Plus, Tether takes up a majority stake in Blackrock Neurotech
| For April 30, 2024 |  |
| Here’s your daily Startups briefing: - ⛔ Getir will exit the U.S., U.K., and European markets to focus on Turkey
- 🔻 Equity compensation for startup employees plummeted by 37% between Nov. 2022 to Jan. 2024
- 👥 Ola ousted its CEO and laid off 180 employees as part of a profitability push
Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Instant delivery startup Getir is exiting the U.S., U.K., and European markets to focus solely on its home market of Turkey. The move will impact at least 6,000 jobs across the closing markets. In addition to the closures, the company is raising a new investment round led by Mubadala and G Squared to extend its runway and double down on its home market. More: - The Turkish startup was once valued at nearly $12B and has raised about $2.3B from investors, including Sequoia, Tiger Global, Silver Lake, Goodwater, and Mubadala.
- Getir acquired competitors Fresh Direct and Gorillas during its aggressive expansion phase.
- In May 2023, Getir let go of 14% of its workforce and curbed down on its geographic expansion plans.
- Getir officially laid off about 1,500 employees in the U.K. and reportedly notified 1,800 employees in Germany.
- The company claims that the closing markets accounted for only 7% of Getir's revenues.
- However, documents seen by TechCrunch reveal that the company raked in $1B revenue from the U.S. and Europe out of its $3.3B global revenue in 2023.
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| 2 | | The average new equity compensation awarded to startups on the Carta platform declined by 37% between Nov. 2022 and Jan. 2024. 
What the numbers say: Meanwhile, the average salaries for new hires remained steady during the same period. Startups are reducing the size of employee equity packages due to economic uncertainties and shifting employee preferences toward cash compensation. The portion of vested, in-the-money stock options exercised by employees dropped from 58% in Nov. 2021 to 30% in Nov. 2023 due to plummeting startup valuations. What happened: Equity package declines were most significant at the senior contributor and senior manager levels, both witnessing over 25% reduction from May 2023 to Jan. 2024. Companies are strategically adjusting equity issuance to align with changing employee attitudes and market conditions. | | | |
| 3 | | Indian ride-hailing startup Ola has ousted its CEO, Hemant Bakshi, after just four months at the helm, a source informed TechCrunch. In addition to the CEO's departure, the firm is also laying off about 180 employees as part of a restructuring initiative aimed at improving the company's profitability, per founder and chairman Bhavish Aggarwal's email addressed to the employees. More: - Ola is gearing up for its next phase of growth and an eventual IPO listing later this year after the planned public listing of its electric vehicle unit, Ola Electric.
- Ola Electric, a startup that spun out of Ola, is looking to raise over $650M in its upcoming IPO.
- Earlier this month, Ola ceased operations in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.
- Ola competes with Uber in India and is backed by investors like SoftBank and Tiger Global.
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| 4 | | Stablecoin issuer Tether took up a majority stake in brain-computer interface startup Blackrock Neurotech after investing $200M. The deal valued the company at around $350M, per Reuters. Tether invested through its newly launched Tether Evo arm, which aims to invest in transformative technologies that merge innovation and human potential. More: - The Salt Lake City-based startup is creating brain implants that allow people to control computers and neuroprosthetics.
- The startup had previously raised only $10M, according to Crunchbase.
- Tether plans to use the surplus earnings from the U.S. Treasuries and other instruments used to back its USDT stablecoin reserves to fund investments through Tether Evo.
- The move comes amid growing interest in brain-computer interfaces, with Elon Musk's Neuralink raising nearly $700M from investors.
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| 5 | | Direct air capture (DAC) climate tech startup 280 Earth is gearing up to start its first 500-ton commercial demonstration plant being built next to a Google data center in The Dalles, Oregon. The startup spun out from Alphabet's X lab and is led by John Pimentel as its CEO. Pimentel believes the company's technology can offset the DAC industry's major challenges, such as high energy intensity and costs. More: - 280 Earth is building a supplemental cooling system that cools the hot water from sources like data centers and returns it to them, thereby reducing their energy consumption and water usage and prolonging the life of their infrastructure.
- By 2030, the company aims to deliver 10M tons of DAC capacity through a modular system, with a 5,000-ton module coming online in 2025.
- 280 Earth is backed by Google's co-founder Sergey Brin.
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| 6 | | Puyallup Tribal Enterprises inked an exclusive manufacturing deal with startup Skip Technology to build innovative energy storage devices. Additionally, Puyallup led a $1.3M investment round in the company. The partnership aligns with the tribal company's values of environmental sustainability and economic diversification beyond casinos. More: - Skip Tech is developing long-duration hydrogen bromine flow batteries that can store excess renewable energy and discharge it over 10-12 hours, a much longer timeframe than comparable lithium batteries.
- Puyallup will manufacture all the components for Skip Tech's batteries except the cells.
- The company will initially house the operations in a 140,000-square-foot facility in Fife, Washington.
- Skip Tech previously received a $750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation in 2019 and a $1M grant last year.
- The company plans to do an "alpha test" this fall, aiming for a commercial prototype pilot in 2025.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - AI computing startup Blaize secured $106M in fresh funding from Bess Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Denso, Mercedes-Benz, Temasek, Rizvi Traverse, Ava Investors, BurTech, and other investors.
- Indonesian online travel Traveloka Indonesia PT has repaid a $300M private credit loan availed from BlackRock, Orion Capital Asia, Indonesia Investment Authority, and Allianz Global Investors.
- Healthcare-focused AI startup Thoughtful Automation moved its headquarters from Chicago to Austin.
- Backflip, a startup that helps real estate investors secure short-term loans, raised a Series A funding round worth $15M. FirstMark Capital led the round with additional backing from existing investors Vertical Venture Partners, LiveOak Venture Partners, Revel Partners, ECMC, and Crow Holdings.
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 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Karan Chafekar | |
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