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Speech, Silicon, & Strategic Stakes

LFG Ventures presents a weekly newsletter delivering private market (pre-IPO) insights and signals across tech and frontier industries.

Welcome back,

This week, Nvidia and OpenAI just dropped a $100B AI power move, Perplexity is making your inbox smarter (and pricier), and Neuralink is gearing up to turn thoughts into text. Meanwhile, ElevenLabs gets the Nvidia blessing, and Oura flexes with a unicorn-sized raise. From brain chips to wearables, inbox battles to GPU wars — the AI frontier is heating up, and we’re here to make sense of the chaos.

Before we dive in, we just wanted to say that we that we (LFG Ventures) are growing and hiring a Director of Operations — please reply to this email if you know someone who would be a strong fit. We received 200+ applications within a couple hours, but we’re looking for the absolute best.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

📡 Radar

🔌 Nvidia and OpenAI Forge $100B AI Alliance

Nvidia is preparing to inject up to $100B into OpenAI, blending cash for equity stakes with a massive commitment to supply its GPUs. The deal would mark the largest investment ever in a VC-backed company, anchoring at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia-powered data centers by 2026. Beyond selling chips, Nvidia is cementing itself as OpenAI’s infrastructure partner — a move likely to draw regulatory heat as it deepens dominance across the AI stack. Pitchbook

📧 Perplexity Launches Email Assistant

Perplexity just dropped Email Assistant exclusively for Max subscribers, transforming inboxes into action centers with AI-powered personal assistance. The move positions Perplexity deeper into productivity workflows, competing directly with Microsoft's Copilot and Google's Workspace AI integrations. This isn't just feature expansion - it's Perplexity betting that email remains the enterprise command center worth owning. The exclusive Max-tier rollout signals premium monetization strategy as the AI search company builds toward its rumored $500M+ valuation target. Perplexity

💰 Nvidia Bets on ElevenLabs

Nvidia just made its first UK AI unicorn play, backing voice synthesis leader ElevenLabs in what sources call a 'strategic' investment. This marks the chip giant's inaugural bet on British AI infrastructure, positioning itself deeper in the generative audio stack beyond just selling GPUs. ElevenLabs has been quietly building enterprise moats in voice cloning and speech synthesis - exactly the kind of specialized AI tooling that creates sticky demand for Nvidia's hardware. The move signals Nvidia's evolution from hardware vendor to strategic ecosystem player, following the playbook of investing in companies that drive long-term compute demand. TechEu

🗣️ Neuralink Plans Speech Trial

Neuralink is positioning for its next major catalyst with an October clinical trial targeting thought-to-text translation for speech-impaired patients. Musk's brain-computer interface play isn't just chasing the paralysis market anymore; they're expanding into communication disabilities, potentially unlocking a massive addressable market. The timing signals aggressive commercialization ahead, with Neuralink betting that proven speech applications could accelerate regulatory pathways and investor appetite. This move positions the company to own multiple verticals in the emerging neural interface space before competitors like Synchron or Paradromics gain meaningful traction. Bloomberg

💍 Oura Rockets to $11B Valuation

Oura is raising a massive $875M Series E that rockets the wearables maker to an $11B valuation - more than doubling from its previous round. The health-tracking ring company is posting serious growth momentum with revenue jumping from $500M in 2024 to over $1B projected for this year. This positions Oura as the breakout winner in wearable health tech, capitalizing on the wellness boom while traditional fitness trackers struggle for differentiation. With this war chest, Oura's positioning itself for either a blockbuster IPO or acquisition by a major tech player looking to own the health data goldmine. TechCrunch

💬 Prompt

Where should we begin?

Design a 7-minute workout I can do in a hotel room with no equipment. Don’t let me make excuses because I travel a lot.

🧠 Wisdom

👁️ Conviction

Find your conviction because you deserve to.

📏 Standards

What are your standards? How do you stick to them?

🔂 Repetition

It takes time to determine what works. When you find what works, lean in. Don’t make things harder by focusing on what doesn’t work. Press your winners.

Thank you,

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The content presented in The Markup is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation by LFG Ventures to buy or sell any securities. Nothing in this publication should be interpreted as investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to provide brokerage services. Any offers or solicitations will be made only through official offering documents and subject to their specific terms, risks, and conditions.