for why nuclear doesnβt make economic sense, doesnβt make sense
@tfadell
They can afford to do both buybacks and R&D given net cash position. Apple are always later adopters to trends + they have custom silicon that can do inference on edge and most current AI apps are upstream of iOS
0/
I kinda relaunced my newsletter - Socratic Tech - hi
@SubstackInc
First up 'Technology cost declines' as a framework for understanding breakout technologies.....
incredible interview of
@patrickc
by
@Noahpinion
Touching on breakout technologies, the great stagnation, productivity growth, science + governments role in R&D, talent and opportunity in a networked world
Every link in the interview is worth reading
Excited to co host this alongside portco
@lambda_automata
If you're a builder or engineer interested in NatSec in Europe, sign up
We have 200+ super impressive profiles signed up already
2024 London Defense Tech Hackathon
We are excited to partner with
@skyralgroup
,
@futureforces_uk
&
@lambda_automata
to unite students, military units, investors, and defense technology startups in pursuit of novel solutions for the allied warfighter in London.
Apply below:
π₯Hot off the press.
I cover the latest news on;
-
@wayve_ai
LINGO-2 model
-
@Tesla
's FSD release
- Xiaomi's new EV
-
@solugen
's AI for chemicals discovery
-
@anduriltech
's flurry of product releases,
- BTS of the London DefenceTech hackathon + much more
(link in comments)
βthere is 23,800 times as much geothermal energy in Earthβs crust as there is chemical energy in fossil fuels everywhere on the planetβ
@elidourado
The future of defence lies in low-cost, small-scale and attritable unmanned systems across land, sea, and air.
To that end, we're pleased to announce our acquisition of Smart Flying Machines (SFM), a manufacturer of autonomous aerial vehicles, to help build the technologies
Massive congrats to
@Airbnb
Also, huge props to
@silverlake_news
who invested $1bn in March, the absolutely eye of storm. That's a +5x return in 8 months
Must have taken serious courage to write that cheque
I interviewed
@DimitriosKottas
, CEO of Lambda Automata, after the announcement of his seed round led by
@airstreet
We cover;
- His story, from robotics to Apple
- Challenges building at software x hardware intersection
- Defending democracy
- The European security landscape
Surreal to have one of my first venture investments IPO last week. Big congrats to all those at
@Compass
for the years of toil and hard work, especially after such a hard 2020
On to find and support the next one...
$COMP
Good start, but much much more capital needed.
Especially at the messy middle-stage for defence tech companies
For comparison, this is 1/8th of Anduril's last funding round and spread over 3 years