Plus, Vector Health Labs acquires Get A-Head for $17M
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Polygon's co-founder Sandeep Nailwal announced a new Web3 accelerator dubbed Beacon. The new division will be managed by Nailwal's venture firm Symbolic Capital. The New York-based accelerator is already mentoring and financing 15 startups in its first cohort. More: - Solana Foundation's president Lily Liu, SoftBank director Neil Cunha-Gomes, and Coinbase's business development VP Dan Kim are among the few mentors guiding startups in the accelerator.
- The firm is hosting a live demo day of products from startups in its first cohort in January in a bid to attract funding from investors.
- Beacon's goal is to speed up the widespread adoption of Web3 products.
- The accelerator is run by Symbolic co-founder Kenzi Wang, Sequoia Capital's former vice-president Prateek Sharma, and Digital Currency group's former CSO Uri Stav.
- Symbolic capital raised a $50M fund in August.
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The flying-vehicle startup AIR successfully completed its first trial flight. The Israli-startup flying electric vehicle is designed for short commutes above congested streets. More: - The startup plans to debut its AIR ONE vehicle by the end of 2024.
- AIR's next goal is to complete a two-person trial run.
- The vehicles can hold two people: a driver and a passenger.
- AIR ONE can travel up to 100 miles on a single charge. It can reach up to 100 mph in speed and 1,200 ft in altitude.
- The startup plans to sell its base model for $150,000.
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South Park creators raised $20M for their professional deepfake studio, Deep Voodoo. The startup began operations in 2020 when on-site productions were halted, and the need for animated content grew. More: - Connect Ventures provided the funding.
- Voodoo's first animated production was a video of Kendrick Lamar singing with his face transforming into OJ Simpson, Nipsey Hussle, Kobe Bryant, and Kanye West's faces.
- The video can be found here.
- Disney media is also developing deepfake content with a not-so-popular public reception.
- Disney received a lot of criticism for the unconvincing animation of young Luke Skywalker in one of its Star Wars productions.
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Canadian health tech company Vector Health acquired artificial intelligence-powered online mental health training platform Get A-Head. The acquisition was valued at $17M. Get A-Head's acquisition will help Vector Health enter the mental health market. More: - Get A-Head's SaaS platform caters to educational institutions, clinical therapists, and corporations.
- Through artificial intelligence-driven natural language processing, the platform identifies patterns in a patient's linguistics and word usage.
- Get A-Head's CEO Ahad Bandealy will continue to run the operations post the acquisition.
- The acquisition will help Get A-Head expand its reach across the U.S. and Canada.
- Vector Health provides telehealth and non-invasive lab testing.
- Eventually, Vector Health will integrate Get A-Head's product offerings with its own.
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Gynger, a startup that loans capital to other companies for software procurement, raised $11.7M in seed funding. The funding round was led by Upper90 and Vine Ventures. More: - Gradient Ventures, Google's AI-focused venture fund, also participated in Gynger's seed funding round.
- Gynger gives companies loans to procure software and services products for their bespoke tech stacks.
- The startup's goal is to avoid cuts in software purchases and prevent companies from compromising the business operations of entire teams.
- With specialized credits for software procurement, Gynger aims to help companies get the best software without compromising their cash flow.
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The Japanese startup Diver-X debuted its Kickstarter-funded haptic gloves for virtual reality (VR). The startup's ContactGlove Pro replicates touch using a flexible membrane. More: - The gloves include finger tracking and StreamVR positional tracking.
- Users can forgo controllers using the gloves' built-in buttons.
- Diver-X's Kickstarter quickly reached its ~$200,000 funding goal.
- The base versions sell for ~$490, while the Pro versions cost between ~$710-$870.
- In 2021, the company announced a Kickstarter campaign to develop a high-end VR headset. However, because of the niche market, the company decided to refund backers and turn to haptic gloves.
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- Emerging startups, especially in the Series C and Series D stages, will likely have to raise down rounds in 2023, according to Pitchbook and WralTechWire. In Q4 2022, the demand for capital has been 3.5 times more than the total value of deals closed so far.
- Food tech investment in Spain has defied the venture capital pullback, with the sector nabbing €268M ($284M) YTD, up 9.38% YoY. Series A funding has increased by 20% since last year.
- South Korean generative artificial intelligence startup Xinapse is planning to enter the U.S. market.
- Pakistani fintech startup ABHI is reportedly planning to expand into the United Arab Emirates.
- StarLab Oasis, a startup spun off from Nanoracks, is planning to send soybean, quinoa, and other seeds into orbit in 2023 to analyze the varieties of plants that can grow in outer space.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot.
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.
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