Upfront Ventures retweeted
Speed Dial, Episode 1 is live.
@msuster on why software still has value in a world of AI agents.
@Timbaland on building AI tools for his studio, and why now is the time to get in.
Also this week: micro1's $1B bet on company data, Coatue on AI outgrowing the railroads, Starlink's push to become a phone carrier, and the flying Tesla Roadster.
Hosted by @atlasberry008.
0:00 Intro and this week's rundown
1:16 Chamath: Is software IP dead?
1:47 Headless software, MCP and selling to AI agents
3:36 micro1's $1B plan to buy company data
5:26 Coatue: AI is bigger than the railroads
6:46 The 10x gap in AI spending
7:31 Starlink becomes a phone carrier
9:08 The flying Tesla Roadster
11:38 Calling Mark Suster
12:25 Mark Suster: Software isn't dead
13:22 Building software for AI agents
14:26 Should you sell your data to Micro1?
15:31 Mark on Starlink becoming a carrier
16:16 Where Mark is investing five years out
18:23 AI infrastructure and the US vs China
20:09 Mark's book picks: Chip War and Freedom's Forge
22:15 Calling Timbaland: AI tools for making music
24:40 Timbaland: The door might close in 2 years
25:32 Timbaland: Flying cars with Elon
26:47 Timbaland on building Verzuz
27:46 What we learned
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Just astonishing growth. An absolute privilege for @kevinyzhang and me to triple down since leading at seed.
@ivanburazin and @JukicVedran are exceptional entrepreneurs.
We just raised a $60M Series B at a $1B valuation to build @daytonaio into the Agent Cloud.
@FirstMarkCap led the round, with all key existing investors and angels doubling down.
We're also thrilled to welcome the founders of some generational companies aboard, including @patrickc (Stripe), @tobi (Shopify), @AravSrinivas (Perplexity), @BrendanFoody (Mercor), @oliveur (Datadog), @adamdangelo (Quora) and @ericsyuan (Zoom)
We're a 35-person team. But that's about to change; we're hiring across the board, and we'd love for you to join us.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Today we're announcing a $60M Series B at a $1B valuation, led by @FirstMarkCap to build the agent cloud.
The round also saw participation from some top-tier founders, including @patrickc (Stripe), @tobi (Shopify), @AravSrinivas (Perplexity), @BrendanFoody (Mercor), @oliveur (Datadog), @adamdangelo (Quora) and @ericsyuan (Zoom).
Full announcement👇
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Glad to have the continued backing of @PaceCap, @upfrontvc and @e2mindset
This round also saw participation from @QualcommVenture, @SamsungNext, @okta ventures, @EverGreen_Ntwrk, @alumniventures and @torch
Read more: daytona.io/dotfiles/daytona-…
Upfront Ventures retweeted
We just raised a $60M Series B at a $1B valuation to build @daytonaio into the Agent Cloud.
@FirstMarkCap led the round, with all key existing investors and angels doubling down.
We're also thrilled to welcome the founders of some generational companies aboard, including @patrickc (Stripe), @tobi (Shopify), @AravSrinivas (Perplexity), @BrendanFoody (Mercor), @oliveur (Datadog), @adamdangelo (Quora) and @ericsyuan (Zoom)
We're a 35-person team. But that's about to change; we're hiring across the board, and we'd love for you to join us.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
30 Days of Hard Tech: Day 4 🛟
Andrenam just raised an $18M Series A and delivered its first PEARL acoustic sensing buoys to the Navy
They're building the observability layer for undersea data in the form of a network of intelligent passive acoustic sensing buoys
Jacques Sisteron (Upfront VC) is an investor in Andrenam so I called him to celebrate and explain the opportunity here
"Water is impenetrable to radio frequency communication... what the entire industry has converged on is acoustic systems both for detection and communication of information with submarines"
"The ocean is the foundation of the modern economy"
"Andrenam is mostly going to be focused on defense and security-oriented use cases related to warfare, related to the security of our nearshore assets, like ports, and offshore assets, like critical infrastructure"
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Fortastra has raised $30 million to scale on-orbit security.
This capital will be used to expand our engineering team, accelerate development of our autonomy and rendezvous and proximity operations capabilities, and scale our manufacturing infrastructure. fortastra.com/newsroom/forta…
Upfront Ventures retweeted
I met Jiake 15 years ago when I moved back to LA and joined Upfront Ventures. He was tinkering on his first startup then and joined Launchpad LA, part of that first wave of non-consumer, non-adtech entrepreneurs in LA. Outer Spaces is his 3rd startup, having backed his prior 2, it was a no brainer to jump on the journey again with Jiake, Terry and crew. I can't think of anyone who's more obsessed with getting the most out of your home value and energy independence, and now they've created a beautiful, flexible backyard space that requires no permitting and same day installation, complete with solar and custom, thin LFP battery pack that goes inside the floor. Having gone through a painful home solar project and backyard deck project, I wish Outer Spaces had existed. Can't wait to have one in our backyard!
Today we’re launching @outerspacesco with $8M in pre-seed funding led by @upfrontvc.
The future of residential energy might not be on your roof. It might be in your backyard.
We’re building beautiful outdoor spaces that generate solar power and store energy for your home.
No roof modifications. No batteries taking up garage space.
Just more living space that also powers your home.
We think this could become an entirely new category of residential energy.
Checkout what we’re building in this video and thread below.
Shoutout to @msuster @kevinyzhang at @upfrontvc, @willhsu at @mucker, @gefkovicz @benmtaft at @geniusventures, and many more awesome investors who believe in our vision!
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Today we’re launching @outerspacesco with $8M in pre-seed funding led by @upfrontvc.
The future of residential energy might not be on your roof. It might be in your backyard.
We’re building beautiful outdoor spaces that generate solar power and store energy for your home.
No roof modifications. No batteries taking up garage space.
Just more living space that also powers your home.
We think this could become an entirely new category of residential energy.
Checkout what we’re building in this video and thread below.
Shoutout to @msuster @kevinyzhang at @upfrontvc, @willhsu at @mucker, @gefkovicz @benmtaft at @geniusventures, and many more awesome investors who believe in our vision!
That side project you keep working on at 2 am? It might be a company.
Founder Fellows apps close in 36 hours (TOMORROW, Sept 30, 11:59 pm PT). 8 weeks. 1:1 mentorship. $75K+ in funding. Apply now: fellows.upfront.com/
Upfront Ventures retweeted
People will forgive almost anything in AI video except output that still reads as AI-made.
We surveyed 243 marketers and creatives who actually use these tools at work. Realism beat brand, speed, price, and editing control as the thing that earns trust. Even the most popular tool in the category hasn't cracked it.
And money doesn't fix it: the segments spending the most on video are consistently the least satisfied.
Something big is coming from us next month. This research is part of why.
↪ State of AI Video 2026:
arcade.software/state-of-ai-…
Upfront Ventures retweeted
I'm profoundly grateful to have the opportunity to work with a company with as much ambition and moral clarity as @RainmakerCorp
@ADoricko and the incredible team he has built are on a mission to make Earth more habitable, and in the process seek to build a world-class lab at the cutting edge of atmospheric chemistry and physics.
Excited for @upfrontvc to co-lead Rainmaker's Series B with great partners at @noavctech @lowercarbon @DCVC & more
Rainmaker has raised $100M to become the world’s best lab for weather modification and atmospheric science.
Thank you @noavctech @upfrontvc @DCVC @lowercarbon @DreamVenturesVC and other visionary partners.
We are aggressively hiring and scaling our research org to create a flywheel of atmospheric data collection, synthesis, understanding, and intervention.
We will solve the weather and we will set the stage for the terraformation of Earth.
More in my essay below.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Rainmaker has raised $100M to become the world’s best lab for weather modification and atmospheric science.
Thank you @noavctech @upfrontvc @DCVC @lowercarbon @DreamVenturesVC and other visionary partners.
We are aggressively hiring and scaling our research org to create a flywheel of atmospheric data collection, synthesis, understanding, and intervention.
We will solve the weather and we will set the stage for the terraformation of Earth.
More in my essay below.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
This is one my favorite things that we do as a firm.
Would highly encourage any young prospective founder to participate. Feel free to DM if you have any questions.
Applications for Founder Fellows by @upfrontvc are open for our 2nd cohort!
If you’re a technical student, recent grad, or dropout who's ready to build a generational company, this one’s for you.
8 weeks. 1:1 mentorship. $75K+ in funding.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Incredibly excited for the 2nd cohort of founder fellows!
If you’re a recent grad or technical student, highly recommend you apply!
Applications for Founder Fellows by @upfrontvc are open for our 2nd cohort!
If you’re a technical student, recent grad, or dropout who's ready to build a generational company, this one’s for you.
8 weeks. 1:1 mentorship. $75K+ in funding.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Apply for our second @upfrontvc Founder Fellows cohort! Perfect opportunity for early career engineers, recent graduates, and ambitious technical students to get plugged into the venture ecosystem, hands on mentorship, and early funding if you go on to start a company!
Applications for Founder Fellows by @upfrontvc are open for our 2nd cohort!
If you’re a technical student, recent grad, or dropout who's ready to build a generational company, this one’s for you.
8 weeks. 1:1 mentorship. $75K+ in funding.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
if you're thinking of starting something, this one's for you!
@alexmarley and team are absolutely incredible and you get to learn from some of @upfrontvc's smartest founders!
thankful to have been part of the first cohort 💙
Applications for Founder Fellows by @upfrontvc are open for our 2nd cohort!
If you’re a technical student, recent grad, or dropout who's ready to build a generational company, this one’s for you.
8 weeks. 1:1 mentorship. $75K+ in funding.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
We had an incredible first cohort of undergraduate Founder Fellows coming from Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Waterloo, Harvard, etc. Multiple have started companies.
Applications for cohort 2 is now open!
Applications for Founder Fellows by @upfrontvc are open for our 2nd cohort!
If you’re a technical student, recent grad, or dropout who's ready to build a generational company, this one’s for you.
8 weeks. 1:1 mentorship. $75K+ in funding.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
Applications for Founder Fellows by @upfrontvc are open for our 2nd cohort!
If you’re a technical student, recent grad, or dropout who's ready to build a generational company, this one’s for you.
8 weeks. 1:1 mentorship. $75K+ in funding.
Upfront Ventures retweeted
AnySignal To Deliver End-To-End Communications for Apex Missions, Building on Flight-Proven Hardware
Pairing AnySignal's AnyLink network and hybrid ground segment with Apex's production buses means a customer can design their mission as a single architecture, with one platform provider, from first concept through on-orbit operations.
"Apex has been an important partner as we demonstrate the operability and value of AnyLink on orbit, and this agreement is a natural next step as we continue to expand our work together," said John Malsbury, Founder and CEO of AnySignal.
Read the full announcement: lnkd.in/g85uke3j
