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☆ Automation helps insulate Rohlik from a bruising 2023 for the grocery delivery sector
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewInvestors couldn't get enough of grocery delivery startups during the pandemic. Rohlik is on a pathway to profitability and has broken even in several key cities, CEO Tomas Cupr told Business Insider. Advertisement"The online grocery industry didn't have the best year in 2023, but we're still growing, which is super positive," Cupr told BI. At least 19 grocery delivery startups were operating across Europe at the height of the market. "The grocery delivery market remains a challenging area in Europe.

Persons: —, Tomas Cupr, Cupr, we've, Turkey's, Germany's, Nalin Patel, Jan Hammer Organizations: Service, Venture, Business, Ventures Locations: Europe, Prague, Czechia, Hungary, Munich, London, Paris, Budapest, Vienna, Istanbul, New York

☆ Filigran, a French cybersecurity startup used by the FBI, just raised $16.2 million using this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Filigran, a French cybersecurity startup, has raised $16.2 million in new funding. Founded in 2022, Filigran provides a series of products to help private companies and public institutions defend against threats using an open-source program. Based in Paris, Filigran's threat intelligence platform is used by Hermes, Airbus, and the FBI to help better understand security issues, which the rise of AI attacks has exacerbated, Filigran CEO Samuel Hassine told Business Insider. "Our products are all about aggregating and understanding your threat landscape, not just the technical threat but also risk analysis and cybersecurity," Hassine told BI. Check out Filigran's 12-slide Series A pitch deck below:

Persons: Hermes, Samuel Hassine, Hassine, Filigran Organizations: Airbus, FBI, Business, Moonfire Ventures, Motier Ventures Locations: Filigran, Paris, Australia, Europe

☆ Coverdash, an embedded insurance startup, just raised $13.5 million with this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Coverdash, a New York-based embedded insurance startup, has raised $13.5 million. The startup offers insurance products via partners to SMEs. Coverdash, a New York-based embedded insurance startup, has raised $13.5 million in VC funding. Coverdash's platform lets insurance providers offer commercial insurance products to businesses, which are embedded into their own front-end systems through code. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Organizations: Business Locations: New York

Energy startup Axle is in talks to raise a round backed by VC fund Accel, BI understands. The year-old company could raise around $6 million in capital as part of the deal, sources say. The energy tech startup uses electric vehicles and home energy assets to help balance grids. Energy software startup Axle Energy is in talks to raise fresh funding in a round backed by venture capital fund Accel, Business Insider understands. The London-based company, founded in 2023, connects electric vehicles and batteries to energy grids to help solve the intermittency of renewables.

Organizations: Energy, Accel, BI, Business Locations: London, Europe

☆ Embat, a Spanish treasury-management fintech startup founded by ex-JPMorgan employees, just raised $16 million using this 14-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewSpanish fintech startup Embat has raised $16 million in fresh funding from VC fund Creandum, the company said Tuesday. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Treasury-management startups and similar offerings targeting the office of the CFO have become a key focus for fintech investors in recent years. Embat's proposition is directly aimed at financial software users, with data security at the forefront of its platform's architecture, cofounder Carlos Serrana told Business Insider. "We were probably born in the worst period to raise capital but we have built a solid product which has traction, and our sales have traction," Serrana told BI.

Persons: —, Embat, Carlos Serrana, Creandum, Serrana Organizations: Service, JPMorgan, Business, Treasury, Venture Locations: Madrid, Germany

☆ Spektr, a compliance and due diligence fintech startup, just raised $5.4 million with this 13-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Danish compliance startup Spektr has raised $5.4 million in seed funding. The company, set up by the founders of HelloFlow, has emerged from stealth. The company plans to use the funding to grow its team and begin to expand into the US. Spektr, a fintech startup that helps companies with compliance, has raised $5.4 million. The Copenhagen-based startup is emerging from stealth and aims to improve the client onboarding experience for companies.

Persons: Spektr, Mikkel Skarnager Organizations: HelloFlow, Business Locations: Copenhagen

☆ This AI startup founded by ex-Googlers just raised $35 million. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck Bioptimus used to land the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bioptimus, a new French AI startup for life sciences, has raised $35 million in seed funding. Founded in 2023, Bioptimus is the brainchild of Jean-Philippe Vert, a former research scientist at Google and recently chief R&D officer at French health AI startup Owkin. The company was formed to capitalize on the enormous potential of AI in biological sciences, Vert told Business Insider. "There is something very special now about AI," Vert said. Owkin, Vert's former employer, is an investor and partner to the startup, as is tech entrepreneur and investor Xavier Niel.

Persons: Bioptimus, Jean, Philippe Vert, Rolophe Jenatton, Xavier Niel Organizations: Google, Business, Sofinnova Partners, Cathay Innovation, Harvest, Fundraising Locations: Owkin

☆ Embedded payments fintech Monite just raised $6 million from Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures with this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Berlin-based fintech Monite has raised $6 million in seed funding from Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures. Monite, founded in 2020, works with companies to help streamline payments and reduce manual processing. Still, where this might generally be done across email, spreadsheets, and messaging systems, Monite aggregates a company's bills and invoices and then automates the process on their behalf. The startup has raised a top-up to its seed round, led by Third Prime, in March 2023, taking its total funding to $17.4 million. The funding from Valar Ventures closed in November after Monite opted against looking to raise a Series A, Maryasin said.

Persons: Monite, Peter Thiel's, Ivan Maryasin, Maryasin Organizations: Ventures, Monite, Business, Third Prime Locations: Berlin, Europe

☆ This Monzo cofounder is set to launch a new startup with Index and General Catalyst in talks to invest, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Monzo cofounder Jonas Templestein is in talks to raise funds for a new startup, sources told BI. Top investors such as Index and General Catalyst are among those in discussions to back the startup. AdvertisementA cofounder of British fintech unicorn Monzo is set to raise funds from a smattering of high-profile investors for a new venture, Business Insider understands. Now, he's primed to raise around $5-6 million at a $50 million valuation cap for a new startup, two sources said. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: Jonas Templestein, Catalyst, — Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Monzo

☆ HiBob, a $2.7-billion HR unicorn, is acquiring Tiger Global-backed payroll startup Pento
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewHiBob, a London headquartered HR unicorn, is acquiring UK payroll startup Pento. The company is valued at $2.7 billion, has raised $574 million in funding, and is acquiring Pento to expand its payroll offering. The acquisition came about after seeing the fragmented payroll market in the UK with HiBob opting to go one step further than integration, CEO Ronni Zehavi told Business Insider. AdvertisementLondon-based Pento has raised $54 million in VC funding, including from General Catalyst and Tiger Global. Around 35 Pento staff will join HiBob as part of the deal, which is subject to closing conditions.

Persons: —, Ronni Zehavi, Zehavi, HiBob Organizations: Service, Business, General, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Tiger Global, Dealroom, HiBob Locations: London, Israel

☆ Conversational AI startup Vocode entered Y Combinator without a business plan. Now, it's raised $3.25 million without a pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Vocode, a conversational AI startup, has raised $3.25 million in seed funding. Founded in 2023, by Ajay Raj and Kian Hooshmand, Vocode raised funding at Y Combinator without a formal pitch deck. Vocode's founders are friends from high school who made it into Y Combinator despite opting against pitching their original business plan. With 10 weeks until demo day, the team began interviewing teams across fintech, healthcare, and climate, searching for ideas before landing on conversational AI. The company began making waves in online hacker communities before its demo day pitch session in front of investors.

Persons: Ajay Raj, Kian, Vocode, PrankGPT, Hooshmand, Y Organizations: Business Locations: San Francisco, fintech

☆ Sequoia-backed fintech Pennylane just became a unicorn. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck it used to raise $43 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

French accounting tech startup Pennylane has raised $43 million in a deal that valued the business at over $1 billion. Founded in 2020, Pennylane works with SMEs and accounting firms to simplify and digitize their accounting processes. The company's SaaS model pulls third-party data from platforms like Stripe and Qonto, to help SMEs with their accounting needs. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. "We've seen very strong growth in users and revenues, without having to grow our sales and marketing spend," Waller told Business Insider.

Persons: Pennylane, Arthur Waller, Waller, it's, Visma Organizations: Business, Sequoia Locations: Paris, Pennylane

☆ Y Combinator-backed trading app Pluto Markets just raised $2.6 million with this 14-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Pluto Markets, a trading app backed by famed accelerator Y Combinator, has raised $2.6 million in fresh funds. The Danish fintech startup, founded in 2021, wants to upend the market for retail trading offerings in Europe. "Companies raised a lot of money to blitz scale across the EU but have now focused on their core markets. Unlike most fintech brokerages, Pluto secured an EU-wide investment license before it had raised $1 million in funding, having bootstrapped and stayed lean. You can check out Pluto Market's 14-slide pitch deck below:

Persons: Joakim Bruchman, Goldman Sachs, We've, Bruchmann, Pluto, Oscar Vingtoft Organizations: Business, Companies, Trade Republic, Saxo Bank, EU Locations: Danish, Europe, Denmark, France, Germany, Berlin

☆ AudioStack can create voice adverts in 8 seconds with AI. Check out the 18-slide pitch deck it used to raise $3.1 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewAudioStack, an AI audio production startup, has raised $3.1 million in funding. The company works with major businesses that produce thousands of pieces of content a month to generate audio, mix, level, and master voice and music for advertising purposes. AdvertisementThe startup works with large advertising agencies to ingest audio content and speech, with the intention of reducing the speed and cost of producing adverts. AudioStack has raised $3.1 million to scale its operations in a funding round led by Quadri Ventures. "The landscape has fundamentally changed previously it was all about Web3, and it was hard to raise as an AI company despite our good traction," Kunz added.

Persons: —, Timo Kunz, Kunz, AudioStack, " Kunz Organizations: Service, Porsche, Business, Quadri Ventures Locations: London

☆ Tuum wants to provide AI-powered core banking infrastructure. It just raised $27 million with this 16-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Estonian fintech startup Tuum has raised $27 million in new funding. The startup, founded in 2019, provides cloud-native core banking infrastructure technology. The startup raised cash from CommerzVentures and Speedinvest to fuel its expansion plans. Estonian banking fintech startup Tuum has raised $27 million in new funding. Tuum, founded in 2019, provides core banking infrastructure for banks and other financial institutions that enables them to offer cloud-native services through APIs.

Persons: Myles Bertrand Organizations: Estonian, Tuum, Business Locations: CommerzVentures

☆ Lightbeam.ai helps companies manage AI governance. It just raised $17.8 million with this 16-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewLightBeam.ai, a data privacy and security startup, has raised $17.8 million in fresh funds. Founded in 2020, the company wants to help businesses adapt their data security in an increasingly AI-powered world. "In the era of generative AI breakthroughs, organizations are empowered to unlock valuable insights from customer data," Prasad told Business Insider. Advertisement"However, this advancement poses the crucial challenge of ensuring secure and compliant handling of customer data within the evolving landscape of AI governance and privacy regulations." The new funding will go towards scaling the San Francisco-based startup's head count having previously focused predominantly on technology investment.

Persons: —, Priyadarshi Prasad, Prasad Organizations: Service, Business, Vertex Ventures, Dropbox Ventures Locations: Francisco

☆ Salary data revealed: Here's how much 16 top US and European AI startups like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Hugging Face are paying staffers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AI talent is very much in demand, with some staffers from the likes of Stripe, Amazon, and Google making the switch to smaller upstarts. AI companies are using some of those funds to shell out on sizable salary packages to attract talent, according to data obtained by Business Insider. While salary transparency remains a problem in both Europe and the US, the latter has taken more steps to make salary data visible to employees and candidates. With considerable research prowess, Europe has become a hotbed for producing AI talent. Business Insider has pulled together salary data from some of the most in-demand AI companies that have published H1B salary data, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Midjourney.

Persons: Sam Altman, queued, chunky, DeepMind's, Mustafa Suleyman Organizations: Google, Business, Mistral, Companies Locations: Europe, Atomico

☆ Ansel, a health insurance startup that wants to upend the claims industry, just raised $20 million using this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewHealth insurance startup Ansel has raised $20 million in new funding. Founded in 2019, Ansel is a platform that provides supplemental health insurance via carriers across 48 US states. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Advertisement"We're focused on making health hardships not become financial burdens," Veer Gidwaney, founder and CEO of Ansel, told Business Insider. The new capital will go towards expanding the company's partnerships with leading insurance providers, developing its tech platform, and scaling its marketing and distribution.

Persons: —, Ansel, Veer Gidwaney, Gidwaney Organizations: Service, Business, Gallup, Nationwide, Portage, Sigma Ventures, Brewer Lane Ventures, SixThirty Ventures Locations: New York City

☆ European startups were twice as likely to accept a down round than US counterparts in 2023, new data shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Europe's tech startups were twice as likely to accept a reduced valuation in order to raise funds than their US counterparts in 2023, new data shows. Zurich-based Ledgy surveyed 2,500 tech firms across 10 countries for its study and found that by comparison, only 9% of US startups reported a down-round last year. Similarly, smaller firms with fewer than 250 employees were 26% more likely than larger firms to have experienced a valuation cut in the past year, Spirig added. Of the companies surveyed, one in five said they had delayed moves to go public amid tepid macroeconomic conditions, per Ledgy's report. Around a third of respondents indicated that a listing in the US would be their ultimate preference over other destinations, although 72% of UK-based companies surveyed wanted to list in London.

Persons: Yoko Spirig, Spirig Organizations: US, Business, Venture Locations: Europe, Zurich, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, London

☆ AI voice cloning startup ElevenLabs confirms $1.1 billion valuation after it closes third funding round in year
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewElevenLabs, an early-stage AI startup that has captured the attention of some of the world's biggest investors, has raised its third funding round in a year. The Series B round values the business at over $1 billion, confirming Business Insider's earlier reporting from November. ElevenLabs last raised a funding round in June, when it tapped up investors for $19 million at a $100 million valuation. It has also released a new AI Speech Classifier tool, which lets anyone detect if an uploaded sample contains AI-generated audio from ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs now aims to expand its Classifier tool to other AI voice models in the coming year.

Persons: —, ElevenLabs, Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, Uber, Daniel Gross, Piotr Dabkowski, Mati Staniszewski Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Github Locations: London, New York, Sequoia

☆ Invite-only Lapse wants to rival Instagram. It's about to raise a lot of cash to do just that.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Lapse, a buzzy social media app that wants to rival Instagram, is set to raise fresh funding, Business Insider understands. Based on the number of shares allocated, the company has raised approximately £24.48 million, $31 million. One London-based source familiar with the deal said Lapse was set to secure around $30 million. A look at the Lapse app. It aims to help satisfy the demand for more authenticity on social media.

Persons: Instagram, Jacob Andreou, Ben, Dan Silvertown, Plural's Ian Hogarth, Dmitry Tokarev Organizations: Business, Meta, Greylock Ventures, Facebook, Companies, Octopus Ventures, Redbus Ventures Locations: London

☆ Generative AI startup Recraft just raised $12 million from Khosla Ventures and Nat Friedman with this 22-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewRecraft, a startup that aims to vastly improve the quality of AI-generated images, has raised $12 million in fresh funds. "We are building some unique things using technology that no one else has," Anna Veronika Dorogush, Recraft's CEO and founder told Business Insider. Recraft has brought in $12 million from Khosla Ventures and former GitHub CEO, Nat Friedman, with participation from RTP Global, Abstract VC, Basis Set Ventures, Elad Gil, and other angel investors. The startup originally wanted to raise $10 million but increased the round size due to being heavily oversubscribed, Dorogush said. AdvertisementThe company hasn't spent money on marketing, relying on word-of-mouth referrals to accrue more than 350,000 users, Dorogush added.

Persons: —, Anna Veronika Dorogush, Recraft, Nat Friedman, Elad Gil, Dorogush, hasn't Organizations: Service, Business, Khosla Ventures, RTP Global Locations: London, New York

☆ Carmoola, a UK car financing fintech, just raised a further $19.7 million with this 14-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Car financing fintech Carmoola has raised a further $19.7 million in an extension to its Series A round. "The business has been growing strongly and revenues are up 5x," Aidan Rushby, Carmoola CEO and cofounder told Business Insider. The FCA moved to ban such commissions in 2021 and Rushby told BI that Carmoola was able to acquire customers at a lower cost by cutting out the middlemen. Rushby told BI that the round represented a 33% up round on its previous financing but declined to give specifics on the company's valuation. Check out Carmoola's 14-slide Series A extension deck below:

Persons: Carmoola, Aidan Rushby, we've, Rushby, It's Organizations: Business, FCA, InMotion Ventures Locations: London, InMotion Ventures , New York, Kyiv

☆ Alphabet wants to invest in British fintech bank Monzo before it goes public
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Monzo, a British fintech bank, is in talks with Alphabet's private investment arm Capital G to raise what is primed to be its last funding round before a public listing. The bank touts around 8.5 million customers in the UK and is best known for its bright coral pink bank cards. Fintech funding in Europe dropped 70% to $5 billion from $17.1 billion in the first half of 2023, compared with 2022, according to Finch Capital. The prospective funding round is set to be the fintech's last private raise before a mooted public debut that would likely take place in late 2024 or 2025. The British bank reported £116.3 million in losses last year despite more than doubling its revenue.

Persons: Monzo, Catalyst, Monzo's, Cash, Conor Walsh, Anil Organizations: Business, Sky News, Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, Silicon, VC, fintech, Finch, London, Starling Bank Locations: British, London, Abu Dhabi, New York, Europe, Monzo, Starling

☆ Generative Engineering wants to simplify the design of physical products. It just raised $4 million with this 12-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Generative Engineering has raised $4 million in seed funding. The London-based startup aims to simplify the design of physical productsCheck out the 12-slide pitch deck used to raise the fresh funds below. Generative Engineering, a startup that aims to simplify the design of physical products, has raised $4 million in fresh funds. The London-based startup, founded in 2021, has developed a platform to reduce the time and resources used on regular iterations in physical engineering. The startup's platform enables engineers to generate thousands of possible design choices and continuously test them, allowing design iteration to happen in parallel.

Organizations: Business Locations: London

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