Buy now, pay later startup Klarna will return to profitability "on a month-by-month basis" next summer, according to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski. Klarna's revenue rose 24% YoY in H1 2022 to $950M. The company's pre-tax loss increased from $169.4M in H1 2021 to $581M in H1 2022. More: - Klarna was profitable in the first 14 years of its existence but has posted losses since 2020 as it focused on growth.
- In May, Klarna laid off 10% (700 employees) of its workforce in a cost-cutting measure designed to increase profitability.
- Siemitkowski says "almost everyone" that was let go has found a new job.
- He said the timing of the layoffs was "lucky," noting that multiple tech giants, including Amazon and Meta, have now announced massive layoffs in recent weeks, which has made the job market more competitive.
- Klarna's valuation fell by 85% to $6.7B in July following its $800M down round.
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On Thursday evening, cryptocurrency trading platform Binance announced a new initiative, dubbed the Industry Recovery Initiative (IRI), to help back distressed startups in the Web3 sector. The move comes as the firm tries to curb the contagion after the fallout of rival FTX. Binance has initially committed $1B for the fund, with an option to increase the funding to $2B if required. More: - The funds will primarily be provided via Bitcoin, Binance USD, and Binance Coin.
- However, the firm is also open to financing via fiat, equity, convertible instruments, debt financing, and credit lines.
- Polygon Ventures, Aptos Labs, Animoca Brands, GSR, Kronos, and Jump Crypto, among others, have pledged $50M to the fund.
- Applications for IRI will be open for the next six months.
- Binance has received 150 applications already.
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Canadian real estate startup Properly reduced its workforce by ~50% (71 employees). CEO Anshul Ruparell blamed the layoffs on a decline in home sales amid rising interest rates in Canada. More: - Properly has raised $154.3M since its inception in 2018, according to Crunchbase.
- The layoffs affected employees in multiple roles, including software developers, recruiters, and data scientists.
- 35,380 homes were sold in Canada last month, a 36% decline YoY.
In related news: - Proptech startup Ribbon let go of 85% (170 employees) earlier this week and now has a workforce of "less than 30."
- Ribbon has raised $900M from notable investors such as Greylock and Goldman Sachs since the company was founded in 2017.
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Scantinel Photonics, a German photonics chips manufacturer, raised $10M (€10M) in fresh financing. PhotonDelta led the Series A funding round. The firm intends to continue the development of its photonics Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) solutions for autonomous vehicles. More: - The company asserts that its solution will be able to process data more quickly, cost less to produce, and provide a higher light range detection than the LiDAR technology that is currently available.
- Scantinel is currently working with Tier 1 suppliers and mobility providers to integrate its LiDAR solutions.
- Existing investors Scania Growth Capital and ZEISS Ventures participated in the funding round.
- Scantinel spun out from ZEISS in 2019.
Zoom out: - Lead investor PhotonDelta has raised €1.1B in funding to back 200 photonic technology startups across Europe.
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Danish startup Female Invest has acquired trading platform Gaia Investments for an undisclosed sum as it charts an entry into investing. Founded in 2019, Female Invest offers a subscription-based e-learning platform that provides trading and investment focussed educational content for women. The Gaia acquisition helps the firm expand its product offerings and provide sustainable investment opportunities to its customers. More: - Female Invest is a Y Combinator-backed startup that has raised $6.1M from its seed rounds.
- After briefly considering a Series A round this year, the firm decided not to pursue it.
- It reportedly considered developing a similar platform before deciding on the acquisition.
- Post the acquisition, Female Invest aims to start offering stocks, funds, and ETFs.
- Gaia was valued at $3M three months before the acquisition, per TechCrunch.
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Spanish apartment rental platform Ukio raised $28M via debt and equity at an undisclosed valuation. Ukio's platform primarily targets remote workers that need a temporary place to rent. Ukio customers can rent an apartment for between 1-11 months. More: - Ukio has raised $39.6M since its inception in 2020, according to Crunchbase.
- Ukio's product catalog consists of over 500 apartments.
- Its customers can rent apartments in multiple European cities such as Barcelona and Lisbon.
- The company is looking to add apartments in other cities, such as London, Dublin, and Paris, to its portfolio.
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I'm Kiani from Inside.com, and this week, we asked our startup community, "What is your shortest one-sentence pitch for what your startup does?" and received over one hundred answers on our post! ⭐️ Here are some highlighted one-liners we received: - Aaron Guyett (p/aaronguyett | LinkedIn), Co-founder of Cloutchain, wrote, “Cloutchain helps brands find fans.”
- Noel Putaansuu (p/Smokeless--Chimney | LinkedIn), President and Founder of Smokless Chimney, wrote, “Warm homes and clean air for everyone!”
- Lisa Litherland (p/lisa-lither), CEO of Social Optics, wrote, “Social Optics teaches social communication to teens with autism.”
- Leanne Linsky (p/LeanneLinsky), Founder and CEO of Plauzzable, wrote, “Plauzzable, is where you go to give and get laughs -- LIVE stand-up comedy from anywhere!”
- Kenny Totten (p/kenny-totten | LinkedIn), COO at AllFly, wrote, “AllFly helps companies plan, book, and manage their next team offsite, meeting, or group trip.”
- Pooky Amsterdam (p/PookyAmsterdam_1 | LinkedIn) wrote, “PookyMedia is creating a network of viewer log-in game shows in the Metaverse.”
Thank you to all the founders who participated in this feature round! It was tough to pick out of the 100+ responses we received; however, I enjoyed reading through each one-sentence pitch. You can read the rest of the one-liners and add yours here. We hope you had a safe and happy Thanksgiving yesterday! Join the conversations at Inside.com, and we may shout out your name and business or contact you for more. ⭐️
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- African venture firm LoftyInc Capital Management closed its third Afropreneurs Fund at $14.2M. The firm intends to make Seed to Series A stage investments in African technology startups.
- Flipkart is now accepting applications for the second cohort of its funding programs, Flipkart Leap Ahead (FLA) and Flipkart Leap Innovation Network (FLIN). FLA will invest up to $500,000 in pre-seed and seed-stage startups across logistics, supply chain, sustainability, fintech, health tech, edtech, consumer tech, and other domains.
- CleverTap launched CleverTap for Startups solution, a user engagement and customer retention platform for early to mid-stage startups.
- The Tanzania Startup Association (TSA) and the Korean Startup Forum (KSF) recently signed an MoU to facilitate foreign direct investment and technological and knowledge transfer for startups between both nations.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot.
Jigney Pathak is a Business Researcher at Inside who loves technology, finance & sports. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration with a finance specialization & has previously worked at Salesforce.
| | | | Editor | Vibha Chapparike is a Freelance Writer & Editor at Inside.com. With her post-graduation in Management and Finance completed, Vibha is expanding her knowledge in venture capital, business, startups, and technology. She has had a career in public relations and communications. An ardent reader and writer currently residing in Singapore, you can follow Vibha on Twitter @VChapparike. | |
