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| Here’s a look at today’s Startups briefing. - Chip achieves profit as it launches new crowdfunding campaign.
- Startups in the West bagged 53.2% of VC funding in Q3.
- Charm Industrial to ramp up operations in Colorado.
Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | British savings and investment platform Chip Financial has launched another crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. The news came as Chip announced a profitable quarter. The firm raised £3.5M ($4.3M) through its last crowdfunding campaign, which brought its total capital raised to date to £47.5M ($58.4M). More: - Chip just crossed the £3B ($3.69B) mark for assets under administration after starting the year with just £27M ($33.2M).
- The firm reported a pre-tax loss of £15M ($18.4M) in the year ending Dec. 2022.
- The fintech startup also doubled its active user base, said co-founder and marketing director Alex Latham.
- Chip had 580,000 users at the end of Dec. 2022.
- Chip hired Georgina Silvester as its chief operating officer earlier this April.
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| 2 | | Startups headquartered in the West region of the U.S. raked in 53.2% of all venture capital recorded on Carta in Q3, up from 44.3% from the previous quarter. 
What the numbers say: While funding increased for the West, it declined in the Northeast, South, and Midwest regions. California alone bagged 46.15% share of VC funding, 10% more than the previous quarter's tally of 35.99%. Funding also increased for Washington and Texas, which raked in 4.09% and 6.37% of the funding, respectively. Washington's share of VC funding helped it take away the fifth-highest funding share. Only California, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas could raise higher sums than Washington. Relevance: Meanwhile, funding halved in Florida and New Jersey, which ended the quarter with 2.09% and 1.04% share, respectively. Funding almost dried up entirely in Ohio, which saw a drop in VC funding share from 2.34% in Q2 to 0.4% in 2023. | | | |
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| 3 | | Carbon removal startup Charm Industrial is ramping up operations in Colorado and is planning to double its 22-person local workforce by the end of 2024. The firm opened a 30,000-square-foot facility in the Fort Lupton area late last year. More: - The firm turns corn stalks and other farming residue into a tar-like liquid called "bio-oil" using extremely high temperatures.
- Charm Industrial then stores the plant-based oil underground, helping them permanently store the CO2 that would otherwise be released into the air.
- The firm has removed 6,400 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere so far.
- Earlier this year, Charm Industrial raised $100M in Series B funding to accelerate its work in Colorado.
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| 4 | | Germany and Switzerland-based quantum computing startup Terra Quantum announced a collaboration with NVIDIA. The partnership will help the duo accelerate the development of quantum applications. More: - NVIDIA's CUDA Quantum participants will get access to Terra Quantum's library of algorithms.
- Terra Quantum's founder and CEO Markus Pflitsch said, "We are using our hybrid quantum algorithms delivered on NVIDIA GPUs to deliver significant business impact today. This collaboration will not only accelerate this impact but also help unlock a whole new range of opportunities in the areas of machine learning and simulation — while also setting a pathway for quantum computing."
Zoom out: - Governments of China, the U.S., and the European Union have invested $9.7B, $1.9B, and $1.1B in quantum computing technologies, respectively.
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| 5 | | Andreessen Horowitz-backed blockchain startup Optimism hired Ryan Wyatt as its chief growth officer. He is tasked with growing Optimism's business through partnerships and marketing. More: - Optimism is one of the biggest layer 2 blockchains and has seen more than $700M in cryptocurrencies on its platform.
- Layer 2 blockchains offer enhanced speed and lower transaction costs.
- Wyatt has worked for over eight years in the gaming industry and was formerly the head of gaming at YouTube.
- Per Optimism Foundation's CEO and executive director, the blowup of crypto startups has driven away the people who were only interested in cash grabbing while "the genuine people who are actually interested in the technology remain."
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| 6 | | Fintech and insurtech-focused early-stage investor Tenity acquired startup accelerator Hackquarters for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will give Tenity a foothold in London, U.K., and Istanbul, Turkey. Tenity already had bases in Switzerland, Singapore, Spain, the Nordic, and the Baltic regions. More: - The combined entity has an alumni of more than 1,100 startups, collectively raising over $1B in funding.
- Tenity hopes to tap into a larger number of opportunities across a broader geographical region.
- Tenity CEO Andreas Iten said, "With the acquisition of Hackquarters, we see a remarkable opportunity to create additional value for our ecosystem and partners. Together, we can create synergies across geographies, foster knowledge transfer, and generate a powerful network effect."
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- Coatue Management-backed brokerage startup Stash will stop direct crypto investing services from mid-December.
- Ming Maa is stepping down from the president role at ride-hailing and food-delivery company Grab at the end of April. Maa is the second top executive to step down in the past six months.
- Anti-money laundering startup Refine Intelligence raised $13M in seed funding led by Glilot Capital Partners and Fin Capital.
- Radicle Impact and Ulu Ventures co-led a $7M pre-Series A round into textile recycling logistics platform SuperCircle.
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Term of the Day Keyword stuffing: Keyword stuffing involves the inclusion of keywords into a website’s content unnaturally or repetitively to manipulate search engine algorithms. Question of the Week What perks would convince you to return to the office? Join the conversation |
 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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