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Ramp(ing) Up Into Another AI Acquisition
Also PayPal "shocks the world" with... job cuts and Tomo looks to solve loneliness with AI.
Adam Hardej
January 31, 2024
Daily(ish) news and live events for venture nerds.
Not my best subject line, but the meme is strong so hold your judgement until you’ve had time to fully digest the offering. Ramp just bought Sequoia backed Venue which is their third acquisition and another healthy signal from the NYC based fintech startup. Meanwhile, PayPal “shocks the world” with… job cuts and Tomo is one of many AI chatbots looking to solve loneliness with tech.
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Fintech Ramp acquires another AI-powered startup
“The acquisition makes sense considering that last summer, Ramp announced that it was entering the procurement space as it focused more on “complex” enterprises.”
Ramp, the proclaimed one-stop shop for all things financial operations, seems to be on a little buying spree. After acquiring companies in 2021, 2023, and now 2024, the fintech giant may not be slowing down anytime soon. With 2 of 3 recent acquisitions coming from the AI space, Ramp is investing heavily in both internal and customer-facing AI tools. Ramp’s last funding round in 2022 valued them at $5.8b.
Payments firm PayPal to reduce global workforce by 9% in 2024
“In the letter to staff, newly appointed CEO Chriss said the decision was made to "right-size" the company through both direct cuts and the elimination of open roles throughout the year.”
Yes Chriss has two S’s… Another one bites the dust in the latest slew of tech layoffs. In an effort to increase efficiency and reduce cost, Paypal is cutting over 2,500 jobs. Block, a direct competitor to Paypal, also cut around 10% of jobs today. The recurring theme through these layoffs has mainly been increased efficiency and lowering costs.
Exclusive: AI chatbots take aim at human loneliness
“Tomo is a subscription mobile app that offers more than 250 activities led by an AI avatar guide, including yoga, meditation, and positive affirmations.”
In an interesting effort, an AI app focused on helping solve loneliness is now venturing into the yoga and meditation space. This fits into an overall narrative around the venture space & AI. Startups are either building in AI or dipping their toes in and finding meaningful value. Not everyone will make it, but Luka paints an interesting picture into how AI can make its way into different parts of our lives.
Hot Links
Howard Lindzon and This Is Not Financial Advice
We'll be sitting down live with Howard Lindzon to talk about the new movie This Is Not Financial Advice and other fun market related things.
About The Film:
Glauber “Pro” Contessoto—an immigrant working multiple jobs and living in a 220-square-foot apartment—gambles his life savings on a joke cryptocurrency. Two months later, he becomes “The Dogecoin Millionaire” and a hero to his growing YouTube following.
It’s easy to get rich online. But as Pro will soon discover, it’s even easier to lose it all. Amateur investors like Pro must navigate a landscape that’s rife with scams, bad advice, and a fear of missing out. THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE exposes the startling risks and rewards of today’s market through expert commentary and the anxiety-inducing stories of real people trying to make millions.
About Howard:
Howard has more than 20 years experience in the financial community acting in both an entrepreneurial and investing capacity. With a unique vision for starting, managing, and successfully advising innovative companies, Lindzon is the public-face of the Social Leverage. In 2008 Lindzon co-founded StockTwits, and is Chairman today. StockTwits was recently named “one of the top 10 most innovative companies in web” by Fast Company and one of the “50 best websites” by Time.
Previously, Lindzon founded and created more than 400 original videos with Wallstrip, acquired by $CBS in 2007. The connection to StockTwits gives Social Leverage access to a community of professionals who continuously surface and evaluate fintech opportunities.
AI & B2B SaaS
Join us live next week on Tuesday, February 6th at 3pm EST to learn more about the role of AI in B2B SaaS from three world class operators:
Wade Foster: Co-founder and CEO of Zapier.
Des Traynor: Co-founder and CSO of Intercom.
Benjamin Gammell: CFO at Brex.
Another shoutout to Walter Chen from Sacra for helping put this together and for helping me prepare some smart questions 🤓
NYC’s Definitive Demo Day
Really excited to put this event together alongside our friends at Verci. Our goal is to make this a monthly window into the best of what the NYC startup scene has to offer. Great founders building exciting solutions with smart questions from active investors.
Sign up for updates right here right now.
Apparently the Apple goggles are good for cooking?
Letters From The Editor
Misc. (short for miscellaneous)
Genuine Question
The whole “we’re going to solve loneliness with tech” thing strikes me as very misguided. It seems like technology has actually been a significant driver of increased loneliness and that to pour more tech on it via chatbots seems to take us down this weird path where everyone is even more isolated. I’m all for technology as a means to enable human interaction, but it that’s not what the chatbots are aimed at from what I understand.
Am I crazy to think that if we’re optimizing for reduced loneliness we should be incentivizing/pushing for more IRL human connection?
Can tech solve loneliness? |
Talk soon,
Adam
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