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| Hey Insiders, Today's newsletter covers: - Blockchain startup R3's layoffs
- Panmesia's $12.5M seed round
- Digital forensics startup Binalyze raises $19M
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Blockchain startup R3 laid off a fifth of its workforce last week to conserve cash. While the firm was able to attract new clients working for central banks, it lost revenue on insurance and trade finance projects that it was developing. More: - R3 said in a statement, "After careful consideration of the macroeconomic environment and commercial landscape, we've decided to make some changes at R3 to ensure we respond where demand is strongest but also to maintain a strong operating and financial position."
- The New York-based startup last raised a $107M funding in May 2017.
- The firm is backed by over 40 institutions, including Barclays, UBS Group, and Wells Fargo & Co.
Zoom out: - VC funding for global digital asset startups declined by 76% YoY in Q2 2023, per Pitchbook.
Q: What tough decisions did your startup make this year to extend the cash runway? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | Chip startup Panmesia secured $12.5M in seed funding led by Daekyo Investment, with additional backing from SL Investment, Smilegate Investment, GNTech Venture Capital, Time Works Investment, and others. 
What the numbers say: The firm was valued at $81.4M at the recent funding round, nearly eight times more than the $10.9M median valuations of startups in Q2 2023. Seed-stage companies have largely defied the VC funding retrenchment. Median valuations of seed-stage startups have reached the highest level in a decade in 2023, per Pitchbook. Relevance: Panmesia is developing AI accelerator chips, processors, and memory for big data centers. The firm's focus on AI and chip sectors, both of which are receiving significant backing from investors, is likely the reason why it was able to grab a higher valuation. Where to see the impact: Valuations of only seed-stage startups increased in 2023, while all other stages saw a significant drop compared to last year. Per Carta, valuations of Series C and Series D stage startups fell 23% YoY and 59% YoY in Q2 2023, per Carta. | | | |
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| 3 | | London-based Binalyze, a startup focusing on digital forensics, secured a $19M Series A led by Molten Ventures. This brings the company's total raised to $30.5M. More: - The startup focuses on gathering evidence of breaches across clouds, network assets, and devices, after which it runs analyses to assist with solutions.
- Founded by Emre Tinaztepe, who formerly worked at antivirus companies Comodo and Zemana, has gained military and government contracts.
- Other participants in the round include Cisco Investments, Citibank Ventures, and Deutsche Bank Ventures.
- Cybersecurity startups raised a combined total of $2.7B in venture capital in Q1.
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| 4 | | General Catalyst led a €209M ($223M) Series B funding round into defense AI startup Helsing. Per TechCrunch, the funding round could potentially be the largest raised yet by a European AI startup. More: - The startup cemented its unicorn status with a pre-money valuation of €1.5B ($1.6B).
- Swedish heavy industry and defense group Saab was a strategic investor in the current round.
- Helsing, which leverages live data to boost the defense and national security capabilities of nations, last raised a €102.5M ($109.5M) Series A funding round.
- The firm is backed by Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek, who pledged €1B ($1.2B) of his personal fortune for deep tech projects.
- Ek's investment company, Prima Materia, led Helsing's Series A funding round.
- Helsing and its consortium partners bagged the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program earlier this month.
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| 5 | | Stoner Cats, an NFT project by actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $1M. The agency determined the NFTs were unregistered securities, claiming social media accounts suggested a return on investment. More: - The SEC specifically quoted a tweet by the Stoner Cats account on Sept. 7, 2021, containing a meme that reads: "Buy more ETH & sweep the Stoner Cats floor."
- "Regardless of whether your offering involves beavers, chinchillas, or animal-based NFTs, under the federal securities laws, it's the economic reality of the offering – not the labels you put on it or the underlying objects – that guides the determination of what's an investment contract and therefore a security," said the director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, Gurbir S. Grewal.
- The project consisted of 10,000 NFTs, which would give buyers access to a six-episode animated series. Each time the NFTs were resold, the original owners would receive 2.5% in royalties.
- The regulator's decision follows a $1.26M settlement with Kim Kardashian in 2022 over claims by the SEC that the celebrity failed to disclose that she was paid to promote Ethereum Max.
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| 6 | | ReSeed, a carbon credits provider, announced it secured a $4.6M Seed round led by One Small Planet. The platform works with smallholder farmers to monetize regenerative farming and provides end-to-end traceability for credits. More: - The round included participation from Thorn Partners and angel investors, including Elizabeth Stewart and Baratunde Thurston.
- There are over 600 million small farmers globally, according to the startup.
- Other investments led by Boulder-based One Small Planet include a $1M Seed round for plant-based prescription startup Magdalena Biosciences and $3.2M for land management for carbon projects company RenewWest.
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- Bond trading startup Moment secured $17M in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
- API security and monitoring software developer APImetrics is merging with competitor Contxt. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
- U.S. flood risk underwriting technology firm reThought Flood is set to acquire insurtech firm CyberBoxer.
- Generative AI startup Andi hired Nick Chan, the former director of BetMakers Technology Group, as its new chief operating officer. The startup also moved its headquarters from Miami to San Francisco.
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INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (30 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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