Observed Signal · Feb 15, 2023 · Funding · Source: Trending Topics · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Magic.dev Is a Classic Austrian Fail Story
Magic.dev, an AI startup founded by Austrians Eric Steinberger and Sebastian De Ro, has raised $23 million in a new financing round on top of $5 million from the previous year, bringing total funding to $28 million. Investors include Alphabet's CapitalG, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and Germany's 10x Founders; no Austrian venture capital firm participated. The company, which aims to build an AI coding assistant superior to GitHub Copilot, is now incorporated in the USA. The article also highlights that the gifted-student programme at Vienna's HTL Spengergasse, which supported the founders, runs with a €0 budget, one teacher, and just one hour per week. The author argues this makes Magic.dev a typical Austrian failure story, as the startup's success is increasingly 'Made in USA, not Austria'.
A $28M funding round for an early-stage AI coding startup; relevant to AI investment trends but not a major shift for the AdTech/MarTech industry.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Magic.dev raised $23 million in a new funding round, following $5 million raised the previous year, for a total of $28 million.
- Investors include Alphabet's CapitalG, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and German VC 10x Founders.
- No Austrian venture capital firm participated in Magic.dev's financing rounds.
- Magic.dev was founded by Eric Steinberger and Sebastian De Ro and is now based in the USA.
- The gifted-student program at HTL Spengergasse that supported the founders has a €0 budget and one weekly hour with teacher Harald Zumpf for 18 students.
Connected Companies & Entities
7 Entities mapped“Quasi aus dem Nichts heraus poppte plötzlich das Startup der österreichischen Gründer Eric Steinberger und Sebastian De Ro auf....”
“Allen voran investiert haben CapitalG, der Risikokapital-Arm von Alphabet....”
“Der Risikokapital-Arm von Alphabet....”
“Das erste Ziel, nebst der generellen Mission, AI zum Guten einzusetzen: besser als der Copilot von Github zu werden....”
“Aber keine Sorge, bei Stripe hat das auch schon mal funktioniert....”
“Auch sonst in Startup-Österreich, ja sogar im Silicon-Valley-Leitmedium Techcrunch, gab es ein Top-Thema: Magic.dev....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
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