Sunday, December 22, 2024

Meet the VC fund backing the Bluesky ecosystem

Sunday, December 22, 2024

Image Credits: Peter Wang

Peter Wang is betting on Bluesky, having recently announced Skyseed, an incubator and fund for projects built on top of Bluesky's AT Protocol.

The hope is not just to back some cool startups, but also to nurture an open ecosystem that's very different from our current social media paradigm of walled, ad-filled gardens. As Wang told Paul Sawers, "There are people who have been in the decentralized web community for a long time, who have really waited for this moment."

And while Skyseed launched with an initial funding commitment of $1 million, Wang said it continues growing and could eventually reach $5 million to $10 million.

Keep reading to see what else we're covering this weekend

Weekend news and opinion

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

Celebrities who are also star VCs: While this isn't exactly a new phenomenon, Hollywood seems to have more big names than ever looking to get into angel investing — and having some real success, too. Dominic-Madori Davis rounds up the most notable examples, from Snoop Dogg to Jay-Z. Read more

What comes after climate tech? While the need for climate tech is arguably greater than ever, Tim De Chant writes that the term itself has become a bit outdated and unwieldy (and maybe just plain taboo in the next presidential administration). Other options? Planetary health, frontier tech, or growth tech. Read more

NHTSA clears the way for robotaxis without steering wheels: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed a new national framework that would make it easier to deploy autonomous vehicles without traditional manual controls like steering wheels, pedals, or mirrors. As Rebecca Bellan reports, this would also require AV companies to share more safety data with the government. Read more

What else we're reading 📚

It used to be a cliché that the internet was forever — but in reality, the web has proven to be quite ephemeral. The Verge discusses a recent Pew Research Study showing that 38% of websites accessible in 2013 are no longer accessible, and it ponders what that means for our culture. Read more

And The New York Times writes about how the organization behind the Encyclopedia Britannica is, yes, an AI company now. Read more