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| Hey Insiders, Today's newsletter covers: - 💰 General Fusion's $25M fundraiser
- 💵 Virtualitics's $37M funding round
- 🤝 Leia's acquisition of Dimenco
We have also rounded up the top early-stage funding rounds of this week. If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | General Fusion raised a $25M round led by recurring investors BDC Capital and GIC. The company is developing the Lawson Machine 26, which it expects to reach the conditions for fusion by 2025. More: - General Fusion is delaying the start of construction of a larger demo fusion machine in the U.K. to focus on the LM26 in British Columbia.
- The LM26 would be half the size of a commercial fusion machine.
- The round also included a $3.7M grant from the government of British Columbia.
- The company is targeting commercialization by early 2030.
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| 2 | | VCs deployed $714M in early-stage North American startups this week between Aug. 5 to Aug. 11, per Crunchbase data. Biotech startups raked in 27% of the funding this week. Energy, healthcare, and AI startups nabbed 10%, 8%, and 8% of the financing, respectively. 
Here are the top five largest rounds announced this week: - Cambridge, Mass.-based tRNA therapeutics maker Alltrna nabbed $109M in Series B funding round.
- Clinical-stage biotech startup Georgiamune raised $75M in Series A funding co-led by General Catalyst and Parket Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy.
- Industrial electrolyzer technology developer Verdagy closed its Series B funding round co-led by Temasek and Shell Ventures at $73M.
- Traction, a software startup focusing on industrial sensors, raised $45M through a growth round led by General Catalyst. This values the company at $205M.
- Kernel Foods, an automated restaurant startup founded by Chipotle Mexican Grill founder Steve Ells, secured $36M in Series A funding from Raga Partners, Willoughby Capital, Rethink Foods, and Virtru.
Q: The biotech sector has continued to rake in the majority of the VC funding so far this year. Will its dominance continue in the latter half of this year, or will the AI sector be able to topple it from the top spot? Let us know here. | | | |
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| 3 | | Virtualitics revealed it secured a $37M Series C led by Smith Point Capital. Launched out of Caltech and NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in 2016, the startup helps companies visualize and obtain insights from their data. More: - Virtualitics uses knowledge graphs, 3D visualizations, and artificial intelligence to connect points between data when prompted with a question in natural language.
- The company has partnered with defense and national security firms since 2017, including the Department of Defense.
- Other participants in the round include Citi and advisory clients of The Hillman Company.
- The startup, which currently employs 76 people, plans to use the funds to hire new employees.
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| 4 | | 3D display hardware startup Leia Inc. acquired Dutch display technology company Dimenco for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will help Leia advance the development of 3D displays and content creation tools to increase the mainstream adoption of 3D technology. Additionally, the technological development synergy between both organizations will help them create a unified solution that covers various platforms and devices. More: - Dimenco's CEO, Maarten Tobias, will take up Leia's chief commercial officer role following the acquisition.
- Dimenco emerged from Royal Philips Electronics in 2010 and has raised €2.5M ($2.76M) capital to date.
- Leia, which develops glasses-free 3D technology, originated from research at HP Labs.
- While Leia focuses on Android mobile and automotive markets, Dimenco focuses on Windows-based laptops and professional monitors.
- The Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup has raised $325M in total funding to date from Aon, Sputnik ATX, and Continental.
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| 5 | | Kraftblock, a Germany-based energy storage startup, raised a €20M (~$21.9M) Series B led by Shell Ventures. "We specifically chose investors who have their roots in industries such as food, steel, and energy and who will help us to consolidate our leading market position," said Martin Schichtel, the company's CEO and co-founder. More: - Kraftblock develops thermal technology capable of storing energy for up to two weeks, withstanding a maximum of 2372°F.
- The storage solution has a capacity of 1.2 MWh per cubic meter.
- The startup captures thermal energy from manufacturing processes as opposed to similar companies using solar arrays.
- Other investors in the round include Finindus and the A&G Energy Transition Tech Fund.
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| 6 | | British digital lending startup Starling is looking to expand into the Asia-Pacific market. The Goldman Sachs-backed startup has already initiated talks with an Asian bank to bring its banking-as-a-service platform called Engine to an undisclosed country in Asia, Starling's chief commercial officer Nick Drewett told CNBC. More: - Starling will cater to small and medium enterprise (SME) accounts rather than provide personal banking services.
- Starling's Engine platform is an all-in-one digital banking system that helps banks set up checking accounts, savings, loans, and mortgages.
- The firm dropped its plans to expand in Ireland and is opting to pursue international expansion through its software product.
- Starling was valued at $3.4B (£2.5B) last year.
- To date, the firm has raised $1.1B in capital from investors, including Goldman Sachs, Qatar Investment Partners, and Fidelity Management and Research Company.
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- British electric air-taxi aircraft maker Vertical Aerospace's prototype eVTOL aircraft crashed during an unmanned flight test. The crash will increase the firm's cash burn to over the initial budgeted figure of £80M ($102M) over the next 12 months.
- Affordable real estate developer SoLa Impact inked a strategic partnership with proptech AI startup Zenerate to streamline and automate the feasibility analysis process for its affordable and modular housing developments.
- Robert Dreer, the former head of flight test operations at Amazon's Prime Air, joined eVTOL aircraft startup Opener. Prime Air's chief pilot Jim Mullin also departed the firm last month.
- Indian rapid charging startup Exponent Energy is looking to raise additional capital in a bid to expand its charging infrastructure for three-wheeled passenger vehicles and buses.
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Term of the Day Bridge financing: Bridge financing rounds are defined as interim financing that a startup raises between two rounds of financing. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation |
INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Analyst | | 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. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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