Startup Monday: Latest tech trends & news happening in the global startup ecosystem (Issue 147- November 24)
Welcome to Startup Monday, my weekly newsletter that recaps the week in the global startup ecosystem. To have this newsletter emailed to you, you can sign up here.
Top startup news to follow this week:
1. Bling Capital raises $270M fund, with an eye on Seattle startups
The fourth fund consists of a flagship fund, as well as an “opportunity fund” to invest in more mature companies.
Bling typically invests $500,000 to $3 million, primarily as lead investor.
The Miami-based firm mainly focuses on the Bay Area and New York City, but also invests in companies based across North America.
Lui tells GeekWire that “we would like to do more in the Seattle market given that I’m based here and there is strong technical talent.”
It also has one of its largest investments out of the latest fund in a Seattle-based company that is in stealth mode, Lui said.
Lui said Bling is seeing more activity in “vertical AI,” and is backing companies in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, capital markets, and legal.
Ling and Lui have known each other for decades. Ling was the first angel investor in Lui’s startup, ChoicePass, a corporate perks and employee rewards platform that was acquired by Salesforce in 2012.
2. Here’s the full list of 44 US AI startups that have raised $100M or more in 2024
For some, AI fatigue is real — but clearly venture investors haven’t grown tired of the category.
The third quarter also saw the close of the largest venture deal of all time: OpenAI raised a behemoth $6.6 billion round. OpenAI’s deal was one of six AI funding rounds over $1 billion in 2024.
Here are the U.S.-based AI companies that raised $100 million or more so far in 2024:
3. Venture funding in Europe fell to $45B in 2024, says Atomico
The decline this year is slight but is notable because the narrative post-pandemic had been that the drop we saw in 2023 was simply a return to “normal” growth curves.
That narrative goes something like this: funding and other tech market indicators have been steadily rising for almost as long as they have been tracked. The years 2021 and 2022 were outliers, resulting from a burst of activity from more people using cloud, mobile and other digital services at home and at work during the pandemic, and thousands of companies and investors rushing to meet the opportunity. But by the end of 2022, it was clear that the “new normal” was not here to stay. So, things settled back to “old normal” and we are back on track.
Well, 2024 figures now show us we may need to rethink all that, again.
Atomico has been producing these reports annually for the last decade, so this latest edition makes a lot of noise about how much things have improved.
It’s undeniable that the tech ecosystem in Europe has blown up: Atomico says there are now 35,000 tech companies in the region that could be classified as “early stage,” with 3,400 late-stage companies and 358 valued at over $1 billion. Compare that to 2015, when there were a mere 7,800 early-stage startups, 450 late-stage startups and just 72 tech companies valued at over $1 billion.
Yet there is a lot of sobering reading, too, about some of the challenges of the moment and signs of how geopolitical and economic unrest — despite shiny stories about the boom in AI — continue to weigh down the market.
Here are some of the breakout stats:
Exits have fallen off a cliff
This is one of the more stark tables in the report, underscoring some of the liquidity pressure that ultimately trickles down to earlier-stage tech companies.
Put simply, M&As and IPOs are relatively non-existent right now in European tech. This year, at the time of the report being published in mid-November, saw just $3 billion in IPO value and $10 billion in M&A, according to S&P Capital figures. Both of these are big drops on the overall trend, which had otherwise seen steady rises in both, “consistently surpassing the $50 billion per year threshold.”
Granted, sometimes all it takes is one big deal to make a year. In 2023, for example, ARM’s $65 billion IPO accounted for a full 92% of total IPO value, and clearly it didn’t have the knock-on effect many had hoped for in kick-starting more activity.
Transaction volumes, Atomico notes, are at their lowest points in a decade.
4. SET Ventures closes €200M fund for digital clean energy startups
The firm backs European startups with digital-first, data-driven solutions that accelerate the integration of existing renewable energy technologies into mass markets.
Doubling the size of its previous fund, the firm backs European startups with digital-first, data-driven solutions that accelerate the integration of existing renewable energy technologies into mass markets.
SET Fund IV will invest in entrepreneurs who pioneer business models that incentivise companies and consumers to adapt now, rather than wait for regulation to force a change.
Founded in 2007, the firm is one of the longest-standing VCs to exclusively invest in the clean energy sector.
Adoption rates for clean energy have continually risen across Europe in recent years as technologies are proven, scaled and developed to a mature standard. Last year, electricity from renewable energy sources made up a record 44 per cent of the EU’s total electricity supply. However, as these solutions are increasingly adopted and our future energy system becomes more decentralised, new systemic challenges emerge such as grid congestion, mismatched production and demand, and storage of intermittent renewable energy.
“Hardware is, on its own, not going to achieve urgent climate goals,” says Anton Arts, Managing Partner at SET Ventures.
“For decades, our energy system has been geared towards fossil fuels, so it’s no surprise that the energy transition has come with teething problems. In fact, these issues are a positive sign that we are in the midst of this mass rollout.”
Co-founder and Managing Partner Wouter Jonk said:
“76 per cent of the world’s emissions stem from energy, so solving this brings the fastest potential emissions reductions. The advantage of our long-standing history is that we understand which technologies are likely to stand the test of time and have a genuine impact.
SET Fund IV, an SFDR Article 9 fund, has attracted investment from new and existing investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund, a.s.r., Carbon Equity as well as several European grid operators.
5. Zepto raises another $350M amid retail upheaval in India
Indian family offices, wealthy individuals, and asset manager Motilal Oswal invested in the round, which maintains Zepto’s $5 billion valuation. Motilal co-founder Raamdeo Agrawal, family offices of Mankind Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka, Cello, Haldiram’s, Sekhsaria, and Kalyan, as well as celebrities Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar are among the backers in the new investment, which is the largest fully domestic primary round in India.
Quick-commerce platforms are creating a “parallel commerce for convenience-seeking customers” 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 at lower margins than traditional retail, and Morgan Stanley expects market leaders to reach contribution margins of 7% to 8% and adjusted EBITDA margins of more than 5% by 2030. (Zepto is currently spending about $35 million a month, according to many people familiar with the figure.)
6. Crusoe, a rumored OpenAI data center supplier, has secured $686M in new funds, filing shows
“A company at our stage of growth is always talking to investors,” a spokesperson for Crusoe told TechCrunch.
Should Crusoe successfully raise $818 million, it would bring the startup’s total raised to approximately $1.5 billion in equity and debt. Late last year, Crusoe secured $200 million in debt using its data center chips as collateral to buy thousands of AI processors.
Crusoe launched in 2018 as a cryptocurrency business, powering its data centers with natural gas that would otherwise be “flared off” and wasted. Like many crypto mining operations, Crusoe pivoted as AI rose to prominence, securing deals with AI companies to provide high-performance computing and AI infrastructure.
Cruso, the GPU infrastructure provider, that it’s stockpiled a jaw-dropping $12.7 billion in available funds, including nearly $10 billion in debt and nearly $3 billion in equity. Lambda Labs in early April secured a special-purpose financing vehicle of up to $500 million. The nonprofit , backed by crypto billionaire Jed McCaleb, last October announced that it’s investing $500 million in GPU-backed data centers. And Voltage Park , a cloud GPU host that also conducts generative AI research, in March landed $106 million in a Salesforce-led round. Together AI
7. German climate tech Reonic raises €13 million to integrate renewables into households and businesses
Reonic helps SME installers tackle the challenges of ever-growing complexity in the renewable energy market, digitise their processes, and accelerate their growth. Founded in Augsburg, Bavaria in 2021 by Tristan Menzinger, Lars-Manuel Schneider, and Udo Sill who met while studying Industrial Engineering, Reonic was created to empower renewable installers to establish themselves as a driver behind the energy transition.
Reonic’s software solution works as an operating system supporting renewable installers from end-to-end and is designed specifically for streamlining their workflows. With a primary focus on regional installers, Reonic caters to over 200,000 companies in Europe alone.
Having opened a second office in Berlin earlier this year, the funding follows a successful year for Reonic, with the startup having tripled its recurring revenue in the past six months alone. As well as doubling down on its founding vision, the fresh injection of capital will also be used to help the business expand into neighbouring European countries (namely France to begin with), where installers face similar challenges, and to continue growing its headcount, currently standing at 21 team members.
Commenting on the raise, Lars-Manuel Schneider, Co-Founder of Reonic said: “Renewable technologies are one of the fastest growing markets in Europe, which is almost exclusively served by independent installers across the continent, which almost always lack digital tooling. Our goal is to enable these installers to compete, grow, and win. First, by creating best-in-class software as the backbone of their workflows. And second, by offering adjacent services in procurement, payment, financing, and beyond.”
Markus Gleim, Principal at Northzone, added: “The energy transition is one of the most significant challenges and opportunities of our time. Reonic is at the forefront of this movement, offering a solution that not only simplifies the adoption of renewable technologies, but one that also drives significant progress towards a more sustainable future. We are proud to back a team that is making such a profound impact on the energy landscape.”
8. Wiz To Acquire Cloud Remediation Startup Dazz For $450 Million
Wiz announced Thursday it plans to acquire channel-focused startup Dazz in a deal that aims to extend the vendor’s cloud and AI security platform with cloud remediation capabilities.
Dazz offers a cloud security platform focused on remediation, including through capabilities such as application security posture management and continuous threat and exposure management.
In July, Dazz announced raising a $50 million round of funding, bringing the startup to $110 million in total funding since its launch in 2021.
9. London-based Nivoda secures €48.4 million to expand its global diamond and gemstone supply chain
“ The diamond trade is a $100+ billion industry that still operates in a very local and fragmented way. Providing access to a global supply chain is transforming a centuries-old business. The success of this transformation, although we’re still at the early stages, has allowed us to raise investment this year in a challenging funding market, “ said Nivoda CEO and co-founder Dave Sutton. “ This investment is a testament to the hard work of our team and the trust that our partners and customers place in us .”
Founded in 2017, Nivoda has developed a customer-centric supply chain for the diamond trade. With this new funding, the company plans to expand its operations beyond diamonds, introducing a marketplace for gemstones and jewellery, further developing the industry’s traditional, fragmented supply chain.
According to Nivoda, the platform offers jewellers access to the largest collection of natural and laboratory-grown diamonds, enabling retailers to streamline their purchasing process through multi-faceted inventory searches, stone reservations, simple returns, and online tracking of orders and invoices. This efficiency and transparency addresses long-standing challenges in the diamond trade, providing a competitive edge for retailers.
“ Nivoda has quickly emerged as a category-defining company that powers small retailers around the world. Nivoda is building a truly pioneering technology platform that creates value for all stakeholders across the ecosystem including consumers, suppliers, and retailers. We had the privilege of getting to know Dave and the team for over a year prior to investment and are very excited to partner with them on this journey, “ said Sanjot Malhi, partner at Northzone.
With this investment, Nivoda is well-positioned to continue its growth, leveraging its dual headquarters in London and New York.
10. Gothenburg-based Liquid Wind raises €44 million in Series C financing
This capital injection will accelerate the company’s strategy to develop 10 eFuel facilities by 2027, with the long-term vision of reaching 500 facilities globally by 2050.
Claes Fredriksson, CEO and Founder of Liquid Wind, said: “ Global shipping has realised the urgency of low-carbon eFuels as a commercial necessity to meet sustainability targets and new regulations. The demand for low-carbon maritime fuels is undeniable, and we are seeing major shipping companies launching eFuel-powered vessels. Our shareholders recognise this, and we are pleased to welcome Samsung as a new investor, alongside continued support from Uniper and Hycap. This backing strengthens our capacity to accelerate production and advance our vision to reduce the world’s dependency on fossil fuel. The investment, the largest in our company history, reflects their confidence in Liquid Wind’s potential to scale eFuel production in the years to come. “
Founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, Liquid Wind specialises in producing eMethanol, a fossil-free alternative fuel designed to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, including shipping. Leveraging biogenic CO2 and renewable electricity, the company’s facilities aim to generate eMethanol with 94% lower emissions on a ‘Well-to-Wake’ basis (the entire process from fuel production to use), addressing the demand for sustainable maritime fuel solutions.
By 2050, over 100,000 operational ships will need to adopt sustainable energy sources to meet International Maritime Organization (IMO) net-zero targets. Liquid Wind’s scalable and modularised facilities offer a pathway to this transition, with each plant capable of producing 100,000 tonnes of eFuel annually while capturing 150,000 tonnes of CO2.
HYCAP’s CEO, James Munce, highlighted the significance of Liquid Wind’s approach, stating “ We are pleased to strengthen our backing for Liquid Wind and its innovative eFuel facilities. Their standardised approach to scaling low-carbon fuel production is exactly what the maritime sector needs to meet its decarbonisation targets. Since our initial investment, Claes and the team have demonstrated a laser focus on delivering the underlying projects and accelerating energy transition in the maritime sector. “
Liquid Wind’s development efforts are supported by collaborations with leading decarbonisation companies such as Alfa Laval, Carbon Clean, Siemens Energy, and Topsoe. The company has also partnered with energy providers Sundsvall Energi, Umeå Energi, NordFuel, and Puhuri to advance projects in Sweden and Finland. Notably, Uniper has selected Liquid Wind to lead the NorthStarH2 project in Östersund, Sweden, which aims to save approximately 200,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
