aVenture is in Alpha: aVenture recently launched early public access to our research product. It's intended to illustrate capabilities and gather feedback from users. While in Alpha, you should expect the research data to be limited and may not yet meet our exacting standards. We've made the decision to temporarily present this information to showcase the product's potential, but you should not yet rely upon it for your investment decisions.
aVenture is in Alpha: aVenture recently launched early public access to our research product. It's intended to illustrate capabilities and gather feedback from users. While in Alpha, you should expect the research data to be limited and may not yet meet our exacting standards. We've made the decision to temporarily present this information to showcase the product's potential, but you should not yet rely upon it for your investment decisions.
© aVenture Investment Company, 2024. All rights reserved.
44 Tehama St, San Francisco, CA 94105
Privacy Policy
aVenture Investment Company (“aVenture”) is an independent research platform providing information and analysis about startups.
Certain metrics provided by aVenture may seek to assess the risks and opportunities associated with a company, fund, or its representatives (collectively “research”). aVenture seeks to provide this information with objectivity and fairness, and with diligence about its accuracy. Nonetheless, aVenture cannot provide assurance as to the accuracy of the information provided by our research. We strongly advise those using the research platform to seek multiple, independent sources for your research when making financial decisions.
Any links provided to other websites are offered as a matter of convenience and are not intended to imply that aVenture or its authors endorse, sponsor, promote, and/or are affiliated with the owners of or participants in those sites.
The aVenture platform also provides investment listings offered by independent investment advisers in the United States. aVenture is neither a registered investment adviser nor an exempt reporting adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and no statements made by aVenture are intended to imply any financial instruments are under the counsel or advice of aVenture or its representatives.
Funds offered on the platform are generally managed by a private investment adviser that, unless stated otherwise, claims exemption from SEC or state registration. Investment funds presented on the platform are only available to investors who meet the requirements of the offering, and solicitations are not made outside those listed jurisdictions.
Additionally, each investment offered on the platform has qualifications for eligibility, including some offered only to Qualified Clients and/or Accredited Investors. Certain funds may be available to non-Qualified or Accredited investors, but only those who become personally known and identifiable to aVenture Investment Company staff, who have had an opportunity to assess the financial capacity and suitability for such an investment, and discuss its risks. Funds, when offered, are only offered following a review of a Private Placement Memorandum (PPM), subscription agreement, and other disclosures.
Investments in startups, venture capital, angel investments, private equity, real estate, stocks, and similar asset classes all involve risks, including: the risk of a decline in the value of your investments, including potentially large declines (suddenly and/or for long periods of time), the potential for illiquidity where part or all of a withdrawal request may not be honored on the date requested (even when a feature of the fund). These risks are heightened during periods of market duress.
Diversification has the possibility of reducing the magnitude of declines (either caused by market/economic factors, or by factors related to the individual company), but does not guarantee these risks have been fully or partially alleviated. Most importantly, past results are not an assurance of future outcomes. While most of these risks are shared and similarly held by other investment asset classes, we recommend investors only consider venture capital investments as part of a broader, diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, and immediately accessible cash reserves.
From Startups | TechCrunch
By Romain Dillet
February 27, 2024
Yesterday, Mistral AI, a Paris-based AI startup working on foundational models, announced a new large language model that could rival OpenAI’s GPT-4, a chat assistant and a distribution partnership with Microsoft yesterday. But Microsoft and Mistral AI buried the news — or at least an important part.
As part of the partnership, Microsoft is investing €15 million in the French startup ($16.3 million at today’s exchange rate). Microsoft says that this investment will convert into equity in Mistral’s next funding round.
It means that the valuation of Mistral AI isn’t changing following this investment. Microsoft’s percentage stake in the AI startup will also depend on the valuation of the next funding round.
Mistral AI reached a valuation of about $2 billion following its most recent funding round in December 2023. At the time, the company raised €385 million (around $415 million) with Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) leading the investment round. The company had previously raised a $112 million seed round just a few weeks after its inception.
If Mistral AI can at least maintain its valuation during its next funding round, it means that Microsoft will own less than 1% in equity in the French AI company.
Yesterday, Mistral AI unveiled Mistral Large, its flagship large language model that has been designed to rival other top-tier models, such as GPT-4 and Claude 2. Unlike previous Mistral AI releases, Mistral Large isn’t open source. Developers can access the model through Mistral’s own API platform.
Mistral AI and Microsoft also signed a distribution partnership deal for Azure. As a result, Mistral AI will likely attract more customers with this new distribution channel.
It also means that Azure customers can access Mistral’s models through Azure’s model catalog. Customers who want to remain in the Microsoft ecosystem have another option in addition to OpenAI’s models. Meta’s Llama models are also available on Azure.
With this investment, Microsoft is now an investor in OpenAI’s capped profit subsidiary and Mistral AI. Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI is under scrutiny from EU and UK regulators.
This new investment has attracted the attention of the European Commission. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that the EC will analyze the investment deal between Microsoft and Mistral AI, as part of its ongoing scrutiny procedure between large tech companies and generative AI companies.
That’s why Microsoft didn’t make a big deal about it. As for Mistral AI, the so-called European AI champion looks more and more like its American competitors with a closed-source approach and a long list of American backers.
This article has been updated to include a statement from the European Commission.
View original article on techcrunch.com
Share:
Global crypto firms turn to Hong Kong for refuge — and opportunity
With U.S. regulators continuing to ramp up scrutiny, crypto startups and founders are looking to Hong Kong to support their growth. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
May 6, 2024
DocuSign acquires AI-powered contract management firm Lexion
As DocuSign reportedly explores a sale to private equity, it’s acquiring a company itself. On Monday, DocuSign (which now prefers to go by Docusign, with a lowercase “S,” a PR rep from the company tells me) announced that it’s buying Lexion, a contract workflow automation startup, for $165 million. The purchase comes as DocuSign makes increasing investments […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
May 6, 2024
TechCrunch Minute: Newchip, Techstars and what happens when startup accelerators fail
Building a startup is hard. Building a company that helps startups is similarly difficult. That’s the takeaway from TechCrunch reporting on Techstars and Newchip. In the case of Newchip, the accelerator appeared to promise a bit more than it could deliver. Mix in a culture that appeared to be turbulent at best, and you have […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
May 6, 2024
Don't miss our latest news and updates. Subscribe to the newsletter