Plus, Howl raises $27M in Series A funding
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DropBox bought form management platform FormSwift for $95M. FormSwift's platform makes it easier for companies to create and manage online forms. FormSwift will be integrated into DropBox Sign. More: - TechCrunch notes that FormSwift has not raised venture funding since its inception in 2012.
- FormSwift hasn't shared information about its revenue and profits or losses, but its platform has been used to develop over 10 million forms.
- DropBox has made 28 acquisitions since its inception in 2012, according to Crunchbase.
- In 2019, DropBox acquired HelloSign for $230M, which was the largest purchase in its history.
- DropBox had 17.6 million users as of Q3 and its revenue in the quarter rose by 7% YoY to $591M.
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Sources informed The Information that DailyPay rejected two acquisition offers made by San Francisco, Calif.-based payments firm Chime. Chime’s last offer was worth $2B, which represents a 67% premium over DailyPay’s current valuation. Internal employees were upset that DailyPay turned down the offer as they fear the firm may need to raise a down round to sustain in the near future. More: - Investors were reportedly turned off by the offer as they considered it undervalued DailyPay.
- DailyPay’s investors likely discounted Chime’s stock offering price since the latter’s deal took into account their earlier $25B valuation from 2021.
- Chime’s first offer of $1.6B came in May earlier this year and included a mix of stock, cash, and restricted stock units.
- The company was hoping to scoop up DailyPay to expand into a new vertical, which sources say was important for the firm to reach profitability.
- Chime postponed its IPO plans and later laid off 12% of its workforce in November.
- DailyPay’s CEO stepped down after the company fired 10% of its workforce in August.
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I'm Kiani from Inside.com, and this week, we asked our startups community, "What is the silliest product or business idea that you ever had?" and received dozens of silly business ideas from our members. ⭐️ Here are some highlighted responses we received: - Mathew Kerbis (p/kerbisverse | LinkedIn), Founder of Kerbisverse LLC, shared his top 10 list of silliest business ideas that he kept, dating back to his 2003 Razr flip phone when he was in high school and college. Some of our favorites from his list include misfortune cookies, permeable doors (surfaces) that keep out weather but people can walk through it with a little bit of force, and an integrated storage device on the back of clothing/coats using magnets or other mechanisms that he calls the Backrack! You can read Mathew's entire list here.
- Rupert Cheek (p/rupertcheek | LinkedIn), Founder of Cheeky Fest, on the other hand, simply answered, "(Networking/arts) events for introverts. That's as far as I got." We loved that answer and had to share it. Silliness can often be surprisingly sensible! Would you enjoy events for introverts?
Want your question featured? Ask a question! Join the conversations at Inside.com, and we may shout out your name and business or contact you for more! ⭐️
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Boston's Cleo Robotics secured a $2.5M contract with the U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office. The startup caught the office's attention while demoing its technology for an Army Innovation Day competition. More: - The startup will deliver an unknown number of Tactical Dronut to the office.
- Tactical Dronut can operate in dangerous, congested, and GPS-denied areas.
- By locating propellers within the drone's body, the startup designed it to access hard-to-reach and confined spaces.
- Cleo's commercial drone, the Dronut X1, is used to inspect factories, live stream high-definition video, and collect LiDAR data.
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Howl, an influencer marketing startup, raised $27M in Series A funding. The funding round was led by Highland Capital Partners and will help Howl focus on different collaborative tools in its marketplace for creators and retailers. More: - Howl already has Samsung and Sephora as its clients.
- The startup actively matches retailers with creators and provides real-time sales data.
- Howl also offers same-day payments for creators, affiliate links to post on social media, virtual storefronts where creators earn commissions from product recommendations, and templates for brands to share product launches, upcoming sales, and trends.
- The company has as its advisers David Fischer, former chief revenue officer at Meta Platforms, and former Slack CMO Bill Macaitis.
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The stealth startup Duetti is approaching musical artists about purchasing the rights to their catalogs. The startup hopes to reverse the music industry tradition by focusing on buying and repopularizing older songs as much as newer ones. More: - Duetti is co-run by former Tidal COO Lior Tibon and former Apple Music exec Christopher Nolte.
- The company identifies artists to approach by tracking high-performing artists on streaming services.
- In July, Duetti raised $7M Seed.
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CubicPV, a startup that manufactures monocrystalline silicon wafers used in solar panels, plans to construct a new 10-gigawatt plant in the U.S. The firm nabbed $26M in Series B funding led by Synergy Capital and SCG Cleanergy to fund the new plant. More: - The Bedford, Mass.-based firm is backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, who participated in the current financing along with another existing backer Hunt Energy Enterprises.
- It raised $25M in venture funding in June 2021.
- The company will decide on the location for the new factory in Q1 2023, with a view to complete construction by 2024.
- It expects to hit full production capacity at the site in 2025.
Zoom out: - President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act aims to boost domestic production of clean-energy technology by offering incentives.
- Currently, China has the major market share in silicon wafer manufacturing.
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Quick Hits: - Okta achieves hiring goals to support business growth using Greenhouse Recruiting. Find out how they win the best talent.*
- ALTEN’s subsidiary ACL Digital acquired software engineering service provider AFour Technologies for an undisclosed sum.
- Former CEO of Myntra Amar Nagaram’s new fashion startup Virgio nabbed $37M in Series A financing at a $161M post-money valuation. Accel, Prosus Ventures, and Alpha Wave co-led the funding.
- Seattle-based cybersecurity firm Protect AI emerged from stealth with a $13.5M seed funding co-led by Acrew Capital and Boldstart Ventures.
- India's startup ecosystem is expected to contribute 4% to 5% of the nation's GDP over the next three to four years, according to StrideOne.
- Microsoft selected zero-trust cybersecurity architecture startup Cerby to join its Microsoft for Startups program.
- Ready to streamline security and accelerate growth? Check out Vanta’s demo-on-demand for an insider look at how scaling startups get compliant quickly.*
*This is sponsored content.
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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.
Courtney Rawlings is an Inside Research Analyst living in Los Angeles, California. She has returned to her hometown of LA after spending several years working at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is completing a Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History.
Martin Ruiz-Cantu is a Business Researcher at Inside.com. He has a Master's in Global Business and Finance from Georgetown University. He previously worked at HSBC and the World Bank. He is passionate about finance, startups and tech.
| | | | 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. | |
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