Your Bitcoin or your life (insurance)

Top News

• Meanwhile raises $82M: The Bermuda-based firm, which launched in 2023, identifies itself as the first life insurance provider to offer cryptocurrency products. Here’s how it works: Policyholders pay premiums in Bitcoin, which Meanwhile lends out to large regulated financial institutions. After two years, these same policyholders can start borrowing up to 90% of their policy’s value, tax-free. A lot of investors are clearly sold on the concept: the company grabbed some initial seed money off OpenAI mastermind Sam Altman, and this new round comes just six months after Meanwhile’s previous $40 million raise.

• FurtherAI to go even further: AND SPEAKING OF INSURANCE TECH… FurtherAI snagged a $25 million Series A from Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, and other big names to help automate the labor-intense paperwork that haunts the nightmares of insurance executives, particularly those working with commercial property and casualty products. CEO Aman Gour compares their offering to “ChatGPT for insurance,” but one that’s trained to specifically understand the kinds of documents that power the day-to-day inner workings of the business.

• Mastodon adds Packs: The decentralized, open-source, nonprofit social network — part of the Fediverse collective — introduced a new “start pack” feature, which suggests a group of recommended accounts to follow for newcomers. (TWiST 500 mainstay Blueksy already employs a similar “Starter Pack” feature, as does Meta’s Threads.) Mastodon’s approach to Packs is keeping with the overall vibe of giving users more discrete control over their social networking presence. That means it’s easy to opt out of being featured, and users always get notified if anyone includes them in a Pack.

TWiST 500

We’re in the midst of adding a fleet of new startups to the TWiST 500 as we inch closer and closer of completing our list of the world’s Top 500 private companies.

Here are a few newcomers entering the line-up this week…

• Mach9: The company launched in 2021 — and got accepted to Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 cohort — as a hardware play, building a mobile mapping system that would help engineers, construction crews, and infrastructure experts visualize their worksites and organize their geospatial data. But after recognizing that many other companies were already releasing similar map-generating devices, they pivoted. Today, Mach9’s Digital Surveyor software suite takes in and organizes information about the physical world using a combination of mobile LIDAR scans and AI to create accurate 2D and 3D models at a fraction of the cost and time of rival systems. Last fall, they closed a $12 million seed round, with an eye on expanding their team and releasing new products and features. They’re one of a few companies using AI tools to help organize and take the guess work out of large-scale construction projects, including TWiST 500 veterans OpenSpace and CompanyCam.

• Torq: As the threat of hacks and cyberattacks only continues to mount in the paranoia-fueled AI era, some projections suggest that the “security automation” sector could be valued at north of $26 billion within just a few years. That’s a potentially MASSIVE market, and Israeli startup Torq is looking to capture a major chunk of it. The company — founded by a trio of Symantic vets in 2020 — helps IT teams create automated workflows that play nice with their company’s existing infrastructure, using AI to help guide them through security checks, breach investigations, and compliance processes. The company has raised $192 million total to date — including a $70 million Series C last September — and projects reaching $100 million in ARR by next year.

• Otto Aerospace: The aerospace technology company — native to our beloved home state of Texas but building a new manufacturing facility in Florida — designs “aerodynamically efficient aircraft.” By reducing drag, these jets significantly cut down on fuel requirements, a boost for both owners’ wallets AND the environment. By their own account, Otto’s sleek “laminar flow” design cuts carbon emissions by up to 90%. They’re currently hard at work on a light business jet known as The Otto Phantom 3500, and recently signed a deal to provide 300 units to Flexjet for a tidy $5.85 billion.

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This Week in Startups

E2189: On TWiSt, we’re considering the latest OpenAI mega-deal with AMD, and ponder just who is paying who for what in all of these extremely circular compute-for-cash agreements. PLUS Jason thinks Tesla might FINALLY be releasing the infamous Roadster 2, Jeff Bezos’ long-ago “datacenters in space” prediction might be company true, we investigate what Figure’s robots are REALLY doing for BMW, and Jason and Alex try their hand at Y Combinator’s new interactive gaming feature, YC Arena.

E2188: The TWiST Team has spent some serious time playing with the Sora app now, and they have PRESSING feedback for Team OpenAI. Hear all about their experiences in the #1 iOS Store app, PLUS the latest on the Brave browser, why Jason would sell his OpenAI shares as quickly as possible, Apple pulls the ICEBlock app amid criticism, AND one founder’s elite coffee shop trick that landed him three VC intros.

E2187: Jason and Alex took a look at Sora 2 on this week’s TWiST, and wondered aloud about whether or not we should actually consider this content “Slop” or not. (The debate rages on.) Plus are Synthetic Performers like Tilly Norwood the future of Hollywood, or pure hype, why Jason thinks the death of the Boomers will be a huge boost for crypto, and our thoughts on the coming Wealthfront IPO.

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Founder U is Coming to the MENA Region!

Our 12-week pre-accelerator—designed to help early-stage founders build and grow—kicks off this fall in Saudi Arabia. The first cohort launches in Riyadh on November 3rd, followed by in-person and virtual sessions throughout the program. Founders in MENA: this is your chance to turn your idea into a business and get world-class insights on building a successful startup. Apply today: https://mena.founder.university/

SF Live-Work Space Now Available

Need a flexible living and working environment in San Francisco? This thoughtfully designed loft-style residence at 787 Bryant St., the heart of the vibrant SOMA district and the city’s creative hub, is now available for rent or purchase. Check the listing for more details.

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