Good Morning Monday!! Here are the latest weekly startup updates for you. Before starting this week take a round up with some latest news from startup world.
22nd March, 2021
1. UK startup raises €8m of funding to convert CO2 into animal feed
A UK company Deep Branch, that turns carbon dioxide into protein to be used for animal feed has raised €8m (£6.8m) in funding as it seeks to displace the use of deforestation-linked soy by farmers. Read more
2. Fintech firm Yap secures $10m in a round co-led by Flourish Ventures
Launched in 2015, Indian fintech firm Yap has raised US$10 million in its series B round led by Flourish Ventures and early-stage investment company Omidyar Network India. Read more
23rd March, 2021
1. Ro raises $500M to grow its remote and in-home primary care platform
Healthcare tech startup Ro has raised $500 million, company helps continued growth of its hybrid telehealth/in-home primary care platform. Ro’s model focuses on primary care delivered direct to consumer, without engaging any payer or employer-funded and guided care programs. Read more
2. ServiceNow takes RPA plunge by acquiring India-based startup Intellibot
ServiceNow count recently a company, to take the robotic process automation (RPA) plunge when it announced it was acquiring Intellibot, an RPA startup based in India. Click to know more.
3. Bill Gates wants Western countries to eat ‘synthetic meat’; Meatable has raised $47 million to make it
In a recent interview during his book launch, Bill Gates advocated for citizens of the richest countries in the world to switch to diets consisting entirely of what he called synthetic meat in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, two of the best funded companies in the lab-grown meat market hail from The Netherlands, where Mosa Meat is being challenged by a newer upstart, Meatable, which just announced $47 million in new financing. But Mearables has long way to explore , Gates said in a discussion on the same. Read more
4. Trace announces $8M seed to help companies coordinate budgets
Trace, startup that wants to bring a taste of SaaS to the finance side of the house, announced an $8 million seed round. Trace handles all the core interactions between finance and everyone they need to work with in the business, focusing on budget owners. Read more
24th March, 2021
1. Crypto wallet and exchange company Blockchain.com raises $300 million at $5.2 billion valuation
Latest, another cryptocurrency company is having a blockbuster first quarter of 2021. Blockchain.com, the company behind a popular cryptocurrency wallet, an exchange, a block explorer has closed a $300 million Series C round. Read more
2. Feedzai raises $200M at a $1B+ valuation for AI tools to fight financial fraud
Feedzai, which provides banks, others in the financial sector, and any company managing payments online with AI tools to spot and fight fraud has raised around of $200 million. . Benchmark is its super-quick (3 millisecond) checks happening in the background while transactions are being made. Read more
3. Indian social network Public App raises $41 million
A location-based social network app, called Public App- that connects individuals to people in their vicinity, has raised $41 million in a new round. Company aims to expand it outside the country eventually. Read more
4. Robinhood files confidentially to go public
The well-financed Robinhood is an American fintech company that provides zero-cost trading services to consumers. sources reported that Robinhood has filed privately to go public. Click to read more.
25th March, 2021
1. Biotech startups incubate a new generation of therapies and tools
Atom Bioworks has one of the shortest timelines and highest potential impacts; a programmable DNA machine. These tools can essentially “code” a molecule so that it reliably sticks to a specific substance or cell type, which allows a variety of follow-up actions to be taken. Read more
2. TuSimple’s IPO filing reveals roadblocks for self-driving startups with Chinese ties
TuSimple, a self-driving truck company headquartered in San Diego, filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq this week, its prospectus flagged a regulatory risk due to its Chinese funding source. Read more
3. Edtech giant Byju’s in talks to raise at $15 billion valuation
Byju’s is in talks to raise over $600 million in a new financing round that values the Indian startup at $15 billion, up from about $11 billion late last year, The fresh round is in higher stages of talks and its size could become bigger; some new investors are expected to lead and participate. Read more
4. Ribbon wants to make it easier for product teams to interview users
Product teams simply install the Ribbon widget on their website and can then recruit and conduct video interviews with users any point in the user journey. Ribbon, wants to make it easy for product teams to recruit and interview users, and to “continuously test and validate their hypotheses”. Read more
5. Brazil’s iFood outlines sustainability initiatives aiming to reduce its carbon footprint
iFood the Brazilian-based food delivery startup has announced a series of initiatives designed to reduce the company’s environmental impact. The program has two main components — one focused on plastic pollution and waste and another aiming to become carbon neutral in its operations by 2025. Read more
26th March, 2021
1. ‘Link-in-bio’ company Linktree raises $45M Series B for its social commerce features
Linktree, one of the most popular “link in bio” services with more than 12 million users, announced that it has raised $45 million in Series B funding. Linktree’s latest funding will be used on tools that make social commerce easier. Read more
2. Better Health raises $3.5M seed round to reinvent medical supply shopping through e-commerce
New startup Better Health aims to reinvent medical supply that, with an e-commerce approach to serving customers in need of medical supplies for chronic conditions, and it has raised $3.5 million in a new seed round to pursue its goals. Read more
3. Google backs one-year-old Indian startup DotPe in $27.5 million fundraise
An India, Gurgaon-based startup a-year-old startup DotPe, raised $27.5 million in its Series A financing round. The round was led by PayU, with participation from existing investor Info Edge Ventures and Google. Read more
4. Crypto boom continues as Chainalysis raises $100M, doubles valuation to over $2B
Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis company, announced that it has closed on $100 million in Series D financing, doubling its valuation to over $2 billion. Chainalysis tools aim to help government agencies, cryptocurrency businesses and financial institutions. Read more
5. While other startups develop alt-proteins for meat replacement, Nourish Ingredients focuses on fat
Unlike other startups who are focusing on alteration of protein. Nourish Ingredients, which is focusing on fat. The company already counts several customers in both the plant and recombinant protein production space. Now, with 18 employees, the company is producing both genetically modified and non-CRISPR cultivated optimized fats.
27th March, 2021
1. Jeff Bezos’ investment fund is backing a startup hoping to be the AWS for SMB accounting
The company combines its software with accountants to do things such as provide “CFO Services” to SMBs without a full-stack finance team. It also offers monthly variance analysis for all its bookkeeping customers, so they can make better budgeting and spending decisions. Read more
2. CEO Manish Chandra and investor Navin Chaddha explain why Poshmark’s Series A deck sings
The idea for Poshmark started to percolate into something more concrete. The company practiced that early on by holding IRL, and then virtual, parties, allowing users to show each other their wares and create an engagement cycle that offered instant gratification. Read more
3. Y Combinator-backed Vue Storefront aims to be the ‘glue’ for e-commerce
Most headless commerce companies are dedicated on creating back-end infrastructure, Vue powers the front end, namely the progressive web applications with which consumers actually interact. The company defines itself as “the lightning-fast front-end platform for headless commerce.” Read more
28th March, 2021
1. How our SaaS startup improved net revenue retention by more than 30 points in two quarters
Indeed, certainly no shortage of SaaS performance metrics leaders focus on. While all SaaS companies do, and must, home in on acquisition metrics, there’s also massive revenue potential within your current customer base. Read more
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: 15th March 2021 - 21st March 2021
Startup News: 8th March 2021 - 14th March 2021
Startup News: 1st March 2021 - 7th March 2021
Startup News: 22nd February 2021 - 28th February 2021
Startup News: 15th February 2021 - 21st February 2021
Startup News: 8th February 2021 - 14th February 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.
