avipat_/X; generalcatalyst/X; Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI
Last Friday morning, Avi Patel was scrolling on X when he saw a post that made him crash out. The post, from General Catalyst investor Yuri Sagalov, announced a $31 million seed round for a startup called Luel, which pays people for AI training data. Patel is the founder of a startup called Kled that also pays people for AI training data. When Patel looked at Luel's website, it appeared almost identical to Kled's, right down to the font. Kled had recently raised a $5.5 million seed round, and Patel had taken multiple meetings with General Catalyst. Now, the fund was investing in a copycat. "They gave these guys the same terms I was asking for," he tells me. "That was my check that they were supposed to give me."
No comments