Angel Invest

This is why we backed Squid (YC W26). Power grids are becoming harder to plan and operate as electricity demand grows and more renewable energy comes online. Yet many grid operators still rely on slow, manual processes and outdated software. Squid is building AI software to help them plan and operate power networks faster. The team is already working with some of the world’s largest grid operators and has now raised several million dollars to continue building. We are excited to back Conor Jones, George Kolokotronis and Finn Hudson as they build the software infrastructure for the next generation of power grids. 🦑 Congratulations to the team and our fellow investors Y Combinator, 33East, Leap Forward Ventures, 20VC, Energetik Ventures, MyAsiaVC, and others. Squid is also hiring across several roles in London: https://lnkd.in/e3MzGiKQ

🚀 Huge congratulations to our portfolio company Augustus on raising a $180M Series B at a $1B valuation, led by Tiger Global, with QED Investors, Hummingbird Ventures, existing backers, and an extraordinary group of operators including the founders of Ramp, Deel, and Nubank. We're proud to have backed this team from their very first round. Back in November 2021, our founding partner Jens Lapinski met four founders, Ferdinand Dabitz, Peter Mosebjane Lieck, Simon Wimmer, and Joshua Becker, behind a company then called Ivy. After the first call, the notes read: "Great team… would love to work with them. This is honestly the easiest yes ever." So we invested in their first round. Since then, the company has evolved. Ivy became Augustus, and the mission came into sharp focus: to dollarize the world, giving financial institutions everywhere direct, programmable access to dollar accounts and rails. With conditional OCC approval for a national bank charter secured two months ago, and now the funding to match the ambition, Augustus is building what it calls the Global Dollar Bank, going after the trillions of dollars that move across borders every day. The team is every bit as impressive as on day one, and we believe the potential here is enormous. This is a team that can go all the way. Long live Augustus. 🚀🚀🚀

Augustus announced its $180m Series B earlier this week at a $1BN+ valuation. I first met the team, Ferdinand Dabitz, Peter Mosebjane Lieck, Simon Wimmer, and Joshua Becker, behind a company then called Ivy in November 2021. My note on the first email read: "Interesting, must talk." During the call I learned that three of the four co-founders were together in high school and had all scored a perfect score: 1.0. The fourth they met at university, also with a perfect 1.0 score. My notes read: "This is awesome. Great team...would love to work with them. This is honestly the easiest yes ever." So I invested in their first round. The company adjusted course several times, Ivy became Augustus. The team is still awesome. I still love working with them. The company is now in a position to fulfill the vision around making money flow seamlessly around the world, which Ferdi presented at our AGM a few years ago. I believe the potential for Augustus is endless, there are trillions of dollars that need to be cleared in transactions. I think this one could go all the way. Congrats on the milestone of becoming a chartered bank! And looking forward to the future that you will build. 🚀 🚀 🚀

We’ve released our latest Technology Briefing Center report: “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗜.” 📞 Most Voice AI funding still goes into horizontal applications. As the underlying infrastructure matures, vertical solutions are beginning to attract more attention. The report explores what these companies need to get right, from model refinement and workflow design to integrations and compliance, and how defensibility can build over time. Denny Nguyen and Jens Lapinski also look at the different approaches already emerging across the Angel Invest portfolio through fonio.ai, praxipal, Truvo, and PilotGo.ai. 📥 Download the report and let us know what you think! https://lnkd.in/dH4UDSep

17 new joiners out of 8,000 applications in June alone 🤯 We asked them all the same question in their first week: "What's your favourite thing about fonio.ai so far?" Every single one said the same thing: the people. ✨ Come find out why. 45+ open positions across the team. And a €10,000 referral bonus for every hire you send our way. 😏 Sooo what are you waiting for? (link in the comments below)

AI agents are becoming increasingly capable, but memory remains one of their biggest limitations. In this video, Vasilije Markovic explains how cognee V.1 helps agents retain, connect and retrieve context across conversations, documents, code and tools, rather than repeatedly starting from scratch. A useful look at why better memory infrastructure is essential for building agents that can operate reliably over time. 👇

Horizontal AI tools can answer questions. Vertical AI can actually complete the job. Vinny does not just respond to a tenant or prospect. It can book a viewing, create a work order and send it to the right maintenance provider. Johnny Siu explains why that depth matters in the latest episode of #CuttingEdgeAI with Jens Lapinski and Robin Harbort. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/dFEe66hD 👂

Next Tuesday, we’re hosting #ReefGoestoBerlin together with Vento at our offices! 🙌 The event is for Italians in Berlin who are interested in starting a company, even if they do not have an idea or team yet. There will be an aperitivo, honest stories from founders who have already been through Reef, and the chance to meet other people who are serious about building something. We’re really looking forward to having this group in the office. Join here: https://luma.com/668jrugc

This is why we decided to back Kyrall. 🙌 AI in engineering design is not just about generating something that looks right. It needs to understand requirements, constraints, past designs and how engineers actually work. Kyrall turns engineering documents, sizing tool results and previous designs into a Knowledge Graph, then uses that context to generate real, editable, fully parametric 3D assemblies. It creates a model engineers can continue working with. “Most AI design tools stop at the visual layer. Kyrall starts from the engineering logic underneath it. That is why they stood out to me.” - Jens Lapinski Congrats to Osama Atwi, Ben Stickelbrucks and the whole Kyrall team! Try it here: kyrall.com

New Cutting Edge AI episode is live! 🎉 Johnny Siu is building Vinny, an AI property manager for the real estate industry. Property management is still full of manual work: answering leads, qualifying tenants, booking viewings, handling admin, updating systems, coordinating maintenance. Vinny automates these workflows end to end. And the impact is very real: higher occupancy, fewer void days, faster leasing and better net operating income. In this episode, Johnny joins Robin Harbort and Jens Lapinski to talk about PropTech, vertical AI, and why real estate is one of the most exciting markets for AI right now. Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/dF_vDxi5 👈