Northvolt goes bankrupt, health-tracking rings, unmanned aircrafts, and much more...
What's Up Tech? #201
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🔍 Topics we'll cover this weekGeneral news from the week: Autonomous aircraft and Health tracking rings 💍
Fundraising news from the week: “Stripe” for philanthropy and Crypto revival
Up-and-coming ventures to watch: Northvolt files for bankruptcy and COP29 wrap-up 🌎
Internships & Job offers of the week
Enjoy the read! 💛
🤑 Fundraisings of the week📊 Belgium’s Odoo secures €500 million investment, hits €5 billion valuation (🇧🇪)
Belgium-based Odoo, a leader in open-source ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, has raised €500 million in secondary investment. This funding propels Odoo’s valuation to €5 billion.
Odoo has thrived without raising primary capital for eight years, thanks to its robust growth—40% annually—and over five million users worldwide. The current investment will primarily support R&D and product innovation, particularly in AI, which is set to transform the ERP landscape. 🌅
Riding High on Open Source ERP, Odoo Raises $527M via Secondaries, Lifting its Valuation to $5.26B
🛩 Tekever takes off with €70 million in Series B funding for autonomous aircrafts (🇵🇹)
Tekever is taking over the drone industry with a promise of customization for its customers. 🦾
Having secured Series B funding from Baillie Gifford (Space X investor) and the NATO Innovation Fund, their next focus is enhancing real-time data solutions and expanding to the US. The challenger startup is one of Europe's growing solutions towards resilience and defense. Their tech is already deployed in Ukraine through the European Maritime Safety Agency and the UK’s Home Office.
Portugal’s Tekever Raises $47 million for Dual-use Drone Platform Deployed to Ukraine
💊 Oura raises $75 million in Series D funding for health-tracking rings (🇫🇮)
Oura, the Finnish smart ring pioneer, secured $75 million led by Dexcom, elevating its valuation to $5 billion. This strategic partnership will combine Dexcom's glucose monitoring technology with Oura's health metrics, enabling users to understand how factors like sleep and nutrition influence glucose levels.
With 2.5 million rings sold and 2024 revenue projected at $500 million, Oura is profitable and poised to launch its first app integration by mid-2025. 📲
Smart Ring Maker Oura Hits a $5 billion Valuation after Raising $75 million
🔥 Up-and-coming startups to watch💰 Goodstack raises €28 million in Series A funding to be the “Stripe” for philanthropy (🇬🇧)
Goodstack has raised €28 million in Series A funding led by General Catalyst for its payments platform, streamlining charitable donations from companies.
This funding will enable Goodstack to expand its services for both non-profit organisation and corporates. Their approach, bridging charitable organisations and companies, is already hitting huge scale—trending to reach $3 billion in donations facilitated in over 200 countries this year. 🤝
🔐 Deblock secures £13.3 million in Seed funding amid crypto revival (🇬🇧)
Founded in August 2022 by former executives of Revolut and Ledger, crypto wallet startup Deblock just raised an additional £13.3 million in Seed funding. This adds to the €12M the startup quietly raised in 2022. 🤫
Deblock has navigated a challenging crypto market following the collapse of FTX in 2022. However, the industry is rebounding, driven by the approval of Bitcoin ETFs and regulatory support following Donald Trump’s election as US president, which helped Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $90’000.
20VC-Backed Crypto Wallet Deblock Raises £13.3M Amid Crypto’s New Boom
🧠 GEMESYS raises €8.6 million in Pre-Seed funding for AI-first hardware inspired by the human brain (🇩🇪)
GEMESYS has raised €8.6 million in Pre-Seed funding led by Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and Atlantic Labs. The company is developing AI-first hardware chips with an analog design based on the brain. 🤯
The funding will support GEMESYS mission to “provide the world’s first hardware for edge AI training.” This innovation promises significant improvements in processing power and energy efficiency, marking a new era for AI hardware development.
🏭 Berlin’s juna AI secures $7.5 million Seed round for AI-driven industrial automation (🇩🇪)
Founded by Matthias Auf der Mauer and Christian von Hardenberg, juna AI focuses on transforming industrial process control through AI. The company’s technology turns complex manufacturing facilities into intelligent, self-learning systems that can operate autonomously. ⚙️
Their solutions have proven effective across diverse industries such as chemical, steel, paper, cement, textile, and food processing, delivering measurable savings for early adopters.
📰 News of the week🏦 Northvolt files for bankruptcy while CEO steps down amid restructuring efforts
Swedish battery maker Northvolt has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, aiming to restructure its debt and streamline operations to secure its future.
Co-founder and CEO Peter Carlsson has stepped down, transitioning to a senior advisor role while staying on the board. The restructuring will provide $245 million in new financing, including $100 million in debtor-in-possession loans, enabling the company to continue operating its flagship gigafactory, Northvolt Ett, in Sweden. 🇸🇪
Northvolt CEO Resigns as Europe’s Big Hope For a Battery Champion Files For Bankruptcy
👀 COP29 announces $300 billion climate deal for emerging markets
At COP29, a landmark $300 billion climate deal was announced to support emerging markets in their transition to sustainable energy sources.
This agreement aims to fund renewable energy projects and infrastructure improvements, addressing climate change challenges globally. The deal underscores a collective commitment to reducing carbon emissions and fostering green economic growth. 🌱
Developing Nations Blast $300B COP29 Climate Deal as Insufficient
👩⚖️ DOJ urges Google to sell Chrome to break up search monopoly
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has called on Google to divest its Chrome browser as part of efforts to dismantle its search monopoly. 🔎 This move is part of broader antitrust actions aimed at increasing competition within the tech industry.
By urging the sale of Chrome, the DOJ seeks to reduce Google’s dominance and promote a more diverse digital ecosystem.
📖 Additional Reads 🇪🇺 Atomico releases its 10th State of EU Report (with a documentary video)!
🔮 Station F announces its Future 40 List!
👔 Internships & job offersInternships
Venture Capital Analyst - BGV (Paris)
Visiting Analyst - identity.vc (Berlin)
VC Analyst Intern - 360 Capital (Paris)
Jobs
Impact Analyst - World Fund (Berlin)
Investment Associate - Embers (Barcelona or Amsterdam)
Operations Manager - Goodstack (London)
👉 If you’d like to discover more internship & job offers, you can check our LinkedIn Fridays’ post here!
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 🖤
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