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- Figma's Valuation Reduced From $20B to $10B & Apple Postpones Car Release In 2028
Figma's Valuation Reduced From $20B to $10B & Apple Postpones Car Release In 2028
Venture Daily Digest - 25/01/2024
Venture Daily Digest
January 25, 2024
👋 Hey, Sahil here! Welcome to today’s Venture Daily Digest Newsletter. Every day I share updates on startup funding, new VC funds launched, tech, and more to read in 5 mins! Today we have major updates on -
After regulators put On Adobe's merger with Figma, Figma is reducing its valuation from $20 billion to $10 billion.
San Francisco is suing a California state commission For allowing Waymo and Cruise to expand.
Google ended its contract with company involved in training its large language model AI.
Featured Article : Great Ideas Look Bad At Early Stage, Why?
What Do You Think: Most crucial factor in negotiating term sheet for long term success?
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💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES
Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) and a global developer and owner of solar and energy storage assets, secured a $500M equity investment commitment, convertible into common equity, from BlackRock. More Here
Alinea Invest, a fintech app offering AI-powered wealth management aimed at Gen Z women, has $3.4 million in seed funding. The new funding was led by F7 Ventures and GFR and included Worklife Ventures (Bri Kimmel), FoundersX Fund, Gaingels, and Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi. More Here
Icotec ag, an Altsteatten, Switzerland-based company advancing innovative spinal tumor implants, raised $30M in Growth funding. MVM Partners made the investment. WISTAMA Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG also participate in the round. More Here
Anomalo, a Palo Alto, CA-based data quality platform company, raised $33M in growth funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $72M, was led by SignalFire with participation from strategic investor Databricks Ventures. More Here
HEPHAISTOS-Pharma, an Orsay, France-based biotechnology company developing next generation immunotherapies against cancer, raised €2m in seed funding. The round was co-led by xista science ventures and the Foundation Fournier-Majoie, with the participation of Noshaq. More Here
TextQL, a platform that connects a company’s existing data stack to large language models along the lines of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and GPT-4. It has raised $4.1 million across pre-seed and seed round co-led by Neo and DCM with participation from Unshackled Ventures, Worklife Ventures, PageOne Ventures, FirstHand Ventures and Indicator Fund. More Here
DNA Nanobots, a Columbus, OH-based company which specializes in the design and delivery of DNA nanoparticles engineered for targeted therapeutics, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding. The backers were not disclosed. More Here
Arcee, Miami-based startup aims to build entreprise focuseed Gen AI model, it has raised $5.5 million in venture funding to date from investors including Long Journey Ventures, Flybridge, Centre Street Partners, Wndrco, 35V, AIN Ventures and Hugging Face CEO and co-founder Clément Delangue. More Here
Motif Neurotech, a Houston, TX-based neurotechnology company developing minimally invasive bioelectronics for mental health, raised $18.75M in Series A funding. The round was led by Arboretum Ventures, with participation from new investors KdT Ventures, Satori Neuro, Dolby Family Ventures, re.Mind Capital and existing investors. More Here
Heal Security, a Menlo Park, CA-based provider of a cognitive cybersecurity intelligence platform custom-designed for the healthcare sector, raised $4.6M in funding. The round was led by Health2047. Other investors included Evidium, HOPPR, Medcurio, Phenomix Sciences, ScholarRx, SiteBridge Research and Zing Health. More Here
CheckSammy, a Dallas, TX-based bulk waste and sustainability operator, raised $45M in strategic funding. The growth equity round was led by I Squared Capital, with participation from Zero Infinity Partners. More Here
Sion Power, a Tucson, AZ-based technology developer of batteries for electric vehicles (EV), raised $75M in Series A funding. The round was led by LG Energy Solution with participation from Jim Simons’ Euclidean Capital, and Eric Schmidt’s Hillspire LLC. More Here
Spellbook, a Toronto, and St. Jhon’s, Newfoundland, Canada-based provider of an AI copilot for lawyers, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to over $30M, was led by Inovia Capital. Thomson Reuters Ventures, The Legaltech Fund, Bling Capital, Moxxie Ventures, Concrete Ventures, Path Ventures, N49P and Good News Ventures also participated. More Here
Algotech (ALGT) is revolutionizing cryptocurrency trading with its advanced decentralized algorithmic trading platform, disrupting traditional manual trading methods. It has raised $1.1 Millions in 2 days. More Here
BillingPlatform, a Denver, CO-based provider of an enterprise revenue lifecycle management platform, raised $90M in growth equity funding from FTV Capital. FTV Capital joined Columbia Capital as institutional investors with minority investments in BillingPlatform. More Here
Sequence, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based financial router provider, emerged from stealth, raising $5.5m in funding. The round was led by Aleph. More Here
Aniai, a NYC-based robotic company and kitchen solutions provider, raised $12M in Pre-Series A funding. The round was led by InterVest, with participation from SV Investment and UK-based Ignite Innovation, as well as existing investor Capstone Partners. More Here
CryptoSafe Ltd., a London, UK-based blockchain project focused on enhancing capital efficiency in the cryptocurrency market, closed its latest funding round, securing $20m at a valuation of $95m. Backers included VentureX Capital, NexTech Ventures, and Blockchain Innovations Fund. More Here
Bilt Rewards, a NYC-based loyalty platform specializing in rent and neighborhood rewards, raised $200m in equity funding. The round, which brought valuation to $3.1 billion, was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Eldridge, alongside existing investors Left Lane Capital, Camber Creek and Prosus Ventures. More Here
Heex Technologies, a Paris, France-based provider of a smart data platform, raised €6M in funding. Backers included Shift Invest, Karista, and Techstars. More Here
Better Stack, a Prague, Czech Republic, and San Francisco, CA-based company that helps developers ship higher-quality software through observability tools, raised additional $10M in funding. Backers included KAYA, Aaron Levie (CEO at Box) and Kulpreet Singh (ex-UiPath). More Here
Deeploi, a Berlin, Germany-based developer of an IT management platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), raised €6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Atomico with participation from existing investor Cherry Ventures. More Here
Morressier, a Berlin, Germany-based startup which specializes in scholarly communications, raised $16.5M in Series B funding. The round was led by Molten Ventures with participation from existing investors including Redalpine, Owl Ventures, and Cherry Ventures. More Here
Reel, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based renewable electricity supplier, raised €5M in funding. The round was led by Transition with participation from UVC Partners, The Footprint Firm, Daniel Nathan and Christian Bach. More Here
Naq, an Amstersdam, The Netherlands- and London, UK-based automated healthcare and medical compliance platform, raised €3m in funding. Backers included No Such Ventures plus additional support from existing investors. More Here
EDX Markets, a Hoboken, NJ-based digital asset marketplace, raised an undisclosed amount in Series B funding. The round was led by Pantera Capital and Sequoia Capital. More Here
OpenDialog, a London, UK-based provider of a conversational AI platform used by regulated industries, raised over $8M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $13M, was led by AlbionVC, with participation from Dowgate Capital and angel investors, directors and staff. More Here
Qdrant, a Berlin, Germany-based open-source vector database, raised $28M in Series A funding. The round was led by Spark Capital, with participation from existing investors Unusual Ventures and 42CAP. More Here
💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES
Cardumen Capital, which has offices in Tel Aviv and Madrid, has raised a second fund of $120 million, bringing its total assets under management to $250 million. Cardumen invests in pre-seed and seed-stage startups focused on areas like AI, cybersecurity, and Big Data. More Here
𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLE
Great Ideas Look Bad At Early Stage, Why?
Sam Altman - "The challenge lies in finding the truly good ones that may seem bad to most. Spotting undervalued ideas is key in the startup world.
Initially great ideas look bad - if it's not then everyone could go for that one idea and be super competitive”.… Read More Here
💡 SARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ
Acquisition & Exits
Fantuan, a Vancouver, Canada–based Asian food delivery company, announced it acquired Chicago based Chowbus’ delivery business line. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. More Here
United Arab Emirates, ABU DHABI is close to finalizing the acquisition of MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones from General Atomics. More Here
Tilray Brands, a cannabis CPG company, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Truss Beverage Co. from Molson Coors after satisfying its remaining contractual obligations. More Here
Layoffs & Shutdown
E-commerce company eBay, plans to let go of 1,000 employees or around 9% of its workforce due to the ongoing economic conditions. More Here
The Los Angeles Times announced on Tuesday that it would lay off at least 155 employees, or a fifth of its newsroom staff amid of heavy financial losses. More Here
Wayfair, online furniture and home goods retailer was laying off about 1,650 global employees—13% of its workforce. The Wayfair founder said the layoff necessary for clean organizational model. More Here
Startups & People
After regulators put the kibosh on Adobe's merger with Figma, Figma is reducing its valuation from $20 billion to $10 billion and offering buyout packages to employees who want to bail. More Here
San Francisco is suing a California state commission for allowing Waymo and Cruise to expand their autonomous car operations in the city despite the "serious problems" that the cars were causing. More Here
Connie Chan, a longtime investor with Andreessen Horowitz who became the firm's second female general partner in 2018, is leaving the outfit as it shifts more of its focus away from consumer deals and more toward opportunities around AI. Chan looking to raise her own fund. More Here
🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH
Apple is delaying the release of its electric vehicle to at least 2028, scaling back on its original plans for a fully autonomous car. The company is simplifying the design and opting for a "Level 2+" autonomous system, focusing on lane centering and adaptive cruise control. This shift follows discussions with the board and signals a departure from Apple's initial ambition for a fully autonomous vehicle without traditional controls. More Here
Google ended its contract with Appen, an Australian data company involved in training its large language model AI tools used in Bard, Search, and other products, even as the competition to develop generative AI tools increases. More Here
According to a Bloomberg interview, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said it's "very likely" that Klarna will have a stock market listing in the US "quite soon"
📰 TODAY’S MUST READ ON: STARTUP, TECH & VC
🤔 WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Previous Poll: 57.14% readers prefer to negotiate directly with investors without lawyer helps. It’s great to see that founders are very well known with the term sheet terms and what things to negotiate.
In negotiating a term sheet for a startup investment, which factor do you consider most crucial for long-term success? |
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That’s It For Today! Will Meet You Tomorrow!
Happy Thursday! 🥂
✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team
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