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| Hey Insiders, Today's newsletter covers: - Logistics startup Flexe's layoffs
- Funding raised by insect cultivation startups
- Xage Security's new $17M contract awarded by Space Force
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Logistics and warehousing startup Flexe laid off 33% of its workforce, or 131 employees, per GeekWire. This strategic decision is in response to a market slowdown affecting logistics startups. Flexe experienced a surge in shipments during the pandemic, driven by the remarkable increase in online shopping. However, the current market conditions have necessitated a more agile approach. More: - The Seattle-based startup had around 400 employees before the layoffs.
- Flexe cemented its unicorn status last year after hitting a valuation of $1B at its $119M Series D funding round.
- After the Series D round, CEO and co-founder Karl Siebrecht told GeekWire that Flexe had to be "really smart about how we manage that cash given the market uncertainty," highlighting that the firm had "to make investments in scalable growth — not just growth itself."
- The firm is backed by Activate Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Prologis Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and others.
Zoom out: - Flexe's peers, including freight forwarding giant Flexport and digital trucking marketplace Convoy, also laid off employees.
Q: How can startups support recently laid-off employees in finding their next jobs? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | 31 insect cultivation startups have bagged $1.3B in venture funding over the past couple of years, per Crunchbase. 
What the numbers say: French insect-based pet food maker Ynsect bagged $170M in funding earlier this April. The most notable firm in the domain, InnovaFeed, raised $250M in Series D funding last year. What happened: Insect cultivation startups are gaining traction due to their role in making animal feed and eco-friendly products such as organic fertilizers. Additionally, firms are now marketing cricket bars as a high-protein snack for humans. Meanwhile, bugs such as black soldier flies, larvae, and silkworms are being used in industrial feed production. Why it matters: Insect farming is rapidly gaining popularity due to its eco-friendly profile, demanding far less water and land resources. Ynsect, for example, proudly claims that its 1 kg mealworm protein products consume 40 times less water than their pork-based counterparts. Additionally, insect farming occupies parcels of land 30 times smaller than traditional cattle farming, producing only a fraction of the CO2 emissions. | | | |
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| 3 | | Xage Security announced it was awarded a $17M contract with the U.S. Space Force's Space System Command. The startup will provide the defense agency with data protection and zero-trust access control across its space architectures. More: - The contract would involve using Xage Fabric for Space Force's existing terrestrial systems, next-generation space systems, and for secure data exchange from edge network collection points to commercial cloud environments.
- "Space is the final frontier of cybersecurity and a key arm of critical infrastructure that needs protection," said Xage CEO Geoffrey Mattson.
- The company has raised $61.2M since its inception, including a $40.2M Series B led by Piva Capital in July 2022.
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| 4 | | Gem Security, a cloud monitoring startup, announced a $23M Series A led by GGV Capital. Founded in 2022, Gem launched its cloud security service this year. More: - The company claims investment firm AllanGray, social network OpenWeb, and healthcare company Thirty Madison among its clients.
- "I usually say that the right time to raise money is either when you have the opportunity or when you feel that if you don't raise this money, you won't be able to grow as fast as you want," said Gem co-founder and CEO Arie Zilberstein.
- The new investment follows a $11M Seed round led by Team8 in February.
- Other participants in the Series A include IBM Ventures and Silicon Valley CISO Investments.
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| 5 | | Resourcify, a startup working on digital solutions for recycling and waste management, announced a $14.94M Series A led by Vorwerk Ventures. The platform identifies materials and connects local recycling companies with global corporations. More: - "It's important to note that much of the waste industry still operates in a non-digital and non-automated manner, and in many cases, waste is even incinerated rather than recycled. This underscores the urgency of modernizing these processes to minimize environmental impact," said the startup's CEO, Gary Lewis.
- Research & Markets estimates the digitalization market for recycling will grow 11.6% by 2030 from $3.28B in 2020.
- The company has 50 paying customers, including McDonald's and Johnson & Johnson.
- Other participants in the round include SpeedInvest, BonVenture, Ananda Impact Ventures, WEPA Ventures, and Revent.
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| 6 | | French grocery delivery startup La Belle Vie is acquiring Frichti for an undisclosed sum. Frichti was placed under court-ordered receivership after the food delivery startup's parent organization, Getir, filed for bankruptcy in France a few months ago. La Belle Vie will retain 168 out of Frichti's 408 employees. After the acquisition, the Frichti brand will still exist, but La Belle Vie will scale down operations, reducing delivery hubs from 16 to four. More: - Frichti was founded in 2015 and was acquired by Gorillas in Jan. 2022.
- Subsequently, Getir acquired Gorillas, making Frichti a part of its firm.
- While the French court shut down Getir and Gorillas, Frichti was placed in administration as the court searched for potential buyers.
- Frichti had raised around €100M ($105M) from investors to date.
- Meanwhile, La Belle Vie last raised €25M ($28M) Series B round in 2021.
- However, the company reached profitability earlier this year, with the firm expected to generate €57M ($60M) in revenue in 2023.
- Last year, the firm reported €69M ($73M) in revenue.
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- Newsletter startup Beehiiv acquired tech platform Swapstack. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
- Cybersecurity firm Lumu secured $30M in Series B funding. Forgepoint Capital led the funding, which also includes a debt tranche of $6M.
- Former Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg announced a new startup called Meeno that is developing an AI-powered chatbot to help individuals fight loneliness. The firm raised $3.9M in seed funding led by Sequoia.
- Short-term financing and payment processing startup Slope bagged $30M in fresh funding led by Union Square Ventures.
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Term of the Day Current ratio: The current ratio, calculated by dividing a company’s assets by liabilities, shows a company’s ability to pay its short-term debts with its assets. 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 Christopher Hachey | |
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