The most famous DNA startup could be DOA

Author

Alex Wilhelm
March 24, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Top News

  • 23andMe is heading into bankruptcy: After a series of nine-figure venture rounds while private, and a SPAC-led public debut, 23andMe is throwing in the towel. Falling revenue, sticky losses, and declining cash balances appear to be the proximate causes, as you likely already guessed. The company was worth mere tens of millions by the time it knuckled-under, compared to a $2.6 billion valuation set back in 2018 when it raised a $300 million Series F and the $3.5 billion valuation it earned when going public.

  • New Deepseek model license: Wanted to tinker with DeepSeek’s V3 model, but had some reservations about its custom license? Well, worry no longer! The company has uploaded a new version of the AI model that comes with an MIT license allowing for both modification and commercial use. DeepSeek’s V3 model is currently ranked 12th on LMArena, a half dozen places behind R1 from the same company, a reasoning model that single-handedly shook up the AI market.

  • Turning down $800M: That’s just what FuriosaAI did, with Meta on the other end of the hoped-for transaction. TechCrunch reports that Furiosa is reportedly in “talks with investors to raise approximately $48 million (KRW 70 billion),” which might have helped it have the confidence to tell the social media and AI giant to pound sand. Furiosa has two chips underway that we’re aware of, including one — called Renegade — that handles reasoning models well.

TWiST500

Lon and I are putting the finishing touches on the next 25 TWiST500 companies — expect them tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest — so today we’re focusing on more big news from what might be the most valuable company on our list of breakout private startups: OpenAI.

CNBC reports that OpenAI operating chief Brad Lightcap “is expanding his role to oversee the company’s ‘business and day-to-day operations,’ as CEO Sam Altman shifts his focus to research and products.”

In a sense, this is reasonable. Sam is busy flying around the world, raising money, selling to companies and countries alike, and trying to influence policy. That means some stuff is probably getting dropped. That’s not a diss; it’s a reality that there are only so many hours in a single day.

The shakeup comes as OpenAI is said to be working on a $40 billion fundraise that will push its worth up to around $300 billion on a post-money basis. Perhaps having more focused business leadership was a requirement thereof, if I was so bold as to speculate.

Under Sam’s tenure atop the organization, OpenAI scaled from lab to multi-billion-dollar revenues, so I don’t want to sound acerbic. What we need now is for OpenAI to get its mega-round done so that we can stop talking about it, and go back to carping that the AI giant has yet to go public. — Alex


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This Week in Startups

E2101: On an all-new This Week in Startups, Jason, Lon and Alex answer burning questions from founders and entrepreneurs about running their companies, from tips for smoothing out collaborations to building products in public. THEN, more creators are jumping in with their own Tesla self-driving experiments, TechCrunch quietly sold itself to Regent, and more from the world of tech news.

E2100: It’s a contentious, divisive, no-holds-barred episode of TWiST! First, Jason, Lon, and Alex survey the aftermath of Mark Rober’s viral Tesla Experiment gone wrong. Was this just a fun YouTube goof that people are taking too seriously? Serious journalistic malpractice? Something WORSE? PLUS Google’s Wiz acquisition, the SEC drops its case against XRP, and much much more.

E2099: On a very special BONUS TUESDAY edition of TWiST, Alex chats with not one but TWO incredible founders! First up, Replit CEO Amjad Masad stops by to talk about “vibecoding” and the future of collaboration with AI agents. THEN, we’ve got Starfish Space co-founder Austin Link explaining why we need a satellite towing service, and how they can help clean up Earth’s orbit. Space! Cutting edge technology! What more could you want?

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Angel University

Angel University is back! Jason and Mike, President at LAUNCH, are hosting our next live Angel.University workshop in person on Wednesday, April 23rd, in NYC. Jason will be teaching the strategies he’s used to invest $100M+ in 300+ startups over the past decade. Register at: angel.university.

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!

LAUNCH Accelerator

Applications are open for the 34th cohort of the LAUNCH Accelerator; a 14-week program focused on fundraising and growth. We invest $125K in our accepted companies and help them raise their pre-seed or seed round. Submit your application at LAUNCH Accelerator.

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