Spotify, Hauler Hero, and Entire, a dev tool startup, all secured significant funding rounds, while India implemented new regulations on deepfakes and AI-generated content, according to reports from TechCrunch. Spotify announced record-breaking user numbers, while Primary Ventures closed a $625 million fund for seed investing.
Hauler Hero, a New York-based startup, raised $16 million in a Series A round led by Frontier Growth, bringing its total venture capital to over $27 million. The company, co-founded in 2020 by Mark Hoadley and Ben Sikma, offers an AI-powered waste management software platform. The platform covers customer relationship management, billing, and routing. Like many software companies, Hauler Hero plans to offer AI agents to its customers.
Former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke's startup, Entire, secured a record $60 million seed round at a $300 million valuation. Entire develops an open-source tool to help developers manage code written by AI agents. The tool includes a git-compatible database, a universal semantic reasoning layer, and an AI-native user interface.
India introduced new regulations to combat deepfakes and AI-generated impersonations, mandating the labeling and traceability of synthetic audio and visual content. The new rules, amendments to India's 2021 IT Rules, also significantly shorten the time social media platforms have to comply with takedown orders, including a three-hour deadline for official requests and a two-hour window for urgent user complaints.
Spotify reported a record 751 million monthly active users, driven by its year-end Wrapped campaign and new free features. The company saw 38 million new users in the fourth quarter, with paying subscribers reaching 290 million. Spotify's revenue reached $4.53 billion (5.39 billion), a 7% increase year-over-year, thanks to an 8% increase in subscription revenue. However, ad-supported revenue dipped by 4% to $518 million (616.6 million).
Primary Ventures closed a $625 million Fund V focused on seed investing nationwide. Ben Sun, a co-founder and general partner at Primary Ventures, stated that the average check size for this fund will range from $5 million to $10 million, with the firm aiming to invest in 40 to 50 companies over three years. Sun also noted that the fund would go as early as pre-seed.
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