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Who in Tech Wasn't at Trump's Inauguration?

Who in Tech Wasn't at Trump's Inauguration?

Christopher Webster
January 22, 2025

Startups:

Startup Founders try to break deals at Trump parties:

I’m sure you know that President Trump was sworn into office this past Monday, but did you know that tech billionaires flooded the D.C. scene with the incoming president? It seems every tech billionaire that you can think of was on stage with President Trump as he was sworn in. Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos were just a few of the prominent tech CEO and founders there. To celebrate the incoming president there were parties throughout all of Washington D.C., which hosted some of these figure heads. Startup founders saw this as a good opportunity to get an audience with Trump’s inner circle. Were there some deals struck or some doors open during these parties?

Vertice snags $50M:

Vertice is a London-based startup that applies AI to optimize companies software and cloud spend. Companies are currently sinking hundreds of billions of dollars annually into their software and cloud, which makes Vertice a god send for helping companies save money. Vertice has now raised a $50 million Series C led by Lakestar. Perpetual Growth, CF Private Equity, Bessemer Venture Partners, and 83North also participated in the round. This brings Vertice’s total raise to $100 million, but they have not disclosed their valuation. The founders are also serial entrepreneurs having already sold two of their companies; Scansafe $200 million, and Jamf $400 million. This is still a very competitive industry that multiple startups are attacking. Who will be the standalone company on top?

$55M raise for Lindus Health:

Lindus Health is four year old London startup setting out to fix the broken clinical trail industry. They are using AI to revolutionize drug discovery and development. This helps streamline clinical trial processes, which in turn get new medicines to market faster. They recently closed their Series B funding round at $55 million. The round was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from Creandum, Firstminute, Seedcamp, and Visionaires Club. They have also already raised money from big tech player Peter Thiel. We have seen multiple startups go after the health industry with the new power of AI. What companies are going to separate themselves? Will 2025 reveal the big players in this industry?

Venture:

Potential cash out for investors:

There’s one thing that venture capitalist love more than making bets, and that’s cashing their winning bets. That could potentially be happening soon if Mistral AI IPOs like they plan to. We still don’t know when Mistral will IPO, but it always a good sign when the company’s CEO tells the press that an IPO is their plan. Mistral has raised around $1.14 billion in capital to date from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company was reportedly last valued at around $6 billion. Will Mistral IPO in 2025 and make it one of the first venture-backed successes of the AI era?

Big Tech:

Stargate Project:

OpenAI has teamed up with Japanese powerhouse SoftBank and Oracle on their Stargate Project. What is the Stargate Project? Just a $500 billion initiative to build AI-focused data centers in the U.S. They will first start with a large data center in Texas. The venture aims to boost AI infrastructure, create jobs, and strengthen national security. Microsoft and Nvidia are among the partners, with plans for custom AI chips by 2026. Critics have raised concerns about environmental impacts and job promises. Data center projects have been popping up all over the the world backed by these big companies and investment firms. How will these data centers impact the communities they put them in?