Do Kwon charged, TikTok goes into damage control mode, Axios HQ raises $20M

Axios HQ, a software startup that was spun out from its parent co Axios in 2022, raised a $20M Series A at a ~$100M valuation led by Glade Brook Capital and Greycroft; Axios HQ will use the capital to build AI-powered comms tools using OpenAI’s models - Link

Vue Storefront, a Poland-based startup that allows front-end devs to build e-commerce sites, raised a $20M extension to its Series A led by Felix Capital; the company has ~2K customers - Link

Twitter will start winding down its legacy verification program beginning on April 1st; individuals will have to pay $8-$11/month, with brands paying $1000/month plus $50/month for every affiliate account to have or maintain verification badges - Link

Strangeworks, an ATX-based quantum computing startup with 21 FTEs, raised a $24 Series A led by Hitachi Ventures - Link

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Acquired co-hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal join Jason to discuss the state of VC and YC shutting down its Continuity Fund (6:20) before diving into industries that benefitted from ZIRP (26:35), which social apps they want to own and why (45:29), and more! - Link

NY-based federal prosecutors have charged Do Kwon with eight counts, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, and conspiracy; Kwon, a co-founder of Terraform Labs, was arrested in Montenegro this week - Link

Tether estimates that its Q1 profit will be ~$700M and claims that its total excess reserves will exceed $1B - Link

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the French government plans to use an array of AI-powered surveillance cameras and technology to control crowds - Link

The Information sources: TikTok and some partners have gone into damage control mode after CEO Shou Zi Chew was grilled in front of US lawmakers Thursday; the company emailed advertisers to try and reassure them - Link

This Week in Startups

E1706: Acquired’s Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal on private markets, ZIRP impact, future of Amazon

E1705: TikTok CEO grilled in front of Congress, Coinbase's Wells Notice & Do Kwon arrested

E1704: ANGEL: Freestyle’s Jenny Lefcourt on nailing non-consensus bets and avoiding hype

E1703: Startup pitch competition! Jason invests $25K into one of four founders

E1702: Balaji’s $1M Bitcoin bet, banking crisis update, OpenAI launches GPT-4, and Jay Trading!

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