Hey, Insider! Want to be featured in next week’s newsletter? Answer our weekly question: What is your startup’s definition of success? Share your response here. | |  Karan | |
| |
Mercury, a company that provides banking services for startups, announced the expansion of FDIC insurance for up to $3M in the aftermath of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Mercury would give its clients the option of moving funds to the Vanguard money market, which invests 99.5% in mutual funds under the client's name. More: - “If you need to have $2 million in your operational account, we’ll make sure there is $2 million there so you can make payroll and things like that and the rest will be swept into the U.S. government, T-bills and mutual funds,” said Mercury's CEO Immad Akhund.
- The company claims to have been profitable since August 2022.
- In 2022, Mercury processed $50B in transactions, up from $23M the year prior.
- The banking services company is funded by Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, and CRV, among others.
| |
Venture capitalists, hedge funds, and investors were hoping to pick up stakes in startups impacted by Silicon Valley Bank's collapse on the secondary market at a heavy discount. Their plans were thwarted when U.S. regulators guaranteed all deposits in SVB this morning. More: - Regulators took over Silicon Valley Bank last Friday after liquidity concerns surfaced at the bank, which caused its stock to plunge over 60% on Thursday.
- Since the fallout of the bank, private stock trading platform Hiive saw a 100% surge in the number of users.
- Hiive reported that the average bid discount for VC-backed startups widened to 57.3%, up from 51.7% in February.
Zoom out: - HSBC acquired Silicon Valley Bank's U.K. division for £1. The Bank of England assured depositors that “all depositors’ money with SVB UK is safe and secure as a result of this transaction.”
| |
 A message from LAIKA How Laika Can Help Your Company Become SOC 2 Compliant Your business needs SOC 2. But building compliance from scratch is complicated, time-consuming, and the cost can be crippling. Laika has you covered. Uncomplicate SOC 2 with our guide for growth-minded founders. In the guide by Laika you’ll learn: - What is SOC 2 compliance and why it matters for your startup
- How to close more deals faster by becoming SOC 2 compliant
- How to prepare for SOC 2 compliance
- What to expect in terms of time and cost
- What to do after the report is in
What makes Laika the authority on SOC 2? They’re the only compliance automation solution that was built by compliance experts. Learn how to turn compliance from a pain point into a secret edge over your competitors. Download Here 
| |
Biotechnology startup Science launched its Science Foundry platform to help other startups develop medical devices. The firm will offer over 80 tools and services from its internal infrastructure to help startups bring down the cost of developing medical devices. “There’s a bunch of smart people out there that have a bunch of different ideas than the ones that we have, and we would like to enable them,” said CEO and co-founder Max Hodak. More: - Hodak was formerly the co-founder and president of the brain computing startup Neuralink.
- He left his post in 2021 to establish a competing startup called Science.
- Science is developing a visual prosthesis system called Science Eye to help restore visual input in blind patients.
- Hodak estimates that it costs early-stage startups anywhere between $200,000 to $2M to develop medical devices, which can be an impediment and a "barrier to innovation" in firms.
- He expects neurotechnology, medical technology, and quantum computing startups to leverage their new platform.
| |
CNH Industrial, a vehicle manufacturer, announced its plans to acquire Augmenta, a developer of crop spraying technology, for $110M. The deal is expected to close before Q2. More: - Augmenta develops a multispectral camera and software to monitor the environment through which a machine provides plant treatments.
- Prior to the announcement, CNH Industrial had a 10.5% stake in Augmenta through its venture capital arm.
- Augmenta will operate under CNH's U.S. unit, Raven.
- CNH generated $25B in 2022 and projects $1B in net sales from agriculture precision technology.
| |
SoftBank-backed health tech startup Proximie released augmented reality headsets for surgeons, dubbed PxLens. Medical experts will be able to observe surgeries and offer the operating surgeon advice virtually. Proximie created the tool to help surgeons seek guidance from their colleagues on complicated cases. More: - The British startup has raised $140M in total funding to date from SoftBank, Mubadala, Maverick Ventures, Eight Roads, and others.
- It last raised an $83M Series C round in Jun. 2022.
- Proximie initially developed a virtual screen that helped surgeons collaborate with other medical professionals while performing surgical procedures.
- Their latest invention PxLens gives participants a first-person view of the surgery.
- Participants are able to provide their input by adding notes and diagrams.
- The startup faced many challenges in developing the product due to the various compliances and regulations of different nations.
- The PxLens completed its initial pilots in the U.S. and the U.K. in Nov. 2022, after being tested in numerous orthopedic and plastic surgeries.
| |
Salsa, a San Francisco-based web3 messaging startup, has raised a $2M pre-seed round. The startup's go-to-market strategy involves convincing NFT brands to communicate with their audience through a crypto-native platform. More: - The app would use social proof to form connections based on POAPs (proof of attendance protocol) and wallet verification.
- The round was led by IDEO CoLab VC and Inflection.xyz, with participation from angel investor and former CTO of Coinbase Balaji Srinivasan, and founder of DeSo Nader Al-Naji, among others.
- The startup was founded in June 2022 by former Palantir developer infrastructure lead Grace Wang and former product manager at Anaplan Helena Gagern.
| |
I'm Kiani from Inside.com, and last week, we asked our startups community, "What's your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?" Here are some awesome responses we received: - Nataliya Karatkova (p/nataliyak), Founder at SuperRoom, simply answered, “Make connections.”
- Oleg Lysiak (p/Oleggo), Partner at Honeycomb Software, answered, “Don't be afraid of pivoting! Once you start working in your specific industry or domain, you might discover a problem that is even more critical for your customer than the original problem you were trying to solve. Many founders often focus on their solution instead of the customer's problems.”
- Ayhan Ergezen (p/LivelyPencil), Founder of LivelyPencil, answered, “Build a small version of your business model and start making money. Do not waste time looking for investors. If you know your startup will make money, why not try it yourself first. By implementing a small version of your business model, you send a stronger message to investors. When your business model starts making money, investors will knock on your door.”
- Tim Nicholas (p/TimNicholas), Co-founder at GetReminded, answered, “Don't stop at "no" when hunting for investment/people/support. Perseverance pays!”
Join the conversations at Inside.com, and we may shout out your name and business or contact you for more! ⭐️
| |
Quick Hits: - End the madness of manual expense reporting with Divvy. Take a demo of Divvy and get a college basketball jersey of your choice.*
- Accial Capital extended a $90M credit line to credit card fintech Clara. The Mexican unicorn startup intends to use the proceeds to scale operations.
- Singaporean battery recycling technology maker Green Li-ion raised $20.5M in pre-Series B funding from TRIREC, Banpu NEXT, and Equinor Ventures.
- Vietnamese on-demand prescription delivery service startup Medigo raised $2M in funding from East Ventures to grow its telehealth ecosystem, medicine delivery, and home testing services.
- Irish automated identity verification solution provider ID-Pal expanded operations into the U.S.
- Three product vendors of merchandising platform Spring claim they have yet to receive payment for their services. Allegedly Spring's new owner Amaze, who acquired the firm in Nov. 2022, refused to pay, arguing that it only acquired the assets of the firm.
- Ready to grow your business through influencer partnerships? Get the visual guide to the essential stages.*
*This is sponsored content
| |
Upcoming Events:
- March 14 - Inside Startups Coffee Break (Register Here)
- March 15 - Monthly Meditation guided by Nicholas Whitaker (Register Here)
- March 20 - Inside Interview with Rollworks - Clearing the Path to ABM Success: Addressing the Issues Holding You Back (Register Here)
- March 27 - Insider Interview with Zscaler - Zero Trust Defense Strategies to Take Your Security to the Next Level (Watch On Demand)
- April 18 - Human Resources Summit'23 (Register Here)
| |
 |  | 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 | Gregory Bridgman is a writer and researcher with an academic background in politics and the philosophy of science and technology. He holds a BA from the University of Cape Town, an MS from University College London, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. He is interested in climate issues, technological changes, and the implications of the fourth industrial revolution. Please feel free to contact me at gregory@inside.com! | |
Laika is a unified compliance platform that automates workflows for audits, infosec monitoring, and vendor due diligence in a single, collaborative space. | |
