STARTUP X

The F42 brief #025

DeReK WaTSoN

Mar 17, 2025

Here’s your Monday dose of The F42 Brief.

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The one thing that’s making all the noise …. with a bit of fact checking.

💸 New Funds looking to give you cash

The Raise Report

💡Innovator Spotlight

Founders that are doing stuff differently.

🛠️ Tool of the Week

Something useful to up your startups velocity.

📌 Note to Self

Stuff I constantly remind myself about, don’t want make the same mistakes again.

For Founders Who Want to Get **it Done

✅ Fusion42 is partnering with industry powerhouses driving global startup growth

Dubai Chamber: 🚀 258,000+ business members for partnership & expansion.
DTEC: 🏢 MENA’s largest tech hub—accelerating scale-ups.
Expand North Star (GITEX): 🌍 The world’s biggest startup event, with 1,200+ investors & 1,800+ startups.

Reg for GSA is now open

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We put together this AI Trends & Challenges Report to understand what our community is actually thinking about AI.

1. What has caught your attention lately in AI news?

The most frequently mentioned topics that have caught people’s attention in AI news include:

The speed of improvement in AI models – Many are fascinated by how quickly AI is evolving, particularly in generative models, agentic AI, and multimodal capabilities.
Advancements in AI agents – The rise of AI agents, their increasing autonomy, and the ability to connect and stack them effectively are driving interest.
DeepSeek & Chinese AI tools – The emergence of DeepSeek and other Chinese AI models is capturing attention due to their performance and accessibility.
Private AI & AGI potential – The push toward private AI solutions, security-focused models, and long-term AGI implications is a key discussion point.
Manus.AI & real-world automation – AI-driven automation for satellite technology and enterprise solutions like Manus.AI is gaining traction.

2. What are the biggest challenges you face on your AI journey?

The most common AI-related challenges reported by users are:

Keeping up with rapid advancements – The continuous evolution of AI tools and models makes it difficult to stay informed and evaluate their real-world impact.
Finding the most effective use cases – Many struggle to identify the best AI applications for their specific needs, from automation to content generation.
Implementation difficulties – Deploying AI solutions, particularly AI agents, remains complex due to integration challenges and a lack of standardised approaches.
Access to skilled resources & AI talent – A shortage of experienced professionals makes it difficult to develop and maintain AI-driven solutions.
Cost and financial constraints – High development costs, infrastructure expenses, and limited budgets create barriers to AI adoption.
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Find an AI Toolkit 🤖🚀 BELOW👇. It will help you with some tools to boost your productivity.

💸 New Funds looking to give you cash

Look out for the The Raise Report 6 month SPECIAL coming out this week.
🚀 ≈$185B Across 457 Investment Vehicles

Where is the Money Is Going

🌍 Geography at a Glance
🎯 Sector Priorities
🚀 Investment Stages
Government AI Infrastructure Initiatives
Massive Data Centre AI Infrastructure Projects
Additional Insights
What This Means for Founders
Potential Market Shifts to Watch

⚙️ Startup-X

The Raise Report

DeReK WaTSoN

Mar 12

Since we started releasing this data we have covered over 460 funds that have raised over $100b of fresh capital to deploy. Money does not seem to be an issue, getting out of those investors is, but why is that?For the ❤️ of startups share this with a founder

Read full story

💡Innovator Spotlight

Innovator Spotlight: OptimHire's AI-Driven Recruitment Transformation

This week, i read about about OptimHire, a San Francisco-based startup “revolutionizing” the recruitment industry with artificial intelligence. Founded in 2019, OptimHire recently secured a $5 million seed funding round led by Mucker Capital's Omar Hamoui, with participation from SparkLabs, Citta Capital, Pitbull Ventures, and VSC Ventures.

Key Innovations:

AI-Powered Recruitment: OptimHire's AI agent, OptimAI Recruiter, automates the hiring process by sourcing candidates, conducting screening calls, and scheduling interviews. This innovation reduces the hiring timeline from months to just 12 days and lowers recruitment fees from 20% to 6% of a new hire's first-year salary.
Scalability: In 2024 alone, OptimHire facilitated 8,000 hires, demonstrating the platform's effectiveness and scalability. businessinsider.com
Market Positioning: By leveraging advanced AI capabilities, OptimHire positions itself competitively against major players like Ashby and Findem, who have also secured substantial investments.

Implications for Founders and Investors:

OptimHire's success underscores the potential of AI in streamlining complex processes like recruitment. For startup founders, integrating AI can lead to significant operational efficiencies and cost reductions. Investors should note the growing trend of AI applications across various sectors, indicating robust opportunities for funding innovative solutions that address traditional challenges.

As OptimHire continues to evolve, it exemplifies how technological innovation can disrupt established industries, offering valuable insights for both entrepreneurs and investors aiming to navigate and capitalize on such transformations.

If you have not joined the Fusion42 Community on Telegram — A space for Founders, Framers, and Funders who show up to get **it done,
it is probably time to do so.

For Founders,Framers and Funders

For the ❤️ of Startups

🛠️ Tools of the Week.

AI Toolkit 🤖🚀

📌 Note to Sel

Share Fusion42 by DeReK WaTSoN

Thank you for reading. If you liked it, share it with your friends, colleagues and everyone interested in the startup Investor ecosystem.

If you've got suggestions, an article, research, your tech stack, or a job listing you want featured, just let me know! I'm keen to include it in the upcoming edition.

Please let me know what you think of it, love a feedback loop 🙏🏼