Shubham Sharma / VentureBeat: Austria-based Mostly AI, which simulates synthetic data for AI training, data analytics, and software testing, raises a $25M Series B from Molten Ventures  —  Austria-based Mostly AI, a startup that simulates synthetic data for AI model training and testing, today announced it has raised $25 million …

Fais Khan / startups and econ: Analysis: Coinbase influences cryptocurrency returns, most coins underperform BTC and ETH over time, and VC-backed coins give the worst returns of all  —  Note: This is not investment advice and my investment disclosures are below.  —  Special thanks to my Ali Khan for running the scripts to grab and analyze pricing data.

Reuters: A group of 46 state AGs, Guam, and DC asks a US federal appeals court to reinstate the antitrust lawsuit against Facebook that was dismissed in 2021  —  A group of states led by New York asked a U.S. federal appeals court on Friday to reinstate an antitrust lawsuit filed against Facebook (FB.O).

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: WorkStep, which helps companies hire and retain frontline workers, raises a $25M Series B led by NewRoad Capital Partners, bringing its total funding to $42.2M  —  The so-called “great resignation” is seemingly continuing apace, with some 4.5 million U.S. workers quitting their jobs in November alone.

Joanna Partridge / The Guardian: Google announces a $1B deal to buy the London development Central Saint Giles, which includes 408K sq. ft. of office space  —  Site will have space for 10,000 UK employees who will work under hybrid workplace model  —  Google has announced a $1bn (£871m) deal to buy …

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: Virtana, which provides AI-driven monitoring software to help manage multiple cloud environments, raises $73M from Atalaya Capital Management and others  —  Hybrid cloud, which refers to a mix of computing, storage, and services across on-premises, private cloud, and public cloud infrastructure …

Aislinn Keely / The Block: Near Foundation, which develops the proof-of-stake Near blockchain, raises $150M led by Three-Arrows Capital, with a16z and others participating  —  The NEAR Foundation has closed a $150 million funding round less as it looks to become the hub of an open web3.

Shashank Pathak / Entrackr: Chicago- and Bengaluru-based TheMathCompany, which offers data analytics tools, raises $50M led by Brighton Park Capital  —  TheMathCompany, a data analytics and data engineering firm, has raised $50 million in a new round of funding led by Brighton Park Capital.  Arihant Patni has also participated in this round.

Ron Miller / TechCrunch: Merit, which lets governments issue digital credentials that link back to a government license database, raises a $50M Series B led by Rose Park Advisors  —  When we think about identity in the digital world, it usually involves a username and password, but Merit (originally called Sigma) …

Derek Decloet / Bloomberg: Boosted.ai, which offers machine learning tools for investment portfolio managers, raises a $35M Series B led by Spark Capital and Ten Coves Capital  —  Boosted.ai, a provider of artificial intelligence software to investment management firms, is raising $35 million in a series B round led …