Startups

Calo raises $25 million to expand its ready-to-eat meal service beyond the Middle East

Startups /

A business built around increasingly customized ready-to-eat meals has netted Middle Eastern startup Calo a sizeable funding injection as it looks to expand both what it can offer its time-strapped customers and where it delivers its growing range of just-heat-to-eat dishes. The meal delivery market in the Middle East will hit $11.2 billion by 2030, […]

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The trends that shaped EVs, robotaxis, and electric flight in 2024

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If there was one phrase that captured the vibe and theme of 2024 — at least in the transportation sector — it was business whiplash. Legacy automakers changed direction on their all-EVs-or-bust strategy, startups pivoted, and some Silicon Valley VCs and executives adjusted their views to a changing political landscape, in which they now are

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PharmEasy’s $5.6 billion value shrinks to $456 million, investor data shows

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Indian online pharmacy PharmEasy’s valuation now stands at about $456 million, according to disclosures from its investor Janus Henderson, a 92% drop from its peak valuation of $5.6 billion. The British American global asset firm’s Global Research Fund values its holding of 12.9 million shares in PharmEasy at $766,043, according to its latest filing for

PharmEasy’s $5.6 billion value shrinks to $456 million, investor data shows Read More »

$132K – $149K, here’s what seed-stage founders pay early employees, based on data

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Once a startup has raised its seed round, the perennial question becomes how much should the founders pay themselves and their first few employees? Kruze Consulting, a CPA firm that specializes in venture-backed startups, recently analyzed average salary ranges for over 450 seed-stage startups and shared that data with TechCrunch. The following averages are based

$132K – $149K, here’s what seed-stage founders pay early employees, based on data Read More »

Revenue-based financing startups continue to raise capital in MENA, where the model just works

Startups /

In an era where it’s become tougher to raise venture capital, many companies have turned to non-dilutive, Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) as an alternative. As a result, plenty of startups have risen to meet that challenge, none more so than in the MENA region, which has taken to the model like a duck to water. The

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After causing outrage on the first day of Y Combinator, AI code editor PearAI lands $1M seed

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On the first day of Y Combinator’s winter 2024 session — right after orientation and a photo in front of the YC sign — the founders of PearAI got “canceled,” as founder Nang Ang described it to TechCrunch, receiving an outpouring of online hate. But they survived and graduated the YC’s winter 2024 cohort earlier this

After causing outrage on the first day of Y Combinator, AI code editor PearAI lands $1M seed Read More »

VCs pledge not to take money from Russia or China, and Databricks raises a humongous round

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Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week was full of news, likely because it is also the last “real” week of 2024. Which is another way for us to say goodbye for

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Backed by a16z and NEA, Backflip raises $30M Series A to turn text into AI-generated designs

Startups /

What if it were as easy to generate a usable 3D design as prompting ChatGPT? That’s the mission of Backflip, a startup founded by 3D printing veterans that’s just scored $30 million from Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates, and a host of other big names in tech.  Designing physical objects often requires hours or days

Backed by a16z and NEA, Backflip raises $30M Series A to turn text into AI-generated designs Read More »