All posts tagged: startup

Paris-based startup studio Hexa raises some funding to launch even more startups

Published by skeptic

You might not be familiar with Hexa, the Paris-based startup studio that has launched dozens of B2B software companies, but some of its portfolio companies have become well-known unicorns, such as Front, Aircall and Spendesk. And it turns out that Hexa itself could be considered as a startup as the company just raised a funding round of $22 million in fresh capital (€20 million). This isn’t the first time Hexa raises outside capital. But it’s the company’s first round since 2016. “We’ve got a few family offices investing, but we’ve mostly got local entrepreneurs investing like Luc Pallavidino (Yousign), Adrien Van Den Branden (Canyon), Paul Vidal (Collective) and Arnaud Schwartz (Marble),” Hexa co-founder Thibaud Elzière told me. In other words, Hexa is raising from its own community of founders and friends. And this is just a first step as the company promises that there will be more funding in the coming months. “This marks our initial close, and we anticipate a subsequent round in the new year. Our aim is to welcome even more family …

European startup funding halved to $42B in 2023, says Atomico

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The downturn in the technology sector — dragged by inflation, higher interest rates and geopolitical events — continues to persist, and one of the most acutely impacted areas has been VC funding for startups, particularly those outside the U.S. According to VC firm Atomico, companies in Europe are on track to raise just $42 billion this year — less than half the $85 billion that startups in the region raised in 2022. The figures come from Atomico’s big report on the state of European tech, which it publishes annually. It also found that startups in the region are raising less at each stage of funding from Seed through to Series C (and beyond), with later stage and larger companies feeling a particular pinch: just 7 “unicorns” (startups with a valuation of more than $1 billion) are set to emerge this year in Europe, compared to 48 in 2022 and 108 in 2021. Image Credits: Atomico (opens in a new window)(opens in a new w But there is a silver lining in the story. While overall …

TC Startup Battlefield master class with Lightspeed Ventures: Use generative AI to supercharge efficiency

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Generative AI is the hot topic in tech right now, but how can you as a startup founder take full advantage of it? Every year, TechCrunch highlights the most promising 200 early-stage founders from around the world to showcase at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. As part of our programming, we host master classes with industry experts and venture investors to provide tactical advice and insights to these founders. This is the third installment of a four-part series of master classes that cover a wide range of practical and tactical advice to founders on how to build their companies. In this session, Raviraj Jain, partner at Lightspeed Ventures, explores how early-stage startups will be impacted by genAI, how they can utilize the new tech to supercharge their efficiency, and what to look out for when adopting various forms of AI across your business. This private session was held in August, and we’re sharing this now so TechCrunch+ subscribers can also reap the benefits of Startup Battlefield. The impact of generative AI on your company Source …

TC Startup Battlefield master class with Blumberg Capital: Make the most of your investors’ expertise

Published by skeptic

Funding is a necessary part of growing and scaling your startup. However, investors can do more than just provide funding for your company; many VCs are highly experienced and can provide valuable insights and tips on running a business. Every year, TechCrunch highlights the most promising 200 early-stage founders from around the world to showcase at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. As part of our programming, we host master classes with industry experts and venture investors to provide tactical advice and insights to these founders. This is the fourth installment of a four-part series of Startup Battlefield master classes that cover a wide array of key topics related to building and scaling companies. In this session, David Blumberg, founder and managing partner at Blumberg Ventures, explains how early-stage startups can look to their investors for help with solving problems, scaling, hiring, and strategic planning. This private session was held in August, and we’re sharing this now so TechCrunch+ subscribers can also reap the benefits of Startup Battlefield. How to make the most of your investors’ …

What startup founders need to know about AI heading into 2024

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Now that the OpenAI leadership saga has died down, startup founders building with AI can get back to work building the future. If that’s you, TechCrunch+ has a pile of notes, opinion pieces and forward-looking stories with your name on them. Sure, TechCrunch+ is a lot more than AI-related coverage, but we are also going as deep as possible on artificial intelligence because everyone is building with, or on, it. And some cases — as we’ll see shortly — that can be part of the problem. Here’s a short list of posts for AI founders looking ahead to 2024: It’s busy out there! Stay up-to-date with us. You can also keep up with TechCrunch+ on Twitter, and check out all our recent coverage here.           Source link

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, quietly raises an additional $43M

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Neuralink, the Elon Musk-founded company developing implantable chips that can read brain waves, has raised an additional $43 million in venture capital, according to a filing with the SEC. The filing published this week shows the company increased its previous tranche, led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, from $280 million to $323 million in early August. Thirty-two investors participated, according to the filing. Neuralink hasn’t disclosed its valuation recently. But in June, Reuters reported that the company was valued at about $5 billion after privately-executed stock trades. Founded in 2016, Neuralink has devised a sewing machine-like device capable of implanting ultra-thin threads inside the brain. The threads attach to a custom-designed chip containing electrodes that can read information from groups of neurons. Brain-signal-reading implants are a decades-old technology. But Neuralink’s ostensible innovation lies in making the implants wireless and increasing the number of implanted electrodes. In May, Neuralink received FDA approval for human clinical trials after having its application previously rejected, and opened up its first human trials for recruitment under an investigational device exemption …

Generative AI startup AI21 Labs raises cash in the midst of OpenAI chaos

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One AI startup’s undoing is another’s opportunity. Case in point: today, AI21 Labs, a company developing generative AI products along the lines of OpenAI’s GPT-4 and ChatGPT, closed a $53 million extension to its previously-announced Series C funding round. The new tranche, which had participation from new investors Intel Capital and Comcast Ventures, brings AI21’s total raised to $336 million. The startup’s valuation remains unchanged at $1.4 billion. Ori Goshen, AI21 Labs’ co-founder and CEO, said that the cash infusion will be put toward product development and growing the startup’s headcount. (Perhaps a few of those new hires will come from OpenAI, given the string of departures there — if they don’t jump ship for Microsoft.) “We’re extremely grateful for the support of our investors who believe in our deep technology expertise,” Goshen said in a press release. “Mass deployment of AI requires deep understanding of high-performance language models that can deliver better value and impact. Our approach is about designing AI with purpose, making it significantly more efficient than building from scratch, and much …

Online grocery startup Pricepally to expand in Nigeria backed by $1.3M funding

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Pricepally, a Nigerian online grocery store for fresh produce and packaged food, has raised $1.3 million seed funding, backed by Samurai Incubate; a Japanese VC that also participated in the startup’s 2021 pre-seed round, SOSV, ELEA, Hi2 Global, Chui Ventures and ex-Unilever executive David Mureithi. Following the new funding, the startup joins a handful of African food e-commerce startups, including South Africa’s Yebo Fresh and Morocco’s Terraa, that have raised funding this year, as venture capitalists continue to scale back their operations. Pricepally says it will use the funding to expand beyond the three cities it currently serves in Nigeria and to re-introduce group buying to keep up with its promise of enabling consumers to buy food affordably. The startup facilitates same or next day delivery of the produce ordered through its digital channels including the app and WhatsApp chatbot. It has a network of fulfillment centers within the three cities it currently operates in but outsources delivery services. Luther Lawoyin (CEO), Deepak Bansal (CTO), Mosun Lawoyin (CXO) and Jummai Abalaka (COO), launched Pricepally in …

How to ensure an ethical acquisition for your startup

Published by skeptic

When you build a startup, the best shot you have at seeing a big payday is becoming an acquisition. Sure, a handful of startups end up going to IPO. But the likelihood of acquisition beats your chances of going public by a ratio of 10 to one. Unfortunately, the exciting possibility of an acquisition leads new founders to make all kinds of mistakes. They end up losing out on much better deals, huge sums of money and even years of their lives stuck in post-acquisition work that they can’t stand. I know this from experience. In my early days as an entrepreneur, I ran into some of these pitfalls. In my work advising founders over the years, I’ve had many founders come to me too late, after they’d already fallen for some investors’ unethical practices. And since my company, Awesome Motive, has acquired numerous small businesses in ways aimed at helping them grow, I’ve seen that founders can take steps to ensure ethical acquisitions with founder-friendly terms. When they do, everyone comes out ahead — …

Maybe compliance tech really is a good startup bet

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German software company EQS Group is being taken private by Thoma Bravo for about €400 million ($435.1 million) in a deal that represents a massive 53% premium over its pre-announcement value. Shares of EQS are up just under 52% today, implying that the market expects the deal to complete, and at the listed price. The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get The Exchange newsletter every Saturday. We care about a relatively small PE take-private of a software company that —be honest — you had not heard of until this deal was announced because of the why behind the transaction, and what it could mean for quite a number of startups operating in the regulatory technology (regtech) market. Briefly, EQS Group is a public company that sells compliance and investor relations software. In the third quarter of 2023, EQS reported 14% revenue growth (year-over-year) to €16.88 million, the addition of €3.00 million worth of new ARR (+50%), and adjusted EBITDA of €2.32 million (+49%). EQS is therefore not …