X competitor Bluesky has crossed the 20 million user mark and has been sitting atop the Apple App Store U.S. rankings for the last week. TechCrunch has more here.

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By Sean O'Kane and Margaux MacColl

Las Vegas police have received funding for tech like drones, license plate readers, and more from Andreessen Horowitz partner Ben Horowitz. Next on its wish list? Artificial intelligence to go through police footage.

The city’s Sheriff Kevin McMahill said on a podcast with Horowitz and partner Marc Andreessen that he wants to use AI to blur faces or obscure sensitive information from body camera footage. McMahill also said he wants to use AI to help officers sift through the reams of information they receive when they subpoena cell phone tower data during investigations. “I really believe that some of this AI here in the new future can have tremendous impact on what has caused significant challenge for me as the sheriff,” McMahill said.

The giant Silicon Valley venture firm released the episode on Monday, just a few weeks after TechCrunch revealed that Horowitz has been financing the Vegas police department’s purchasing of a number of a16z portfolio companies’ products. Emails TechCrunch received in a public records request also showed Horowitz has helped make decisions about the rollout of some of these technologies.

The relationship startled a number of experts and advocates who follow police accountability and surveillance technology that TechCrunch spoke to. But Horowitz and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) only intend to continue — and deepen — that relationship, according to the podcast episode.

“We’re not going to stop” funding purchases, Horowitz said.

More here.

Enfabrica, a six-year-old startup based in Mountain View, CA, that develops high-performance networking chips designed to enhance the efficiency of data centers, particularly for AI  applications, raised a $115 million Series C round led by Spark Capital, with Arm, Cisco Investments, Maverick Silicon, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and VentureTech Alliance also taking stakes. SiliconANGLE has more here. 

Kong, a sixteen-year-old San Francisco company that provides software that helps businesses manage and secure APIs, raised a $125 million Series E round co-led by Tiger Global and Balderton, with additional participation from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and 137 Ventures as well as previous investors Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, CRV, Sapphire Ventures, and Notable Capital. The company has raised a total of $346+ million and says it's now valued at $2 billion. Bloomberg has more here.

Oura Health, a 12-year-old Finnish company that produces a wearable smart ring that tracks health and fitness data, raised a $75 million Series D at a $5 billion valuation, almost double the price of its 2022 Series C round. Dexcom, a publicly traded glucose monitoring outfit, was the sole investor. Bloomberg has more here. 

Rox, a San Francisco startup founded this year that builds intelligent agents designed to assist salespeople by handling real-world tasks with minimal supervision, raised $50 million in a seed and Series A. Investors included Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, and GV. Bloomberg has more here. 

Skydio, an eleven-year-old company based in San Mateo, CA, that designs and manufactures drones that use AI for autonomous flight, raised a $170 million Series E extension. Investors included KDDI and Axon as well as previous investor Linse Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Agentio, a two-year-old New York startup that has built a platform to connect brands with YouTube content creators interested in advertising partnerships, raised a $12 million Series A round led by Benchmark, with support from previous investors Craft Ventures and AlleyCorp. The company has raised a total of $16+ million. TechCrunch has more here.

Alloy, a four-year-old New York company that provides online menopause treatment and relief, raised a $16 million Series A round led by Kairos HQ, with PACE Healthcare Capital, Emmeline Ventures, and Amboy Street Ventures also joining in. Fortune has more here.