Bret Taylor’s Sierra reaches $100M ARR in under two years; also, Phictly’s new app brings people together over their favorite books and TV shows

An investor explains the "buy, fix, and hold" model employed by Bending Spoons and similar companies that buy distressed startups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google and Accel will jointly invest up to $2 million in each startup through their new partnership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Career exploration platform Find Your Grind raises $5 million to help more students discover alternative professions. Also, the discovery of a massive lithium deposit suggests that a region in Quebec might hold even more lithium than originally suspected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The small modular reactor startup is capitalizing on surging interest from tech companies and data center developers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Startups are still racing to build the world's first commercial fusion power plant on land, but Maritime Fusion thinks the path will be easier out at sea. Also, AI testing startup Momentic has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Standard Capital, with participation from Dropbox Ventures. Existing investors at Y Combinator, FCVC, Transpose Platform and Karman Ventures also participated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sierra’s rapid growth suggests that enerprises are embracing AI agents. Also, Phictly helps fans find niche clubs for their favorite books, shows, and movies, offering intimate, spoiler-safe communities with flexible pacing and tracker tools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The region's startup market is hungry for its first trillion-dollar startup, and in many ways has set itself up to reach that goal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The quickly growing prediction betting market raised fresh capital from Sequoia and CapitalG, according to someone familiar with the deal. Also, Point One Navigation, now valued at $230 million, is building out well beyond automotive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Curastory’s founder and CEO, Tiffany Kelly, has resigned from the role and replaced herself with Dave Dickman, former CEO of the influencer marketing platform Tagger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Anthony Sardain began developing Cavela in 2023, an AI startup that helps brands automate supplier sourcing, he did not foresee that new tariffs would drive customers to become increasingly wary of manufacturing products in China. Function Health, which offers a regular lab testing service to help people track their health, wants to change that by consolidating health data and making it usable for its customers by connecting that data to an AI model. To further that effort, the company recently raised $298 million in a Series B round led by Redpoint Ventures at a valuation of $2.5 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices