Founders Fund vs Makers Fund

Pulley Cap Table Platform Shuts Down, Partners with Carta

Pulley, a cap table management platform and rival to Carta, announced it is shutting down, with final operations ending December 8. The company, founded by Yin Wu in 2020, raised over $50 million from investors including General Catalyst, Stripe, and Founders Fund. Pulley will partner with Carta to transfer customers and redirect prospective clients. No official reason was given, but a former employee speculated that competition from spreadsheets and AI tools for maintaining them reduced Pulley's market need. Founder Yin Wu expressed gratitude to the team and backers, indicating the team may pursue new ventures.

• Pulley announced shutdown with final day of operations on December 8.
• Pulley partnered with rival Carta to offload existing customers.
• Pulley raised over $50 million from General Catalyst, Stripe, and Founders Fund.

Fortell Raises $163M for AI Hearing Aids

Fortell, an AI hearing aid startup founded by Matthew de Jonge, has raised $163 million from investors including Founders Fund, Thrive Capital, and Valor Equity Partners. The company aims to disrupt the hearing aid industry by developing hearing aids that use AI to understand sounds in real-time and prioritize important sounds while reducing background noise, unlike conventional devices that amplify everything equally. The industry is concentrated, with five companies controlling 97% of the market, and innovation has been slow. The funding will support Fortell's efforts to bring its AI-powered hearing aids to market, targeting a broader adoption similar to eyeglasses.

• Fortell raised $163 million in funding from Founders Fund, Thrive Capital, and Valor Equity Partners.
• Matthew de Jonge founded Fortell and spent six years developing the AI hearing aid startup.
• Fortell's AI hearing aids aim to understand sounds in real-time and reduce background noise.

Ryan Beiermeister Joins Founders Fund as Partner

Ryan Beiermeister has joined Founders Fund as a partner, the firm announced on July 16, 2026. Beiermeister previously spent about two years as VP of Product Policy at OpenAI and left in February after a reported dispute over a proposed "adult mode" feature; she denies allegations of discrimination. OpenAI later abandoned the adult mode plans. Beiermeister is known in Silicon Valley both for her policy work and for her performance on a Founders Fund-hosted "Mafia" game featuring high-profile tech figures. She previously worked at Palantir and Meta and said she will focus on backing startups in hard-engineering and regulated domains including AI infrastructure, agentic systems, defense, energy, climate and biotech.

• Ryan Beiermeister has joined Founders Fund as a partner (announced July 16, 2026).
• Before joining Founders Fund, Beiermeister spent about two years as VP of Product Policy at OpenAI.
• Beiermeister was reportedly fired from OpenAI in February after objecting to a planned ChatGPT "adult mode"; she denies allegations of discrimination.

Makers Fund raises $250M Fund IV

Makers Fund announces $250M Fund IV, along with several portfolio company funding news.

Makers Fund Closes $250M Fund IV

Makers Fund, a venture capital firm founded in 2016, has closed its fourth fund at $250 million, bringing its assets under management to $1.5 billion. Fund IV will invest globally across stages in the next generation of games and interactive entertainment, and the firm said it is expanding beyond games into consumer apps, entertainment and creation platforms. Makers has invested in more than 90 portfolio companies and reports that its $180m Fund I has distributed 3.6x the capital invested. The firm said it will use equity, project financing and marketing financing as needed to back founders.

• Makers Fund closed its fourth fund (Fund IV) at $250 million.
• The firm’s total assets under management rose to $1.5 billion.
• Makers has invested in more than 90 portfolio companies since its 2016 founding.

Atomontage rebuilds Virtual Matter for browser AI UGC

Atomontage has rebuilt its Virtual Matter creation platform to enable browser-based user-generated multiplayer games that players can enter via a link with no install. The platform uses ordered, compressed volumetric samples streamed progressively to phones, and adds an optional, model-agnostic AI agent for creation; expensive GPU inference is separated from CPU-only game hosting so play remains low-cost. Atomontage is backed by Makers Fund, Hartmann Capital and a group of angel investors. The company charges makers subscriptions plus metered AI credits, plans a marketplace and engine royalty model, and expects standalone export to itch.io and Steam later in 2026. Cofounders Daniel Tabar and Branislav Siles position the tech as lowering the floor for creators while raising the ceiling for professional designers.

• Atomontage rebuilt its Virtual Matter platform to enable browser-based UGC multiplayer worlds that load from a link with no install.
• The platform uses ordered, compressed volumetric samples streamed progressively to devices and stores persistent, editable world state.
• AI assistance is optional and model-agnostic; GPU inference for creation is routed separately while world simulation and multiplayer run on CPU-only servers.