SoundCloud takes on Spotify’s Discover Weekly feature, Danti’s natural language search engine for Earth data secures $5M

Top News

SoundCloud takes on Spotify’s Discover Weekly feature with new ‘Buzzing Playlists’. - Link

Danti’s natural language search engine for Earth data soars with $5M in new funding. - Link

ButcherBox acquires ‘Shark Tank’-featured startup Truffle Shuffle. - Link

Universal Music Group and TikTok strike a new music licensing deal to bring UMG music back to the platform, including “improved remuneration” and AI protections. - Link

LA-based wealth management startup Altruist, whose software and app help with trading and more, raised a $169M Series E led by Iconiq at a $1.5B valuation. - Link

Turn your idea into a new website! Go to http://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST for a free trial. When you’re ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Ad

Startup Demo of the Day:

Waxwing turns every marketer into an expert AI user by providing the right context for the right task. Their MarketingGPT has access to 1000s of case studies, industry trends an users’ insights to recommend strategies, make plans and help with execution. - 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

E1942: Three founders from Founder University pitch Jason for investment and he chooses one startup to invest $25K in. - Watch

E1941: Sunny and Jason explore recent advancements in AI, focusing on Llama 3, new features of ChatGPT, and Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology. They also demo several AI applications including Vibecheck, Wisdolia, and Globe Engineer. - Watch

E1940: David Weisburd, Jeff Richards, Ryan Denehy, and Jason discuss the critical role of profitability and cash reserves for startups, in the context of market shifts and AI adoption. They also discuss the impact of remote work on job availability and salaries, and changes in fundraising processes since COVID-19. - Watch

E1939: Edward Brawer discusses PodcastAI, which automates podcast production processes. He shares the origins and development of the product, including customer feedback-driven features. - Watch

E1938: Charles Duhigg discusses his latest work on effective communication strategies in contexts including startups, organizations, and personal interactions, emphasizing the role of humor, vulnerability, and cultural differences. - Watch

This Week in Startups Paid Partnerships

Experimentation is how generation-defining companies win. Accelerate your experimentation velocity with Eppo. Visit https://www.geteppo.com/twist.

Good sleep is the ultimate game changer. Now you can add the Pod Cover to any mattress. Go to https://www.eightsleep.com/twist to check out the Pod Cover and get $200 off the pod plus free shipping.

90% of startups fail. Just 10 out of every 100 make it. Mercury exists to close that gap — helping companies succeed with banking and credit cards engineered for the startup journey. Join over 100,000 companies banking with Mercury at http://www.mercury.com⁠.

.