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This week was supposed to be a short one in the US as it started off with a holiday. But Inauguration Day kept some founders busy, and the next day brought more than its fair share of startup news.
This week’s most interesting startup stories
This week was a reminder that not all sales are created equal, and it’s often worth looking beyond price. In addition, there were legal issues with the AI decacorn.
Divvy: Divvy Homes is an A16Z-backed rent-to-own startup that is selling to a unit of Brookfield Properties for about $1 billion. However, some shareholders may not see a dime from the sale.
Beauty for sale: Consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever, backed by Peak has agreed to acquire Indian skin care startup Minimalist.
Big Markdown: AI-powered parking platform Metropolis has acquired computer vision company OOSTO, part of what the startup has raised so far. Previously known as Anyvision, it backed technology used in controversial surveillance applications.
Legal clash: Scale AI, valued at $13.8 billion last year, faces third labor lawsuit of 2025, claims contractors are causing psychological harm by writing prompts about disturbing content He claims to have received it. A spokesperson for Scale AI said: “We have a number of safeguards in place.”
This week’s most interesting VC and funding news
The Series B rounds announced this week vary widely in size, with some of these larger than other Series C rounds. And for companies that feel like they haven’t been exposed yet, Alphabet still has plenty of letters up its sleeve.
Pre-IPO letter: Data analytics platform Databrick closes on $10 billion Series J equity financing at a $62 billion valuation and adds $5.25 billion in debt financing. Mehta supports the company as a strategic investor.
CAT to Unicorn: Neko Health, a Swedish body scan startup co-founded by Spotify’s Daniel EK, whose name means “CAT” in Japanese, has raised a $260 million Series B round of funding. We raised $1.8 billion post-money.
Money on the move: Lindus Health, a startup backed by Peter Thiel and Creandum, raises $55 million Series B round to ‘fix the broken clinical trials industry’ as it now moves from the UK to the US Secured.
Sources say they will spend less.
Robotics in India: India-based autonomous mobile robot startup ATI Motors has raised $20 million Series B to grow internationally. The United States already dominates ATI’s revenue, and the company hopes to further benefit from demand for robotics manufactured outside China.
Crypto Crypto Crypto: Capitalizing on Crypto’s comeback, Angellist and Coinlist team up to launch Crypto Special purpose vehicle and crypto rollup vehicle to allow Crypto founders to raise capital using crypto coins I did.
Last but not least
AI is still red hot, but there are always subsectors where VCS is more interested. To get an idea of what types of AI startups you’ll want to keep track of this year, TechCrunch compiled some findings from a recent survey of 20 enterprise VCs. In short, think about the company, not the function.