Cybersecurity rocketships are the new norm

Top News

• Digital sovereignty in the AI era: After France’s AI confab, the EU is not sitting still regarding building bloc-specific artificial intelligence products. A salient example of the trend is OpenEuroLLM, which TechCrunch describes as “a new program to develop a series of ‘truly’ open source LLMs covering all European Union languages.” However, only a few dozen million euros have been dedicated to the effort, which means it might be capital-light for the time being. Still, it appears that the riff that Europe only wants to regulate has become as dated as the continent’s prior perspective on the current technology wave.

• Dream snags $100M: Dream thinks that applying AI to cybersecurity will keep the world more secure, and it’s building and training new models to prove its thesis. The company’s new $100 million venture round — led by Bain, Bloomberg reports — give credence to its market view. The company is targeting $100 million ARR this year, so it should go public by 2045 at the earliest, if current market trends hold. Group 11, Tau, and Aleph participated in the funding event. (Keep in mind that cybersecurity startups are on a tear at the moment, with names like Wiz also stacking huge ARR outcomes while private).

• DeepSeek faces new bans, wins: Enthusiasm in China that DeepSeek heralds the country’s continued presence on the global stage as an AI power pushed over $1 trillion worth of value into the Chinese stock market. Similar, Alex notes, to what DeepSeek once took out of the American market. Despite success in China — and in LLM rankings more generally — DeepSeek’s models face International scrutiny that could indicate that no matter how good, Chinese-grown models will face skepticism abroad. At least in their hosted form.

TWiST500

The TWiST500 recently added a number of quantum companies (BlueQubit, QuEra, and Equal1). As with our fusion-focused additions, we went looking for startups pushing unique technology in a space where differentiation matters. Quantum and fusion power are not settled science; and it’s too early for us to declare that one vision (Zap’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion method, for example, or QuEra’s neutral atom technique in quantum).

Still, it very good fun to learn a bunch and add some potential massive outcomes to the list.

What’s next? Dream is going on the list, because any company with venture backing on an IPO-like trajectory is fair game. But I want to open the door to suggestions from you. I am looking for startups in cybersecurity (especially those with rapid ARR accretion), new media (think Beehiiv, etc), and Maddie is interested in outstanding AI governance upstarts.

[email protected] if you have ideas. I suspect that it won’t take too long to fill in the back-half of the TWiST500. So make your voice heard if you know of a startup busy breaking out. — Alex

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This Week in Startups

E2084: Jason and Alex interview Sam Lessin from Slow Ventures to discuss the creator economy and their $60M creator fun. They also have a great interview with David Kirtley, the CEO and Co-founder of Helion Energy, about their fusion reactors and the future of energy generation. And Lon Harris hops in to discuss copyright infringement and how it will affect LLMs. Great episode!

E2083: Former newsreader Lon makes a prodigal son-esque return to the show this week to chat with Jason and Alex about all the tech ads that aired during Super Bowl LIX, and they pick some of their favorite (and least favorite) spots. Then Jason and Alex cover France’s investment strategy when it comes to AI innovation, and AI’s likely impact on employment in the IT sphere, plus they look ahead to some key upcoming earnings reports. All that and the latest on the Founder Fridays competition.

E2082:Jason and Alex break down Trump’s latest move against the carried interest tax loophole—could this shake up venture capital? Then, Orbit Fab CEO Daniel Faber joins to discuss how his company is building “gas stations in space” to refuel satellites and enable the industrialization of space. Plus, Deel’s massive $300M secondary sale, the CapBase acquisition, and big shifts in the European AI and energy sectors.

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Founder University

Applications are open for Founder University Cohort 10, a 12-week remote pre-accelerator program tailored towards navigating early-startup practices, building an MVP, and growing traction. Submit your application at Founder University— Cohort 10 will kick off Spring 2025!

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