Friday, January 10, 2025

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

The second week of the year is usually a busy one for startup news, and 2025 is no exception. From CES product launches to M&As and funding rounds, here's what you need to know.

Most interesting startup stories from the week

Image Credits: May Mobility

Several startups launched new products at CES 2025: Full Nature Farms and its farm irrigation system, Soliddd and its smart glasses for people with macular degeneration, May Mobility and its electric autonomous minibus, and more. There was other news this week too:

Green light: Dutch semiconductor giant NXP announced plans to acquire TTTech Auto, a VC-backed Austrian spinoff specializing in safety software for autonomous vehicles, in an all-cash transaction valued at $625 million.

Healthy match: Healthcare analytics platform H1 acquired Ribbon, a Y Combinator alum that helps patients find doctors supported by their insurance and that had raised funding from a16z and General Catalyst.

Flock of lawsuits: In a new episode in its recent legal troubles, Flock Safety is getting sued by a mayor who claims the public safety tech company wrongfully terminated him.

Room for partners: 3D design app Rooms secured a partnership with Google, which will invest $1 million into the startup and give it early access to Gemini AI.

Wild ride: Defense tech headhunter Peterson Conway is quite the character, and his profile makes for a very good read.

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Most interesting fundraises this week

Image Credits: Whatnot

This year almost had its first pentacorn — but not quite. And several other funding rounds of varying size also made the news.

Near-pentacorn: Livestream shopping app Whatnot raised a $265 million Series E round of funding, putting its valuation at nearly $5 billion ($4.97 billion, to be precise). The company also revealed that its annual gross merchandise value (GMV) surpassed $3 billion.

Blue ocean: Xocean, an Irish marine robotics startup that collects ocean data with uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), raised $119 million to expand beyond the energy and hydrography sectors.

Cross-border: NomuPay, an Irish startup that was formed out of some of collapsed German fintech Wirecard's regional payment licenses, raised a $37 million Series B round at a $200 million valuation to expand its payment rails in underserved markets across Asia.

Paying off: OnPay, an Atlanta-based startup that develops payroll and HR solutions, secured a debt facility and over $100 million in new funding, inclusive of a $63 million Series B round led by Carrick Capital Partners, with participation from AB Private Credit Investors.

Game on: Grand Games, the Turkish startup behind Magic Sort and Car Match, raised a $30 million Series A of funding led by London-based Balderton, which also recently backed Find the Cat maker Agave Games.

Most interesting VC and fund news this week

Image Credits: Defiant

Newcomer: Defiant, a new European early-stage VC firm, came out of stealth and announced its intention to raise as much as $70 million for its initial fund, which is focused on B2B SaaS and fintech, and for which it already secured $30 million.

Trucking on: Transportation-focused Trucks Venture Capital plans to make about 30 seed investments out of its new $70 million fund. The new fund, its third to date, is backed by strategic limited partners, including an automotive supplier, tire maker, insurance company, and airline carrier.

India-focused fund: Silicon Valley-based South Park Commons is raising an India-specific fund. Some VC firms found the market challenging, but others have doubled down, although Accel is taking a measured approach. In an interview with TechCrunch, partner Shekhar Kirani said the firm could have raised "multi-billion dollars" for its latest India fund, but chose not to.

Last but not least 💰

VC investment in some emerging markets declined by more than 40% in 2024, and over half of global VC funding went to Silicon Valley. The data comes from different sources, but the picture is the same, and as the AI boom continues, there is no indication that this might change in 2025.