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Welcome to Startups Weekly – your weekly digest of everything you can’t miss in the startup world. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Register here.
With only a few days left in the year, there has been a lot of startup news to glean since last Friday, despite the shortened work week in the US due to Thanksgiving. Oh, and thanks for reading us, by the way.
The most interesting startup stories of the week
If you’re looking for weekend reads, here are some recent ideas worth delving into.
around the clock: The timing of ServiceTitan’s IPO may not be entirely due to market conditions. Details show the software company has been on the clock to go public, and there may be more such companies, VCs told TechCrunch.
Salary standards: US government contracting database USASpending.gov reveals the total compensation paid by defense technology startup Anduril to its top employees. While there are some technicalities to breaking them down by year, the gist is that they pay really well.
New faces: Scaling up startups is a big priority for the EU’s new top team, which includes three lawmakers responsible for key technology policy areas. Among them is Ekaterina Zaharieva, who will be the EU Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation.
Attack of the Clones: It’s not just AI code editors: Y Combinator often backs startups that are building similar products, data analytics startup Deckmatch has found. The research also reveals other interesting insights into the types of startups YC tends to accept.
Most interesting fundraiser this week
The fundraising season isn’t over yet, and deals of all sizes were once again announced this week.
DTC glassesEyewa, a company that sells a wide range of eyewear products through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce and retail platform across five markets in the Middle East, has secured a $100 million Series C funding round led by General Atlantic.
Cradle of love: Cradle, a startup that applies artificial intelligence to protein design, has raised $73 million to build out its labs and team. Launched in 2022, it previously raised a $24 million funding round in 2023.
Shopify games: Israeli startup Appcharge, which sees itself as a kind of “Shopify” for gaming and gives game developers more monetization options, has raised $26 million. The round was led by Nordic VC Creandum at a $100 million valuation.
Sound reproduction: PlayAI, a Y Combinator company that reproduces on-demand voices, has closed a $21 million seed funding round co-led by 500 Startups and Kindred Ventures to invest in its generative voice AI models and voice agent platform.
Goodbye Dr. Google: Ron has raised a $15 million round co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Firstmark, with participation from previous investors Sequoia Capital and TMV. The health tech startup, now valued at $68 million, aims to replace “Doctor Google” with video-based questions and answers from doctors.
The most interesting venture capital and funds news this week
Build your legacy: Basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo launched a venture capital firm. The venture will be called Build Your Legacy Ventures, and will focus on investing in sports and entertainment, according to reports.
Cyber accelerator: Early-stage fund Cleo Capital announced the launch of a cybersecurity accelerator that will support up to 10 pre-seed and seed stage startups. Each of them will receive $250,000 for a 7% equity stake and their participation in this 12-week remote program.
Last but not least
Fintech in Latin America will be worth watching in 2025, as 2024 figures show the market is starting to turn. “I think the region is underfunded after the (post) 2021 correction,” QED Investors partner Mike Packer told TechCrunch.
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