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| Hey Insiders, Here are the latest stories: - Stash raises $40M through convertible note
- Flexport lays off 20% of staff
- AgTech robot startup Aigen raises $12M
We have also rounded up the top early-stage funding this week. If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Investing application Stash raised $40M in funding by offering convertible notes. Existing backer T.Rowe Price led the funding round. The fintech startup opted for convertible notes instead of equity funding as it allowed the firm to defer valuation repricing. More: - CEO Liza Landsman said, "We didn't want to do a priced round because of the volatility in the market — and because of our proximity to profitability, we didn't have to do it."
- Stash's latest funding round comes as the firm gears up for an IPO listing.
- It roped in former New York Exchange CFO Amy Butte as its first independent audit chair.
- The firm has raised $550M in total equity and debt funding since its launch, the last of which came in the form of a $125M venture funding round in 2021 at a $1.4B valuation.
- Last year, Stash ended up slightly lower than its annual revenue estimate of $125M.
Zoom out: - Convertible note is debt funding, where investors typically have the option to either make interest off the loan or convert the debt into equity at a discounted rate on a later date.
Q: Which convertible note clauses should startup founders be cautious of, as some of them tend to be more beneficial to investors? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | VCs deployed $1B in early-stage North American startups this week between Oct. 7 and Oct. 13, per Crunchbase data. Healthcare startups raked in 36% of the funding this week. Big data, defense tech, and consumer electronics startups nabbed 6%, 5%, and 4.4% of the financing, respectively. 
Here are the top five largest rounds announced this week: - Value-based healthcare startup Main Street Health bagged $315M in fresh funding.
- Defense autonomous ship maker Saronic bagged $55M in Series A funding. Caffeinated Capital led the round with participation from 8VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Point72 Ventures, Ensemble VC, and others.
- High-performance micro-LED maker Mojo Vision closed its Series A funding round at $43.5M. New Enterprise Associates and Khosla Ventures led the round, with participation from Vanedge Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures, and others.
- Cloud-based talent and workforce management platform Harri raised $43M in Series B funding led by Atalaya Capital Management, with additional support from Golub Growth.
- Low-code data transformation platform Prophecy raised $35M in Series B funding led by Insight Partners and SignalFire. J.P. Morgan, Singtel Innov8, Databricks Ventures, and DallasVC participated in the round.
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| 3 | | Logistics software company Flexport announced it is laying off 20% of its staff (~700 employees). This follows another 20% staff reduction in January. More: - Ryan Petersen, Flexport's CEO and founder, stepped down from the role in March and was replaced with Dave Clark. In September, the company ousted Clark, with Petersen being critical of the number of hirings during the Amazon executive's tenure.
- Once back in the role, Petersen let go of 11 senior executives, including the CFO and chief commercial officer.
- Flexport said the U.S. corporate employees should work from home on Friday to see whether they will be part of the layoffs, with those in Asia having to wait until Monday to find out.
- The laid-off employees will receive nine weeks of severance pay, healthcare coverage until the end of the year, and assistance seeking new jobs.
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| 4 | | Aigen, a Seattle-based startup that uses computer vision to identify and kill weeds, raised $12M. The company's robots are able to operate for up to 14 hours on a single charge. More: - The startup was started by the co-founder of cybersecurity company Weblife.io, Kenny Lee, and a former senior engineer at electric boat company Pure Watercraft, Rich Wurden.
- Aigen's Element robot sold out one day after launching.
- According to a McKinsey study, 39% of surveyed farmers intended to adopt at least one AgTech product in the next two years.
- Aigen previously raised a $4M Seed round in 2022. Its backers include NEA, AgFunder, Global Founders Capital, ReGen Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners, among others.
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| 5 | | EIT InnoEnergy, a European alternative energy accelerator, announced an investment of an undisclosed amount in Dutch biogas startup Methaplanet. The company plans to use the funds to scale its Maxximizer technology, designed to extract efficiency out of low-yield feedstock for biogas production. More: - Methaplanet uses thermal and mechanical processes to produce energy pellets from straw or grass.
- "Availability of feedstock for biogas plants is a challenge in most European countries. We will make a significant contribution to solving this challenge and contribute to the energy transition and the circular economy," said Xander Sandell, founder and CEO of the startup.
- InnoEnergy has invested in more than 200 companies, generating $110B in revenue.
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| 6 | | Delivery Hero-backed coffee chain Flash Coffee's Singapore unit filed for provisional liquidation in Singapore due to its inability to continue business due to liabilities. The firm closed all of its 11 locations in Singapore. More: - Flash Coffee has 200 stores globally and has a presence in Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
- A shift in consumer sentiment and soaring rental costs in Singapore exacerbated economic challenges felt worldwide.
- The firm has raised $68M in total funding to date and was last valued at $200M, per DealStreetAsia.
- Earlier this May, it raised a $50M funding round as it targeted reaching profitability in 2024.
- The decision to cease operations in Singapore underlines the company's commitment to achieving profitability by focusing on its most promising markets.
- The firm shut down 10 stores in Taiwan earlier this year.
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- Latin American startups raised $699M in total venture funding in Q3 2023, up 8% QoQ but still 46% lower than the same period last year, per Crunchbase.
- Image bank website Freepik acquired the social media platform EyeEm for an undisclosed amount.
- EV charging and energy storage sustainable solutions provider Beam Global acquired the Serbian manufacturer of specialized structures and equipment Amiga DOO Kraljevo for €10M ($10.6M).
- Scope3, a startup that helps marketers analyze and reduce emissions from digital ads, secured $20M funding led by GV. The firm was valued at $100M at the Series B funding round.
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INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (7 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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