Seattle-based Madrona Capital is celebrating its 30 years in business by raising $770 million in fresh capital. This is the firm’s largest fundraise to date, exceeding $690 million across two funds Madrona closed in 2022. 

While an 11% capital pool upsize may not seem significant, any increase at a time when many venture outfits are forced to reduce their fund hauls is a sign that limited partners are excited about the firm’s prospects and recent track record. 

Madrona’s managing director, Matt McIlwain, told TechCrunch that it helped that last year — in a market where exits were few and far between — the firm sold a few portfolio companies and distributed capital to its investors. The firm’s recent exits include Lexion, which sold to Docusign for $165 million, and Octo AI, which Nvidia acquired for a reported $250 million.

“The LP community is generally concerned about distributions,” McIlwain said. “I think we stood out as a firm that had done really well on that front, not just this past year, but over many years.”

Madrona started as a group of “super angels” who wrote a check to an online bookseller, Amazon, in 1995. The firm has since evolved into a multi-stage investor that has backed companies like Redfin, Smartsheet, Snowflake and, more recently, AI startups Typeface and Runway.

Although Madrona undoubtedly benefited from being the largest VC firm in the same geographic location as Amazon and Microsoft, it decided to venture beyond Seattle by opening an office in Silicon Valley in 2022.

McIlwain said that the fresh capital will be used to invest in AI applications in domains ranging from travel to life sciences, as well as in infrastructure companies that “can remove friction” between foundational models and users. The firm will back about 30 pre-seed, seed and Series A startups from its approximately $490 million early-stage fund, and the remaining capital will go towards 12 companies raising their Series B or Series C.

As Madrona enters its fourth decade, it is extremely optimistic about what’s ahead in 2025. McIlwain described the current conditions as a ‘risk-on mindset’ that will help foster entrepreneurship and create value.

• I interviewed two Assassin’s Creed Shadows devs and asked what they’re excited for fans to experience
• One dev focused on the recruitment in-game
• Another highlighted the new way that Shadows is telling its story

Excitement for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is growing as we race toward the game’s March 20 release date.

I recently visited Ubisoft Quebec to go hands-on with the game and get a behind-the-scenes look at development. During my visit, I spoke to key developers and quizzed them on their favorite elements of the game that have not been spoken about much up until now but they were most excited for fans to see.

A security researcher found a hidden unreleased feature in the Waymo app that allowed her to display whatever characters she wanted on the robotaxi’s top display. 

Jane Manchun Wong, a well-known security researcher, posted an image on X on Saturday showing the top display of a Waymo car — officially called “dome” — that included her X handle and other strings of characters. 

“I hacked my Waymo into showing weird texts like empty string, ‘wongmjane,’ and emojis as the Car ID, pls don’t ban me or patch it @waymo lol,” she wrote.

• Asus mentioned an AMD microcode flaw in recent patch notes
• The flaw was not yet publicized by the processor manufacturer
• AMD has since confirmed the news

AMD has seemingly confirmed the existence of a microcode vulnerability which apparently spilled, unintentionally, from PC maker Asus.

Security researcher Tavis Ormandy recently spotted a BETA bios fix for a “microcode signature verification vulnerability” apparently plaguing Asus’ gaming motherboards, being mentioned in the company’s release notes.

Autograph, the NFT company co-founded by Tom Brady, is merging with the digital fitness company Future. As part of the merger, Brady will join the board of directors of Future and serve as co-chair of the company. 

Brady co-founded Autograph in 2021 to find ways to connect athletes and artists with fans, ultimately launching an NFT marketplace and raising more than $200 million valued at $3.1 billion, according to PitchBook. The company relaunched late last year, without the NFT component, as a platform that tracks fan engagements and rewards them for it. It counted the likes of Naomi Osaka and Tony Hawk on its board of advisers and was backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners. 

Future, meanwhile, connects people with digital fitness coaches and builds personalized fitness routines for users.  

Autograph faced some challenges, especially after the crypto market crashed and the NFT market cooled. In 2023, the company had layoffs and at one point was down to 30 people, as reported by Fast Company. 

Rishi Mandal, co-founder and CEO of Future, made the announcement on LinkedIn. Speaking to TechCrunch, Mandal said he and Brady met through Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder of Autograph, and discussed partnerships but ultimately decided they should be one company, he said. While all parties are calling this a merger, not an acquisition, the company will retain the name Future. Mandal said it was too early to announce new products but said that Future will look to combine Autographs’ celebrity connections with Future’s athletic mission. The goal is to find a way to let people train with top athletes and receive expert coaching. 

Future has raised more than $100 million and was last publicly valued at $275 million, according to PitchBook.

This story was updated to clarify how Mandal and Brady met.

• Insomniac is still keeping quiet on the release date for Marvel’s Wolverine
• Insomniac’s co-head Chad Dezern said there is “pent-up excitement” around the project, but couldn’t offer any more details
• Marvel’s Wolverine was announced back in 2021

Four years after its initial announcement, we still have no idea when Marvel’s Wolverine is launching, and Insomniac Games still can’t confirm if it will be released in 2025.

News recently broke that Insomniac’s founder and CEO Ted Price will be stepping down from the role after more than 30 years. Following the announcement, the studio’s new co-chiefs Ryan Schneider, Chad Dezern, and Jen Huang sat down with Variety to discuss the switch in leadership as well as what’s in store for the company.

Just a couple weeks after launching the refreshed “Juniper” Model Y in China and other Asia-Pacific markets, Tesla has started taking orders in the Americas (US, Canada, Mexico, and Chile) and Europe. The Launch Series is the only trim level currently available to order in the US, offering a “fully loaded” setup with special badging, the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assist, and Acceleration Boost for $59,990 before discounts and estimated savings.

The refreshed version of Tesla’s top-selling vehicle brings a new design for the front and rear lights, an updated interior with an 8-inch touchscreen for the backseat, acoustic glass treatment, a new sound system with more speakers, and a retuned suspension. There’s no mention of it, but in a few of the pictures (included in our gallery below), it looks like there’s also a turn signal stalk poking out to the left of the steering wheel instead of dropping it for on-wheel buttons like other recent Teslas.

It also has the same new front-facing camera that Tesla says adds “Enhanced visibility for Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities.”

Just like the previously announced markets, it is scheduled to start deliveries in March. It’s all similar to last year’s Model 3 update, promising better efficiency and performance, with added power-folding rear seats and a hands-free trunk that auto unlocks on approach.

One difference between this and most Tesla launches we’ve seen is that the older version is still available to order, with the website inviting buyers to take advantage of reduced pricing while it’s still available. From the configurations available online, the price difference between similarly-specced Long Range dual-motor AWD Model Ys new and old was only about $4,000.

The current edition is, of course, available right away, and with choices for additional options, like the performance package., additional colors, or a seven-seat configuration. The New Model Y advertises a 320-mile range with no EPA stamp compared to the old version’s 311 EPA estimate (until last year, the advertised range was 330 miles before Tesla suddenly lowered it) for a similar model. The advertised 0-60 mph time is also improved, at 4.1 seconds instead of 4.8, but the top speed allowed has dropped from 135 mph to 125, which probably won’t be much of an issue in a family hauler.

Fitbit has settled with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) over a long-standing defect that caused some wearers to sustain burns. The deal finds the Google-owned fitness company paying a $12.25 million penalty for the issues surrounding its Ionic smartwatch.

The issue dates back to 2018, continuing on into 2020. Fitbit agreed to recall the wearable in March 2022, as the CPSC noted that it “created an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death to consumers.”

A firmware update issued in early 2020 failed to address the issue entirely, according to the CPSC.

“Despite possessing information that reasonably supported the conclusion that the smartwatches contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard or created an unreasonable risk of serious injury, Fitbit did not immediately report to the Commission as required,” the organization notes.

In all, 115 U.S. consumers reported an issue with the smartwatch’s overheating battery. Seventy-eight people reported burns, two of which were third-degree and four second-degree burns.

The agreement also requires Fitbit to submit an annual report to the commission, with an internal audit of safety operations. Fitbit is also required to “maintain internal controls and procedures designed to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), including enhancements made to its compliance program,” per the agreement.

YouTube celebrity MrBeast — real name Jimmy Donaldson — is in talks to join a number of bids for TikTok’s U.S. operations. But he hasn’t chosen one exclusively yet.

First, on Monday, the CEO of Employer.com, Jesse Tinsley, said MrBeast is part of an all-cash bid for TikTok that he’s leading. This was also repeated in a press release put out by the law firm representing Tinsley’s group.

But MrBeast’s spokesperson Matthew Hiltzik told the AP on Wednesday that even though Donaldson is in “ongoing discussions” with multiple bidders, he has no “exclusive” agreements with any of them. Employer.com declined to comment.

Updated January 23, 2025: Post-publication, an Employer.com spokesperson told TechCrunch that “clearly MrBeast is in high demand, for great reasons. Jesse and his team would love to see MrBeast be a part of whichever bid ultimately wins, and greatly values the shared support that MrBeast has shown across the board.”

That same day, real estate billionaire Frank McCourt, who is leading a different group’s $20 billion bid for TikTok, told Axios that MrBeast is going to be a part of his bid.

However, MrBeast is only in talks with McCourt’s group and the parties have not entered into an official agreement, a spokesperson told Axios and also confirmed to TechCrunch.

At this stage, it appears that MrBeast is keeping his options open. 

While MrBeast is certainly wealthy, with $85 million in earnings in the first 10 months of 2024 according to Forbes, it is his celebrity and operational experience as a creator that has attracted multiple bidders.

That could even mean running TikTok U.S. if a purchase goes through. “MrBeast the *future* CEO of TikTok,” posted Employer.com’s CEO Jesse Tinsley on Wednesday. 

There are multiple other bids floating around that MrBeast could well be in talks with.​​ Perplexity and Oracle have been brought up as potential buyers.

MrBeast himself hasn’t publicly commented on which side he’ll choose yet. “The leading groups who are all credible [sic] bidding on Tik Tok have reached out for us to help them, I’m excited to partner/make this a reality,” he posted on Wednesday.

“Big things cooking,” he wrote.

• Apple has joined the board of the Ultra Accelerator Link consortium
• The link is a key technology that binds GPUs, not unlike synapses on neurons
• UALink is emerging as the biggest rival to Nvidia’s proprietary NVLink

Back in June 2024, we reported how a number of big tech names had banded together to form the Ultra Accelerator Link (UALink) Promoter Group, a strategic move aimed at reducing Nvidia‘s dominance in the AI accelerator market.

Directly competing with Nvidia’s proprietary NVLink technology, UALink seeks to develop a new industry standard for high-speed, low-latency communication for scale-up AI systems in data centers. It already has the backing of Intel, AMD, Google, Microsoft, Meta, HPE, Cisco, and Broadcom, but now Apple has joined the UALink board too.