Peter Thiel

Controversial genetics testing startup Nucleus Genomics raises $14M Series A 

Biotech & Health /

Last week, Founders Fund partner Delian Asparouhov realized he hadn’t checked on his genetics in a while. He clicked open a dashboard created by Nucleus Genomics, a Founders Fund-backed startup that gets saliva samples sequenced and then compares the DNA results to extensive data linking health issues to genes. Within seconds, he concluded that he […]

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Lindus Health raises $55M to ‘fix the broken clinical trial industry’

Fundraising /

A four-year-old London startup backed by Peter Thiel has raised a $55 million Series B round as it sets about “fixing the broken clinical trial industry.” The announcement comes as artificial intelligence is shaping up to revolutionize drug discovery and development, in turn spurring demand for a streamlined clinical trial process to help get new

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From recruiting for Palantir to landing a plane on Highway 85: meet defense tech’s wildest power broker

Venture /

In 2023, defense tech recruiter Peterson Conway VIII pulled up to the offices of nuclear fusion startup Fuse in a black Suburban, donning his signature cowboy hat. He picked up a recent Fuse hire and proceeded to regale her with stories of his old recruiting days. One story involved prostitutes attending a recruiting event (“not

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From forced landings to stuffed animal heads, headhunter Peterson Conway is defense tech’s wildest power broker

Venture /

In 2023, defense tech recruiter Peterson Conway VIII pulled up to the offices of nuclear fusion startup Fuse in a black suburban, donning his signature cowboy hat. He picked up a recent Fuse hire and proceeded to regale her with stories of his old recruiting days. One story involved prostitutes attending a recruiting event (“not

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Peter Thiel-backed venture debt firm Tacora raises $268.7M for new fund

Venture /

Tacora Capital, a Texas firm that specializes in venture debt, has raised $268.7 million for its second fund, according to a new SEC filing. Tacora’s inaugural fund in 2022 raised about $350 million, including $250 million from Peter Thiel — the prominent Republican billionaire and investor — in what was considered an “unusually large investment”

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Thiel’s Gawker takedown could be coming to a theater near you

Media & Entertainment /

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have acquired a screenplay called “Killing Gawker,” which presumably delves into billionaire VC Peter Thiel’s campaign to bury the media outfit for posting excerpts from a Hulk Hogan sex tape. The film is based on a book that details the 2016 court case in which Hogan won a $140 million

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Lavish parties and moral dilemmas: 4 days with Silicon Valley’s MAGA elite at the RNC

Venture /

It was an eventful week for the Silicon Valley moguls who have vowed to support Donald Trump in his bid to return to the presidency. Given the collision course of tech and Trump, when Leda Health founder Madison Campbell asked me if I’d care to buy an extra ticket to the Republican National Convention from

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Why it made sense for an online community college to raise venture capital

Venture /

When Tade Oyerinde first set out to fundraise for his startup, Campus, a fully-accredited online community college, it was incredibly difficult. VCs have backed for-profit education companies in the past, including Coursera and Udacity, but backing a more traditional two-year college is different. Plus, he was looking for funds a few years ago when higher

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Trump’s VP candidate JD Vance has long ties to Silicon Valley, and was a VC himself

Venture /

Former President Donald Trump picked Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate on Monday, as he runs to reclaim the office he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020. Vance, who’s best known for his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” spent years as a venture capitalist before leaving the industry when elected to the U.S. Senate

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