Startup News: 9th November 2020 - 15th November 2020

Good Morning Monday! Let's explore what's new in the startup world. Here are the latest weekly startup stories for you. Have a proactive week ahead.

9th November, Monday

1. Moon exploration startup ispace opens new US office and hires SpaceX alum to lead development of next lander

Japanese startup ispace, which is developing lander technology to support exploration of the moon, is opening an office in Denver. Read more.

2. MSCHF’s Push Party raises an unconventional seed round at a $200 million valuation

The startup has spun a rather simplistic app into a separate company and raised an undisclosed amount of seed financing by a really real venture capital firm for an eye-popping $200 million valuation. Read more.

3. Tim Berners Lee’s startup Inrupt releases Solid privacy platform for enterprises

Inrupt, the startup from World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee, declared an enterprise edition of the good privacy platform. The startup started in 2017 and has increased about $20 million up to now. Bruce and Berners-Lee know for it to take root, Read more.

10th November, Tuesday

1. Hopin raises $125M for its online events platform on the back of surging growth

Hopin, a startup that provides online events software, announced that it has closed a $125 million Series B round of capital. Hopin raised a $40 million Series A. Read more.

2. E-scooter startup Tier raises $250 million round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2

Tier, Berlin based has raised a significant Series C round of $250 million. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 is leading the round, which proves that the Vision Fund team is still focused on high-risk, high-potential bets. Read more.

11th November, Wednesday

1. Square and PayPal earnings bring good (and bad) news for fintech startups

Earnings season is racing past us, together with the large ride-hailing firms' numbers in, all of the Big Five with wrapped their reporting and a lot of SaaS numbers in the marketplace. But amidst all of the noise, The Exchange has kept a watch on two companies specifically: PayPal and Square. Read more.

2. Fishtown Analytics raises $29.5M Series B for its data engineering platform

Fishtown Analytics, the Philadelphia-based company behind the dbt open-source data engineering tool, today announced that it has raised a $29.5 million Series B round led by Sequoia Capital. Read more.

3. Greylock’s Asheem Chandna on ‘shifting left’ in cybersecurity and the future of enterprise startups

Greylock, who has invested in enterprise and cybersecurity startups for nearly two decades now, backing such notable companies as Palo Alto Networks, AppDynamics and Sumo Logic. Read more.

4. This startup is betting that you want to binge remote-work content

The months since, many workplaces have remained closed. And with the number of coronavirus cases growing at a rapid clip, it's not clear when, or even though, offices will reopen. wrkfrce, thinks there’s an opportunity for a media publication dedicated solely to helping workers navigate what he thinks is an irreversible shift. Read more.

12th November, Thursday

1. Menlo Security announces $100M Series E on $800M valuation

Menlo Security, a malware and phishing prevention startup, announced a $100 million Series E today on an $800 million valuation. Read more.

2. Livestorm raises $30M for its browser-based meeting and webinar platform

Livestorm, a Video communication startupannounced today that it has raised $30 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Aglaé Ventures and Bpifrance Digital Venture, with participation from Raise Ventures and IDInvest. Read more.

13th November, Friday

1. Why so many valuable startups seem like the dumbest idea at first

Gil, who typically makes bets in seed-stage companies, has cut checks to some 25 startups that have since reached the vaunted unicorn status, including Instacart, Stripe, and Coinbase. Read more.

2. Which emerging technologies are enterprise companies getting serious about in 2020?

Startups are talking about technology changes and client requirements that the executives within the massive company -- even if they have"invention,""IT," or even"emerging technologies" in their titles -- just don't see as a pressing priority yet, or can't market to their colleagues.Read mpre.

3. Preserving cells: Minnesota startup 'BlueCube Bio' develops new approach

The Minnesota-based startup formed in June, developing a publication strategy of preserving cells used to treat cancer and other ailments. Their solution uses non-toxic, nature-inspired molecules. Read more.

4. Building in Public: How Tech Companies Master Product-Market Fit

Consumers understand that each business would like to develop a profit, however, customers are more prone to engage with companies that seem to set the consumer prior to earnings. That is the reason why the construct in public version is among the greatest ways for technology companies to prevent problems of inauthenticity and finally master product-market fit. Read more.

5. How are product designers valued in tech startups?

Hiring managers having a big list of expectations means that these are critical business needs and that there are, in fact, individuals in today’s world who have most of the skillsets. Read more.

14th November, Saturday

1. The $134.6 billion cybersecurity market is going to see explosive growth in 2021

 According to PitchBook. Here are the 10 blockbuster startups with the most funding and unicorn valuations.  The $134.6 billion cybersecurity market is going to see explosive growth in 2021. Read more.

2. What Quibi's downfall can teach you about investing in new companies

We may look back a decade from today (or not) and remember the soon-to-be defunct mobile streaming startup Quibi as"summit 2020." On paper, Quibi had the ingredients of a successful tech startup. Read more.

3. Twilio and Stripe are seeing explosive growth in 2020, highlighting a major software industry trend that's getting gobs VC

Firms like Twilio and Shopify have seen their inventory multiply throughout the coronavirus pandemic, while startups such as Stripe, Postman, MessageBird, and Auth0 have increased funding this past year.
These firms all focus in APIs, or application programming interfaces. Read more.

4. With $20 million to invest, venture capital firm sets sights on Cheyenne

At the U.S., coastal towns such as New York and San Francisco are packed in startups and venture capital companies expecting to purchase the upcoming big idea. A brand new venture capital company set its sights around Cheyenne together with the aim of tapping into a mostly untapped marketplace. Read more.

5. Gifts With A Global Impact - Support This Startup & Uplift A Village

One of the facets of UC Santa Barbara's entrepreneurial program that makes me the most proud is that we encourage students to start all types of ventures, including non-profits and B corps driven by a social-impact mission. Read more.

15th November, Sunday

1. Futu’s Leaf Hua Li: ‘We leveraged technology to change the landscape’

When Leaf Hua Li joined Shenzhen-based Tencent in 2000 as employee number 18, the tech startup was barely known; it had not come up with WeChat and really just became a listed company four years, Read more.

2. The business of video marketing and why brands should own at least one distribution medium

Sindhu Biswal knows a thing or two about marketing, especially in the startup ecosystem.  At the 11th edition of TechSparks, reveals what makes a viral video, the metrics to chase, and the importance of owning a distribution medium. Read more.

3. Reliance Retail buys Urban Ladder for $24.4 million

Reliance Retail has obtained a vast majority stake in decor and furniture platform Urban Ladder, making a broader push into e-commerce as the biggest retail chain in India gears up to combat Amazon and Flipkart. Read more.

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.

News Curated by: Kumar Amritanshu

Amritanshu, a geek, an explorer, traveler and innovative creator by heart. Experimenting with new ideas and exploring innovative technologies are his break-through talent. Endless love for technology and creativity.