Are you tired of memecoins yet?
Donald Trump and the First Lady each have one. Hawk Tuah girl has (had) one. And now, a Musk has one. No, not that Musk. Papa Musk, a.k.a. Elon’s dad.
Errol Musk is the latest entrant into the memecoin bonanza, officially endorsing a cryptocurrency called “Musk It,” he told me in a wide-ranging interview.
Many of these projects are short on details, instead relying on their buzzy names to drive up hype, and Musk It is no exception. Errol and his business partner, a tech consultant named Nathan Browne, told me that they’re using the proceeds from the token’s sale (which they hope will raise anywhere from $150 million to $200 million) to fund a new, for-profit think tank founded by Errol called the Musk Institute.
They declined to provide substantial information on the institute, its launch, or specific projects it’ll work on, beyond the goal of furthering scientific advancement. (“We need to go beyond rockets,” Errol told me.)
If you read Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon from late 2023, you’ll probably recognize Errol as the almost antagonist figure of the tome: “A charismatic fantasist who to this day bedevils Elon,” in Isaacson’s words. He details Errol’s alleged verbal abuse of his sons, as well as physical abuse of Elon’s mother, Maye, which she has spoken publicly about. Errol vehemently denied the claims, calling the book “absolute rubbish.”
According to Isaacson, Elon and his brother, Kimbal, largely cut off communication with their father after he impregnated his stepdaughter, Jana. Errol told me that he has been in more recent communication with Elon and Kimbal, though they of course did not respond to a request for comment. (At least we’re not getting the poop emoji anymore from X comms.) At the very least, Errol said that his sons are not involved in the memecoin or the planned think tank.
So what does this all mean? I wish I had something profound to say. Memecoins are a new vehicle for rapid financialization with few consequences, except for the investors who will often lose their shirts. They are, by design, not meant to serve as investments into a broader enterprise (lest they be confused for securities, if that matters anymore). And yet, they seem to be a new, even mainstream, feature of our gambling economy, like sports betting and prediction markets.
After my article about Errol published on Thursday, the Musk It token—perhaps inevitably—spiked over 2,000%, according to CoinMarketCap. My X DMs and Signal filled with questions from anonymous degen traders asking if it was real. Within an hour, the price crashed back down.
I tried to push Errol on whether it was irresponsible to use his famous last name, which will inevitably be associated with his son, to raise money through a memecoin. “I’m the head of the family,” he told me. “It really started with me in our family—I’ve been ‘Musking It’ for years.”
You can read my full article here.
Last call…Our 17th annual confidence survey with Semaphore closes today! Fill it out, since it’ll take less than four minutes, and we’re excited to report out the results here in February. Click here to take the survey.
ICYMI…OpenAI is reportedly in talks to raise another round of funding, led by SoftBank, that would value the company at $300 billion.
See you Monday,
Leo Schwartz
X: @leomschwartz
Email: leo.schwartz@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS
- ElevenLabs, a London-based AI audio technology developer, raised $180 million in Series C funding. a16z and ICONIQ Growth led the round and were joined by NEA, World Innovation Lab, Valor, Endeavor Catalyst Fund, Lunate, existing investors Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Smash Capital, and others.
- Motif, a San Francisco-based software provider for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, raised $46 million in seed and Series A funding. Redpoint Ventures led the seed round and was joined by Baukunst. CapitalG led the Series A round and was joined by existing investor Baukunst.
- Closinglock, an Austin-based real estate fraud prevention technology provider, raised $34 million in Series B funding. Sageview Capital led the round and was joined by Headline and RWT Horizons.
- Seraphic Security, a Herzliya, Israel-based enterprise browser security solution, raised $29 million in Series A funding. GreatPoint Ventures led the round and was joined by CrowdStrike Falcon Fund and existing investors Planven, Cota Capital, and Storm Ventures.
- KODE Health, a Holland, Mich.-based medical coding services platform for healthcare providers, raised $27 million in Series B funding. Noro-Moseley Partners led the round and was joined by Mercury, FCA Venture Partners, Epsilon Innovation Fund, and 111 West Capital.
- Irreducible, a San Francisco-based crypto infrastructure developer, raised $24 million in Series A funding. Paradigm and Bain Capital Crypto led the round and were joined by Fenbushi Capital, L2 Iterative Ventures, Robot Ventures, and angel investors.
- Anchor, a New York City-based billing platform for small and medium businesses, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Mosaic General Partnership and Zeev Ventures led the round and were joined by Amy Banse, Tien Tzuo, existing investors Entrée Capital and Tal Ventures, and others.
- Clutch Security, a Tel Aviv-based non-human identity security platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. SignalFire led the round and was joined by existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Merlin Ventures.
- Savant Labs, a San Mateo, Calif.-based data analytics automation platform, raised $18.5 million in Series A funding. Dell Technologies Capital led the round and was joined by Vertex Ventures, Cota Capital, Village Global, and others.
- Observo AI, a Newark, Calif.-based AI-powered data pipeline, raised $15 million in seed funding. Felicis and Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and were joined by angel investors.
- Oumi, a Seattle-based AI research lab, raised $10 million in seed funding. Venrock and Obvious Ventures led the round and were joined by Plug & Play and Ascend.
- Cedar Money, a New York City-based cross-borders stablecoin payments platform, raised $9.9 million in seed funding. QED Investors led the round and was joined by North Island Ventures, Wischoff Ventures, Lattice, and Stellar.
- Backline, a San Francisco-based security AI agents developer, raised $9 million in seed funding. StageOne Ventures led the round and was joined by Evolution Equity Partners and Gradient.
- C the Signs, a London-based AI-powered cancer detection platform, raised $8 million in funding from Khosla Ventures.
- Crowded, a Miami-based financial management platform for nonprofits, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding. Flashpoint led the round and was joined by Florida Opportunity Fund, Wilson’s Bird Capital, and existing investors Sarona Ventures and The Garage.
- Output Sports, a Dublin-based sports performance data collection provider, raised $4.8 million in pre-Series A funding from Apex Capital, Uni.Fund, Dopamine Sports, existing investors Elkstone, Atlantic Bridge, and Enterprise Ireland, and angel investors.
- Frenos, a Charlotte, N.C.-based operational technology security autonomous assessment platform, raised $3.9 million in seed funding from DataTribe.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- TJC invested $250 million in DataBank, a Dallas-based managed data center services provider.
- Bain Capital agreed to acquire Frontline Road Safety, a Denver-based road marking services provider, from The Sterling Group. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Brightstar Capital Partners acquired WW Williams, a Dublin, Ohio-based vehicle and equipment parts and services provider, from One Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Leste Group acquired a minority stake in Billor, an Orlando-based fintech platform for truck drivers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Phoenix International, a portfolio company of Ambienta, increased its minority stake to a majority stake in Phoenix Middle East for Precision Dies, a Dubai, UAE-based aluminum extrusion dies designer and manufacturer, and acquired Extrusion Dies Poland, a Piekary Śląskie, Poland-based aluminium extrusion dies designer and manufacturer. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Vista Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in RiskExec, a Knoxville-based fair lending compliance platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- CHEQ acquired Deduce, a New York City-based AI-generated identity fraud protection provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- MaxCyte acquired SeQure Dx, a Waltham, Mass.-based gene editing risk assessment solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOs
- Beta Bionics, an Irvine, Calif.-based automated insulin delivery device developer, raised $204 million in an offering of 12 million shares priced at $17 on the Nasdaq. The company posted $53 million in sales for the year ending Sept. 30, 2024. Sands Capital, Farallon Capital Management, Eventide Asset Management, RTW Investments, Soleus Capital, Omega Fund, and Wellington Management back the company.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Cogenuity Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, raised $425 million for its first fund focused on the industrial sector.
PEOPLE
- Flexpoint Ford, a Chicago-based private equity firm, promoted Blake Heyde, Kelsey Hilbrich, and Phil Purcell to principal.
- Index Ventures, a London-based venture capital firm, added Gabby Cambanis as a partner. Previously, she was at CASSIUS.
- Northrim Horizon, a Mesa, Ariz.-based permanent capital firm, promoted Brad Johnson to partner.