Friday, December 20, 2024

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can't miss from the world of startups.

This week was full of news, likely because it is also the last "real" week of 2024. Which is another way for us to say goodbye for now, and see you in 2025!

Most interesting startup stories from the week

Image Credits: We Are / Getty Images

This week brought us some M&As, but also some reminders that it's always worth looking closer at things, whether that's prospective LPs or shiny announcements.

Clean capital: More than 20 VC firms, many of which invest in defense tech, signed the Clean Capital Certification, self-attesting that they have not and will not take money from U.S. geopolitical adversaries such as China and Russia.

Have-nots: The AI hype is distorting aggregate VC data. Digging deeper, the fundraising landscape is radically different for non-AI startups, and many that raised a Series A round 18 months ago are likely facing challenges in raising Series B funding, Tribeca Venture Partners co-founder Brian Hirsch told TechCrunch.

Big deal with caveats: Nuclear startup Oklo, which is backed by Sam Altman, signed a massive but nonbinding agreement with data center operator Switch. The deal is also subject to the startup receiving approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after having its previous application denied in 2022.

AI productivity: Grammarly is acquiring productivity startup Coda to expand its scope. In an unusual move, Coda CEO and co-founder Shishir Mehrotra will become the new CEO of Grammarly, replacing Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, who will move on to an adviser role.

Informed answers: Perplexity acquired Carbon, a Seattle-based startup that connects LLMs to external data before they generate an answer. This could help Perplexity tap into "internal databases, cloud storage, or document repositories," the company said.

Most interesting fundraises this week

Image Credits: Agave Games

As startups rushed to disclose their latest fundraising news before the holidays, there were plenty of deal announcements this week.

Mammoth pre-IPO round: Databricks raised $10 billion in one of the largest rounds in VC history. The mammoth Series J might be its last fundraiser before its highly anticipated IPO; but while its CEO isn't ruling it out for 2025, it could also be in 2026, he said.

Africa's latest unicorn: South African fintech Tyme Group raised a $250 million Series D round. Led by Nu Holdings, the parent company of Latin American fintech Nubank, it put Tyme's valuation at $1.5 billion.

Ring maker: Finnish wearable startup Oura raised a $200 million Series D funding round at a $5.2 billion valuation. It included participation from Fidelity Management and glucose device maker Dexcom, with which Oura recently entered a partnership.

Travel is back: Canadian travel startup Hostaway, which makes software for vacation rental operators, raised $365 million at a $925 million valuation. The round was led by General Atlantic and will help the company double down on growth.

Momentum for accessibility: Evinced, which helps companies comply with online accessibility requirements, raised a $55 million Series C round to expand into Europe, where new regulations will take effect in June.

Fast funding: AI startup Decart, which is based in San Francisco but with operations in Israel, secured $32 million in fresh funding at a $500 million valuation, a mere two months after coming out of stealth.

Find the money: Agave Games, the Turkish startup behind highly entertaining mobile game Find the Cat, raised an $18 million Series A round of funding it will use to build out its team and work on upcoming titles.

Most interesting VC and fund news this week

Image Credits: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic / Getty Images

Pendulum swing: Marcy Venture Partners, Jay-Z's VC firm, merged with Pendulum Opportunities to form MarcyPen Capital Partners, which now has $900 million in assets under management.

Going backstage: Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton announced that she's moving on to an advisory role; 360 Venture Collective will be "acquiring a significant stake in Backstage's management entity" and joining in co-managing operators and providing capital for the firm, which previously faced criticism and struggles.

Vote of confidence: G2 Venture Partners, a spinout of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers investing in climate and sustainability startups, is raising $750 million for a third fund that would confirm LP bullishness for its thesis.

Last but not least

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

We're leaving you with a list of the 51 most disruptive startups of 2024 — a collective effort with contributions from several members of the TechCrunch team. Go read it, and happy holidays!