| Here’s a look at today’s Startups briefing. - 🚝 Hyperloop One shuts down.
- 🚫 Zomato denies making a $2B acquisition offer to Shiprocket.
- 📝 LKAB inks contract with green cement startup Cemvision.
We have also rounded up the top early-stage funding rounds of this week. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | High-speed transportation company Hyperloop One is shutting down and laying off all employees by Dec. 31. The firm is closing after failing to win any contract to build a working hyperloop. More: - Hyperloop was building a transportation system using magnetic levitation technology.
- Theoretically, the firm expected its transportation pods to achieve speeds of 700 mph.
- The Los Angeles, Calif.-based startup had raised over $450M in total funding, per Pitchbook.
- Hyperloop received backing from Virgin Group's founder, Richard Branson, and was later rebranded as Virgin Hyperloop One.
- Virgin later rescinded the endorsement after the firm pivoted to transporting cargo instead of people.
- At the initial trials undertaken in 2020, the pods achieved speeds of 107 mph.
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| 2 | | VCs deployed $706.6M in early-stage North American startups this week between Dec. 16 and Dec. 22, per Crunchbase data. Biotech startups raked in 39% of the funding this week. AI, cybersecurity, and healthcare startups nabbed 18%, 10%, and 3.4% of the financing, respectively. 
Here are the top five largest rounds announced this week: - Biopharmaceutical startup Sudo Biosciences closed its Series B round at $116M. Enavate Sciences and TPG co-led the round, joined by Sanofi Ventures, Surveyor Capital, Monograph Capital, and Eventide Asset Management.
- Antibody therapeutics biotech startup Lassen Therapeutics raised $85M in Series B funding co-led by Frazier Life Sciences and Longitude Capital. Investors participating in the round include BVF Partners, Catalio Capital Management, Alta Partners, and Longwood Capital.
- Generative AI startup Harvey raked in $80M in Series B funding at a valuation of $715M. Elad Gil and Kleiner Perkins co-led the round, joined by OpenAI's startup fund and Sequoia.
- Biotech startup Kimia Therapeutics closed its Series A round at $55M. The Column Group and Dimension led the round, with additional support from Horizon Ventures and others.
- Anti-ransomware platform Halcyon raised a $40M Series B round led by Bain Capital Ventures.
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| 3 | | Food delivery company Zomato has denied reports that it offered to acquire Indian e-commerce shipping startup Shiprocket. Several media outlets reported earlier that Zomato had made a $2B offer to the startup. More: - Zomato's CEO, Deepinder Goyal, said that the firm is committed to its existing business and has no plans for any acquisition at the moment.
- Shiprocket counts Zomato as one of its investors after it participated in a funding round in 2021.
- Other notable backers of the firm include Temasek, Bertelsmann India Investments, PayPal Ventures, and Tribe Capital.
- The firm was last valued at $1.23B at its funding round in Aug. 2022.
- Shiprocket reported a 78% increase in operating revenue in the financial year ending March 2023.
- While revenue increased, losses also widened by 3.6 times.
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| 4 | | Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB signed a commercial agreement to purchase green cement from Cemvision AB. The startup is slated to start the first deliveries from March. More: - Cemvision is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Norrsken, and EQT.
- The startup produces green cement by eliminating limestone and heating from the manufacturing process.
- Cemvision claims its process helps reduce carbon emissions by 95%.
- Cement manufacturing is among the most polluting sectors, contributing to 8% of global emissions.
- The firm is currently establishing its demo plant in southern Poland.
- Once functional, the plant will have a production capacity of 4,000 metric tons annually.
- The firm aims to scale production to 5 million tons annually by 2030.
- The startup wants to raise fresh funding to build the infrastructure required to operate plants in Europe and the U.S.
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| 5 | | DP Technology, a Chinese startup that leverages AI for molecular simulations, is pursuing international expansion, starting with the U.S. The firm will open an office in the U.S. and is looking for partners to distribute its products and services. The firm will leverage its open-source community and participate in trade shows to establish its presence in the U.S. More: - The firm had initial success in China due to a mix of SaaS and service business models.
- DP expects to ink $14M (100M yuan) worth of contracts this year.
- To date, the firm has raised $140M in total funding from investors, including Qiming Venture Partners and Source Code Capital.
- DP's expansion plan comes amidst rising geopolitical challenges between the U.S. and China.
- CEO and founder Sun Weijie said, "Both the fields of basic science and biopharmaceuticals are shared by all of humanity, and they are relatively open and inclusive. Comparatively speaking, I believe that these areas will be fine."
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| 6 | | Kenyan e-commerce startup Wasoko is set to merge with its Egyptian rival MaxAB. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed. More: - Wasoko operates in Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia, while MaxAB operates across Morocco, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and five other East African countries.
- Wasoko recently announced a round of layoffs, primarily affecting its employees in Kenya.
- Earlier this year, the firm exited Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Mombasa amidst a push for profitability.
- Wasoko raised a $125M Series B round last year from Tiger Global and Avenir at a post-money valuation of $625M.
- Food and grocery B2B e-commerce and distribution platform MaxAB has raised $100M in total funding to date, including a $55M Series A and a $40M pre-Series B round.
- MaxAB was reportedly planning to raise a bridge round from existing investors.
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- Blue Origin and PE firm Cerberus have made a buyout offer to spacetech startup United Launch Alliance. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Jefferies estimates that the startup could get between $2B and $3B.
- British fintech startup Revolut is close to resolving the accounting concerns raised by an auditor in its 2021 annual report. Resolving the matter could help Revolut, valued at $33B in 2021, get a U.K. banking license.
- French market regulator approved cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase's application to be registered as a virtual asset service provider, which will help them launch digital currency services in the nation.
- Fiber optic technology Luna Innovations Incorporated acquired fiber optic sensing solutions firm Silixa. Luna will make an upfront cash payment of $21.5M, which could be increased by an additional $16.5M subject to reaching certain milestones.
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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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