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| Hey readers, Venture capitalists pitch to founders in our live-stream reverse demo day event, "Meet Our Fund 5," happening today.
Check it out! Nicolas
p/mobilitynerd | |
| 1 | | Stack Overflow announced it will lay off 28% of its staff. The move comes in a bid to achieve profitability. More: - The company's CEO, Prashanth Chandrasekar, cited reducing the go-to-market organization and supporting teams as part of the cutbacks.
- One challenge faced by Stack Overflow is the rise of generative AI in the tech industry, including AI-generated coding assistance.
- Stack Overflow had previously issued a temporary ban on AI-generated answers, which led to disputes among moderators and remains in place. Additionally, the company is now charging AI companies for training on its platform.
- The company last raised $85M in its Series E in 2020.
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| 2 | | Baichuan Intelligent Technology, a Beijing-based generative AI startup, raised a $300M Series A1 round led by Alibaba and Xiaomi, with participation from Tencent. The company, founded in Apr. 2023, reached a $1B valuation with the latest round. More: - Besides two proprietary models, Baichuan has rolled out four open-source LLM models, which have been downloaded six million times.
- The startup is one of six companies to have received regulatory approval in China, including SenseTime Group and Baidu's Ernie Bot.
- Baichuan last raised a $50M Seed round in April from Xiaochuan Wang, the CEO of search engine Sogou.
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| 3 | | Patreon announced the acquisition of livestream platform Moment for an undisclosed amount. Employees at the ticketed live-streaming startup will join the monetization platform's creator and product teams. More: - The acquisition comes a week after Patreon released a redesigned app and brand.
- Patreon launched a Discord-like chat feature that connects creators with their fans and a commerce feature for one-off digital goods.
- Moment's first event on Patreon will be Crooked Media's Pod Save America Live from DC on October 19.
- The startup last raised a $12M Series A in August 2021 led by recurring investor Forerunner Ventures.
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| 4 | | Stratospheric balloon company Urban Sky raised $9.75M in its Series A round. The round was co-led by New Legacy Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, and Lavrock Ventures. More: - Urban Sky takes a unique approach to traditional earth imaging by deploying reusable small stratospheric balloons that can be launched from standard pickup trucks, significantly reducing costs.
- The company has patented a termination and descent mechanism that keeps its balloons intact at the end of missions, contributing to their cost-effectiveness.
- The current cost per image is about $5-$10 per square kilometer, achieving a 10-centimeter resolution through Urban Sky, a significant discount to the most affordable idea from Earth, which could cost around $20-$25.
- With the new funding, the company plans to create a regular database of updated information covering densely populated regions and other customer-relevant areas.
- Urban Sky's primary customers include environmental monitoring, insurance, and oil and gas companies.
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| 5 | | Live commerce platform TalkShopLive has launched a Studio app for creators and brands. The studio app will be a suite of management and broadcast tools for creators and brands for mobile use. More: - TalkShopLive app allows sellers to access the platform's complete toolset from their phones, including real-time interaction with customers and access to viewership metrics.
- Users can simulcast their livestreams to their Facebook business page, offering a significant feature after Meta discontinued its live shopping capability.
- The app has powered live shows for over 6,000 sellers, including major brands and celebrities.
- TalkShopLive is only available on iOS devices, with an Android version planned for the future.
- The move comes after the startup recently concluded an extension funding round, securing $7M at an $81M valuation.
- Investors included Pierre Omidyar's fund, Spero Ventures, Progress Partners, and TuneIn.
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| 6 | | Merqato, a startup that develops predictive algorithms for the fruits and vegetables value chain, secured a €350,000 (~$370,000) convertible loan from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland. The company's product recommends the selling price and volume of fruits and vegetables. More: - The startup has developed a predictive price model for 30 different products in the Spanish market, claiming better predictability by 80% versus the market benchmark.
- "The innovation fund sends a signal about the importance of data and the value that can be extracted from data. Thanks to the algorithms, cooperatives and wholesalers can reduce their operational costs and create more value," said Claire Bénard, Merqato's co-founder.
- The startup secured €35,000 in grant funds earlier this year.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - The Engine of the Century? The boldest engine innovator in 150+ years is taking investors for just a few more days. Invest in LiquidPiston by 10/24.*
- Beta Technologies partnered with Shoreline Aviation to install the first public-access charger for aircraft and ground EVs in Massachusetts.
- Luzia raised a €9.5M ($10M) round, with participation from Khosla Ventures, to build an AI assistant in Spanish and Portuguese.
- Ampacimon raised a €10M ($10.5M) Series C for grid-enhancing solutions to transmission and distribution utilities through measurement systems and analytics.
- Don't wait for IPOs to make your move. Sandhill Markets offers access to pre-IPO shares of Stripe, Anduril, OpenAI, and Databricks.*
*This is sponsored content. | | | |
Term of the Day Trade deficit: A trade deficit occurs when a country imports more goods than it exports. Question of the Week What perks would convince you to return to the office? Join the conversation |
INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (7 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.
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Born and raised in the Bay Area, Robel Kelkile is passionate about all things tech, venture, and financial education. He has previously served both universities and state governments in their engagement strategy and tracking legislation. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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