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| 1 | | NASA allocated $45M across 249 startups and 39 research institutions under the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. Among the selected companies is Starfish Space, which is working on an in-space docking and capture mechanism. More: - Also among the selectees is Argo Space Corporation, which develops a small reusable spacecraft transfer vehicle.
- Nou Systems, which monitors the microbial environment in spacecraft, and HyBird Space Systems, a developer of a propulsion system to deorbit space junk, were also selected for the grants.
- "Through these early-stage small business awards, we are inviting more innovators into this growing arena and helping them mature their technologies for not only NASA's use, but for commercial impact," said the director of early-stage innovation and partnerships at NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, Jenn Gustetic.
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| 2 | | Carbon removal startup Nori, which raised $6.25M in fresh funding today, announced Matt Trudeau as its new CEO. Trudeau will succeed former CEO and co-founder Paul Gambill, who will transition into the chief product officer role. In addition to Nori, Alkeus, Latch, and Affini-T also announced leadership changes. Hires: - Alkeus Pharmaceuticals roped in Vertex Pharmaceuticals executive and founder Josh Boger as its executive chairman. Earlier today, the Boston, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company secured $150M in Series B funding led by Bain Capital Life Sciences.
- Jamie Siminoff, the founder of residential security company Ring, is set to step into the CEO role at keyless smart lock startup Latch later this year. The news comes as Latch acquired Siminoff's newest startup Honest Day's Work, for an undisclosed sum.
- Washington STEM appointed Lynne K. Varner as its new CEO. Varner will step into the role vacated by former CEO Milton Lang, who left on Jun. 22 after four months in the role.
- Precision immunotherapy startup Affini-T Therapeutics appointed Thaminda Ramanayake as chief business officer.
- Green Check Verified acquired cannabis compliance startup Komplyd in a primarily stock deal. Komplyd's CEO and founder Rose Elliott joined Green Check as senior vice president of engineering.
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| 3 | | Apple acquired Los Angeles, Calif.-based augmented reality (AR) headset startup Mira for an undisclosed sum. News of the acquisition comes just a day after Apple unveiled its mixed-reality headset dubbed the Vision Pro. Mira's technology is primarily aimed at military operators, making it unclear how Apple will incorporate the startup's technology into its products. More: - Mira has a $702,351 contract with the Navy and another small contract to supply its Prism Pro headset to the U.S. Air Force.
- The company had raised $17M from investors.
- The firm is backed by Sequoia Capital, Happiness Ventures, and Blue Bear Capital, per Crunchbase.
- Apple has roped in at least 11 employees from Mira as part of the acquisition.
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| 4 | | Mosaic, a platform that centralizes data across teams, raised a $26M Series C, bringing its total funding to $73M. The round included participation from the Founders Fund and General Catalyst, among others. More: - The company claims its business has grown 3x since 2019. Its clients include Drata, Emerge, and Sourcegraph.
- The startup was founded by former Palantir finance team members Bijan Moallemi, Joe Garafalo, and Brian Campbell.
- "Realizing that the role of the CFO had grown in scope, but our toolkit had not, we set out to build a platform that would address the technical challenges modern-day finance and business teams face," Moallemi told TechCrunch.
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| 5 | | Solar-panel component startup CubicPV is tapping into the subsidies and government loans under the Inflation Reduction Act to build a 10-gigawatt silicon wafer manufacturing facility in the U.S. The factory will cost an estimated $1.4B to build, with production expected to start in 2025. CubicPV's factory is one of 50 solar manufacturing projects that are set to collectively rake in a $5B investment from the government. More: - Before this, CubicPV failed to establish its factory in three different countries, including the U.S.
- In addition to subsidies from the IRA, the firm has tapped investors, including Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures and First Solar.
- The firm has raised around $200M under its previous guise, 1366 Technologies.
- 1366 merged with Hunt Energy in 2021 to form CubicPV.
Zoom out: - China produces 97% of the total silicon wafers. Meanwhile, the U.S. does not have any silicon wafer manufacturing.
- 130 U.S. solar startups failed between 2010 and 2018, the most notable of which was solar-panel maker Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy in 2011.
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| 6 | | CUREator, Australia's national biotech incubator, allocated AUD$12M ($7.9M) to 19 startups, tackling diseases such as motor neuron disease, IBD, and lupus. The incubator's LPs include the Australian government's Medical Research Future Fund, which invested AUD $40M via the program's facilitator, Brandon BioCatalyst. More: - CUREator is also funded through $3M from CSIRO. Thus far, the incubator has had a total of 40 projects.
- The program divided AUD $6M across six early-stage startups, including GILZRx, a company tackling inflammatory diseases.
- Another selectee, Cyteph, works on novel T-cell therapy for the treatment of brain cancer.
- "This support will assist us as we progress in our phase 1 study testing the safety and efficacy of our novel therapy for the treatment of recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme, a severe form of brain cancer," said Cyteph co-founder Prof. Rajiv Khanna.
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- The average time taken by Series A startups to raise subsequent Series B rounds increased to 31 months, the highest time on record over the past 12 years.
- Palo Alto, Calif.-based biotech startup Bitterroot Bio emerged from stealth with a $145M Series A funding backed by ARCH Venture Partners, GV, and others.
- AI large language model startup Contextual AI emerged from stealth, armed with a $20M seed funding led by Bain Capital Ventures.
- Coterie Insurance's co-founder Kevin Mackey launched a new B2B transactions services startup dubbed 1000Zebras.
- New York-based fertility planning startup Bunnii is closing down after failing to secure additional investors to back its $1M round. The firm had secured a lead investor who was willing to provide $750,000 contingent upon the firm finding other investors to contribute the remaining $250,000.
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 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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