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☆ Exclusive: Convergence AI, a new startup founded by ex-Cohere employees, is in talks to raise a major pre-seed round
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A UK-based AI startup, founded last month by former Cohere employees, is already in talks to raise a major pre-seed round amid venture capitalists' continued spending spree in the sector. Convergence AI, incorporated at the end of April, was founded by ex-Cohere employees Marvin Purtorab and Andy Toulis, who was also a machine learning engineer at Uber. Its primary aim, per leaked investor documents seen by BI, is to build out automated workforces using AI. The nascent business has been feted by several leading funds, with the company receiving at least six different term sheets for investment, two London-based sources said. The startup opted for a funding round led by London-based Balderton Capital, six sources familiar with the deal told Business Insider.

Persons: Marvin Purtorab, Andy Toulis, Slack Organizations: Uber, Business, Balderton, BI, Nvidia, Mistral Locations: London, Paris

☆ Exclusive: 11x, a London-based AI startup that builds automated digital workers, is raising money from US fund Benchmark
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

11x, a London-based AI startup that creates automated digital workers, has raised funding from US investing giant Benchmark Capital. The company aims to provide businesses with "digital AI workers" that can complete repetitive and mundane tasks to free up employees to focus on other things. The startup has raised a Series A round of funding, led by US fund Benchmark, four sources familiar with the discussions told Business Insider. Related stories11x's deal was led by Benchmark general partner Sarah Tavel, who will join the startup's board. The startup created a digital sales worker named Alice and plans to release several other digital workers in the future.

Persons: Hasan Sukkar, Sarah Tavel, Uber, Alice, Slack Organizations: Benchmark, Business, US, Bessemer Venture Partners, Twitter, Benchmark Capital, Google, Project A, Ventures, Tiny Ventures, LinkedIn Locations: London, Syrian, Europe, Syria

☆ VCs need to return cash to their investors. The secondary market is coming alive as a result.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Venture capitalists need to free up cash and return money to their own investors, known as limited partners (LPs). The secondary share sales market in the US is well established. Bad timingMost VC funds agree to return their profits to their LPs within 10 years. A record 31 secondary funds headquartered in Europe were established in 2021, amid the hype period, with $29 billion in assets under management per PitchBook. It all comes down to how buoyant the VC market is: "If the market is good again, then who's going to sell secondary?

Persons: There's, Michael Smith, Regeneration's Smith, Kelly Rodriques, Hussein Kanji, Kanji, Hussein, Tom Henrikkson, OpeanOcean, it's, Henrikkson Organizations: Venture, Business, Industry Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Ventures, Albion, Forge, Financial Times, VC, Hoxton Ventures, Sequoia Locations: Silicon Valley, Europe, San Francisco, Amsterdam, London

☆ Founders of Wise and Skype raise $436 million to build tech giants in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The founders of Wise, Skype and Songkick have raised 400 million euros ($436.4 million) for a new fund to back technology startups in Europe. Plural Fund II, the firm's second to date, arrives just 18 months after the firm raised its last fund, a 250 million-euro vehicle. Only 8% of VCs in Europe are former founders, he says, much lower than the 60% in the United States. So, if we look at the track record, and our ability to get the deals done, I think that all seems to say that this is really missing in Europe," Hinrikus added. Plural raised the funds from a mix of limited partners, including British and American university endowments, U.S. foundations and insurers, strategic family offices in Europe and the United States.

Persons: Wise, Taavet Hinrikus, fintech, Ian Hogarth, Sten Tamkivi, Khaled Helioui, Hinrikus, they're, we've, Carina Namih Organizations: Skype, Balderton, Bigpoint, CNBC Locations: Europe, VCs, United States, American

☆ Climate tech in 2023: More grants, experienced founders, and new laws help sector to standout year
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-29 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

While much of Europe's startup ecosystem has been hobbled by the rocky macroeconomic environment and soaring interest rates, climate tech has continued to lure funds from venture capitalists. Many climate tech companies work with hardware, meaning debt financing is also an attractive non-dilutive option for working capital between funding rounds. Global private market equity and grant funding for climate tech startups is actually down – it slid 40% to $65 billion in the 12 months ending September 30, according to PwC. Some smaller climate tech companies have made cuts, including vertical farming company InFarm, which retreated from Europe and was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands. Generally, however, layoffs have been a boon for climate as big tech talent has moved into or launched climate tech startups.

Persons: —, Siobhan Brewster, Atomico, Brewster, Piotr Bukanski, Mike Schroepfer, Greg Sandoval, retrofits, Barcelona's, Balderton Capital's Magda Lukaszewicz, Stuart Ferguson, Schroepfer, Warner, Aenu's Brewster Organizations: Service, Business, Venture, Energy, Beringea, Gigascale, Sustainable Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Global, Ada Ventures Locations: London, Europe's, Ukraine, United States, Europe, Silicon, Netherlands

☆ Inside the implosion of dark kitchen startup Kbox Global, another pandemic-era boom beginning to bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In 2019, after years of investing in and setting up food and beverage brands internationally, she founded dark-kitchen startup Kbox from London. But two years after this funding, large for an early-stage European startup, Vellani exited the business suddenly, citing health issues. "You're only judged on food quality, but if the chef is doing 10 times the work for same money, then it's a fundamental problem." Both Uber Eats and Deliveroo, after an initial burst of interest, would eventually go on to cut back on virtual brands. In an email comment, Vellani acknowledged her lack of direct technical experience but said she sought to fix this through other C-suite hires.

Persons: Salima Vellani, Uber, Travis Kalanick, Vellani, Butler, CloudKitchens, Kbox, MrBeast Burger, YouTuber MrBeast, Jimmy Donaldson, Influencer Jimmy Donaldson, Burger, Brexit, Vellani didn't, Karim Vellani, Karim, Ben Schultz, Nick Holloway, I've Organizations: Balderton, Hoxton Ventures, Reef Technologies, Lean, Network, United, Advisory Locations: London, Saudi, Revolut, COVID, Kbox, Sydney

☆ Revolut strikes share deal with SoftBank to remove barrier to UK licence - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of SoftBank Group Corp is displayed at SoftBank World 2017 conference in Tokyo, Japan, July 20, 2017. Revolut and SoftBank had been locked in months of negotiations, with the Japanese investor demanding stiff compensation for giving up its priority class of shares, the report said. The fintech startup can only win a UK banking license if it gets rid of preference shares held by investors including SoftBank. The standoff was one of the reasons Revolut could not immediately get a banking license. The BOE and SoftBank did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the report, while Revolut and the FCA declined to comment.

Persons: Issei Kato, Revolut, SoftBank, The BOE, Akanksha, Maju Samuel Organizations: SoftBank, REUTERS, Financial Times, Bank of England, Tiger Global Management, Balderton, Ribbit, Financial, Authority, The, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, TCV, Bengaluru

☆ Carbon accounting was red hot in 2021. Now it's facing widespread consolidation, investors say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Carbon accounting startups peaked in 2021, raising over $5 billion from investors. The rise of carbon accountingThere are around 50 European carbon accounting companies, many of which didn't exist before 2019, according to Insider's own research. Venture capitalists are typically bullish on SaaS because it can scale quickly with few overheads, which is the promise many carbon accounting companies make. Carbon accounting business models often fell short of true SaaS scalability and instead relied on employees doing tasks manually, despite touting automation, investors said. The next generation of carbon accounting companies should be hyper-focused on one niche – for example, accounting for methane in the agricultural industry or water use.

Persons: Niklas Kaskeala, Antero Vartia, grimly, Kaskeala, That's, Namrata Sandhu, Luca Schmid, ClimateTrade, Germany's, Australia's Envizi, EcoOnline, Germany's Planetly, Buyers aren't Organizations: Sequoia, Octopus Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Balderton, Investors, Venture, Germany's TeamClimate, Watershed, IBM, Sage, SoftBank, KPMG, Enterprise, SAP, Oracle Locations: Helsinki, Finnish, Coatue, Europe, Zalando, London

☆ Deepset, an AI startup that helps companies build apps with LLMs, just raised $30 million with this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Deepset, a German AI startup that offers LLM developer tools, has raised $30 million. The company wants to expand its Haystack product and grow its presence in the US. German AI startup Deepset has raised $30 million in a round led by Revolut investor Balderton Capital. Deepset's capital raise comes as AI startups account for a higher proportion of venture capital dealmaking. AI startups raised $25 billion in the opening half of the year against a backdrop of falling VC investment, Crunchbase data shows.

Persons: Milos Rusic, Rusic Organizations: Balderton Capital, Airbus, Siemens, Balderton, GV, Harpoon Ventures Locations: London, Berlin

☆ Carbon data and credit rating startup Sylvera just raised $57 million as it heads to the US. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck it used to raise the fresh funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Climate tech startup Sylvera has just raised $57 million for its carbon data platform. Sylvera, a startup helping businesses invest in high quality carbon credits, has just raised a $57 million Series B round led by Europe's Balderton Capital. The London-based startup, founded in 2020, provides carbon data and carbon credit ratings in an effort to bring integrity to a market plagued with quality issues. One carbon credit represents 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide or equivalent that has been removed from or prevented from entering the atmosphere. As well as decarbonization, many companies look to compensate for their hard-to-abate or historic emissions, which is where carbon credits come in.

Persons: Sylvera, Furey, it's, Serge Kruppa, 9yards Organizations: Balderton Capital, Fidelity Strategic Ventures, Bain & Company, Europe's, McKinsey, Paris, Index Ventures, Insight Partners Locations: London, New York

☆ Nearly half of startups backed by some of the UK and Europe's top VC funds have zero women on the board, trailing bigger firms
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Almost half of startups backed by top UK and European VC firms lack female board members, data shows. It means startups trail the 350 biggest listed UK firms, which hit 40% female board representation. Startups, though often promising to disrupt the status quo, are well behind larger firms when it comes to female leadership. Nearly half of startups currently backed by top UK and European venture capital firms lack any women on the board, new figures show. The data comes from 16 VC firms in the UK and Europe and covers 450 companies in their portfolios.

Persons: ESG_VC, Henry Philipson, Philipson, Michelle You, there's Organizations: European, Molten Ventures, Beringea, MMC, British Private Equity, Venture Capital Association, Investors Locations: Highland, Europe

☆ Brigad connects hospitality workers to companies offering freelance shifts. Check out the 20-slide pitch deck it used to raise $35 million in fresh funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Paris-based Brigad has raised a $35 million Series B round from Balderton Capital. The startup connects freelance hospitality workers to companies that have shift vacancies. Check out the 20-slide deck used to raise the fresh funds. A startup that connects hospitality workers with companies offering freelance work has just raised $35 million in Series B funding from Balderton Capital. When Brigad launched, it was "really focused on small businesses," but "realized that big groups have the same issues," said Malbranche.

☆ Supernormal, a generative AI startup that automates meeting notes, just raised $10 million. Check out the 17-slide pitch deck it used to bag the seed round.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Supernormal, a startup in the red-hot generative AI sector, just raised $10 million. The startup uses AI to take notes from meetings in real time and sends them instantly afterward. We got an exclusive look at the 17-slide pitch deck Supernormal used to raise the cash. Supernormal, a startup in the red-hot generative AI sector, has raised $10 million in a seed round led by Revolut and Citymapper investor Balderton. The company, which uses AI to automate meeting notes, was founded in 2020 by former Meta and Klarna product manager Colin Treseler and ex-Github design lead Fabian Perez.

☆ Inside climate tech's record-breaking year where the energy crisis, new regulation, and a maturing debt market helped European startups raise $17.5 billion
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Climate tech was a clear green shoot in a tumultuous 2022 but there will be a delayed correction. But there has been one green shoot: Climate tech. "We've just gotten started when it comes to climate tech," Emitwise's Cozzi said. Many climate tech companies have raised at high valuations, said Magda Lukaszewicz, principal at Balderton Capital. Energy and infrastructure companies are tipped as winners, while pure software plays may see some consolidation, climate tech investors and founders said.

☆ Without radical changes, TikTok could vanish from the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

From burnout among open-source developers to the downfall of Andreessen Horowitz's buzzy tech publication, Future, it's a packed edition. The worker told Insider that they used "exam dumps" to pass technical certifications, and that the answers were easy to find online with a quick Google search. This year, developers told us that they're fed up, and some are quitting and even sabotaging their own projects. Despite the 10% raise, doled out in April, Mailchimp employees told Insider that people nonetheless felt belittled and were quitting in droves. Earlier this year, Andreessen Horowitz's buzzy tech publication Future shut down.

☆ Think long-term, grab land, watch your runway: Here's how European VCs are advising their founders ahead of a looming recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sequoia's iconic 2008 'R.I.P Good Times' presentation still rings true for some investors. Good Times" presentation from 2008. "Because people are so programmed with the whole RIP Good Times thing, the nuance gets lost sometimes." Magda Lukaszewicz, principal at Balderton, echoed this – even if it takes companies longer to achieve said goals. Sequoia's "RIP Good Times" ends on a bleak note: Get Real or Go Home.

☆ Crypto infrastructure startup Ramp just raised $70 million despite cooling investor interest in Web3. Here's the 14-slide pitch deck it used to raise the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

London-based crypto infrastructure startup Ramp has raised $70 million in a Series B round. Ramp CEO Szymon Sypniewicz told Insider the "tourists" had now left the crypto space. Crypto infrastructure startup Ramp has raised $70 million in fresh funds despite a dropoff in investor interest in Web3. "After the last round we continued growing fast, and faster than expected," Ramp CEO Szymon Sypniewicz told Insider. Ramp declined to comment on its valuation but told Insider it was a "healthy up round" on its Series A.

☆ Former Balderton and XAnge principals launch $146 million early-stage fund Resonance to back startups in sleepy European market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Resonance, a new $146 million fund that will focus on early-stage startups, has launched in Paris. Former Balderton and XAnge principals Maxime Le Dantec and Alban Oudin established the fund. "The sleepiness of the market is our opportunity at the moment," Oudin told Insider. A new $146 million fund that will invest in early-stage European startups in areas like fintech, consumer tech, and B2B SaaS has launched in Paris. Resonance, founded by former Balderton and XAnge principals Maxime Le Dantec and Alban Oudin, has become the early-stage tech arm of French investment firm Otium Capital.

☆ Carbon accounting startup Emitwise becomes latest climate tech startup to lay off staff as red hot sector jostles with economic downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Layoffs have hit the red-hot climate tech sector as it jostles with the economic downturn. Carbon accounting startup Emitwise has become the latest climate tech startup to lay off staff as the industry jostles with the economic downturn, Insider understands. Climate tech is wide-ranging, encapsulating everything from research and development-heavy batteries to carbon accounting SaaS tools. The energy crisis has been a boon for home energy startups working on rooftop solar, heat pumps, and smart thermostats. At One Ventures' Lin added that in moments of economic difficulty "sometimes the most interesting innovations are born."

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