Hey, Insider! Want to be featured in next week’s newsletter? Answer our weekly question: What is a big lesson you have learned as a startup founder? Share your response here. | |  Karan | |
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Transit company Via raised $110M, bringing its valuation to $3.5B. Via expects to use the funds to "provide every city in the world access to end-to-end digital infrastructure." More: - The round was led by 83North, with participation from Exor N.V., Pitango, Riverpark Ventures, and Janus Henderson, among others.
- Via ended 2022 with $200M in ARR.
- The company is working on autonomous shuttle operations with Motional in Las Vegas and May Mobility in Grand Rapids.
- "In the past, it's been very difficult to convince cities and transit agencies to adopt new technology, to transition to more dynamically routed or data-driven services. I won't say it's easy, but it's become easier," said Via's CEO and co-founder, Daniel Ramot.
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Strava is searching for a new CEO after its co-founder Michael Horvath resigned from the role for the second time. The executive previously left the fitness social network due to family matters in 2013, returning in 2019. More: - “As co-founder and CEO, it’s only part of my job to ensure we are picking the right path to that destination. The other part of it is to ensure we always recruit and support the right leaders for the right times,” said Horvath.
- In January, Strava announced the acquisition of Fatmap, a high-resolution 3D global map platform for the outdoors.
- Strava reached 100 million users globally and over 7 billion shared activities in May 2022.
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Mountain View, Calif.-based startup Neeva announced the general availability of its artificial intelligence-powered search engine to international locations, including Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, and Spain. The firm initially launched its search engine, dubbed NeevaAI, in the U.S. in early January. More: - Google's former advertising tech business head Sridhar Ramaswamy founded the firm in 2020.
- NeevaAI distinguishes itself from other offerings by leveraging AI for real-time data and fact verification.
- The ad-free search engine will also be available across Australia and New Zealand without the AI engine.
- To date, the firm has raked in $77.5M in venture funding from VCs such as Sequoia Capital and Greylock.
Zoom out: - NeevaAI's expansion comes as Microsoft integrated OpenAI's conversational AI platform ChatGPT into its Bing search engine.
- Google also unveiled its own conversational AI platform, dubbed Bard, to power its search engine in the future.
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Former Washington State senator Reuven Carlyle's startup Earth Finance emerged from stealth to assist organizations in reaching their carbon neutrality targets. The firm secured $14M in seed funding. Co-founder and climate strategy advisor Garrett Kephart said, "Earth Finance helps its global clients reengineer their businesses and investments to achieve — and thrive in — a net zero future." More: - The strategy and climate investing firm aims to provide climate, investing, public policy, and technology expertise to retail, renewable energy, agriculture, financial services, and biochemical sectors.
- Former head of the Americas Institutional business for Russell Investments, Bryan Weeks, is the firm's co-founder and CEO.
Zoom out: - Washington state targets a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
- Global investment into clean energy technologies increased by 31% in 2022, per Bloomberg NEF.
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Jeremy Cahen, co-founder of the self-proclaimed satire NFT collection RR/BAYC, filed an opposition to 10 trademark applications by Yuga Labs. The trademark applications involve logos, artwork, and branding for Bored Ape Yacht Club products, including NFTs, trading cards, and metaverse wearables. More: - "Jeremy Cahen's filing is just another attempt to distract from the real issue at hand, his infringement of the Yuga intellectual property," a Yuga Labs spokesperson told Bloomberg Law.
- Cahen argues Yuga Labs did not provide a "bona fide intent to lawfully use" the trademarks, claiming that NFTs should be registered as securities.
- Yuga Labs sued Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen in June 2022, arguing they were "trolling Yuga Labs and scamming" customers by selling "copycat NFTs."
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Microsoft launched the Impact X Venture Studio, an accelerator that intends to back underrepresented founders across Europe. Microsoft partnered with venture capital firm Impact X to establish the accelerator. Impact X CEO Eric Collins said, "Impact X intends to create a small cohort of diverse led startups that can move the needle in terms of efficiency, optimizations, and innovation in the water industry." More: - The accelerator is collaborating with center of excellence Spring Innovation to support startups in the water sustainability sector.
- In addition to nurturing and mentoring the startups, Impact X Venture Studio will provide $150,000 worth of Azure credits, technical guidance from Azure specialists, and working space.
Zoom out: - Research from Extend VC shows that Black founders receive only 0.24% of the venture capital.
- Only 0.02% of the total funding went to Black female founders.
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I'm Kiani from Inside.com, and last week, we asked our community, "Who are the first three people a startup should hire?" Here are some highlights from the dozens of responses we received: - Irina Poslavsky (p/irina), Founder at KoTrie, answered, "1.) CTO (Engineer) - You need an awesome modern tech stack. 2.) Marketing and Sales - You need good marketing, social media and sales for revenue generation. 3.) UI/UX Designer" before ending with, "Note: Retain outside legal counsel."
- Greg Biggers (p/greg361701), Chief Product Officer at Ewakening, answered, "1. Yourself … You are not JUST an owner, you are also an employee. 2 and 3. Whichever of the hacker (engineer) / hipster (designer) / hustler (sales/business) trio not represented by you." Greg concluded with, "BTW I do not think most seed-stage companies need dedicated finance people. Once you have notable revenue and expenses, hire a part time accountant for that."
- Jim Gillis (p/jim-gillis), Founder at WinMyVote, answered, "What three hats should a founder first wear? 1. Product Manager. 2. UI/UX. 3. Software Dev." Jim also added, "The first three hires (in addition to a multi-hat-wearing founder) should be: 1. Dev and IT team. 2. "Go to market" research and execution, person. 3. UI/UX that can do some support too. (not phones, but they need to understand style only counts if it shortens the steps)."
Join the conversations at Inside.com, and we may shout out your name and business or contact you for more! ⭐️
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Quick Hits: - Athletic Brewing is pioneering a non-alcoholic craft beer revolution and donating 2% of sales towards protecting and restoring local trails.*
- Palo Alto, Calif.-based business travel software startup TripActions rebranded to Navan. It integrated ChatGPT's capabilities into its platform.
- Benchmark is reportedly in talks to lead a "several-million dollar" seed funding round into generative AI startup LangChain at a $40M valuation.
- Former Slack executive Jonathan Prince joined supply chain mapping startup Altana as its marketing chief. The startup is on a hiring spree and added former Komodo Health executive Kathleen Ragelis, LinkedIn executive Shwetabh Mittal, and Aashish Patel to its senior executive team in recent weeks.
- Billionaire John Doerr's investment firm Kleiner Perkins is investing $10M into solar startup Complete Solaria ahead of its SPAC merger with Tidjane Thiam's blank check vehicle Freedom Acquisition I Corp.
- Australian autonomous driving tech startup Baraja laid off 75% of its workforce.
*This is sponsored content.
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*This is a sponsored event listing.
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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. | |
