Startups Weekly
Welcome to Startups Weekly, your weekly update on the most significant happenings in the startup ecosystem.
This week showcased a diverse landscape of risk-taking and adaptation within the startup world. Let’s delve into some of the most compelling stories.
Layoffs and Acquisitions
Layoffs following acquisitions or controversies stemming from daring decisions are unfortunately not uncommon—but there’s also positive news on the innovation front.
Shrinking Teams: The Italian app company Bending Spoons plans to lay off 75% of the staff at WeTransfer, the Dutch file transfer startup it acquired in July. This follows previous job cuts at other acquired companies, including Evernote, Filmic, and Meetup.
Warped Views: Warp, a YC-incubated payroll startup, faced controversy and ultimately distanced itself from an affiliate account on X that appeared to be using an unusual, and frankly risky, marketing strategy.
Level-headed: Sydney-based Neurode has developed a headband that utilizes light electrical stimulation in the prefrontal cortex to treat ADHD symptoms like lack of focus. Currently in a private beta phase, the company aims to get its wearable device approved by the FDA as a medical device.
Fundraising Roundup
The current market conditions haven’t completely stalled fundraising efforts; however, some funding rounds blend equity and debt.
Fauxmage: Formo, a food tech startup based in Berlin, secured a $61 million Series B round to continue scaling its dairy-free cheese production.
Less Paper: Qualifyze, a Frankfurt-based startup, raised a $54 million Series B round. The company intends to expand its operations, particularly in the U.S., and integrate more AI and analytics into its products, which assist pharmaceutical companies in managing their supply chains.
Insurtech: Neat, a Paris-based embedded insurance startup, raised €50 million in a mix of debt and equity financing. Hedosophia led the Series A round.
Smart Cat: Smartcat, a provider of automated translation tools aimed at businesses, raised a $43 million Series C round led by Left Lane Capital helping the startup grow its team and invest in its product, marketing, and sales.
One More Round: An AI-enabled bookkeeping, accounting, and finance startup based in Miami targeting SMBs raised a $50 million Series B round of funding and also secured a corresponding $150 million credit line.
VC and Fund News
Optionality: Atomico, a London-based venture capital firm, raised $1.24 billion across two funds. Atomico Venture VI will primarily focus on Series A investments. The second fund, Atomico Growth VI, will target Series B through pre-IPO investments, presumably appealing to investors who are more risk-averse.
Follow-on: Alpha Partners announced a $153 million third fund, dedicated to what was once a novel concept: assisting seed investors in exercising pro rata rights in later rounds by writing checks of $5 million to $10 million alongside them.
Navigating State-Level Regulations
The U.S. presents a more fragmented legal environment than it might first seem. This is a hard lesson for some startups, which are facing fines and sometimes outright bans from individual states.
As TechCrunch’s Rebecca Szkutak noted, “the upshot is that state-level regulations need to be factored into a founder’s business plans as soon as feasible, be it through investing in compliance software or through hiring legal experts.”
