Wiz drops Google, cookies live on, and two new mega-rounds

Top News

• The Wiz-Google deal is off: Wiz claims that it backed away from a potential $23 billion sale to Google. The cybersecurity startup’s CEO wrote in a letter to staff, stating that the company will focus on scaling to $1 billion worth of annual recurring revenue and going public instead of selling. If the cybersecurity startup manages both goals, hats off. However, for VCs who backed the company and were busy calculating their expected cash returns thanks to Mountain View, the delay might be a slightly bitter pill to swallow.

• Google backtracks on cookies: Chrome no longer plans to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome, a long-planned — and oft-delayed — move that was set to shake up how the Internet worked. But don’t worry, devs who spent time preparing for that future, the work you did may not be in vain. Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox will live on, DigiDay reports.

• Cohere and Clio raise massive rounds: Legaltech startup Clio raised $900 million at a $3 billion in a Series F that comes after it crossed the $200 million ARR mark. At the same time, Cohere just raised $500 million at a $5.5 billion valuation after reaching $35 million in ARR earlier this year. Why the valuation difference? Clio isn’t building AI models.

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This Week in Startups

E1983: Benchmark investor Sarah Tavel is back! Tavel and Jason discussed the critical role of governance and accountability in startups, and the relationship between hype, investment decisions, and startup promotion. And for the software fans, the venture capitalists discussed the challenges that SaaS faces in the market today. Tune in!

E1982: Jason was joined on TWiST by True Anomaly’s Even Rogers this week. True Anomaly builds satellites and software to run them, focused on getting close to other satellites. Why does that matter? Defense applications, for one. The pair dug into defense contracts, national security, and even China-Taiwan tensions. If you are into space, startups, and security, this one is for you.

E1981: Liquidity is back! David Weisburd and Jason Calacanis had Jamie Rhode (Screendoor), and Matthew Mulvey (Liquid 2 Ventures) on to chat about the potential Google-Wiz deal and the importance of cash returns in venture, how emerging managers and secondary markets impact VC today, and why LP focus on larger funds could make it harder for smaller, younger funds to stay afloat.

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