Humanoid robots' revolution, electric vans for grocery delivery, Byju's valuation cut by 95%, and many more...
What's Up Tech? #165
Welcome to our 165th newsletter, written with 🖤 by Grégoire Loisance, Arnaud Savouré, and Justine Pelisson.
Fundraisings from last week with Picnic, 1X, Finn, and Hyperexponential
News from last week with Isomorphic Labs’ $3Bn deals, Dott and Tier’s merger to rule European micro-mobility, and BlackRock’s markdown of Byju’s valuation
Internships & Job offers of the week
Enjoy the read! 🌞
🛒 Picnic secured €355M in funding for French and German expansion (🇳🇱)
Dutch online grocery store Picnic has raised €355 million in investor capital this week. Founded in 2015, Picnic delivers groceries via small electric vans from local distribution warehouses. 🚌
The recent funding is part of Picnic's plan to expand its presence in France and Germany. Despite challenges in the last-mile food delivery sector, Picnic's model stands out with free delivery, affordable own-brand items, advanced automation and AI-led demand forecasting in its massive distribution warehouses. 🛎
Picnic raises €355M: Edeka and Bill Gates Foundation Trust among investors
🤖 1X secured $100M to propel humanoid robotics revolution (🇳🇴)
1X, the Norwegian humanoid robotics company, just raised a $100M Series B to accelerate the race for humanoid robots. Backed by OpenAI, 1X pioneers humanoid robotics with their NEO technology, aiming to address global labor shortages through a strategically designed humanoid form factor.💡
Despite skeptics, the funds will boost Embodied AI and NEO's market presence, marking a pivotal moment in shaping the future of robotics. 🚀
OpenAI-Backed 1X just Raised $100m to Bring its Two-Legged Robot Butler to your Home
🚗 Finn raised $109M to drive expansion and sustainability goals (🇩🇪)
Munich-based startup Finn just secured $109 million in a Series C funding round marking a valuation of $658 million. The capital injection is earmarked for technological advancements, service expansion, and a strategic shift towards achieving an 80% electric vehicle inventory by 2028. 🌱
Presently managing 25,000 subscriptions in Germany and the U.S., Finn specializes in offering new cars through 12-month plans. The company's future plans include optimizing services through an enhanced app experience and employing data science for tailored customer offerings. 🙏
Finn Raises $109M on a $658M Valuation, Taking its car Subscription Platform Up Another Gear
🌐 Hyperexponential secured $73M for global insurtech expansion (🇬🇧)
London-based insurtech, Hyperexponential, known to employ "decision intelligence" for property-casualty insurance, just raised $73M. The funding will fuel expansion into the U.S. market. 📈
Their innovative HX Renew software enables insurers to build predictive models, integrate diverse data sources, and utilize automation and machine learning for dynamic risk assessment and insights in the $1.8 trillion P&C insurance industry.🚀
UK Insurtech Hyperexponential Raises $73M and Eyes US Expansion
🔬 Isomorphic stacks two new deals with Lilly and Novartis to collaborate on AI-driven drug discovery
Isomorphic Labs, the London-based AI-driven drug discovery company established as a spin-off from DeepMind under Alphabet Inc., secured two major pharmaceutical deals with Eli Lilly and Novartis, totaling nearly $3 billion. 💰
Eli Lilly and Isomorphic Labs will team up to discover small molecule therapeutics for multiple targets while the Novartis-Isomorphic collaboration will focus on finding small molecule therapeutics vs. three targets. 💊
Isomorphic will receive $45 million upfront, with up to $1.7 billion in milestone payments and royalties from Eli Lilly and $37.5 million cash, and is eligible for up to $1.2 billion in milestone payments, plus possible royalties from Novartis.💸
Isomorphic Labs kicks off 2024 with Two Pharmaceutical Collaborations
🛴 Scooter startups Tier and Dott agree to merge and form a Europe-based micro-mobility group with revenues of €250M
The shared e-scooter and e-bike operators Tier and Dott aim to be EBITDA profitable in 2024 without further layoffs. They also plan to raise a €60 million round led by Tier’s largest backer Mubadala Capital and Dott’s major investor Sofina to sustain their vision to provide more sustainable transport choices, and cut congestion in urban areas. 🌱
The merger will value the new company at €150 million, a significant decrease from Tier's 2021 valuation of €2 billion... ↘️
Micromobility Startups Tier and Dott Plan to Merge to Find a Path to Profitability
📉 BlackRock cuts India’s former most-valued startup Byju’s valuation by 95% to $1Bn
In a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 5, BlackRock (the world's largest asset manager), which owns less than 1% of Byju’s parent Think & Learn, marked down the valuation of its shares at $209.57 a piece for the quarter ended October. This would ascribe a valuation of Byju of about $1 billion, down from $22 billion in early 2022…😵💫
The Bengaluru-based edtech company has seen a significant decline in the scale of its operations over the past two years and is looking to sell group assets such as Epic and Great Learning to clear debt. ⚠️
Internships
Analyst Venture Capital & Operations - SideAngels (Paris)
VC Investment Intern - First Momentum Ventures (Munich)
VC Working Student Scout - Antler (Berlin)
Jobs
VC Analyst - 360 Capital (Paris)
Investment Associate - Coparion (Cologne)
Investment Analyst - Antler (Berlin)
Ventures Analyst Mobility - Plug And Play (Valencia)
👉 If you’d like to discover more offers, you can check our job board just here or fill this form to submit a new one.
You can also read more about baby vc on our website and follow our updates on LinkedIn, or directly reach out to us at hello@baby-vc.co! 🤝
The whole baby vc crew 🖤