| Hey Insiders, Today's newsletter covers: - 🚲 VanMoof is acquired by Lavoie
- 🤖 Speak raises a $16M Series B extension
- 🐕 Otto raises a $43M Series B led by Mercury Fund
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Nicolas
p/mobilitynerd | |
| 1 | | Speak, an English language learning app backed by the OpenAI Startup Fund, raised a $16M Series B extension led by angel investor Lachy Groom. The platform is currently live in 20 countries, including Japan, Taiwan, and Brazil. More: - Speak is developing an AI-powered tutor and is seeking to expand to offering other languages for U.S. users.
- The company was co-founded in 2016 by Connor Zwick and Andrew Hsu. Zwick sold Flashcards+ to Chegg in 2013.
- Speak claims over 3 million users in South Korea.
- The startup upgraded its AI tutor with OpenAI's GPT-4 and Whisper API for multilingual speech recognition in March.
Q: Have you used any generative AI apps? How was your experience? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | Lavoie, the electric scooter business unit from motorsports engineering company McLaren Applied, announced the acquisition of bike manufacturer VanMoof. The announcement follows a bid made by Turkish scooter-sharing startup BinBin. More: - London-based Lavoie plans to merge VanMoof bikes operation with its existing e-scooter business.
- VanMoof filed for bankruptcy in July as it struggled to obtain funding, deferring vendor payments amid a 10% return rate by unsatisfied customers.
- The Amsterdam-based bike company had also rejected a bid from Micromobility.com (formerly known as Helbiz).
- VanMoof claims over 190,000 customers globally.
Zoom Out: - McLaren Group sold McLaren Applied to London-based private investment firm Greybull Capital in Aug. 2021.
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| 3 | | Generative AI startup AI21 Labs has raised a $155M Series C funding round at a $1.4B valuation. Samsung, Google, and Nvidia were among the investors backing the company. More: - AI21 Labs is an AI company that specializes in creating advanced natural language processing software.
- The company's client list includes names such as:
- eBay
- Ubisoft,
- Carrefour, etc.
- Besides Samsung, Google, and Nvidia, the company was backed by Walden Catalyst, Pitango, SCB10X, and b2venture.
- Since its inception in 2017, the company has raised $283M.
- The company aims to use the funds to accelerate the growth of its text-based generative AI services for enterprises.
- AI21 Labs is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.
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| 4 | | Otto, a startup developing management software for veterinary clinics, announced a $43M Series B led by Mercury Fund. The company, formerly known as TeleVet, claims its customer base grew by 600% to over 8,000 veterinary clinics and hospitals. More: - Otto added new features, including membership plans, payments, and Flow, its communication platform.
- The startup claims it has reduced call volume to clinics by 70% through automated prompts for routine requests.
- The new round brings Otto's total raised to $48M.
- Other participants in the round included recurring investors Boehringer Ingelheim and Hill's Pet Nutrition.
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| 5 | | Y-Combinator has removed Indian startup Medobed from its 2023 batch over irregularities it found during an investigation process. The incubator has not given specific details on what the irregularities actually entail. More: - Medobed is a MedTech startup that aims to deliver medicine in 10 minutes. The company, chosen in Y-Combinator's 2023 batch, has been removed from the program.
- According to an email published online, a Y-Combinator partner told YC's partners, "If you have anything outstanding with this company," "our recommendation is to disengage completely with the company." Medobed is no longer part of YC, "won't do YC demo day, and, as far as we know, haven't raised any money as part of this process."
- YC has also removed all of the content from Medobed from its website.
- YC and Medobed representatives have yet to publically comment on this issue.
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| 6 | | According to a new survey, 45% of Israeli startups started in 2023 were incorporated internationally, up from 20% in 2022. The increase in the number of startups leaving Israel, one of the world's startup hotbeds, is being attributed to political instability. More: - Political tension has been rising in Israel this year, as many Israeli entrepreneurs and civil society members have opposed proposed law reforms that would give the government more power over the judicial branch.
- In H1 2023, the law firms participating in the survey handled the incorporation procedure of 260 new startups. 118 of them were incorporated outside of Israel, while 142 of them were incorporated in Israel. The trend is also affecting existing businesses, as 52 local tech firms were in the process of reincorporating in the U.S.
- Economists in Israel are concerned that the trend could have negative economic consequences, as the Israeli high-tech industry accounts for 16% of its GDP, 30% of payroll taxes collected by the Israeli government, and 11% of its labor force.
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Term of the Day Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires companies to establish and maintain internal controls to ensure accurate financial reporting and transparency. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation |
INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (30 DAYS) |
 | Sr. Analyst | | Nicolas S. is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering transportation and startup 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 startups. Follow him at @MobilityNerd. _________
Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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