Hi there, ICYMI: 2024 venture wrapped - they key startup and venture trends in data.

The chips are down

DeepSeek has shown the world the LLM race is far from done. 

DeepSeek's blockbuster release of R1 and JP7B - open source foundational models that beat competitor benchmarks for a fraction of the compute cost - sent shockwaves through the tech world and public markets.

The fact that the model is open source is significant. Marc Andreessen described it as "a profound gift to the world". The closed system/open-source divide is becoming a tasty ideological differentiator in tech. Many startups, in AI and beyond, are flying the flag for open source from Bluesky to Hugging Face.

In GenAI there are dozens of foundational model builders (including a bunch more in China) busy looking to provide the next step-change in GenAI capability. There are also hundreds of operation and application layer startups happy to switch to the next best and cheapest alternative. DeepSeek aren't the only with disruptive potential. 

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Also

🇨🇳 A look at China's overlapping tech-industrial ecosystems, via High Capacity.

🔮 Look out for new game studios coming out of Leamington Spa. Ubisoft are laying off all workers at a studio acquired from Activision. The unassuming town has a gaming heritage dating back to the 80s, has hosted AAA teams inc. Codemasters (EA), Playground (Xbox), SEGA, Activision/Ubisoft, plus more than a dozen indies. 

❤️‍🔥 0.1% of the Earth’s heat content could meet global energy needs for over 2 million years. Find the companies using it.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 2024 was a record year for VC investment in Scotland.

🤗 Other Chinese applications of AI (and timeline cleanse), via Tobias Stone. 

🗞️ Fintechs raise almost $9B - Fintek, with Dealroom data.