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State of the VC market: Fundraising struggles in 2023

CNBC is now accepting nominations for the 2024 Disruptor 50 list — our annual look at the most innovative venture-backed companies using breakthrough technology to meet increasing economic and consumer challenges.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, Feb. 16 at 11:59 pm EST.

All independent, privately-owned companies founded after Jan. 1, 2009, are eligible, and any company founder or executive, investor in the company, or any of their communications representatives can access and submit an application.

The companies named to last year’s Disruptor 50 list continue to face a challenging environment as we head toward 2024, with high interest rates tightening the supply of venture capital and keeping the IPO window mostly closed for venture-backed startups for the second straight year. A notable past Disruptor 50 company that made it to the public market this year, Instacart, has failed to maintain its IPO pricing.

The third quarter was the lowest for venture deals in the last six years, according to PitchBook, with U.S. venture capital fundraising on pace to set a nine-year low in 2023. In addition, the number of “down rounds,” or instances when companies raise funds at a lower valuation compared to a previous round of funding, are at a ten-year high, with more than a quarter of fundraising rounds completed this year happening at a flat or reduced valuation.

Business failures, too, have occurred for formerly high-flying, high-profile backed Disruptor 50 companies, including Convoy and WeWork. But the tighter funding environment doesn’t seem to be stopping entrepreneurs from starting new companies. Business formation is on pace to set a new record in 2023, breaking the mark set in 2021. New business formation surged immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic, and as those businesses begin to mature, we expect to see more of them find their way into the ranks of the Disruptor 50.

This is especially true of companies involved in the booming AI hype cycle sparked by 2023’s top Disruptor 50 company, OpenAI, just over a year ago. New investment in biotech also continues to buck the tighter VC environment.

Nominees will be put through a comprehensive and rigorous process of researching and scoring across a wide range of quantitative and qualitative criteria, including scalability, revenue and user growth, use of breakthrough technology, as well as workforce diversity.

An advisory board made up of leading thinkers in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship will provide weighting for the quantitative criteria, while a team of CNBC editorial staff will read submissions and provide qualitative assessments of every single nominee.

2024 honorees will be notified in April, and the list will be released in May across CNBC’s TV and digital platforms.

Sign up for our weekly, original newsletter that goes beyond the annual Disruptor 50 list, offering a closer look at prior list-making companies and the founders driving innovation.

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AMD’s Lisa Su dismisses AI spending fears as stock rallies on growth projections: ‘It’s the right gamble’

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AMD's Lisa Su dismisses AI spending fears as stock rallies on growth projections: 'It's the right gamble'

AMD CEO Lisa Su dismisses AI spending fears: 'It's the right gamble'

Advanced Micro Devices‘ CEO Lisa Su shut down concerns over Big Tech’s elevated spending during an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday and said investing in more computing will accelerate the pace of innovation.

“I don’t think it’s a big gamble,” she said. “I think it’s the right gamble.”

Many of AMD’s hyperscaler customers over the last 12 months have beefed up spending as the technology reaches an “inflection point” and companies can see the return on that spending, Su added.

Su’s comments come as tech’s megacaps announced more than $380 billion in AI spending in their latest earnings reports as the firms race to build out infrastructure to support soaring demand.

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On Tuesday, Su told analysts that AMD expects revenues to grow 35% per year over the next three to five years due to “insatiable” AI chip demand.

Shares were last up more than 7%.

Concerns of a potential AI bubble have jolted markets in recent sessions as Wall Street raises concerns that valuations have gotten too high.

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AMD 5-year stock chart.

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Coinbase moves incorporation to Texas from Delaware, following Musk’s lead

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Coinbase moves incorporation to Texas from Delaware, following Musk's lead

Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., speaks during the Messari Mainnet summit in New York, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Coinbase is following Tesla out of Delaware and into Texas.

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Wednesday that the crypto exchange is moving its state of incorporation, a year after Elon Musk did the same with his electric vehicle maker. Musk also reincorporated his rocket maker SpaceX from Delaware to Texas.

“Delaware’s legal framework once provided companies with consistency. But no more,” Grawal wrote, pointing to recent “unpredictable outcomes” in the Delaware Chancery Court.

A handful of notable names, including Dropbox, TripAdvisor and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz have announced departures from Delaware. It’s a move that was championed by Musk following a Delaware Chancery Court ruling that ordered Tesla to rescind the CEO’s 2018 pay package, worth about $56 billion in options.

“If your company is still incorporated in Delaware, I recommend moving to another state as soon as possible,” Musk wrote in a post on X in February 2024, when he filed to change SpaceX’s incorporation state.

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Last week, Tesla shareholders voted to approve Musk’s more recent pay package, which could be worth up to $1 trillion.

Delaware has long been the dominant state for U.S. companies to incorporate due to its flexible corporate code and expert judiciary, and is seen as balancing the rights of executives and shareholders. A Texas state law allows corporations to limit shareholder lawsuits against insiders for breach of fiduciary duty. 

Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz, an early backer, currently face a lawsuit in Delaware concerning the sale of shares in the crypto company tied to its public listing in 2021.

Like Musk, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was a major contributor to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House.

— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.

WATCH: Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer says laws didn’t change as a result of Musk

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer: Our corporate laws did not change as a result of Elon Musk's Tesla case

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AI trade stalls, ‘ghost job’ listings, Trump floats tariff rebate checks and more in Morning Squawk

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AI trade stalls, 'ghost job' listings, Trump floats tariff rebate checks and more in Morning Squawk

Mike Intrator, Chief Executive Officer and founder of CoreWeave, poses for a photo during the company’s Initial Public Offering(IPO) at the Nasdaq headquarters on March 28, 2025 in New York City.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

1. Chips and dip

2. Numbers game

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.

Bill Clark | Getty Images

While the government shutdown could be over soon, don’t expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics to release all the missed economic data immediately.

As CNBC’s Jeff Cox reports, government agencies will need time to catch up on data collection. If the shutdown ends this week, Goldman Sachs estimated that the BLS could have a schedule for when it would release reports — but not the data itself — out early next week.

Market watchers are especially eager to see what job market data will say, as other data sources point to loosening in the labor force. Adding to the uncertainty is the rise of “ghost job” postings, a term used to describe listings for open roles that have never appeared to be filled.

3. Payment plans

A protester with the Main Street Alliance holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court, as its justices are set to hear oral arguments on U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to preserve sweeping tariffs after lower courts ruled that Trump overstepped his authority, in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 5, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

President Donald Trump floated a tariff rebate check over the weekend. Experts are warning you shouldn’t hold your breath.

Policy analysts and economists told CNBC’s Jessica Dickler that Trump’s idea of paying Americans a “dividend” of at least $2,000 — except for “high income people” — likely wouldn’t happen anytime soon. They also warned that this type of economic stimulus could drive up inflation.

Speaking of tariffs, CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco reported that U.S. importers are expecting a simple repayment process if the Supreme Court rules against Trump’s levies and forces a refund.

4. Capital, capitol

Bitcoin and USA flag on a cracked wall.

Ruma Aktar | Istock | Getty Images

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5. Hit the ground running

The Roger models, named after former tennis player and company investor Roger Federer, are displayed in a shop of Swiss shoemaker On in Zurich, Switzerland, Aug. 28, 2025.

Denis Balibouse | Reuters

On, the Swiss sportswear company, isn’t seeing the same slowdown as other shoe makers. The company reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its guidance this morning, saying it wouldn’t need to offer Black Friday deals to juice demand. Shares of On surged nearly 9% in premarket trading.

Elsewhere in fitness, Oura CEO Tom Hale told CNBC in an exclusive interview that the smart ring maker could see $2 billion in sales in 2026, almost doubling sales for a second straight year. Oura raised $900 million in a funding round last month, bringing its value to $11 billion. But public market investors shouldn’t get too excited: Hale said there’s “no news on an IPO” for the Finnish company.

The Daily Dividend

Consumer sentiment varies significantly by the amount of stocks individuals hold. Click here to read more about how the biggest owners are buoying economic confidence, and what could change that.

CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Kif Leswing, Ashley Capoot, Jordan Novet, Yun Li, Jeff Cox, Jessica Dickler, Lori Ann LaRocco, Liz Napolitano, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Tasmin Lockwood and Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.

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