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| Here's a look at today's Startups briefing. - No startup from Seattle was able to achieve unicorn valuation this year.
- Visma acquires iVISION to enter the legal tech space.
- Paystack lays off 33 employees amidst companywide restructuring.
We have also rounded up the top early-stage funding round this week. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | No startup from Seattle achieved a unicorn valuation this year, per GeekWire. On the other hand, several are on the verge of losing their unicorn valuations due to a drop in venture capital. Once valued at $3.8B, Seattle-based digital trucking startup Convoy closed last month and sold off assets to Flexport. More: - Other struggling Seattle-based startups include e-bike maker Rad Power Bikes and logistics startup Flexe.
- The former closed a store recently and announced two rounds of layoffs this year, while Flexe let go 33% of its workforce in September.
- As of Jan. 2022, the Seattle region had 16 unicorn startups.
- Three Seattle-based startups, namely iSpot, Swiftly, and Flexe, joined the club later in 2022.
Zoom out: - Due to a venture funding slowdown, only 64 global startups entered the unicorn club in Q3 this year.
- The pace is much slower than the record-setting 619 unicorns minted in 2021.
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| 2 | | VCs deployed $887.3M in early-stage North American startups this week between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, per Crunchbase data. Biotech startups raked in 22% of the funding this week. Financial services, AI, and energy startups nabbed 11%, 9%, and 8% of the financing, respectively. 
Here are the top five largest rounds announced this week: - MBrace Therapeutics raised $85M in Series B funding led by TPG. Other investors who participated in the round include Avidity Partners, Cowen Healthcare, Venrock, and Alta Partners.
- Co-branded credit card issuance company Imprint secured a $75M Series B round led by Ribbit Capital.
- Battery management systems maker Element Energy raised $111M in fresh capital, consisting of $73M in Series B equity and a $38M debt facility. Cohort Ventures and an unnamed clean energy generation company co-led the equity tranche, while Keyframe Capital Partners provided the debt facility.
- Clinical-stage ophthalmology biotech startup Eyebiotech Limited extended its Series A round with an additional $65M, bringing the total raised under the round to $130M. Bain Capital Life Sciences, Omega Funds, Vertex Ventures HC, SV Health Investors, Jeito Capital, Samsara Biocapital, and MRL Ventures Fund participated in the round.
- RA Capital Management led a $47.5M Series B in biotech startup Nature's Toolbox (NTx).
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| 3 | | Norwegian business software giant Visma acquired legal admin software maker iVISION for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will help Visma enter the legal-tech domain. More: - iVISION's Legis 365 software suite is already integrated with Visma's e-conomic, Sproom, and Creditro software.
- After the acquisition, Visma will broaden iVISION's scope and start catering to larger industry players, as it has traditionally focused on small to medium law firms since its launch.
Zoom out: - British private equity firm HgCapital owns Visma, one of Europe's largest privately held companies.
- Visma was founded in 1996 after the merger of Multisoft, SpecTec, and Dovre Information Systems.
- Per a Sky News report, Visma is currently looking to sell a stake in the firm to Belgian investor Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.
- The firm is targeting a valuation of €19B ($20.6B) and €20B ($21.7B).
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| 4 | | Nigerian fintech startup Paystack has laid off 33 employees in Europe and the United Arab Emirates. The firm has also reduced its operations in Europe and the Middle East to focus its efforts on expanding in Africa. More: - CEO Shola Akinlade said, "We're changing our operating model to prioritize locating team members within the markets we serve."
- Akinlade added that the changes will help it "localize costs and get closer to customers."
- Paystack announced its expansion plans for Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, and Rwanda earlier this month.
- In addition to the three new nations, the payments processing services firm already operates in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.
Zoom out: - U.S. payment services giant Stripe acquired Paystack for $200M in 2020.
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| 5 | | Bain Capital Ventures' AI incubator program BCV Labs has already inked three deals. BCV Labs was launched in the summer. Bain Capital typically leads seed and subsequent rounds for startups emerging from the program. More: - Bain Capital Ventures' investors Aaref Hilaly and Rak Garg came up with BCV Labs to facilitate intimate discussions between AI entrepreneurs and investors to spur new innovation.
- The program also offers startups access to AI tech infrastructure, which startups need to build their company.
- One of the startups that emerged from BCV Labs is workplace generative AI startup Contextual AI, which also received $20M in seed funding from Bain Capital Ventures.
- Two other startups are working in stealth mode and have also raised seed funding led by Bain Capital.
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| 6 | | Canadian carbon capture tech startup Deep Sky Corp. raised $55M (CAD 75M) in Series A funding co-led by Whitecap Venture Partners and BrightSpark Ventures. The firm will use the proceeds to start its first large-scale carbon-capture plant in Quebec. More: - Canadian air-travel application startup Hopper's CEO Frederic Lalonde founded Deep Sky.
- The firm intends to remove 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from air and water.
- Deep Sky partnered with a dozen direct-air capture firms, including British firm Mission Zero Technologies, to test its technology.
- The firm will need $365M (CAD 500M) to bring the project to full scale.
- Additionally, it will need 100 megawatts of electricity to run the facility.
Zoom out: - Per the International Energy Agency, only 30 direct-air carbon capture plants are commissioned worldwide.
- The plants have a cumulative capacity of capturing only 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
- However, plans for another 130 facilities are currently under various stages of development.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - The The Kubernetes Cookbook is your comprehensive companion equipping you with the knowledge and techniques to harness the full potential of Kubernetes.*
- BrightDrop, a commercial electric vehicle startup born out of GM's Innovation Lab in 2021, will no longer operate as a subsidiary of GM and will become a part of the company.
- Robotics company Avidbots promoted Varvara Alva to the chief operating officer role. Despite the promotion, Alva will continue to carry on duties as chief financial officer.
- Brazilian startup Logcomex SA raised $33M in fresh funding led by Riverwood Capital. The firm was able to raise its valuation from its previous round two years ago.
- Full-stack back-office software solutions startup Every.io bagged a seed funding round of $9.5M led by Base10.
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 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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