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This week reminded me that creative accounting doesn’t happen in Hollywood alone. Some hopes have been shattered, but startups offer all sorts of promises, from nuclear reactors to small EVs.
The most interesting startup story of the week
This week’s startup news is a very mixed bag, with one public exit finished, another public exit delayed, and other developments spiked.
Churn’s Concern: TechCrunch has learned that several companies with logos on the 11X website are not real customers of A16Z and benchmark collateral startups. According to sources, the 11 times used creative methods used calculated annual repetitive revenue.
Further delay: The Celebrus system has now delayed its IPO again. The AI chip maker submitted it for release in 2024, but its national security review has been carried over.
Nuclear: Terrestrial Energy, a US nuclear startup that develops small modular reactors, is set to launch on SPAC and expect to win $280 million. Meanwhile, the Bill Gates-backed Commonwealth Fusion System has hit a key milestone in building a demonstration reactor.
Not enough: Vertical farming company Plenty has filed for bankruptcy after raising nearly $1 billion in funding from investors including SoftBank Investment Advisers, Walmart, Bezos Expeditions and Jeff Bezos.
Layoff: Block, a Fintech startup co-founded by Jack Dorsey, has fired 931 people according to leaked emails. The company that owns the cash app and square has already implemented layoffs in 2024.
Rumor: Nvidia is reportedly approaching a deal to acquire Lepton AI, a startup that rents servers with AI chips. Additionally, the Korean startup that creates chips for AI applications, Furiosaai has allegedly rejected a $800 million acquisition offer from Meta.
Most Interesting VC and Funding News This Week
From the pre-seed to Series E, there are a few rounds that caught our attention this week. Additionally, there are some fresh funds for VCS to invest in new deals.
Hot Thermometer: Digital Banking Startup Mercury has raised $300 million primary and secondary funding, including Series C, led by Sequoia. This also more than doubled its valuation to a $3.5 billion post-money.
Rating Bump: Island, the company that manufactures enterprise browsers, has secured $250 million in Series E, led by Coatue, which valued the Dallas-based startup at $4.85 billion.
Libian has also spun out a new micromobility startup that has won $105 million from Eclipse Ventures. The goal is to produce flagship products that will be produced next year for US and European consumers.
Automation: The fast-growing Berlin-based workflow automation startup N8N has raised $60 million in a round led by Highland Europe, which also features HV Capital and former investors Sequoia, Felicys and Harpoon. Sources said the valuation was close to $270 million.
Ratum’s Lamp: Mexico City-based YC alumni Mendel raises a $35 million Series B and expects the business to reach profitability by the second half of 2025.
rugs to Riches: Arcade, a generative AI market for designing Jewelry, has simultaneously announced a $25 million Series A funding round and an expansion into home products starting with a lag.
No Free Labor: Former outreach CEO Manny Medina has launched Pay, a new startup that has already raised $11 million in seed funding to ensure payments for AI agents.
Other AI: Emergence Capital, based in San Mateo, California, has taken a strong interest in AI and has shut down a $1 billion $700 million fund to support B2B companies.
Blue Check: French VC company Daphni has announced the first closure of its third fund, Daphni Blue.
Beyond Voice: Amazon’s Alexa Fund has expanded its scope beyond voice startups with a broad focus on AI investment.
Last but not least, it’s important
The new report featured the 20 hottest open source startups in the world. For a complete list and more information, please see here. As you can imagine, more than half of these have AI at their core.