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| Hey Insiders, Today's newsletter covers: - 👨🏼⚖️ Indictment of Tred's former director
- 🌦️ Weather startup funding remains steady
- 💰 Semiconductor startup Tenstorrent raises $100M
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Note: The writer's note was unintentionally left blank in Friday's Startups newsletter. Apologies for the oversight. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | John Whisenant, the former director of auto marketplace startup Tred, was charged with five counts of wire fraud. Whisenant made 57 unauthorized transfers, allegedly embezzling more than $2M from the company. More: - The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Washington revealed that Whisenant skillfully disguised the unauthorized transfers as legitimate business expenses.
- He used the funds to purchase luxury cars, including Porsches, Mercedes, a $123,096 Audi E-Tron, and a $98,100 Tesla.
- Additionally, Whisenant used the funds to rent luxury houses in South California and purchase two airline tickets to Paris.
Zoom out: - Cox Automotive acquired Tred for an undisclosed sum in September last year.
- Before the acquisition, Tred had raised a $25M funding round in Sept. 2021.
Q: What governance measures must startups implement to prevent senior executives from engaging in financial misconduct? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | Weather-related startups are still able to close a steady number of funding rounds, defying the funding retrenchment. 
What the numbers say: 27 top-ranking startups in the sector have collectively raised $1B in funding to date. However, startups are having to contend with lower valuations. Investor interest in weather-tracking technology, forecasting, analytics, and risk management platforms still remains high. Revenue from weather apps is projected to grow more than 11% annually between 2022 and 2027. Relevance: Weather satellite constellation startup Tomorrow.io's $87M Series E round is the largest funding round in the sector so far this year. Several seed funding rounds were completed in June, including climate insurance startup Raincoat's $6.5M, smart weather balloon firm WindBorne System's $6M, and weather risk management firm Reask's $4.6M funding rounds. Where to see the impact: Between 2016 and 2022, several weather-related catastrophes caused at least 5,000 casualties and over $1T in damage. Considering the rising number of weather-related issues, investments in weather-related startups are expected to remain strong going forward. | | | |
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| 3 | | Canadian semiconductor chip startup Tenstorrent announced it secured a $100M round led by Hyundai Motor and Samsung. The company had surpassed a $1B valuation prior to the newest round, having previously raised a total of $234.5M. More: - Other investors in the round included Kia, Fidelity, Eclipse Ventures, Maverick Capital, and Epiq Capital, among others.
- Earlier this year, Jim Keller, a chip developer previously with Apple, Tesla, and Intel, was hired as Tenstorrent's CEO.
- In May, the company reached a deal to provide chips for LG's smart televisions. It also supplies data centers, among other applications.
- Hyundai plans to use Tenstorrent's chips for future vehicle models, including Kia and Genesis.
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| 4 | | Workplace AI safety startup Intenseye is in talks with investors to raise $65M in Series B funding. The startup is reportedly eyeing a $300M valuation. Lightspeed Venture Partners will likely lead the funding round, sources informed Forbes. More: - The firm, cofounded by Sercan Esen and Serhat Cillidag in 2018, identifies unsafe behavior at the workplace by leveraging machine learning and AI to scan and analyze footage from existing surveillance cameras.
- Intenseye counts Coca-Cola and Coats as its two most prominent customers.
- The firm's new targeted valuation is triple its previous $100M valuation at its $25M Series A funding round led by Insight Partners in 2021.
Zoom out: - AI and machine learning startups have raised more than $32B in venture capital so far this year.
- Lightspeed has invested $850M in 35 AI startups, recently leading a $50M funding round into online gaming startup Inworld.AI.
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| 5 | | Nomad, a Brazilian fintech startup, raised $61M through a round led by Tiger Global Management. The company is now valued at $361M, up from $200M in 2022. More: - Founded in 2019, Nomad works on offering Brazilians access to financial services in the U.S., such as debit cards, bank accounts, and remittances.
- The startup plans to use the funds to launch new products, including credit cards. Nomad is also expanding its investment product.
- Nomas last raised a $32M Series B led by VC fund Stripes in May 2022.
- According to an IDB study, there were 2,482 fintech platforms in LatAm and the Caribbean, with 31% having a presence in Brazil.
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| 6 | | LemFi, a fintech startup focusing on providing services for immigrants in Canada, raised a $33M Series A led by Left Lane Capital. Launched in 2020, the company focused on enabling remittance payments to Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria. More: - In 2021, LemFi acquired U.K.-based Rightcard Payment, obtaining Electronic Money Institution status and expanding to 10 new markets in Africa.
- The startup also received its International Money Transfer Operator license from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which enables partnerships with local banks.
- The round also included participation from Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, Olive Tree, and Zrosk.
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| 7 | | 
Last week, we asked our startups community, "Is the concept of a "unicorn" startup a realistic goal for most founders, or is it driving unrealistic expectations?" Here's a highlighted response we received: - James Spurway (p/james-spurway), Co-Founder at Indochina Consulting, answered, "This is THE question that consumes people in this ecosystem the most. Most entrepreneurs start a business to solve a problem they perceive exists. Many find out that the market doesn't see it the same way and, after some or no pivots, fold. Some find out that the market agrees with them, and become an established player in that space and build a company and brand that customers trust and admire. Very few go further than that and become THE company and brand in their space that everyone recognizes." Read the full comment here.
Join the conversations at Inside.com, and we may shout out your name and business or contact you for more! ⭐️ | | | |
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- Freight mobility startup Einride hired Corinne Aaron, the former marketing lead at Tesla, as its chief marketing officer.
- Biotech startup Notch Therapeutics is shutting down its lab in Vancouver, Canada. Additionally, the firm intends to lay off employees.
- Generative AI startup Tavus secured $18M in Series A funding at a $80M post-money valuation.
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Term of the Day Core Consumer Price Index (CPI): Core CPI measures the change in price of all items — less food and energy — for urban consumers. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation |
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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