Impress, a Spanish orthodontic startup making invisible aligners, acquired its British counterpart Diamond Whites for over €30M ($32M). The acquisition will increase Impress's reach, adding 60 cities to its network. In addition, Impress will gain access to Diamond White's oral care, whitening products, and cosmetic dental treatments. More: - Impress had earmarked a portion of its $50M Series A funds for acquisitions and expansion across Europe.
- Since its founding in 2019, Impress has expanded operations into Spain, Portugal, Italy, the U.K., France, Germany, Ukraine, and the U.S.
- The Spanish firm has raised $180M in total funding to date, the last of which came in the form of a $125M Series B round led by LBO France and Norgine Ventures in mid-2022.
- Diamond White's CEO, Ben Reed, has been retained as the CEO of the U.K. division at Impress.
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Thred is launching a site to discover and review NFTs. "We think of it like a Yelp, Tripadvisor, or Zillow of the space," said the startup's founder and CEO, Ben Straley, who previously was the VP of global digital products at Starbucks and head of global outbound marketing at Amazon. More: - The platform uses machine learning to rank NFT collections on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.
- The startup plans to expand to include Bitcoin and Solana NFT collections on the site.
- "I think it's a really great time for us to be entering with this solution because there's renewed interest in digital assets and NFTs and we're seeing it in the data," said Straley.
- Ethereum NFT sales have risen 34% in the past 30 days to $892.5M.
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Logistics software startup Convoy announced its third round of layoffs in the past 12 months, having previously conducted staff cuts in June and October. The company will also close its office in Atlanta. More: - The latest job cuts result from a change in Convoy's customer service model toward more automation and a tighter focus, according to the startup's CEO, Dan Lewis.
- The company did not disclose the number of employees impacted by the layoff. Convoy currently has 1,000 employees, per LinkedIn, down from 1,300 in April 2022.
- Convoy raised $260M at a $3.8B valuation in April.
- The startup claims over 400,000 trucks in its network from companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Procter & Gamble, and Home Depot.
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San Francisco, Calif. and Berlin, Germany-based equity crowdfunding platform Wefunder announced it had expanded into Europe. The company already has several European startups raising funds through its platform. More: - European citizens and Wefunder's network of accredited investors can now invest in European startups starting at as little as €100.
- Wefunder reportedly helped U.S.-based startups raise $575M through crowdfunding to date.
- Wefunder aims to back 20,000 entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds by 2029.
Zoom out: - Wefunder decided to venture into the European market following the easing of crowdfunding rules announced through the new European Securities and Markets Authority (ECSPR) regulations in late 2021.
- Startups can raise up to €5M ($5.35M) through licensed equity crowdfunding platforms, according to the new rules.
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Unagi, which focuses on sports NFTs, raised €4.7M ($5M) to expand beyond soccer. The French startup works on a fantasy league that lets users earn rewards based on the performance of players in the real world. More: - Unagi claims deals with 45 soccer clubs in Europe, including English Premier League team Arsenal.
- The startup takes a 5% cut from NFT trading on the platform. It claims a user base of more than 220,000.
- The round was led by Sisu Game Ventures, with participation from UOB, Signum Capital, and 2B Ventures, among others.
- Unagi raised $4M in November through a private token sale to Binance Labs.
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Ghana-based fintech startup Dash's CEO and founder Prince Boakye Boampong has been temporarily suspended as the firm investigates allegations of financial impropriety. Until the audit is concluded, the firm's board has roped in former CEO of Kopo Kopo Kenneth Kinyua as interim CEO. More: - Boampong is accused of misreporting the company's finances.
- In addition, he "sold millions of dollars' worth of his shares in a secondary sale," per TechCrunch.
- Last March, Boampong stated that the company had handled $1B in transactions and acquired a million customers throughout Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria. In retrospect, TechCrunch believes the values were inflated, judging by the growth rates of competitors in the region.
- Dash raised $32.8M in seed funding last March at a $200M valuation.
- The firm's notable backers include Insight Partners, Global Founders Capital, 4DX Ventures, and ASK Capital.
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- NEA led a $9M seed funding round into business payments and finance automation startup Ledge.
- Co-Creation Hub is launching The Edtech Fellowship Program accelerator to mentor 72 startups across Nigeria and Kenya. The accelerator will be backed by $15M in commitments.
- Leonardo DiCaprio-backed VC fund Regeneration VC contributed $1.6M to analytics startup Greyparrot's $11M Series A funding round. Regeneration stepped in after lead investor Una Terra fell short of its promised commitments.
- Fintech startup Hum Capital launched SmartRise, a platform to provide quick financing to growth-stage startups based on their financial performance.
- Cybersecurity firm Tenable is establishing its own early-stage startup-focused venture capital fund with an initial commitment of $25M.
- Australian share trading platform maker Superhero hired Rachel Hopping as its head of strategy.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot.
Nicolas is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering startups and transportation trends. He is an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped start-ups.
| | | | 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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