Dear investor

I hope your Easter bunny brought you your favorite spring/summer ‘24 Patagonia vest.

Today’s stories: Pretzel & Jupyter Notebooks (we're not talking beers here!), an AI app to read you a story, humanoids & actuators, 30 days sugar-free.

Marko here, CEO and Co-founder at Luccid.ai from Berlin, the ultimate AI architect who knows every building regulation, code, and norm powered by cutting-edge LLMs. Our vision? To create a 'Spell check' for architecture designs.

Back to the stories.

1. Pretzel: The modern, open-source, AI-native alternative to Jupyter Notebooks

Have you heard that my Antler W23 buddy, Prasoon, and his co-founder Ramon built PretzelAI and got accepted into Y Combinator?

Why are they interesting?

Tools like Hex have made a go at challenging the Jupyter stronghold. Great product, but dethroning Jupyter? That's a tough battle. It's free, it works well enough, and that combination is nearly unbeatable.

Prasoon and Ramon tested Hex at Stripe, and found a lot to love, but ultimately opted for Databricks because it‘s cheaper.

Enter Pretzel. Their goal is to transform Jupyter and secure mass adoption by making it open-source and free. This means anyone can give Pretzel a spin without spending a dime, installing it just like Jupyter but with the bonus of community collaboration.

For the heavy hitters, adopting Pretzel is a no-brainer. If something's missing? Dive in, develop it, and contribute back. That's the Pretzel way.

Their MVP is just one feature: a visual data exploration tool that runs locally in the browser.

The Team

Prasoon Shukla sharpened his data science skills at Stripe and N26, mastering the art of revealing insights and modeling solutions for financial challenges. His technical finesse is further highlighted during Google internships.

Ramon Garate has made his mark through leadership and engineering roles across companies like Klarna and Stripe.

These guys know their shit.

Let me know if you want an intro to Prasoon.

2. Wuri: An AI app to read web stories as visual novels with images, videos, and audio

Who doesn’t like stories? Wuri is a B2C SaaS that transforms top web fiction into immersive visual novels with real-time audio, images, and video, introducing users to a captivating new storytelling experience designed for bite-sized, audio-visual consumption.

Why are they different?

Fiction enthusiasts are craving more visual stories, yet the current offerings barely scratch the surface of their hunger. The challenge? For most platforms, rolling out a one-hour visual story lasts weeks and months.

This is why they built Wuri. It revolutionizes fiction reading by using AI to instantly turn web text stories into visual novels. Packed with bite-sized narratives, stunning characters, vivid backgrounds, immersive videos, and engaging audio, their app offers an infinite collection of captivating visual novels.

Welcome to the future of storytelling. Check out their app on Android or iOS!

Some screenshots

The team

Akshay, who has over 8 years under his belt, isn't just any software engineer. He's been in the trenches of India's consumer startup scene, rubbing elbows with decacorns like Flipkart and Swiggy. Imagine being the very first engineer to breathe life into Flipkart Commerce Cloud. Now picture that cloud raining down success, to the tune of $3 billion. That's Akshay for you - a true wizard in the startup world!

Pratik: a BITS Pilani alumnus ('11-'15) turned IIM Calcutta MBA ('15-'17), with a five-year tour of duty in consulting, capping off at Bain & Company where he steered tech and consumer giants. Then, he joined forces with Akshay to rocket a consumer ed-tech platform to $12K MRR.

Now, they're the masterminds behind Wuri. With such a track record, it's no surprise they landed a spot in Y Combinator.

Let me know if you want an intro.

3. Elysium Robotics: Artificial Muscles for Robots and Prosthetics

Today’s robots are skinny and if we want a Terminator scenario we need to add some muscle mass.

Guys from Austin (TX) are redefining the future of robotics and prosthetics with their groundbreaking artificial muscles. These innovative actuators enable the mass production of humanoid robots and prosthetics with unparalleled dexterity, all at a surprisingly low cost.

Imagine a world where robots and prosthetic hands move with the fluidity and precision of human limbs but without the hefty price tag.

Now you can play rock, paper, scissors with your favorite robot.

They operate at the intersection of B2B, SaaS, and FinTech within the robotics sector where the TAM is an impressive $250+ billion.

The team

Rodrigo Alvarez, Founder & CEO, brings over 20 years of expertise in fiber elastomers and innovation, holding 40+ patents. A Stanford PhD and the brain behind IBM's True North Neural Processing

Mark Hammond, Co-Founder, excels in business and product development, with a rich background in venture capital. His experience spans industry giants like Amazon, SoftBank, and ExxonMobil, complemented by an MSE + MM from Michigan.

Let me know if you want an intro.

Traction so far

• Successfully demonstrated the use of dielectric elastomers as actuators in fiber form vs film form

• Reduced fiber size to less than 150-micron diameter, operating at <300V, and increased strength via fiber bundling

• Established communication channels for partnerships with key players including Figure, Sanctuary, Apptronik, Festo, ABB, Engineered Arts, Hanson Labs, DOD, Honda, Soft Robotics

Currently in the prototype stage, they've successfully secured $1.7M in funding and are actively seeking an additional $1M to further their development.

Open your pockets, people.

Personal news

I just hit the 30-day mark of no processed sugar or junk food. You might be imagining me with superhuman abilities by now - seeing through walls, raising money for a startup, levitating, or rocking a 300 IQ with laser-sharp focus.

Spoiler alert: none of that happened. I'm still the same, with brain fog visits, and some days feeling shitty.

Has anyone else embarked on this sugar-free journey? I would love to hear your experiences and any tips you might have!

That’s it for the #1 newsletter!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this initial edition. It's a work in progress, so any feedback or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to making it even better!

Cheers!

Marko