Plus, The Messenger will likely layoff two dozen employees this week
| For January 03, 2024 |  |
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| Here’s a look at today’s Startups briefing. - ⚠️ Frontdesk laid off all employees and shut down after fundraising attempts failed.
- 🌱 Airloom Energy developed a wind turbine that can cut energy costs by 70%.
- 👤 Kojin Therapeutics roped in Harvey Berger as CEO.
Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Short-term rental proptech startup Frontdesk has shut down operations and laid off its entire workforce of 200 employees. The firm broke the news to its employees through a "two-minute Google Meet call." Frontdesk had to make the tough decision after its latest fundraising attempts failed to materialize. More: - The company was reportedly planning to raise a bridge round and was going to pivot into full building management.
- Since its founding in 2017, the firm has raised $26M from investors, most notably JetBlue Ventures, Veritas Investments, and Sand Hill Angels.
- CEO Jesse DePinto told employees that it would be filing for a state receivership.
- Frontdesk's shutdown comes just seven months after it acquired rival Zencity.
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| 2 | | Cleantech energy startup Airloom Energy has developed a revolutionary horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) that can cut energy costs by 70%. What the numbers say: The firm's 2.5 MW wind turbine, called AirLoom, can cost about $225,000, significantly less than a conventional system, which can cost about $2.1M. A 20 MW AirLoom will cost about $6M, 25% less than traditional wind farms. Since its founding in 2020, the firm has raised $4M in seed funding led by Bill Gates' investment firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures. 
Relevance: By mid-Dec. 2023, global cleantech startups had raked in $42.3B in VC funding, 28% less than the previous year's tally of $58.5B, per Pitchbook data reviewed by Cipher News. Funding for the sector declined due to the high-interest rates and inflation. | | | |
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| 3 | | Ariad Pharmaceuticals co-founder and CEO Harvey Berger is set to join biotech startup Kojin Therapeutics as its CEO, president, and chairman. Berger is tasked with moving the firm towards clinical development and clinical proof-of-concept of its ferroptosis-based drug. More: - The Boston, Mass.-based startup last raised a $60M Series A round in 2021 led by Polaris Partners, Newpath Partners, and Cathay Health.
- Berger was brought on board by Ariad's co-founder and Harvard University professor Stuart Schreiber, who also happens to be one of the co-founders of Kojin.
Zoom out: - Berger founded Ariad in 1991 and was with the firm until 2015, when he stepped down after an intense proxy battle with Sarissa Capital's head, Alex Denner.
- A year after Berger stepped down, Takeda Pharmaceuticals acquired Ariad for $5.2B.
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| 4 | | Digital news startup The Messenger plans to lay off two dozen employees this week as a part of its cost-cutting initiatives, sources informed the New York Times (NYT). The news comes amidst reports that the startup is struggling with low cash reserves due to challenges in the digital ad market. The firm has about 300 employees. More: - The Messenger was in the middle of raising a second funding round.
- Earlier this week, President Richard Beckman stepped down from the role, citing "short-term health issues."
- Founder Jimmy Finkelstein previously informed NYT that it aimed to attract 100 million unique monthly viewers by the end of 2024 and generate about $100M in annual revenue.
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| 5 | | French AI drug discovery unicorn Owkin's chief R&D officer Jean-Philippe Vert and senior Owkin executives David Cahané and Eric Durand are launching a biotech-focused large language model startup called Bioptimus. Sources informed Sifted that the firm has already crossed its seed funding target of €20M ($21.9M). More: - Bioptimus intends to build a "foundational model for biology that will transform multiscale data into actionable representations to fuel breakthrough discoveries," according to its website.
- The firm will initially focus on enhancing AI models in the pharmaceutical sector and later look at other industries, possibly foodtech or cosmetics.
- The firm will leverage Owkin's large volumes of high-quality patient data to train its AI models.
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| 6 | | Medical device company CardioMech Inc. raised $13M in fresh funding from an undisclosed group of investors. CardioMech will use the proceeds to lower the company's burn rate and fund research. The company intends to complete an early feasibility study soon. More: - The company was founded in Norway in 2015 but now operates from Fridley, Minnesota.
- CardioMech is developing a device to treat degenerative mitral regurgitation.
- The latest capital infusion brings the total capital raised by the startup to $42M.
- CardioMech last raised a $18.5M Series A round in 2020 from Hadean Ventures.
- The startup has five full-time employees but relies on a number of outside engineers and consultants to develop its product.
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- Israeli startups raised $7.3B in total funding in 2023, of which $1.3B came in the last quarter of the year.
- Struggling Chinese EV startup WM Motor's pre-structuring application was approved by a court in Shanghai. The firm has completed audit evaluation, debt declaration, and asset verification.
- Food tech startup Spore.Bio raised $8M in pre-seed funding led by LocalGlobe VC. The firm will use the proceeds to expand its team size and accelerate R&D.
- Crypto investment platform Mudrex saw a spike of $1M in crypto deposits after FIU sent notices to nine crypto exchanges for non-compliance with anti-money laundering laws.
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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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