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| Hey Insiders, Today's newsletter covers: - 🎯 AI chip startup d-Matrix nabs $110M
- 🌎 19% MoM increase in global startup funding in August
- 💻 IT automation startup Josys' $93M Series B round
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Santa Clara, Calif.-based AI chip startup d-Matrix closed its Series B funding round at $110M. Singapore-based investment firm Temasek led the funding round. The firm intends to use the proceeds to develop its digital in-memory compute platform Corsair. More: - Playground Global, Microsoft's venture fund M12, Nautilus Venture Partners, Ericsson Ventures, Mirae Asset, Samsung Ventures, and others backed the current funding round.
- The firm had raised $44M in funding before the current round.
- D-Matrix's chip technology uses less energy to power generative AI applications such as ChatGPT.
- The firm expects to rake in $10M in revenue this year, potentially increasing seven-fold to between $70M and $75M by the next two years.
- D-Matrix expects to break even over the next two years.
Q: Has your startup recently pivoted into the AI sector or integrated AI technology? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | Venture capitalists invested $22B in global startups in Aug. 2023, per Crunchbase. 
What the numbers say: The monthly total increased 19% compared to the previous month. However, the total was 16% lower than the $26.2B invested in the same month last year. So far this year, investors have deployed $23B each month on average. Relevance: Early-stage funding in August halved compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, seed-stage funding was down a third from a year ago. Late-stage funding — the most impacted in the VC funding pullback trend — showed a 25% YoY increase for the first time in 18 months, closing August with $13.3B. Where to see the impact: The healthcare and biotech sector nabbed most of the funding in August, raking in a 23% share of the total funding. Transportation and fintech sectors nabbed 18% and 13% of the financing, respectively. The AI sector came in at the fourth spot, ending the month with $2.7B in VC funding. | | | |
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| 3 | | IT automation software startup Josys announced it raised a $93M Series B led by recurring investor Global Brain and new investor Globis Capital. The company was spun off Japanese B2B platform builder Raksul in 2021. More: - Josys claims more than 300 medium and small businesses on its platform, having tripled its customers since Aug. 2022.
- Besides its SaaS platform, Josys provides IT device outsourcing for purchasing, shipping, and repairing, among other services. It also develops Shadow IT, which discovers unregulated software usage.
- Josys currently operates in the U.S., India, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea. It seeks to be in 100 countries by 2025.
- The startup plans to grow from 120 employees to 240 people by the end of the year.
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| 4 | | First Advantage Corporation acquired biometric ID verification startup Infinite ID for $41M in cash. The acquisition will help the employment background screening and verification company expand its network of U.S.-based verification service providers. More: - First Advantage's CEO Scott Staples said, "This acquisition builds on our digital strategy with one of the most comprehensive digital collection networks in the industry and supports our ongoing commitment to providing high-value offerings that help keep our customers' businesses safe."
- First Advantage anticipates that Infinite ID will raise $10M in annual income.
- The company funded the acquisition with cash from its balance sheet.
- Infinite ID was formed in Oct. 2022 after parent group Enlightenment Capital acquired fingerprint scanning company PrintScan.
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| 5 | | Microalgae producer Phycom announced it secured over €9M ($9.6M) in funding. Founded in 2008, the company works with the feed industry and B2B food solutions. More: - Phycom uses a modular closed system to cultivate microalgae species.
- The startup has built two production facilities in Veenendaal, Netherlands.
- Phycom plans to use the funds to enhance its marketing activities and fund tech development.
- The round included the participation of food company Corbion, investment firm Phase2 Earth, Invest International, and the Dutch agency Invest-NL.
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| 6 | | Portland-based RideWithGPS, a developer of route planning tools for bicyclists, announced it raised $3M from an undisclosed investor. This marks the company's first outside investment. More: - RideWithGPS works on a mobile and web app to track, map, and analyze bike rides. The app also has a social component.
- The company claims to have been cashflow positive since its inception in 2006.
- RideWithGPS shares a sector with exercise app Strava, which raised a $110M Series F in 2020, and AllTrails, which raised $150M from private equity firm Permira in 2021.
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- Former Anthos Capital investor Annie Luchsinger launched a new VC firm called Breakers to back pre-seed and seed-stage software and consumer internet businesses across the U.S. and Canada.
- SimpleClosure, a startup that helps automate a company closure process, secured $1.5M in seed funding led by Vera Equity and Cambrian Ventures.
- Web3 startup accelerator Cronos Labs launched the third cohort of its accelerator program.
- Global payments and business finance platform Airwallex launched its Airwallex for Startups program in Hong Kong to help local businesses streamline operations.
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Term of the Day Cost of goods sold (COGS): COGS refers to the direct costs of producing or acquiring the goods that a company sells to its customers. 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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