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The aftermath of DeepSeek’s launch was arguably the most important tech story of the week, particularly for anybody protecting an in depth eye on public markets. But personal firms, too, made headlines.
Most attention-grabbing startup tales from the week
In startup land, even a small revenue is newsworthy and will result in tomorrow’s IPOs. In the meantime, we have a look at an M&A and a few mission-driven startups preventing hearth.
Scooting alongside: Swedish shared micromobility startup Voi reported its first worthwhile 12 months. While modestly cash-positive, these 2024 outcomes put the scooter and e-bike firm in a greater place to discover an Initial Public Offering in upcoming years.
Merging humanoids: OpenAI-backed Norwegian robotics startup 1X acquired Kind Humanoid, whose three-person staff had began working with high-profile designer Yves Béhar in 2024.
On monitor: French medical insurance startup Alan revealed that it generated roughly $525 million in income in 2024 and confirmed its objective to achieve profitability by 2026.
Firefighters: In the aftermath of Southern California’s latest devastating fires, TechCrunch’s Tim De Chant rounded up startups that assist measure and mitigate wildfire danger.
Most attention-grabbing VC and funding information this week
Some important rounds had been introduced this week, however maybe much more curiously, we noticed some sizable valuation will increase.
Hot like fusion: Nuclear startup Helion raised a $425 million Series F spherical of funding to assist construct a fusion reactor for Microsoft. This new spherical is smaller than the earlier one, however valuation elevated to $5.245 billion.
Perking up: Barcelona-based company journey administration platform TravelPerk closed a $200 million Series E spherical of funding at a $2.7 billion valuation — virtually twice its earlier $1.4 billion valuation.
Quantum race: With $104 million in Series B funding, French startup Alice & Bob secured one of many bigger rounds for a quantum computing startup in Europe.
AI in opposition to most cancers: Quibim, a Spanish startup that’s growing AI fashions for medical imaging, raised a $50 million Series A spherical of funding to double down on its U.S. growth plans. Its flagship product, QP-Prostate, focuses on prostate most cancers detection.
Challenging Autodesk: Motif, a startup growing structure, engineering, and building (AEC) software program, secured $46 million in seed and Series A funding to problem its founders’ former employer, Autodesk, with a next-generation design platform for buildings.
Bigger goal: Regulatory submitting revealed that 8VC, the Austin-based VC agency led by Palantir founder Joe Lonsdale, is hoping to lift round $1 billion for its sixth fund. Its earlier flagship car closed at $880 million in 2023.
Taking it to 11: ElevenLabs, which works within the AI audio subject, introduced that it raised $180 million in a Series C spherical, valuing the corporate at $3.3 billion post-money. Andreessen Horowitz and ICONIQ Growth are co-leading funding.
Last however not least
Apologies for ending on a detrimental word, however information means that 2025 shall be one other brutal 12 months of startup wind-downs. However, AngelList CEO Avlok Kohli supplied a extra optimistic outlook, noting that these figures “are nonetheless very low relative to the variety of firms that had been funded throughout each years.”
