Startup News: 17th May 2021 - 23rd May 2021

Good Morning Monday!! As we enter a new week, let’s get a round of latest trending startups news insights.

17th May, 20

1. Fave, with $2.2 million seed, looks to connect creators with their fandoms

Fave is all about the relationship between fans and creators. Alongside the announcement of the funding, Fave is also launching into public beta. Ar FAve connect with one another, create content and buy and sell fan-themed merchandise and artwork to one another. Read more

2. Merge raises $4.5M to help B2B companies build customer-facing integrations

Merge, a startup that helps its users build customer-facing integrations with third-party tools has raised a $4.5 million seed round. Merge’s main aim is to work on a few verticals, the plan is to expand this to far more areas shortly, likely starting with CRM. Click to read more

18th May, 2021

1. Ankorstore raises another $102 million for its wholesale marketplace

French startup Ankorstore has raised a $102 million Sequence B funding spherical (€84 million). The company is building a wholesale marketplace for independent shop owners. Read more

2. Industrial automation startup Bright Machines hauls in $435M by going public via SPAC

Bright Machines is trying to solve a hard problem related to industrial automation by creating microfactories. Trying to completely transform manufacturing using machine learning. Read more

3. Egyptian furniture marketplace Homzmart lands $15M Series A for MENA expansion

It is rare to find one-stop shops, especially large offline ones, that can adequately cater to the needs of consumers in the MENA region. Here, the company helping fulfill demand from a young and fast-growing consumer middle class. Read more

19th May, 2021

1. Commission-free trading app Stake secures $30M from Tiger Global to expand into Europe

Bokerage-free trading app Stake, which is available in the U.K., Brazil and New Zealand, has raised $30 million from Tiger Global and partners of London-based DST Global. It was the first to offer commission-free access to the U.S. market, read more

2. Startup studio eFounders reaches portfolio valuation of $2 billion

European startup studio eFounders, it is focused on building the future of work. The company is building B2B SaaS with a focus on productivity and workflows. Read more

3. Financing for students startup StudentFinance raises $5.3M

Fintech startup StudentFinance startup launched at 2020, which allows educational institutions to offer success-based financing for students, click to read more

20th May, 2021

1. Chile-based Kredito raises $4M to help businesses get loans 

Chile-based Kredito announced a $4 million pre-seed round. The company focuses on generating loans for small to medium-sized businesses, read more

2. a16z bets millions on Maven, a platform for cohort-based courses

Maven, a startup that helps professionals teach cohort-based classes, has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, click to read more

3. Portside raises $17M for its business aviation management platform

Portside, an aviation startup has raised a $17 million funding round led by Tiger Global Management. It lets business aviation companies and flight departments manage everything from flight operations to maintenance, and many more, click to read more about the story

21st May, 2021

1. Telemedicine startups are positioning themselves for a post-pandemic world

For people in remote or rural areas without easy access to in-person care, consulting a doctor over the phone has often been the go-to approach. Startups that provide services around virtual care continue to be poised for success, Telemedicine is ahead in the race, read more

2. Mental health app Wysa raises $5.5M for ’emotionally intelligent’ AI

Wysa is something like a chatbot that can respond with words of affirmation, or guide a user through one of 150 different therapeutic techniques. It is an AI-powered mental health app designed by Touchkin eServicess, read more

3. Snap Acquires AR-Focused WaveOptics for $500 Million

The Snapchat parent is acquiring up U.K based WaveOptics, an AR startup that makes the waveguides and projectors used in AR glasses. Snap is paying over $500 million for the startup, in a cash-and-stock deal, click to read more

22nd May, 2021

1. Startup Breeze Airways Begin Flights This Week, soon to add more destinations

U.S travelers are about to get their second new airline of the spring. Breeze, the creation of JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman, is target to add secondary cities that are largely overlooked or abandoned by giant carriers. Read more

2. How a local delivery startup outplayed big foreign competitors in Kashmir

FastBeetle, a two-year-old app-based courier and parcel startup based in Srinagar, launched just months before Kashmir went into the 2019 internet blackout. Walmart-owned Flipkart has been utilizing FastBeetle’s delivery services for four months, read more

23rd May, 2021

1. Chinese startup Pony.ai gets approval to test driverless vehicles in California

Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai got permission from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to test its driverless cars without human safety drivers behind the wheel on specified streets in three cities. Read more on this, click here

If you missed out the previous week or entire month updates of startup world news, follow the link to read it now and stay updated with every passing update with us.

Startup News: 10th May 2021 - 16th May 2021

Startup News: 3rd May 2021 - 9th May 2021

Startup News: 26th April 2021 - 2nd May 2021

Startup News: 19th April 2021 - 25th April 2021

Startup News: 12th April 2021 - 18th April 2021

Startup News: 5th April 2021 - 11th April 2021

Startup News: 29th March 2021 - 4th April 2021

We, at OpenGrowth, are constantly looking for latest news in the startup ecosystem. If you want to share any important news from last week, then do let us know in the comment section below.