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Kulveer Taggar, a two-time YC alum and founder of Zeus Living, has launched Phosphor Capital, a $34 million venture firm dedicated to investing in Y Combinator startups.
Taggar's firm stands out as the only dedicated YC fund led by a solo general partner, with YC CEO Garry Tan as an investor.
Phosphor has already backed over 200 YC companies, with investments ranging from $100,000 to $500,000, and several portfolio companies have raised Series A funding.
Taggar's experience as a YC alum and founder provides him with empathy and valuable insights for the founders he backs.
Israeli startup Qedma raised $26 million in a Series A round, with participation from IBM, to further develop its quantum error-mitigation software, QESEM. QESEM analyzes noise patterns to suppress errors during algorithm execution and mitigate others post-processing, enabling larger quantum circuits to run accurately on existing hardware.
IBM, a partner of Qedma, values the company's focus on the software layer, which addresses the challenge of running circuits in the presence of noise. Qedma's technology aims to accelerate the timeline for achieving quantum advantage by providing a shortcut that doesn't require more qubits.
Qedma plans to expand its team to include researchers, software engineers, and marketing and sales roles. The startup is also collaborating with various companies and institutions, including Japan’s RIKEN, to combine quantum with supercomputers.
Pinwheel has launched a new smartwatch designed for kids aged 7-14, offering a child-safe alternative to smartphones. The Pinwheel Watch includes parental management tools, GPS tracking, a camera, voice-to-text messaging, mini-games, and an AI chatbot called PinwheelGPT.
Priced at $160 with a $15 monthly subscription, the watch aims to provide a safer digital experience for children by preventing access to social media and the internet. PinwheelGPT is designed to answer kids' questions on various topics while avoiding sensitive or inappropriate content. Parents have full visibility into all chatbot interactions and can disable the feature if concerned.
The smartwatch also features calling and texting capabilities, a camera for video calls, and other useful apps. Parent monitoring is available through the Caregiver app, allowing parents to create a Safelist of contacts, set schedules, and monitor text messages. The Pinwheel Watch is currently available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K., with plans for further expansion and availability on Amazon later this summer.
The Hunters International ransomware gang has announced its shutdown, citing unspecified recent developments. The group is offering free decryption keys to its victims to recover their encrypted data. While the motivations are unclear, cybersecurity experts suggest it may be a rebrand or an attempt to evade law enforcement, similar to past ransomware groups that have shut down and sometimes resurfaced under new names.
Allan Liska from Recorded Future noted signs of a potential rebrand to a group called World Leaks as far back as April. The shutdown may also be a preemptive measure to avoid law enforcement attention, similar to the FBI's takedown of the Hive ransomware gang in 2023.