I can probably guess the last piece of corporate swag you received: It was most likely a t-shirt, a tumbler, or a Moleskine with a logo of a company you\u2019d probably soon forget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Jackson and Quincy Fuller, ages ten and seven, have a better idea: Stuffed animals, inspired by corporate logos and mascots. This June, the brothers\u2014whose parents are Upfront Ventures general partner Kobie Fuller and kids\u2019 clothing entrepreneur Shennel Fuller\u2014founded Stuffers to help startups build better (and cuter) swag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStuffers makes swag for companies big and small,\u201d said Quincy, holding up Laurel, an adorable, soft-smiling \u201ctime block\u201d that Stuffers made for AI time-tracking startup Laurel, last valued at $510 million<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is, in certain ways, an AI story, father Kobie points out. The client comes in with a brand and character, and Jackson and Quincy then draw out a sketch of what the Stuffer could be. Then they go to their Stuffer Studio, built on OpenAI\u2019s real\u2011time voice API and a number of image generation models. (They show me how it works by designing what a Stuffer for Fortune would look like\u2014a big-eyed money bag.)<\/p>\n \u201cNever before [has it been] possible to be able to draw ideas and then be able to have them turn into something that is fully product-ready,\u201d said Kobie. \u201cAnd now, we can do that with these raw, brilliant, creative ideas that only a little kid [could] come up with.\u201d<\/p>\n Mom Shennel makes a good point, too\u2014that kids are actually uniquely suited to, well, being the ones who design stuffed animals.<\/p>\n To Laurel cofounder and CEO Ryan Alshak, the first Stuffers \u201cyes,\u201d this is as much about corporate swag that you keep as it is a thoughtful experiment in what the youngest generation of entrepreneurs could grow up to be.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is more than a toy,\u201d said Alshak via email. \u201cIt\u2019s a proof of concept for how the next generation will learn in an AI-powered world. The Stuffy is the starting point for building an AI supply chain for education\u2014teaching children the fundamentals of business and creativity through play. That\u2019s the future of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n Examples of Stuffers to date include HeatWave, a rosy-cheeked flame for AI market research startup Heatseeker, and their mascot, Adveri (a kid-style mashup of the word \u201cadvertising\u201d and pictured in the online version of this article). Jackson and Quincy have been out finding clients, and Friday afternoons are set aside for pitch meetings.<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal is to have a Stuffers commercial, and I also want a billboard,\u201d said Jackson. \u201cAnd our goal\u2019s to reach 50 customers in one year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Laurel\u2019s Alshak believes: \u201cI thought I was a pretty effective seller until I met the Stuffy CEO and COO. They could sell ice to an igloo\u2014or a Stuffy to Build-A-Bear.\u201d<\/p>\n See you tomorrow,<\/p>\n Allie Garfinkle Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Venture Deals<\/p>\n – Nirvana<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered commercial insurer, raised $100 million in Series D funding. Valor<\/b> Equity<\/b> Partners<\/b> led the round and was joined by Lightspeed<\/b> Venture<\/b> Partners<\/b> and General<\/b> Catalyst<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Enlightra<\/b><\/a>, a Lausanne, Switzerland-based developer of technology designed to accelerate communication between AI chips, raised $15 million in funding from Y<\/b> Combinator<\/b>, Runa<\/b> Capital<\/b>, Pegasus<\/b> Tech<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, Protocol<\/b> Labs<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – Tin Can<\/b><\/a>, a Seattle, Wash.-based developer of a screen-free and text-free landline phone designed for kids, raised $12 million in seed funding. Greylock<\/b> led the round and was joined by Lateralus<\/b> Holdings<\/b> and existing investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n – Feanix<\/b><\/a>, an Asheville, N.C.-based agricultural genomics and farm management platform, raised $5.3 million in seed funding. Initialized<\/b> Capital<\/b> led the round and was joined by Overwater<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, General<\/b> Catalyst<\/b>, and Collab<\/b> Fund<\/b>.<\/p>\n – InfiniteWatch<\/b><\/a>, a New York City-based developer of AI agents designed for customer interaction, raised $4 million in funding. Base10<\/b> Partners<\/b> led the round and was joined by others.<\/p>\n Private Equity<\/p>\n – An investor group led by Permira<\/b> and Warburg<\/b> Pincus<\/b> agreed to acquire Clearwater<\/b> Analytics<\/b><\/a>, a Boise, Idaho-based investment management platform, for $8.4 billion.<\/p>\n – RELEX<\/b> Solutions<\/b>, backed by Blackstone<\/b> and TCV<\/b>, agreed to acquire Ida<\/b><\/a>, a Paris, France-based developer of software designed to optimize the ordering of fresh produce. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n – Revelar<\/b> Capital<\/b> acquired Lettermen\u2019s<\/b> Energy<\/b><\/a>, a Kansas City, Mo.-based propane distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n IPOs<\/p>\n
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