Jake Chapman

There is so much that is so damn impressive about Nominal's execution. The team identified a truly needed product in the world. More than that... They serve their customers. Sometimes Nominal is saving days of work for an engineer detangling the performance of new hardware in an autonomous fixed wing drone. Other times, helping implement a transformational change for engineering orgs, delivering iteration speed from simulation to range to unlock an RFP goal and contract win. They are building dual use -- powering the best of commercial and public sector teams. Whether a government contractor delivering on a $12b contract. A scaled public company, integrating AI into your roadmap on to your existing HW platform. A startup which is willing a first product into existence. Nominal is there for all the dual use hardware builders who live real time, live in physical world time. The real world runs real time. The real world runs Nominal and so excited to be on the journey. Also, hiring, https://www.nominal.io/, kind of a lot. If you are awesome, they want to talk to you.

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We’re excited to announce that Pyka has raised $40M in Series B funding to accelerate the commercialization of their autonomous electric aircraft! Led by Obvious Ventures, with support from Piva Capital, Prelude Ventures, Metaplanet, and Y Combinator, this investment will expand Pyka’s impact in sectors like agriculture, cargo transport, and defense logistics. With commercial operations already underway across multiple continents and partners like Dole and Embraer, Pyka is transforming aviation while driving sustainability and decarbonization. ⚡✈️ More here from TechCrunch: https://lnkd.in/gGYfc824

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It was super fun to have rockstar #entrepreneur (and Foundersuite customer :) Liza Rodewald come on our podcast and talk strategy for raising capital for InstantTeams, a talent marketplace that connects companies to military and veteran spouses. She drops the knowledge on: How she got over 80 warm intros to investors What it was like pitching investor juggernaut Tiger Global Management Tips for sending monthly Investor Updates Her advice for military and veteran founders... and much more. The Company most recently raised a $13 million Series A funding round led by Tiger Global. Other investors include Plug and Play Tech Center, The Veteran Fund, Squadra Ventures, Brick Capital Ventures, Blue Tree Funding and Frontier Venture Capital. More links in first comment 👇 #startups #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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Newsom [finally] vetoes S.1047 As things were seemingly trending the last few weeks, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed S.1047 (aimed at imposing safety vetting requirements on large AI models) siding with Silicon Valley and the majority of the CA congressional delegation. While this veto will undoubtedly grab headlines in the coming weeks, it's unlikely to shift the substantive conversation around AI regulation in DC as federal AI discussions are already evolving, driven by broader geopolitical and economic concerns and seemingly unconcerned with the pace of state law...still, the veto is significant in the context of other states, as it could influence how state legislatures approach AI regulation, particularly as momentum builds around the country to fill the gap left by federal inaction. The bill, by state Sen. Wiener, sought to require developers of certain AI systems to certify safety testing before deployment, addressing risks like bioweapons creation. Newsom, however, argued that the legislation's blanket application of strict standards to all AI systems—regardless of their risk level or context—was too broad and that such an approach would unnecessarily burden even basic AI functions, ultimately stifling innovation without effectively protecting the public from actual AI threats. The veto followed intense debate from major players in CA's tech industry, including opposition from Google, OpenAI, and various VC firms. Prominent figures like Elon Musk and several AI researchers supported the bill, seeing it as a way to mitigate public risk, but many in Silicon Valley—including political leaders like former Speaker Pelosi and Reps. Lofgren and Khanna—feared it would hamper the state's economic competitiveness. Newsom's decision also underscores CA's complex balancing act between maintaining its leadership in #tech #innovation and fostering responsible #regulation. While he vetoed the broader #AI bill, he signed a more modest state emergency response bill to study AI risks and committed to working with experts like Stanford's Dr. Fei-Fei Li to develop more targeted #legislation in 2025. Newsom has also pledged to collaborate with #labor and #business to expand #workplace AI applications. As other states increasingly tackle AI regulation, the broader implications of this #veto could shape federal legislation in the future, as momentum builds for a national framework to address AI risks and opportunities across various sectors. Monument Advocacy

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Who doesn't love chatting about the frontier of Space?! Loved getting this insiders look from Epsilon3 CEO Laura Crabtree (ex-SpaceX, Northrop Grumman) as the industry reshapes into a lightening fast startup ecosystem for us to marvel. Small teams are lowering the cost to access space. Homegrown automation software is dramatically reducing team size -- as Laura puts it: "You won’t see 50 people in a control room for launch…you’ll see 5 controlling 50 different assets and a couple of 100 assets that are mostly operating on their own." Personally i'm keeping a close eye on the new interconnectedness between space and the broader economy will spark a flywheel of innovation. 🎙️ Listen in to our discussion (link in comments) as we release today -- 5YF#16: Space command reimagined, automating mission control, new deep tech hubs, interstellar missions, and the future of space operations w/ Epsilon3 CEO Laura Crabtree To infinity!

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