Sequoia Buys Another $861M of Stripe Shares

Author

Noel Moldvai
July 19, 2024

Good afternoon! It appears Stripe just doesn’t ever need to IPO according to their long time partner, Sequoia. Why go public when you can raise just as much if not more in the private markets without public scrutiny to weigh you down? That being said, good on them for providing liquidity. More in the world of AI and robots too for this week’s issue.

TL;DR

  • Major Stripe Investor Sequoia Confirms $70B Valuation, Offers Investors a Payday

  • Menlo Ventures and Anthropic Launch $100M Fund

  • OpenAI Debuts Mini Version of Its Most Powerful Model Yet

  • Waymo Plans to Bring Robotaxis to SFO, Emails Reveal

Stripe hits $70B with Sequoia Secondary

Stripe’s major investor, Sequoia Capital, is offering liquidity to limited partners by buying up to $861 million worth of Stripe shares. This move highlights LPs' need for returns in a slow IPO market and Sequoia's confidence in Stripe's future. Despite competition, Stripe continues to grow, remaining highly valued at $70 billion.

Menlo Ventures and Anthropic Launch $100M Fund

Menlo Ventures has launched the $100 million Anthology Fund in partnership with AI startup Anthropic. The fund aims to back founders building AI-first applications and infrastructure, focusing on areas like infrastructure, consumer experiences, and societal benefits. Investments range from seed to expansion stages, starting at $100,000. This follows similar AI-specific funds by OpenAI and Salesforce Ventures.

OpenAI Debuts Mini 4o Model

OpenAI announced the launch of "GPT-4o mini," a smaller, cost-efficient version of its GPT-4o model. The mini model, integrating text, image, video, and audio capabilities, aims to expand the use of its chatbot, ChatGPT. It will be available to free users, Plus and Team subscribers, and ChatGPT Enterprise users next week.

Waymo Wants to Bring RoboTaxis to SFO

Waymo is seeking approval to operate its robotaxi service at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Despite having permits for San Francisco, Waymo needs a separate ground transportation permit from the SFO Airport Commission. The process is expected to be lengthy, similar to when Uber and Lyft first sought airport access. Waymo has begun preliminary discussions and aims to conduct digital mapping of the airport’s roadways.

More News and Links

Until next week!

Cheerio,
-Noel