Plus, Figure seeks SEC approval to offer interest bearing stablecoins
| For January 23, 2024 |  |
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| Here's a look at today's Startups briefing. - 🏗️ Cemex expects construction tech funding to remain stable this year.
- 🌎 Prometeo secured $13M as VC funding for Latin American startups plunged.
- 📝 Figure seeks SEC approval to offer interest-bearing stablecoins.
Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Gonzalo Galindo, the head of Mexican cement giant Cemex's VC division, expects investment in construction technology startups to remain stable this year, but valuations could dip slightly. Galinzo adds that investors will exercise caution in the first half of the year and factor in the geopolitical volatility, market demand, and the outcome of the U.S. elections before resuming. More: - "We're going to keep trying to see how all these variables play out or diminish in the future," said Galindo.
- The firm expects startups working on enhanced productivity, including document management and project visualization, to rake in most of the funding deployed in the sector.
- M&A transactions could also increase this year, while the U.S. could be a hotspot for investment.
Zoom out: - Per Cemex Ventures' report, construction technology startups raked in $3B from 236 deals.
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| 2 | | Latin American fintech startup Prometeo raised $13M in Series A funding, higher than its initial target of $10M. Relevance: The firm will use the proceeds to expand its team size by 50% and launch services in Brazil and Mexico this year. The banking software provider has 283 corporate clients across Latin America and saw a tenfold growth in sales between 2021 and 2023. Co-founder and co-CEO Ximena Aleman expects the company to triple its revenue this year and become profitable by 2025. 
What the numbers say: Prometeo's funding round comes amidst a funding slump seen worldwide. The funding slump has been severe for tech startups due to the tightening monetary policy in the U.S. and Europe. VC funding for Latin American startups slumped to $3.6B in 2023, about one-third of 2021's tally of $15.9B, per Lavca. | | | |
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| 3 | | North Carolina startups FeedStation and Tromml have settled their dispute and jointly filed to dismiss the case with prejudice. FeedStation sued Tromml last year and accused its founders of stealing trade secrets and establishing a competing company. Conditions of the settlement were not disclosed. Both parties have reached an amicable agreement, said FeedStation's founder, Michael Linnane. More: - FeedStation, which offers e-commerce sellers a platform to access marketplaces, claimed that Tromml stole its trade secrets and accessed its systems without permission.
- The defendants have denied any wrongdoing but admitted to accessing FeedStation's customer data after acting as an agent for a customer.
- Tromml's co-founder, Lauren McCullough, said, "To be clear to outside parties, Tromml is not under any restriction from any source that would prevent it from using its IP in any lawful manner and is confident it can provide all of the typical and necessary due diligence information in connection with any financing or change of control transaction."
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| 4 | | Blockchain and lending startup Figure Technologies Inc. has filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to start offering interest-bearing stablecoins. If successful, this will be the first stablecoin regulated as a type of fixed-income security in the U.S. More: - Figure was founded by Mike Cagney, the former CEO of SoFi Technologies Inc., in 2018.
- The startup aims to make the stablecoins available to both institutional and retail investors.
- Figure's digital asset arm, Figure Markets, is in talks with investors to raise $50M at a $250M valuation.
- Per sources, Jump Crypto is looking like the most likely candidate as a lead investor.
- Interest will accrue daily and be paid monthly to the holder, according to the filing.
Zoom out: - Figure's stablecoin offering differs from the current stablecoins in the market, which do not offer interest and are used by crypto traders to settle transactions.
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| 5 | | Open source vector database developer Qdrant raised $28M in Series A round. The firm will use the proceeds to scale the organization and expand its business team in a bid to capitalize on the AI revolution. More: - Spark Capital led the round with additional backing from Unusual Ventures and 42cap.
- Qdrant CEO and co-founder Andre Zayarni said the firm declined a potential acquisition offer from a "major database market player," instead opting for the funding round.
- The company targets developers with its vector database, which is critical in processing unstructured data for generative AI models.
Zoom out: - Gartner predicts that unstructured data is growing three times faster than structured data, highlighting the need for vector databases.
- Qdrant's rivals Pinecone, Zilliz, and Weaviate have recently raised $100M, $60M, and $50M, respectively.
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| 6 | | French employer branding and recruitment platform Welcome to the Jungle acquired British job search platform startup Otta. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition will help Welcome to the Jungle to expand into the U.K. and U.S. in 2024. More: - Welcome to the Jungle caters to almost three million active workers for 5,500 clients across France and the Czech Republic.
- Since its founding in 2015, the firm has raised about $83M in funding, of which $54M came in through a Series C funding round in early 2023.
- Otta uses matching technology to match 1.7 million employers with available vacancies based on their personal preferences, skill sets, and values.
- "We both uniquely believe in a future of work based on the power of matching and share the same DNA that disrupts market conventions, from our branding to our obsession with helping people find meaning through their work," said Welcome to the Jungle's co-founder and CEO Jérémy Clédat.
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- Former CEO of Nintex and founder of Incredible Capital Brian Cook is set to succeed current CEO Matthew Hocking at AI voice platform WellSaid Labs. Hocking will transition into the executive chairman role.
- Mobile game developer and publisher TapNation acquired AI-powered user acquisition and monetization platform UAhero for an undisclosed sum.
- Dutch EV charging management business Monta secured €80M ($87M) in fresh funding from undisclosed investors.
- AI research and development startup HaiVE launched a new AI assistant that will provide automated customer service to clients.
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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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