Technology
Some startups and investors are more risk averse than others
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
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
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
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
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.”
Technology
US medical device giant Artivion says hackers stole files during a cybersecurity incident
Artivion, a medical device company that produces implantable tissue for heart and vascular transplants, says its services have been “disrupted” resulting from a cybersecurity incident.
In 8-K filing In an interview with the SEC on Monday, Georgia-based Artivion, formerly CryoLife, said it became aware of a “cybersecurity incident” that involved the “compromise and encryption” of information on November 21. This suggests that the corporate was attacked by ransomware, but Artivion has not yet confirmed the character of the incident and didn’t immediately reply to TechCrunch’s questions. No major ransomware group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Artivion said it took some systems offline in response to the cyberattack, which the corporate said caused “disruptions to certain ordering and shipping processes.”
Artivion, which reported third-quarter revenue of $95.8 million, said it didn’t expect the incident to have a material impact on the corporate’s funds.
Technology
It’s a Raspberry Pi 5 in a keyboard and it’s called Raspberry Pi 500
Manufacturer of single-board computers Raspberry Pi is updating its cute little computer keyboard device with higher specs. Named Raspberry Pi500This successor to the Raspberry Pi 400 is just as powerful as the present Raspberry Pi flagship, the Raspberry Pi 5. It is on the market for purchase now from Raspberry Pi resellers.
The Raspberry Pi 500 is the simplest method to start with the Raspberry Pi because it’s not as intimidating because the Raspberry Pi 5. When you take a look at the Raspberry Pi 500, you do not see any chipsets or PCBs (printed circuit boards). The Raspberry Pi is totally hidden in the familiar housing, the keyboard.
The idea with the Raspberry Pi 500 is you could connect a mouse and a display and you are able to go. If, for instance, you’ve got a relative who uses a very outdated computer with an outdated version of Windows, the Raspberry Pi 500 can easily replace the old PC tower for many computing tasks.
More importantly, this device brings us back to the roots of the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi computers were originally intended for educational applications. Over time, technology enthusiasts and industrial customers began using single-board computers all over the place. (For example, when you’ve ever been to London Heathrow Airport, all of the departures and arrivals boards are there powered by Raspberry Pi.)
Raspberry Pi 500 draws inspiration from the roots of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a non-profit organization. It’s the right first computer for college. In some ways, it’s a lot better than a Chromebook or iPad because it’s low cost and highly customizable, which inspires creative pondering.
The Raspberry Pi 500 comes with a 32GB SD card that comes pre-installed with Raspberry Pi OS, a Debian-based Linux distribution. It costs $90, which is a slight ($20) price increase over the Raspberry Pi 400.
Only UK and US keyboard variants will probably be available at launch. But versions with French, German, Italian, Japanese, Nordic and Spanish keyboard layouts will probably be available soon. And when you’re in search of a bundle that features all the things you would like, Raspberry Pi also offers a $120 desktop kit that features the Raspberry Pi 500, a mouse, a 27W USB-C power adapter, and a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable.
In other news, Raspberry Pi has announced one other recent thing: the Raspberry Pi monitor. It is a 15.6-inch 1080p monitor that’s priced at $100. Since there are quite a few 1080p portable monitors available on the market, this launch is not as noteworthy because the Pi 500. However, for die-hard Pi fans, there’s now also a Raspberry Pi-branded monitor option available.
Technology
Apple Vision Pro may add support for PlayStation VR controllers
According to Apple, Apple desires to make its Vision Pro mixed reality device more attractive for gamers and game developers latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The Vision Pro was presented more as a productivity and media consumption device than a tool geared toward gamers, due partly to its reliance on visual and hand controls moderately than a separate controller.
However, Apple may need gamers if it desires to expand the Vision Pro’s audience, especially since Gurman reports that lower than half one million units have been sold to this point. As such, the corporate has reportedly been in talks with Sony about adding support for PlayStation VR2 handheld controllers, and has also talked to developers about whether they may support the controllers of their games.
Offering more precise control, Apple may also make other forms of software available in Vision Pro, reminiscent of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Photoshop.
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