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Would you replace your CEO with an AI avatar?

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Everyone is talking about “vibe coding” (using LLMs to code apps, websites and so on), but no one is talking about “vibe business.” This is perhaps because all startups, to varying extents, are vibe businesses—operating on unspoken built-if-sold and ask-for-forgiveness-not-permission principles. But one startup founder is trying to monetize this reality. 

“You just need to give us some general ideas on what to do, what to sell, what’s your goal and we’ll handle the rest,” says Xiaoyin Qu, founder of HeyBoss.AI, which helps clients build websites and businesses with teams of AI avatar executives. “We’re essentially a technology digital team for any business…with particular agents that have particular functions.”

Qu recently garnered attention for making an AI avatar to be her own company’s CEO and having it assist in negotiations for HeyBoss’$3.5 million seed round led by OpenAI Startup Fund.

HeyBoss aims to staff its customers’ businesses with similar AI employees, each customized for different roles and based on specific criteria—say, a designer named Nova with UX/UI skills and an artistic personality, or a brand strategist who can synthesize competitor strategies. These digital employees are essentially chatbots that a business owner converses and collaborates with from the PC or smartphone, similar to the way you might use ChatGPT.  According to Qu, HeyBoss’s virtual employees are built with LLMs from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, as well as proprietary models.

When I met Qu over Zoom, HeyBoss.AI’s avatar CEO Astra, a red-skinned woman with striking blue eyes and donning a bodysuit, was positioned in a still frame on the wall behind her. “She’s faster, smarter, and more reliable than any human executive I’ve worked with,” says Qu in the company’s funding announcement.

HeyBoss is betting that people’s preference for human colleagues extends to human-esque avatars so that startups would hire it over a non-personified LLM like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Qu is targeting less tech literate people than those who are vibe coding their way into big tech jobs; people who might want to use AI to start a yoga business or bakery, for example.

With relatively low interest rates and ubiquitous AI tools that theoretically decrease the capital and time required to start companies, the vibe business phenomenon has the potential to grow, inspiring more people to start their own companies. 

HeyBoss is not Qu’s first business. I initially met her in 2021 when she made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list (which I used to edit) for her virtual events company Run The World. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Run The World exploded—hosting 10,000 events in its first month post-launch and growing from five to 45 employees during that time with $15 million in funding from backers like Andreessen Horowitz.

Things went south for Run the World when society reopened and people absconded from virtual events. As Run the World dissolved via asset fire sale, Qu and her cofounder Xuan Jiang engaged in a legal battle. First, Run the World, then-helmed by Qu, sued Jiang for computer fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty, per Axios. Then Jiang countersued Qu, RTW and a16z and others for discrimination. Ultimately, Qu, RTW and its investors effectively won the case. 

This lived experience is maybe part of Qu’s decision to do things differently with HeyBoss. She’s  hiring a human “vibe growth marketer” for HeyBoss. In a LinkedIn post about the job she says:  “Fuck traditional job requirements: Majors, years of experience, degree, GPA, fancy schools etc. Don’t care. Your job: Make people talk about Heyboss all the time,” she writes. “Your only rule: 👉 Blow it up. But don’t get me arrested.”

See you Thursday,

Alexandra Sternlicht
X:
@iamsternlicht
Email: alexandra.sternlicht@fortune.com
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Venture Deals

XPANCEO, a Dubai-based computing company specializing in smart contact lenses, raised $250 million in Series A funding. Opportunity Venture (Asia) led the round. 

Huspy, a Dubai-based home buying platform, raised $59 million in Series B funding. Balderton Capital led the round, and was joined by ExBorder Partners, Turmeric Capital, BY Ventures, Dara Management, COTU Ventures, KE Partners, and returning investor Peax XV.

Centivax, a San Francisco-based biotech company developing durable, universal vaccines, raised $45 million in Series A funding. Future Ventures led the round, and was joined by NFX, BOLD Capital, Base4, Kendall Capital Partners, Amplify Bio, and existing investors.

Honor Education, a San Francisco-based learning platform and solutions provider, raised $38 million in Series A funding. ​​Alpha Edison, Wasserstein & Co., Audeo Ventures, Interlock Partners, New Wave Capital, and other investors joined the round. 

Tulum Energy, a Milan-based energy startup specializing in clean hydrogen solutions, raised $27 million in seed funding. TDK Ventures led the round.

Arago, a Paris and Silicon-Valley based photon-powered AI chip startup, raised $26 million in seed funding. Earlybird, Protagonist, and Visionaries Tomorrow led the round, and were joined by Generative IQ, C4 Ventures, and others.

AirGarage, a San Francisco-based parking real estate company, raised $23 million in Series B funding. Headline led the round and was joined by existing investors Founders Fund and Fourthline Capital Management.

Parspec, a San Mateo, Calif.-based AI-native wholesale distribution platform for construction products, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Threshold Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Innovation Endeavors, Building Ventures, Heartland Ventures, and Hometeam Ventures

Augmentus, a Singapore-based robotics company, raised $11 million in Series A+ funding. Woori Ventures led the round and was joined by EDBI, Sierra Ventures, and Cocoon Capital. 

Circle Games, an Istanbul, Turkey-based mobile game studio, raised $7.25 million in seed funding. BITKRAFT Ventures led the round and were joined by a16z Speedrun, Play Ventures, APY Ventures, and e2vc.

Layer, a San Francisco-based embedded accounting platform for SMB software, raised $6.6 million in seed funding. Emergence Capital led the round, and was joined by Better Tomorrow Ventures.

Novenda Technologies, a Netherlands-based 3D printing company specializing in dental applications, raised $6.1 million in Series A funding. Brightlands Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by KBC Focus Fund, Borski Fund, and Limburg Business Development Fund.

Biorce, a Barcelona-based AI-powered healthtech company, raised €5 Million ($5.8 million) in funding. Norrsken VC led the round.

Private Equity

Astria Elevate acquired Entro Communications, a Toronto-based experiential design firm. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Monroe Capital acquired a $100 million minority stake in NFS Capital, LLC, a Beverly, Mass.-based story lender and asset-backed loan provider. 

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe acquired a majority stake in AIA Contract Documents, a Washington, D.C.-based risk management and workflow platform for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Oak Hill Capital acquired a majority stake in Socket Telecom, a Columbia, Mo.-based fiber internet service provider. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Oak Hill Capital acquired a majority stake in IdeaTek, a Buhler, Kansas-based broadband service provider. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Summit Partners acquired a minority stake in Quorso Global, a London-based intelligence management platform for retail leaders. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

GTCR acquired a majority stake in Clear Capital, a Reno-based real estate analytics, data solutions, and valuation technology company. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Thompson Street Capital Partners acquired May Pest, LLC, a Waterloo, Ill.-based provider of pest control services to residential and commercial customers. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Premier Radiology Services, a portfolio company of Grovecourt Capital Partners, acquired MetisMD, a Chicago-based teleradiology provider. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Valor Exterior Partners, a portfolio company of Osceola Capital, acquired Kirkin Exteriors, a New Castle, Del.-based roofing, siding, and solar provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Exits

Tilia Holdings acquired Caputo Cheese, a Melrose Park, Ill.-based supplier of Italian cheeses, from Promus Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Hg agreed to acquire a majority stake in A-LIGN, a Tampa-based provider of technology-enabled cybersecurity compliance services, from Warburg Pincus. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

GHO Capital agreed to acquire a majority stake in FotoFinder Systems, a Bad Birnbach, Bavaria-based manufacturer of skin imaging solutions, from EMZ Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Strategic Value Partners agreed to acquire Red Oak Power, a Sayreville, New Jersey-based natural gas-fired combined-cycle generation facility, from Morgan Stanley. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

OTHER

Samsung agreed to acquire Xealth, a Seattle-based digital health platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Pendo acquired Forwrd.ai, a Tel Aviv-based predictive analytics platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Eudia acquired Johnson Hana, a Dublin-based alternative legal services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

OnePrime Capital, a Palo Alto-based investment firm, raised $305 million for its third fund focused on specialized technology secondary strategy. 

Boldstart Ventures, a Miami-based venture capital firm, raised $250 million for its seventh fund focused on AI-native infrastructure, secure identity and permissionless coordination, agents driving autonomous execution, and more.

PEOPLE

Celesta Capital, a Silicon Valley-based deep tech venture capital firm, promoted Matthew Marsh to general partner and Robin Clewley to investor relations partner. 



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SpaceX to offer insider shares at record-setting $800 billion valuation

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SpaceX is preparing to sell insider shares in a transaction that would value Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker at as much as $800 billion, people familiar with the matter said, reclaiming the title of the world’s most valuable private company. 

The details, discussed by SpaceX’s board of directors on Thursday at its Starbase hub in Texas, could change based on interest from insider sellers and buyers or other factors, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. SpaceX is also exploring a possible initial public offering as soon as late next year, one of the people said. 

Another person briefed on the matter said that the price under discussion for the sale of some employees and investors’ shares is higher than $400 apiece, which would value SpaceX at between $750 billion and $800 billion. The company wouldn’t raise any funds though this planned sale, though a successful offering at such levels would catapult it past the record of $500 billion valuation achieved by OpenAI in October.

Elon Musk on Saturday denied that SpaceX is raising money at a $800 billion valuation without addressing Bloomberg’s reporting on the planned offering of insiders’ shares. 

“SpaceX has been cash flow positive for many years and does periodic stock buybacks twice a year to provide liquidity for employees and investors,” Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. 

The share sale price under discussion would be a substantial increase from the $212 a share set in July, when the company raised money and sold shares at a valuation of $400 billion. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times earlier reported the $800 billion valuation target.

News of SpaceX’s valuation sent shares of EchoStar Corp., a satellite TV and wireless company, up as much as 18%. Last month, EchoStar had agreed to sell spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $2.6 billion, adding to an earlier agreement to sell about $17 billion in wireless spectrum to Musk’s company.

Subscribe Now: The Business of Space newsletter covers NASA, key industry events and trends.

The world’s most prolific rocket launcher, SpaceX dominates the space industry with its Falcon 9 rocket that lifts satellites and people to orbit.

SpaceX is also the industry leader in providing internet services from low-Earth orbit through Starlink, a system of more than 9,000 satellites that is far ahead of competitors including Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Leo.

Elite Group

SpaceX is among an elite group of companies that have the ability to raise funds at $100 billion-plus valuations while delaying or denying they have any plan to go public. 

An IPO of the company at an $800 billion value would vault SpaceX into another rarefied group — the 20 largest public companies, a few notches below Musk’s Tesla Inc. 

If SpaceX sold 5% of the company at that valuation, it would have to sell $40 billion of stock — making it the biggest IPO of all time, well above Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion listing in 2019. The firm sold just 1.5% of the company in that offering, a much smaller slice than the majority of publicly traded firms make available.

A listing would also subject SpaceX to the volatility of being a public company, versus private firms whose valuations are closely guarded secrets. Space and defense company IPOs have had a mixed reception in 2025. Karman Holdings Inc.’s stock has nearly tripled since its debut, while Firefly Aerospace Inc. and Voyager Technologies Inc. have plunged by double-digit percentages since their debuts.

SpaceX executives have repeatedly floated the idea of spinning off SpaceX’s Starlink business into a separate, publicly traded company — a concept President Gwynne Shotwell first suggested in 2020. 

However, Musk cast doubt on the prospect publicly over the years and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said in 2024 that a Starlink IPO would be something that would take place more likely “in the years to come.”

The Information, citing people familiar with the discussions, separately reported on Friday that SpaceX has told investors and financial institution representatives that it’s aiming for an IPO of the entire company in the second half of next year.

Read More: How to Buy SpaceX: A Guide for the Eager, Pre-IPO

A so-called tender or secondary offering, through which employees and some early shareholders can sell shares, provides investors in closely held companies such as SpaceX a way to generate liquidity.

SpaceX is working to develop its new Starship vehicle, advertised as the most powerful rocket ever developed to loft huge numbers of Starlink satellites as well as carry cargo and people to moon and, eventually, Mars.



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National Park Service drops free admission on MLK Day and Juneteenth while adding Trump’s birthday

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The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Donald Trump’s birthday next year — which also happens to be Flag Day — but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.

The new list of free admission days for Americans is the latest example of the Trump administration downplaying America’s civil rights history while also promoting the president’s image, name and legacy.

Last year, the list of free days included Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth — which is June 19 — but not June 14, Trump’s birthday.

The new free-admission policy takes effect Jan. 1 and was one of several changes announced by the Park Service late last month, including higher admission fees for international visitors.

The other days of free park admission in 2026 are Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (Oct. 27) and the anniversary of the creation of the Park Service (Aug. 25).

Eliminating Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans were emancipated, removes two of the nation’s most prominent civil rights holidays.

Some civil rights leaders voiced opposition to the change after news about it began spreading over the weekend.

“The raw & rank racism here stinks to high heaven,” Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, wrote on social media about the new policy.

Kristen Brengel, a spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association, said that while presidential administrations have tweaked the free days in the past, the elimination of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is particularly concerning. For one, the day has become a popular day of service for community groups that use the free day to perform volunteer projects at parks.

That will now be much more expensive, said Brengel, whose organization is a nonprofit that advocates for the park system.

“Not only does it recognize an American hero, it’s also a day when people go into parks to clean them up,” Brengel said. “Martin Luther King Jr. deserves a day of recognition … For some reason, Black history has repeatedly been targeted by this administration, and it shouldn’t be.”

Some Democratic lawmakers also weighed in to object to the new policy.

“The President didn’t just add his own birthday to the list, he removed both of these holidays that mark Black Americans’ struggle for civil rights and freedom,” said Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. “Our country deserves better.”

A spokesperson for the National Park Service did not immediately respond to questions on Saturday seeking information about the reasons behind the changes.

Since taking office, Trump has sought to eliminate programs seen as promoting diversity across the federal government, actions that have erased or downplayed America’s history of racism as well as the civil rights victories of Black Americans.

Self-promotion is an old habit of the president’s and one he has continued in his second term. He unsuccessfully put himself forwardfor the Nobel Peace Prize, renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after himself, sought to put his name on the planned NFL stadium in the nation’s capital and had a new children’s savings program named after him.

Some Republican lawmakers have suggested putting his visage on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill.



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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says Europe has a ‘real problem’

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon called out slow bureaucracy in Europe in a warning that a “weak” continent poses a major economic risk to the US.

“Europe has a real problem,” Dimon said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum. “They do some wonderful things on their safety nets. But they’ve driven business out, they’ve driven investment out, they’ve driven innovation out. It’s kind of coming back.”

While he praised some European leaders who he said were aware of the issues, he cautioned politics is “really hard.” 

Dimon, leader of the biggest US bank, has long said that the risk of a fragmented Europe is among the major challenges facing the world. In his letter to shareholders released earlier this year, he said that Europe has “some serious issues to fix.”

On Saturday, he praised the creation of the euro and Europe’s push for peace. But he warned that a reduction in military efforts and challenges trying to reach agreement within the European Union are threatening the continent.

“If they fragment, then you can say that America first will not be around anymore,” Dimon said. “It will hurt us more than anybody else because they are a major ally in every single way, including common values, which are really important.”

He said the US should help.

“We need a long-term strategy to help them become strong,” Dimon said. “A weak Europe is bad for us.”

The administration of President Donald Trump issued a new national security strategy that directed US interests toward the Western Hemisphere and protection of the homeland while dismissing Europe as a continent headed toward “civilizational erasure.”

Read More: Trump’s National Security Strategy Veers Inward in Telling Shift

JPMorgan has been ramping up its push to spur more investments in the national defense sector. In October, the bank announced that it would funnel $1.5 trillion into industries that bolster US economic security and resiliency over the next 10 years — as much as $500 billion more than what it would’ve provided anyway. 

Dimon said in the statement that it’s “painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing.”

Investment banker Jay Horine oversees the effort, which Dimon called “100% commercial.” It will focus on four areas: supply chain and advanced manufacturing; defense and aerospace; energy independence and resilience; and frontier and strategic technologies. 

The bank will also invest as much as $10 billion of its own capital to help certain companies expand, innovate or accelerate strategic manufacturing.

Separately on Saturday, Dimon praised Trump for finding ways to roll back bureaucracy in the government.

“There is no question that this administration is trying to bring an axe to some of the bureaucracy that held back America,” Dimon said. “That is a good thing and we can do it and still keep the world safe, for safe food and safe banks and all the stuff like that.”



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