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Nominal emerges from stealth with $27.5M in funding, Spotify reports Q1 revenue up 20% YoY

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Nominal, which offers tools for data analysis, testing, and more to startups building advanced hardware like drones, emerges from stealth with $27.5M in funding. - Link

Spotify reports Q1 revenue up 20% YoY to €3.6B, MAUs up 19% YoY to 615M, below 617.9M est., subscribers up 14% YoY to 239M, and a €168M operating income. - Link

Adobe adds AI tools to Photoshop powered by its new Firefly Image 3 model, including Reference Image to inspire the AI's output, available in beta on desktop. - Link

Sonos updates its Android and iOS apps, rebuilding them to become more reliable, and plans to discontinue its Windows and macOS apps in favor of web apps. - Link

Apple announces a “special Apple Event” on May 7, where new iPads will likely be unveiled. - Link

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Startup Demo of the Day:

Insights by Ayraa allows users to query their workplace for insights. Users can ask questions such as, “what should I work on?” or “what did I accomplish last week?” - Link

Founder University is a 12-week pre-accelerator program run by Jason/LAUNCH for builder founders. We're investing $25k in 20-30 companies from Cohort 7. Apply at founder.university/letsbuild.

This Week in Startups

E1935: Sunny and Jason explore Meta's strategic moves in AI, including their new search engine and open sourcing efforts, aimed at challenging Google's market dominance and fostering technological advancements in AI. - Watch

E1934: David Weisburd, Logan Bartlett, Hunter Somerville, and Jason discuss the nuances of venture capital, including the challenges of startup acquisitions, fundraising trends, and ethical concerns. They also explore Google's investment in AI, the role of private equity in tech mergers and acquisitions, and strategies for managing venture capital funds and seed investments. - Watch

E1933: Sohail Prasad discusses Destiny (D/XYZ), a closed-end fund using a DIY direct listing approach to provide public access to private companies, addressing its operational mechanics, profitability strategies, and the challenges faced such as stock price volatility and financial management of portfolio companies. - Watch

E1932: Jason evaluates pitches from three founders—Jared Lewandowski of Umbrella Sports, Linda Gray of Mastertech, and Aleksandr Diamond of Ellis—before deciding to invest $25K in one of the startups. - Watch

E1931: Sunny and Jason explore recent AI developments, including Udio AI's new music creation tool and the potential legal challenges with AI-generated content, alongside demonstrations of other AI technologies like Aqua. They also discuss a new legislative proposal by Adam Schiff that would require AI companies to disclose when copyrighted art is used. - Watch

This Week in Startups Paid Partnerships

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