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The most interesting startup stories of the week
Even in seemingly crowded categories, we see new apps climbing the ranks. This includes social media. A new app called noplace shot to the top spot on the App Store as soon as it was released in invitation-only mode.
In addition to confirming users’ appetite for new forms of social media, it also shows that it can still go viral in 2024, as French app ten ten did earlier this year. Both apps show that it’s worth revisiting old tech ideas. Myspace is nospace, and walkie-talkies is ten ten.
It’s also a reminder that consumer tech can find VC backers, something noplace CEO Tiffany Zhong knows well. Before starting the company and raising money from investors including Alexis Ohanian’s 776 and Forerunner Ventures, she helped Binary Capital secure early-stage consumer deals, then created early-stage consumer fund Pineapple Capital.
- find: Hebbia, a startup that uses generative AI to search large amounts of documents and provide answers, has raised a Series B funding round of about $100 million led by Andreessen Horowitz, according to TechCrunch sources.
- Previous planet: Robinhood has acquired AI-powered research platform Pluto Capital, adding new tools and features to its investing app, including real-time portfolio optimization.
- Don't we need edtech?: Unacademy cuts 250 jobs as India's edtech sector continues to struggle in a post-Covid world
- New Believers: Amazon hired Adept's co-founders and some of its team while licensing its technology, but the AI startup will still exist and refocus on “solutions that enable agent AI.”
- An oasis in the cryptocurrency drought?: CoinDCX, a leading Indian cryptocurrency exchange valued at $2.1 billion in a 2022 funding round, has expanded internationally by acquiring BitOasis, a digital asset platform for the Middle East and North Africa.
The most interesting fundraising activities of the week
One particularly promising area of technology is startups fighting cancer, and they’re raising venture capital to do so. Biotech startup Granza Bio is one of them, raising $7 million in seed funding from Felicis, Refactor, and Y Combinator to advance the delivery of cancer treatments.
Granza Bio is a Y Combinator Winter 2024 graduate, and YC wants to support more startups like it. YC’s Call for Startups (RFS), shared in February, included a call for “how to end cancer.” The primary focus of that RFS was on startups that could reduce the cost of MRIs. That’s not a perfect answer, as MRIs are known to produce false positives. So it’s notable that the accelerator is actually approaching the fight against cancer from multiple angles, including biotech.
Another interesting fact is that Felicis is a generalist VC firm, but invests 10% to 15% of its capital in biology-focused startups. This is also a sign that biotech is becoming mainstream, and another reason to keep an eye on emerging startups in this space.
- New Centaur: HR technology is in high demand worldwide, and Japan is no exception. SmartHR raised $140 million in a Series E round after reaching $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
- Material World: French deep-tech startup Altrobe has raised about $4 million to develop new materials using AI models and lab automation.
- Cart path: Robotics startup Cartken recently raised $10 million in a funding round led by 468 Capital, and found that demand for small autonomous robots is moving beyond sidewalk delivery to explore indoor use cases.
- Happy days: Apiday has raised €10 million in a Series A funding round, which will allow it to focus more on the European market amid increasing regulations for its ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) reporting platform.
The most interesting fund news of the week
- weather change: Spanish VC firm Seaya Ventures will invest €300 million in climate technology through its dedicated fund Seaya Andromeda.
- Swiss Mountain: Swiss fund Forestay, a self-branded “almost-growth” fund, has raised $220 million to invest across Europe and Israel, focusing on enterprises and SaaS.
- Beyond Defense: J2 Ventures, a firm majority owned by U.S. military veterans, has raised a second $150 million fund “close to national security,” which will also invest in healthcare.
- Olympic Trail: The husband-and-wife duo, both former Olympians, are looking to raise $50 million through their fund, Freedom Trail Capital, to invest in influencer-led consumer brands.
- deep space: Driving Forces, a deep-tech venture capital firm, is closing after sole general partner Sydney Scott concluded the environment was too difficult for smaller funds like his firm.
finally
The Evolve Bank data breach has sent ripples through fintech, leaving several startups in disarray. Yieldstreet confirmed that some of its customers were affected, as was Wise. Meanwhile, Jason Mikula, author of Fintech Business Weekly, has received cease and desist letters from the bank, and expressed concern that not all of the affected fintechs may have yet received details of what information was stolen in the breach.
