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  • The real story of how Facebook almost acquired Waze

The real story of how Facebook almost acquired Waze

Plus: Making Figma better for developers with Dev Mode 

Author

Cash Nut
June 22, 2023

In Today’s Edition

  • NFT Creation Platform Zora Launches Creator-Focused Layer 2

  • Gaming VC Firm Lumikai Launches $50 Mn Fund, Eyes Investment In 18-20 Startups

  • Vice Media declares Fortress Investment Group the winning bidder in bankruptcy sale

  • Apple Vision Pro Developer Tools Now Available With New visionOS SDK

  • Making Figma better for developers with Dev Mode

  • We've officially entered a new era of cultivated meat production

  • The New New Moats

🚀Startups Nuts

Zora, one of the leading platforms for minting NFTs, has launched its own layer 2 blockchain network to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. Built on Optimism’s tech stack and secured by Ethereum, the Zora Network aims to make NFT minting faster and more affordable. The network also enables the experimentation of economic mechanisms to subsidize creator fees and will integrate with Zora's existing tools. Founded in 2020, Zora has now surpassed 100,000 monthly active users and has raised $60 million in funding.

Lumikai’s second fund raised capital from Mixi, Colopl, Krafton,Smilegate, Supercell, and Indian gaming major Nazara Technologies. The VC firm has already raised a corpus of $25 Mn for the fund and intends to close it by the end of the year. Lumikai aims to invest the capital from the fund in five areas – gaming content, creator economy, technology and infrastructure, applied game mechanics, and generative AI.

🏭Business Nuts

This article tells the story of how Waze was acquired by Google for $1.15 billion. It covers how Waze established a valuation framework, how they conducted strategic partner negotiations, how they handled an offer from Facebook, and lessons learned from the experience. Everything around acquisitions is personal, so it is important to clarify who the decision-makers are and spend time building relationships. Founders should be wary of feedback from investors as the acquisition will cause them to have diverging interests.

Vice Media had solicited other bids to acquire the company out of bankruptcy. Fortress Investment Group, which led the sale process, deemed that no other bids were credible. GoDigital submitted a bid for $300 million but Fortress had concerns about the potential acquirer’s funding, according to sources.

📱Tech Nuts

Apple's visionOS software development kit (SDK) is now available via Xcode 15 beta 2. The SDK enables developers to create spatial computing apps that blend digital content with the real world. Apple will open developer labs in Cupertino, London, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo next month to provide developers with hands-on experience on Vision Pro hardware. Developers will be able to apply for access to the visionOS SDK starting next month.

Figma's new Dev Mode is a workspace in Figma designed to get developers what they need when they need it. It allows developers to find and export all the information they need by hovering and clicking around the Figma canvas. Dev Mode connects tools and code components to the design file so that developers don't have to jump between design libraries, the codebase, and other project management tools. More details about Figma's new Dev Mode are available in the article.

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🎁Miscellaneous

Upside Foods and Good Meat have received approval from US regulators to sell their cultivated chicken products within the US. The companies sell protein made from animal cells developed using a fermentation process involving bioreactors. Both companies will initially serve their food in restaurants. Cultivating meat is an expensive and time-consuming process, but some venture capitalists investing in the space remain confident.

Building a sustainable and profitable business requires strong defensive moats. We are now undergoing a large platform shift as applications start being fueled by AI and data. This is making some existing moats useless and it makes it seem like it's almost impossible to build a defensible business. This article looks at what the new moats are in the world of AI to help readers stay grounded as they navigate the current AI hype cycle.

💡What else are we reading and seeing?

  • Goldman Sachs Asset Management head of healthcare to leave

  • SoftBank to go on offense for AI

  • These AI humans are letting gamers modify their voice in real time

  • China’s economy may have slipped into a liquidity trap

  • Is the inflation battle won? Not yet

  • How to create a winning pitch deck in 5 steps

😎Fun Fact

The world's first known banknote, printed on paper, was issued in China during the Tang Dynasty, around the 7th century.

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