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The founder that left Google and secured a $300M pre-seed valuation in months l Build Mode

Building an AI startup is one thing. Raising one of the largest seed rounds of the year before launching a product is something else entirely. In this episode of Build Mode, host and Startup Battlefield lead Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Andrew Dai, founder and CEO of Elorian and former Google DeepMind researcher, to unpack…

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Building an AI startup is one thing. Raising one of the largest seed rounds of the year before launching a product is something else entirely.
In this episode of Build Mode, host and Startup Battlefield lead Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Andrew Dai, founder and CEO of Elorian and former Google DeepMind researcher, to unpack how his company raised a $55 million seed round at a $300 million valuation before generating revenue or releasing a product.

Andrew shares what investors saw in Elorian’s vision for visual AI, how he approached fundraising after leaving Google DeepMind, and why choosing the right investors mattered more than maximizing valuation. He also offers practical advice for founders building in AI, explains why today’s fundraising environment rewards clear storytelling over technical jargon, and shares what surprised him most as a first-time founder.

Subscribe to Build Mode on⁠ Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, or⁠ wherever you like to listen⁠. And watch the full videos on⁠ YouTube⁠. New episodes of ⁠Build Mode⁠ drop every Thursday.

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Andrew Dai: From DeepMind to Building Elorian
01:48 Why Visual AI Is the Next Frontier
04:50 Raising a $55M Seed With No Revenue
08:46 Landing Nvidia, Jeff Dean, and Top AI Investors
12:17 Managing the Pressure of a $300M Valuation
14:40 How AI Founders Should Pitch Investors
20:47 Hiring, Scaling, and Building a Frontier AI Company
27:00 Turning Down Bigger Offers & Advice for Future Founders

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Science & Technology

The Need for Applied AI Experience is Real…and a Market Opportunity

The market has a need for applied AI experience…and that’s an opportunity for generalists to join the limited ranks of those experts and prosper. That’s one of the many bets fueling Ode by Anthropic, a joint venture we explored in the latest episode of our Equity podcast. Listen in via your pod player of choice!

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The market has a need for applied AI experience…and that’s an opportunity for generalists to join the limited ranks of those experts and prosper.

That’s one of the many bets fueling Ode by Anthropic, a joint venture we explored in the latest episode of our Equity podcast. Listen in via your pod player of choice!

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Science & Technology

Why Ode with Anthropic is Embediing Engineers Into Enterprises

Ode with Anthropic, a joint venture launched by the AI company and other investors, is betting a handful of engineers can do the work of an army of consultants. And a big reason if their belief now is the best time yet to become an entrepreneur. Listen in on their full interview on our Equity…

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Ode with Anthropic, a joint venture launched by the AI company and other investors, is betting a handful of engineers can do the work of an army of consultants. And a big reason if their belief now is the best time yet to become an entrepreneur.

Listen in on their full interview on our Equity podcast.

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CNET

What’s at the top of your wishlist for the upcoming Galaxy Watches? 👀👇

With Samsung’s smartwatch sales seeing a major dip last year, the tech giant is under pressure to deliver a massive comeback with its next generation of Galaxy Watches. We asked our Senior Wearables Writer, Andrew Gebhart, to build his ultimate Galaxy Watch wishlist.  Add CNET as a trusted news source Never miss a deal again!…

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With Samsung’s smartwatch sales seeing a major dip last year, the tech giant is under pressure to deliver a massive comeback with its next generation of Galaxy Watches.

We asked our Senior Wearables Writer, Andrew Gebhart, to build his ultimate Galaxy Watch wishlist. 

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#Samsung #GalaxyWatch #Smartwatch #WearableTech #TechNews

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