Welcome to Startup Weekly—a weekly recap of every little thing you may’t miss on the planet of startups.
This week we’re buying small startups, two new unicorns, wearable AI gadgets, and a enterprise capital agency backing Kamala Harris. let’s begin.
Essentially the most attention-grabbing startup tales of the week
With the IPO market virtually useless, we’re pressured to trace one other exit technique: mergers and acquisitions. Whereas they don’t seem to be all the time the outcomes founders or buyers hoped for, we do hear increasingly about startups promoting themselves.
Canva takes a web page from Leonardo: Graphic design platform Canva has acquired Leonardo.ai, a picture creation startup powered by synthetic intelligence that has raised almost $39 million in enterprise capital since its founding two years in the past. Whereas we do not understand how a lot Canva paid for Leonardo, we do know that the design large is busy constructing out its AI stack, and Leonardo is one other piece of the puzzle. learn extra
Airtable acquires Dopt: There’s a battle for AI expertise. That is why companion firm Airtable determined to purchase this kind of expertise wholesale. This week, it acquired Dopt, a startup specializing in AI-powered onboarding. In its new house, the Dopt workforce can be chargeable for creating numerous AI options and presumably Airtable’s just lately launched Airtable Cobuilder, an AI-powered app creation software. learn extra
Clutch caught Plaiced: 4-year-old Clutch, a market that connects creators with companies, has raised $2 million from buyers together with Precursor Ventures and at one level had greater than 200 creators on the platform and a ready listing of three,000 individuals. However the street ultimately bought powerful. The startup restructured itself and lower jobs to change into worthwhile. Nonetheless, the startup’s co-founders consider Clutch’s finest path ahead is to promote itself to on-line social community Plaiced. learn extra
Bending Spoons acquires WeTransfer: Italian tech firm Bending Spoons, recognized for buying well-known however troubled startups akin to Evernote and Meetup, has acquired the file switch service WeTransfer. WeTransfer, which is 15 years previous, thought of going public in 2021 however withdrew its plans when the IPO window closed in early 2022. learn extra
Essentially the most attention-grabbing fundraisers of the week
It is a bike, a taxi, a unicorn: Rapido, an Indian bike taxi startup, has achieved unicorn standing with an funding of US$120 million led by WestBridge Capital. The financing reveals that Rapido is cannibalizing India’s long-standing duopoly of Uber and Ola. learn extra
Flo Well being raises $200 mega: This fertility-focused interval monitoring app has obtained Collection C funding led by Common Atlantic, valuing it at $1 billion. TechCrunch spoke with Flo co-founder and CEO Dmitry Gurski concerning the newest funding, ladies’s well being, and associated points. learn extra
Struggle loneliness with synthetic intelligence: It could really feel like one thing out of science fiction or a Black Mirror episode, however Harvard dropout Avi Schiffmann is satisfied that fixed companionship is likely one of the killer use instances for synthetic intelligence. He developed a tool referred to as Pal, a necklace that may hearken to somebody’s voice at any time and reply by way of textual content messages. Pal, priced at $99 and anticipated to be obtainable in January 2025, has raised $2.5 million in enterprise capital at a $50 million valuation from buyers together with Caffeulated Capital’s Raymond Tonsing, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas and Solana Founder Anatoly Yakovenko. learn extra
bees too: Wearable synthetic intelligence {hardware} that may hearken to and work together with its proprietor has one other participant, Bee. The corporate, based by former Twitter staff, has raised $7 million to develop a man-made intelligence assistant that may take notes, show contextual reminders and construct lists. learn extra
Knowde lower: Sequoia Capital-backed Knowde has raised $60 million in a funding spherical at a valuation beneath its 2021 valuation of $500 million. It has raised greater than US$150 in enterprise capital, totaling 1 million yuan. learn extra
Essentially the most attention-grabbing enterprise capital and fund information this week
Kamala’s Enterprise Capital: With the 2024 presidential election simply months away, many enterprise capitalists are publicly selecting sides. This week, Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla and Mark Cuban dedicated to voting for Kamala Harris. They created a bunch referred to as VCsForKamala and used the location to solicit donations for the present vp. As of this writing, 645 enterprise capitalists have pledged their assist to Harris. learn extra
Prepare dinner leaves Tigers: Tiger World has had quite a lot of high-profile departures over the previous few years, akin to software program investing chief John Curtius and Scott Shleifer, who moved to an advisory function. The newest exit comes from companion Alex Prepare dinner, who centered on Tiger’s many investments in India. learn extra
Moxxie raises third fund: Elevating capital is troublesome for rising enterprise capital companies, however Moxxie Ventures overcame the issue and simply surpassed its funding aim for its third fund. The underrepresented founder-focused agency, led by Katie Jacobs Stanton, a seasoned investor with a powerful community, has secured $95 million in new capital. learn extra
final however not least
Utilized Instinct is a self-driving automobile software program startup that raised $250 million in Collection E funding just a few months in the past. Now the corporate has offered $300 million in a secondary sale, including Constancy Administration & Analysis Firm to its lengthy listing of present buyers, together with Lux Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Mary Meeker’s development fund Bond. learn extra
