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☆ Sequoia-backed security startup Vanta will see its valuation soar past $2 billion in new funding round, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Ben Bergman | Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

It will be valued at more than $2 billion in a new funding round, Business Insider has learned. AdvertisementVanta, a startup that helps companies comply with security standards, is set to be valued at more than $2 billion in a new insider funding round, multiple sources told Business Insider. Vanta was last valued at $1.6 billion in a 2022 funding round led by Craft Ventures on October 12, 2022, according to Forbes. CrowdStrike Holdings, Atlassian Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, Workday Ventures, Acrew Capital, Pioneer Fund, ASDF Ventures, Zag Capital, Sequoia Capital, Frontline Ventures, Y Combinator and LAUNCH Fund also participated in the last round. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Vanta Organizations: Sequoia, Craft Ventures, Service, Business, Forbes, CrowdStrike Holdings, Atlassian Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, Acrew, Pioneer Fund, ASDF Ventures, Zag, Sequoia Capital, Frontline Ventures Locations: Acrew Capital

☆ Instagram and TikTok are chasing after 'close friends' as the social web goes private
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewThere's a new app that promises to connect you with your closest friends — only this time, it's coming from TikTok. The app, dubbed Whee, pitches itself as a platform to "keep you connected with your close friends through life's spontaneous moments." Whee's arrival on the charts — it's 27th among social-networking apps in Apple's App Store, outranking Skype and Signal — comes as Instagram is also leaning into features for close friends. After spending years leaning into influencer content, to the chagrin of some users, the big social platforms are betting big on close friends. But as the platforms prioritized creator-made content, like on Instagram reels, everyday users' content seemed to take a back seat.

Persons: —, Snapchat, They're, Mervana Parekh, Nathan Sharp, influencers, Adam Mosseri, YouTubers Colin, Samir, Mosseri Organizations: Service, Android Police, Business, Skype, Acrew, Retro Locations: TikTok

☆ A new crop of startups wants to help solve loneliness among millennials and Gen Z. Here's how they're connecting strangers and making money.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Lauren Johnson | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Plus, the pandemic and the shift to working from home have made millennials and Gen Z lonelier than ever, thanks in part to doomscrolling. "I believe the conventional 'make friends' apps too closely mimic the dating model, which can feel awkward and high-pressure for making friends," he said. The group hosts "reading parties" at bars and event spaces with the goal of helping people connect through reading. Dinner With Friends, a group that throws dinner parties, has worked on sponsored events with brands like Bumble and Geneva. Dinner With Friends founder Anita Michaud said brands typically either sponsor entire dinners or provide products — like canned cocktails — for the dinner parties.

Persons: —, they've, Danial Hashemi, Sydney, Z, millennials, Cliff Lerner, Lisa Oreshkina, Saneblidze, Tom Worchester, Andreessen Horowitz, Victor Pontis, Luma, Liz Chick, Gen, Mira Hobbs, ReCreate's Chick, Anita Michaud, Peter Boyce II, Boyce, Maitree Mervana Parekh, Marlon Nichols, they're, it's, Ben Bradbury Organizations: Service, Business, Sydney Bradley, Big Tech, Tech, Timeleft, Reading, Facebook, VC, Wine, Bumble, New, Acrew, MaC Venture, Reading Rhythms Locations: New York City, Los Angeles, New York, Brooklyn, Squarespace, Lisbon, Amsterdam, London, San Francisco, Geneva

☆ Snapchat avoided 'AI' and leaned into real experiences in its annual pitch to brands
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Dan Whateley | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

During the Snap-owned app's pitch to brands at its NewFronts presentation on Wednesday in New York, the company emphasized the value of real-world experiences, or IRL, over social-media scrolling. Sharing became contrived, and social media as a whole began feeling like an inauthentic version of our lives rather than a source of genuine connection." It's plastered ads on competitive social media platforms and billboards with its "Less Social Media. Related storiesSnapchat executives mentioned AI just once during the NewFronts presentation, saying the company had used AI models to build augmented-reality lenses. Snap is not the only social platform addressing lonelinessSnapchat's war against social media taps into a broader trend.

Persons: —, Colleen DeCourcy, Cipriani, DeCourcy, TikTok, Dan Whateley, NewFront, Meta's, Mervana Parekh, Snapchat, Patrick Harris, Piper Sandler Organizations: Service, Facebook, Meta, Business, NFL, NBA, NBC, Entertainment, Media, Snap's, Acrew, Big Tech Locations: New York, Manhattan, Americas

☆ Why 7 prominent VCs are investing millions in new social startups like Diem, Lex, and 222
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Mervana Parekh is a principal at Acrew and has invested in social startups like Diem, Afterparty, and Anything World. Best Nights VC. Nichols is a founding managing partner at MaC, which recently invested in social startups like Spill and Swsh. Boyce has backed a slew of new social startups, including Diem, Lex, Koodos Labs, and Swsh, alongside associate Rhian Horton. In 2024, Best Nights is looking to invest in companies that facilitate travel experiences after hearing people say their best nights have happened during trips or vacations, said de Silva.

Persons: —, Connie Chan, Mervana Parekh, Peter Boyce II, Marlon Nichols, Catalyst, Web3, Peter, Diem, Afterparty, Lorrain de Silva, Andrew Kahn, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, Kahn, Aaron Matusow, Dan Kruchkow, Nichols, Elizabeth Weil, Kevin Weil, John Smothers, Boyce, Lex, Rhian Horton, Lorrain, Silva, BestNights, Aaron Leithäuser, Gen Z, Peter Boyce, de Silva, Acrew Organizations: Service, Business, Acrew, Stellation, MaC Venture, VCs, Stanford University, Startup, Pudgy Penguins, Crush Ventures, VC, Crush, MaC Venture Capital, MaC, Catalyst, Koodos Labs, Big Tech Locations: 1kx, San Francisco , New York, Lisbon, Acrew, San Francisco, Berlin, Los Angeles and New York, Los Angeles, New York, Rythm

☆ StellarFi, a fintech startup that helps people improve their credit scores, just raised $15 million with this 10-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fintech StellarFi, which helps people improve their credit score, just raised $15 million. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck StellarFi used to raise its Series A round below. StellarFi, a fintech startup that helps people improve their credit scores, has raised $15 million in new funding. Paying the debt on time each month is designed to boost users' credit scores which are otherwise improved using high-interest loans or expensive credit cards, according to Zarrad. StellarFi raised a $7.2 million seed round in March 2022 and has now brought in $15 million in Series A funding in a round led by Acrew Capital.

☆ This startup founded by a former Getir CTO enables users to hold stablecoins pegged to the US dollar. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck Cenoa used to raise $7 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cenoa, a fintech startup cofounded by the former CTO of Getir, has raised $7 million in funding. The startup enables customers to access USDC, a digital asset tied to the US dollar. We got an exclusive look at the 11-slide pitch deck used to raise the fresh funds. A startup that has developed a digital wallet where users can hold a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar has raised $7 million in seed funding. In the UK, for example, Cenoa works with FCA-registered Transak so that users can deposit and withdraw funds using local banking networks.

☆ I left a high-powered job at Google to launch my own startup, and I've never been happier
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Melody Meckfessel, the CEO-cofounder of Observable, spent 14 years at Google, rising to a VP role. It was the most thrilling job for a person like me who loves to build software that people find useful. At Google, I worked on search, data tools, and systems that Google was using to bring data centers online. But I couldn't see the path to build that idea within my job at Google. In early 2019, after years of thinking about this data platform idea, I knew I needed to go do this next thing.

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