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The inauguration week seemed short in the U.S., but was loaded with enough startup news and updates to engage entrepreneurs.
This Week’s Exciting Startup News
From the comparison of sales to the legal battles of an AI decacorn, this week was full of surprises and lessons.
Divvy Homes, an a16z-backed rent-to-own startup, is now part of Brookfield Properties’ lineage with a deal worth about $1 billion, though not all stockholders will cash in.
Consumer goods colossus Hindustan Unilever absorbs Peak XV-supported skincare startup Minimalist from India for about $342 million, outperforming its sought-after valuation last year.
AI parking solution Metropolis has taken over computer vision enterprise Oosto at a discount, amidst a backdrop of withdrawn support because of Oosto’s controversial technological use in surveillance systems.
Despite its worth of $13.8 billion last year, Scale AI is embroiled in its third lawsuit as contractors claim psychological damage due to disturbing writing prompts. However, the company has reportedly put several safeguarding measures in place.
Noteworthy Funding News of the Week
The week witnessed a spectrum of Series B rounds, some even rivalling Series C rounds in size. Then, for those not ready for an IPO yet, there’s still a lot more alphabets to choose.
Data analytics platform Databricks has wrapped up a $10 billion Series J equity funding round at an incredible $62 billion valuation, with an additional debt financing worth $5.25 billion. Neko Health, the brainchild of Spotify’s Daniel Ek, raised a mega $260 million Series B round, pushing the startup to a $1.8 billion post-money valuation.
Lindus Health, a Peter Thiel and Creandum-backed startup moving from U.K. to U.S. has pulled in a $55 million Series B for mending the ‘broken’ clinical trial industry. Vertice, an AI-powered platform managing SaaS expenses, gathered up a $50 million Series C round.
Ati Motors, an autonomous mobile robots startup from India, gears up for global growth with a $20 million Series B raise. Lastly, AngelList and CoinList dove into the resurgent crypto hype, introducing crypto venture strategies for fundraising.
The Final Note
Even with AI’s growing intrigue, certain subareas attract more VC attention. As per a recent survey conducted by TechCrunch, VCs are leaning more toward company investments rather than features this year.
Original source: Read the full article on TechCrunch
