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The sequels of the Deepseek launch were possibly the greatest technological history of the week, especially for anyone who is attentive to public markets. But private companies also reached the headlines.
More interesting starting stories of the week
In Startup Land, even a small gain is of journalistic interest and could lead to tomorrow’s OPI. Meanwhile, we look at a M&A and some startups driven by the mission that fight against fire.
Make a slip: The Swedish shared micromobilility startup reported its first profitable year. Although it is modestly positive in cash, these 2024 results placed the Scooter and the electronic bicycle company in a better position to explore an OPI in the coming years.
Merging humanoids: Norway Robotics Startup backed by OpenAi 1x acquired kind humanoid, whose three -people team had started working with the high profile designer Yves Béhar in 2024.
On the way: The French Startup of the Alan Health Insurance revealed that it generated approximately $ 525 million in revenues in 2024 and confirmed its goal of achieving profitability by 2026.
Firefighters: Following the recent devastating fires of southern California, Tim de Chant de Techcrunch rounded new companies that help measure and mitigate the risk of forest fires.
VC news and more interesting financing this week
This week some significant rounds were announced, but perhaps even more interesting, we saw some considerable valuation increases.
Hot as a fusion: The Helion nuclear startup raised a round of Funds of the F $ 425 million to help build a merger reactor for Microsoft. This new round is smaller than the previous one, but the valuation increased to $ 5,245 billion.
Assault: The Corporate Travel Management Platform based in Barcelona Travelperk closed a round of financing of the E $ 200 million to an assessment of $ 2.7 billion, almost double its previous assessment of $ 1.4 billion.
Quantum race: With $ 104 million in Funda B funds, the French startup Alice & Bob said one of the largest rounds for a quantum computer startup in Europe.
AI against cancer: Quibim, a Spanish startup that is developing AI models for medical images, raised a round of $ 50 million series A funds to double its expansion plans from the United States. Your flagship product, QP-Prostate, focuses on the detection of prostate cancer.
Challenging Autodesk: Motif, a startup in development of architecture, engineering and construction software (AEC), obtained $ 46 million in seeds of seeds and series A to challenge the old employer of its founders, Autodesk, with a next -generation design platform for buildings.
Bigger objective: The regulatory presentation revealed that 8VC, the firm VC based in Austin led by the founder of Palantir, Joe Lonsdale, hopes to raise around $ 1 billion for its sixth fund. His previous flagship vehicle closed to $ 880 million in 2023.
Carrying it at 11: Elevenlabs, who works in the AI Audio field, announced that he raised $ 180 million in a round C series, valuing the company at $ 3.3 billion after money. Andreessen Horowitz and Iconiq Growth are a leading investment.
Last but No less important
Excuse me for finishing with a negative note, but the data suggests that 2025 will be another brutal year of start coil. However, the Angelist CEO, Avlok Kohli, provided a more positive perspective, pointing out that these figures “remain very low in relation to the number of companies that were financed in both years.”
