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Some startups and investors are more risk averse than others

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Image of a pink balloon hovering over three spikes to represent risk.

This week has proven once more that the startup world shouldn’t be homogeneous in relation to risk-taking. Let’s have a look.

This week’s top startup stories

Image sources: Neurode

Layoffs after acquisitions or controversy over dangerous decisions are not surprising, but there may be more encouraging news on the innovation front.

Shrinking teams: Italian app company Bending Spoons plans to put off 75% of the staff of WeTransfer, the Dutch file-transfer startup it bought in July. The move comes after earlier job cuts at other corporations it acquired: Evernote, Filmic and Meetup.

Distorted views:Warp, a payroll startup founded by a YC alum, found itself at the middle of controversy and ultimately pulled from one in every of its partner accounts on X, where it was apparently pursuing an unusual — and dangerous — marketing strategy.

Balanced:Sydney-based Neurode has developed a headscarf that uses light electrical stimulation within the prefrontal cortex to treat ADHD symptoms, comparable to poor concentration. Currently in private beta, the corporate hopes its wearable device will develop into an FDA-approved medical device.

This week’s top fundraisers

Camembritz form
Image sources: form

The market is what it’s, but fundraising still happens — even when in some cases it’s a combination of equity and debt.

Fake magician:Berlin-based food tech startup Formo has raised $61 million in a Series B funding round to proceed scaling up production of its dairy-free cheese.

Less paper:Frankfurt-based startup Qualifyze has raised $54 million in a Series B funding round. The money shall be used to expand its business, particularly within the U.S., and to expand its analytics and AI offerings into products that help pharmaceutical corporations control their supply chains.

Insurtech:Neat, a Paris-based startup in embedded insurance, has raised €50 million in debt and equity funding. Series A round led by Hedosophia.

Smart cat: Smartcat, a provider of automated translation tools for enterprises, has raised $43 million in Series C funding led by Left Lane Capital. The funding will help the startup grow its team and spend money on product, marketing, and sales.

One more round:Finally, the Miami-based AI-powered accounting, bookkeeping, and finance startup targeting small and medium-sized businesses has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round and secured a $150 million line of credit.

The hottest news from the VC and fund industry this week

Image sources: Getty photos

Optionality:London-based VC firm Atomico has raised $1.24 billion across two funds. One, Atomico Venture VI, will invest primarily in Series A rounds; the opposite, Atomico Growth VI, shall be geared toward Series B rounds and pre-IPO — and likely for more risk-averse limited partners.

Continuation:Alpha Partners announced its third fund, at $153 million, doubling its investment in what was once a novel idea — helping seed investors exercise pro rata rights in later rounds by writing checks for $5 million to $10 million.

No less vital

state compliance, startups, venture capital
Image sources: Bryce Durbin

The United States is a more fragmented legal environment than you would possibly think, and startups are learning this the hard way as some are fined and sometimes banned by individual states. As TechCrunch’s Rebecca Szkutak notes, “as a result, state-level regulations need to be incorporated into a founder’s business plans as early as possible, whether that’s investing in compliance software or hiring legal experts.”

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is leaving PhonePe’s board

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Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down three-quarters from PhonePe’s board after making an identical move on the e-commerce giant.

Bengaluru-based PhonePe said it has appointed Manish Sabharwal, executive director at recruitment and human resources firm Teamlease, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee.

Bansal played a key role in Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in 2016 and has since served on the fintech’s board. The Walmart-backed startup, which operates India’s hottest mobile payment app, spun off from Flipkart in 2022 and was valued at $12 billion in funding rounds that raised about $850 million last 12 months.

Bansal still holds about 1% of PhonePe. Neither party explained why they were leaving the board.

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of the first and staunchest supporters of PhonePe,” Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said in a press release. His lively involvement, strategic advice and private mentoring have profoundly enriched our discussions. We will miss Binny!”

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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The company is currently developing washing machines for humans

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Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.

According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.

The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.

Apparently a version for home use is within the works.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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Zepto raises another $350 million amid retail upheaval in India

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Zepto, snagging $1 billion in 90 days, projects 150% annual growth

Zepto has secured $350 million in latest financing, its third round of financing in six months, because the Indian high-speed trading startup strengthens its position against competitors ahead of a planned public offering next yr.

Indian family offices, high-net-worth individuals and asset manager Motilal Oswal invested in the round, maintaining Zepto’s $5 billion valuation. Motilal co-founder Raamdeo Agrawal, family offices Mankind Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka, Cello, Haldiram’s, Sekhsaria and Kalyan, in addition to stars Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar are amongst those backing the brand new enterprise, which is India’s largest fully national primary round.

The funding push comes as Zepto rushes so as to add Indian investors to its capitalization table, with foreign ownership now exceeding two-thirds. TechCrunch first reported on the brand new round’s deliberations last month. The Mumbai-based startup has raised over $1.35 billion since June.

Fast commerce sales – delivering groceries and other items to customers’ doors in 10 minutes – will exceed $6 billion this yr in India. Morgan Stanley predicts that this market shall be value $42 billion by 2030, accounting for 18.4% of total e-commerce and a pair of.5% of retail sales. These strong growth prospects have forced established players including Flipkart, Myntra and Nykaa to cut back delivery times as they lose touch with specialized delivery apps.

While high-speed commerce has not taken off in many of the world, the model seems to work particularly well in India, where unorganized retail stores are ever-present.

High-speed trading platforms are creating “parallel trading for consumers seeking convenience” in India, Morgan Stanley wrote in a note this month.

Zepto and its rivals – Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy-owned Instamart and Tata-owned BigBasket – currently operate on lower margins than traditional retail, and Morgan Stanley expects market leaders to realize contribution margins of 7-8% and adjusted EBITDA margins to greater than 5% by 2030. (Zepto currently spends about 35 million dollars monthly).

An investor presentation reviewed by TechCrunch shows that Zepto, which handles greater than 7 million total orders every day in greater than 17 cities, is heading in the right direction to realize annual sales of $2 billion. It anticipates 150% growth over the following 12 months, CEO Aadit Palicha told investors in August. The startup plans to go public in India next yr.

However, the rapid growth of high-speed trading has had a devastating impact on the mom-and-pop stores that dot hundreds of Indian cities, towns and villages.

According to the All India Federation of Consumer Products Distributors, about 200,000 local stores closed last yr, with 90,000 in major cities where high-speed trading is more prevalent.

The federation has warned that without regulatory intervention, more local shops shall be vulnerable to closure as fast trading platforms prioritize growth over sustainable practices.

Zepto said it has created job opportunities for tons of of hundreds of gig employees. “From day one, our vision has been to play a small role in nation building, create millions of jobs and offer better services to Indian consumers,” Palicha said in an announcement.

Regulatory challenges arise. Unless an e-commerce company is a majority shareholder of an Indian company or person, current regulations prevent it from operating on a listing model. Fast trading corporations don’t currently follow these rules.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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