Telemedicine startups are bracing for a regulatory shift as the Drug Enforcement Administration's proposal to tighten the regulation of controlled substances nears completion. Critics argue that the clampdown will limit access to opioid therapy for those living in remote regions and dealing with stigma. This may further complicate the opioid crisis as only 22% of people use opioid-use disorder medications, per the National Institute of Drug Abuse. More: - Under the new proposal, telemedicine startups will be able to prescribe to patients a 30-day supply of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid addiction, but will need in-person examination thereafter to provide additional prescriptions.
- Recently the DEA banned online prescriptions of Adderall for first-time patients, citing the improper prescriptions given by telehealth companies during the pandemic.
- Although buprenorphine can be misused, Brian Hurley, the president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, believes that telemedicine mediums are critical in making the drug accessible.
Zoom out: - DEA removed the in-person examination requirement after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- VC funding for opioid addiction treatment startups surged to $279.7M, nearly seven times higher than 2017's totals of $38.6M.
| |
Music NFT startup Muverse announced it raised a $6M Seed round. The company plans to use the funds on user acquisition and UX. More: - The app enables NFT trading between music artists, investors, and fans. It also contains a rhythm game through which users earn rewards.
- The round included participation by Syndicate Capital, Knights Templar Capital, Zonff Partners, and AvatarDAO.
- Muverse has employees in Los Angeles and Seoul and across Southeast Asia.
| |
 A message from DEEL Learn how to make your international HR admin more efficient So, your team has found its global talent across different countries, but that comes with a lot of legwork. You’ve got to sort out global onboarding, benefits, payroll, and compliance. Deel’s here to help. Our platform and team of experts will guide you through everything. Handle and maintain compliance for your global team in over 150 countries. Create contracts, run global payroll, and make your HR processes more efficient. Isn't it time you dive into a world's worth of global hiring capabilities? Explore the ins and outs of international hiring and compliance with our handbook. Learn more about: - Finding and attracting global talent
- Which labor laws to consider when hiring
- Processing international payroll on time
- Staying compliant with employment & tax laws abroad
Download the Guide 
| |
Ludex, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to determine the value of trading card collections, raised $5.3M. The company sourced the funds from 101 investors through a friends and family round, including Brian Urlacher, a former Chicago Bears linebacker. More: - The app tracks the value of trading cards across marketplaces such as Card Kingdom and Troll and Toad.
- Ludex soft launched in May using a two-tier subscription model.
- "And right now we're above 90%, and we're under two seconds. So we did solve that problem, and that's what I said to the investors," said Brian Ludden, CEO of the startup, about the accuracy and speed in searching for a card's value.
- Ludex plans to create card trading shows in the metaverse.
| |
Co-founders Neha Narkhede and Sachin Kulkarni publicly launched their AI-powered fraud and online theft detection startup Oscilar, backed by $20M of their own capital. Narkhede did not take funding from investors to "quickly build and scale the company." More: - The startup was working in stealth mode until today and has already lined up "dozens" of fintech clients.
- Oscilar leverages proprietary AI and ML models to analyze first and third-party data about past fraud incidents to detect online fraud transactions.
- Narkhede adds that Oscilar has "automated the feedback loop that updates our models. As a result, they automatically get smarter over time."
- Narkhede previously co-founded the publicly listed data streaming company Confluent.
Zoom out: - Juniper Research forecasts online payment fraud losses to touch $200B by 2025.
- VC funding for the sector dropped 41% from a peak of $137B in 2021 to $81B in 2022.
| |
Web3 protocol for global trade Polytrade raised a $3.8M Seed round. The startup is working on a financing division to move real-world yields onto Web3. More: - Polytrade claims to have processed two million invoices to date.
- The startup expects its trade financing book size to reach $50M and all trading volume to surpass $1B this year.
- "My single focus is to bring every single trade document, trade financial players and trade counterparties on chain, so that everybody can go to one blockchain page and know everything about a particular buyer or supplier," said Polytrade's co-founder and CEO Piyush Gupta.
- The round was led by Alpha Wave, CoinSwitc, Matrix Partners, and Polygon Ventures, with participation from Singularity Ventures and GTM Ventures.
| |
Pandion, a logistics startup established by Amazon Air's founder Scott Ruffin, emerged from stealth. Earlier this month, the startup nabbed $4.9M in seed funding from AME Cloud Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Playground Global, and Schematic Ventures. More: - The startup is developing a logistics network for e-commerce customers.
- Pandion's offering directly competes with industry leaders UPS and FedEx.
- The firm expects to build a competitive advantage by building a network of sortation centers, which are warehouses dedicated to storing pre-packed packages and setting them up for last-mile delivery.
- Pandion is taking a gig-model approach to logistics and will partner with dozens of regional carriers or even the U.S. Postal Service.
| |
Quick Hits: - Introducing Wander REIT. Targeted 8% annual dividend and 14% total return with the first Vacation Rental REIT.*
- Seoul, South Korea-based agritech startup Green Labs, which ran out of cash last month and had to lay off 70% of its workforce, secured $38.4M in debt financing from existing backers BRV Capital Management and Skylake Incuvest.
- Los Angeles, Calif.-based digital health firm Wellth raised $20M in funding through an oversubscribed Series A round led by SignalFire.
- Singaporean quantum computing software development firm Horizon Quantum Computing secured $18.1M in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital India, Tencent, SGInnovate, Pappas Capital, and Expeditions Fund.
- HR and compliance tech startup FairNow emerged from stealth.
- Scott Matthews succeeded Paul Noble as the CEO of supply chain startup Verusen. Founder Noble will transition into the chief strategy officer role.
- Sign up for Lemonade and have your claim paid faster than it took you to read this ad. No joke.*
*This is sponsored content.
| |
Upcoming Events: - April 06 - Inside Marketing Coffee Break w/ Jeremy Sporn (Royce Brook Media) (Register Here)
- April 07 - US Visa and Green Card Options for Immigrant Founders and Employees (Watch Here)
- April 13 - Inside Interview with Lacework - The Evolution of Cloud Security w/ Ulfar Erlingsson (Watch On Demand)
- April 14 - Inside Interview with Landing - The Ultimate Corporate Housing Resource with Torger Philosophos (Register Here)
- 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 | 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. | |
| |
