Good morning!
This Tuesday edition of the VBT Newsletter is featuring:
Magic Leap just raised half a billion dollars
Facebook unveils new controls for kids using its platforms
HTC is releasing a new Flow headset
NFTs that offer royalties are getting no love from exchanges
And Tesla delays a software rollout
It’s October 12, 2021.
1. South Florida Tech
Magic Leap has raised another $500 million, readies new headset (Protocol)
Augmented reality startup Magic Leap has raised a new $500 million round of funding at a $2 billion valuation, CEO Peggy Johnson told CNBC on Monday. The company is also getting ready to release a new version of its AR headset, which ditches the owl-face design for a more glasses-like form factor.
Magic Leap 2 is supposed to have twice the field-of-view when compared to the previous generation. The device will be available in 2022, but Johnson didn't share any pricing details. Johnson previously told Protocol that the company was aiming to make Magic Leap widely available during the first quarter of next year.
2. Facebook
Facebook unveils new controls for kids using its platforms (AP)
Facebook, in the aftermath of damning testimony that its platforms harm children, will be introducing several features including prompting teens to take a break using Instagram, and “nudging” teens if they are repeatedly looking at the same content that’s not conducive to their well-being.
Facebook is also planning to introduce new controls for adults of teens on an optional basis so that parents or guardians can supervise what their teens are doing online. These initiatives come after Facebook announced late last month that it was pausing work on its Instagram for Kids project. But critics say the plan lacks details and they are skeptical that the new features would be effective.
The new controls were outlined on Sunday by Nick Clegg, Facebook’s VP for global affairs, who made the rounds on various Sunday news shows including CNN’s “State of the Union” and ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” where he was grilled about Facebook’s use of algorithms as well as its role in spreading harmful misinformation ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Clegg said that Facebook has invested $13 billion over the past few years in making sure to keep the platform safe and that the company has 40,000 people working on these issues. And while Clegg said that Facebook has done its best to keep harmful content out of its platforms, he says he was open for more regulation and oversight.
3. VR
HTC’s new Vive Flow headset reportedly launches this week (The Verge)
HTC is planning to release a new VR headset this week and is also working on its own metaverse-like virtual world, according to a report from Protocol.
Let’s start first with that new headset. It’s reportedly a standalone VR headset called the Vive Flow and is intended to be a media consumption device with access to some casual gaming. However, it won’t ship with controllers and will be less powerful than the Oculus Quest 2. The Vive Flow will reportedly be announced at HTC’s October 14th event, which would make sense, as HTC is promoting the event with the “Go with the Flow” tagline.
The new metaverse space is apparently called Viveport Verse. According to a site about the service, you’ll be able to make your own 3D avatar and explore “a variety of events,” but the space will also have an “NFT Showroom” and user-generated content “available soon.” You seemingly won’t need a VR device to visit Vivepoint Verse, though; the website says it will be compatible with desktop devices, laptops, mobile devices, tablets, and VR headsets.
It’s unclear how this new Viveport Verse space would differ from the enterprise-focused Vive Sync experience. It seems like Viveport Verse could be more of a series of virtual worlds of many kinds, perhaps similar to Facebook’s Horizon Worlds, as opposed to Sync’s virtual meeting spaces intended for work.
4. NFTs
Why FTX’s upcoming marketplace is avoiding NFTs that offer royalties (The Block)
As it gears up to launch its Solana-focused NFT marketplace, crypto exchange FTX has announced it will steer clear of projects that offer royalties. A newly published FAQ states, “we will reject any NFT from a collection/project that distributes or advertises the distribution of royalties to NFT holders.”
With an overabundance of projects out there, many are looking to add value to their token holders and experimenting with how they can do so. One way is to give back a portion of the fees generated when NFTs are bought and sold on marketplaces to token holders — known as royalties. The idea is that this should incentivize buyers to hold for the long term. But marketplaces are concerned that this could make the JPEGs fall foul of U.S. securities laws.
FTX.US president Brett Harrison said, “We will list NFT projects that pay royalties to the artists/creators, but we can’t list those projects which distribute the royalties from collection sales to NFT holders. A token which guarantees you a percentage income stream from the sales of a pool of assets starts to look like a security.”
Ethereum-focused NFT marketplace OpenSea has similar concerns. Its terms and conditions identify a range of types of NFTs that might be unsuitable for its platform, including those that can be redeemable for financial instruments and ones that “entitle owners to financial rewards.” Last week, these concerns led OpenSea to stop the buying and selling of the Turtle DAO NFT collection.
5. Autonomous Vehicles
Elon Musk cites ‘last minute concerns’ in delay of Tesla software rollout (The Verge)
Tesla has delayed the rollout of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta 10.2 software rollout because of last-minute concerns. The software was supposed to roll out Friday to about 1,000 Tesla owners with perfect safety scores of 100 —as determined by the automaker— with a gradual rollout for those with scores at 99 and below after that.
Tesla has been testing the beta version of its FSD software for about a year, and despite the head of the National Transportation Safety Board expressing serious concerns about the software’s safety, the carmaker began expanding FSD access to more drivers last month.
Before a Tesla driver gets access to FSD, however, the company determines their “safety score,” using criteria that evaluate “the likelihood that your driving could result in a future collision.” The score is tabulated using data collected by sensors in the driver’s Tesla.
The FSD software doesn’t make Teslas fully autonomous; Musk himself has said he thinks the “feature complete” version of the software will only be “likely” to drive someone from their home to work without human intervention and will still require supervision.
6. Funding, IPOs, M&As
🎫 SeatGeek In SPAC Merger Talks: SeatGeek is in talks to merge with Billy Beane’s RedBall SPAC. It was last valued at $575 million.
☁️ Emerson To Merge Software Business With AspenTech: The cash-and-stock deal would value AspenTech at around $160 a share.
🚘 Gett Closing On $1.3 Billion SPAC Merger: The global corporate ground travel company is seeking to raise $150-200 million.
👩💻 Notion Brings In $275 Million: The workplace productivity platform is now valued at over $10 billion.
🔒 Wiz Lands $250 MIllion: Wiz is an Israeli cloud-native cybersecurity startup. It’s now valued at over $6 billion.
👩💻 Swile Closes $200 Million Series D: French startup Swile has an employee benefits card and application.
🧠 MindMaze Brings In $125 Million: The firm’s VR technology aids recovery from traumatic brain injury. It’s valued at $1.5 billion.
📖 Fiverr Acquires CreativeLive: Terms of the deal were not disclosed for the Seattle-based online learning startup.
🪙 ConsenSys Secures $65 Million: The cryptocurrency startup is now valued at over $3 billion. JPMorgan led the round.
☁️ Esper Raises $60 Million Series C: Esper is a DevOps for device fleets startup. Insight Partners led the round.
📱 Homa Games Announces $50 Million: Homa Games is raising funds led by Northzone. The startup specializes in mobile games.
📦 Favo Lands $26.5 Million Series A: Favo is a Brazilian social commerce platform. Tiger Global led the round.
💰 Productfy Raises $16 Million Series A: Productfy is a banking-as-a-service platform for decentralized finance.
📱 Mono Gets $15 Million Series A: Mono is an African startup helping link consumers’ bank accounts to financial applications.
As always, please feel free to share questions, feedback, or requests for future newsletters.
Cheers!
Eric
#BeAmbitious