Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
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? Log in here.
The second week of the year is usually busy with startup news, and 2025 is no exception. From CES production to M&As and funding rounds, here’s what you need to know.
Very interesting news to start the week
A few basics introduced new products at CES 2025: All Natural Farms is owned by him agriculture irrigationSoliddd is his smart glasses for people with macular disordersMay Mobility is his autonomous electric busetc. There was more news this week:
Green light: Dutch semiconductor giant NXP has announced wants to buy TTTech Autoa VC-backed Austrian spinoff focused on safety software for autonomous vehicles, in a total investment worth $625 million.
A healthy match: Healthcare analytics platform H1 he got the Ribbona Y Combinator alum who helps patients find doctors covered by their insurance and raised funding from a16z and General Catalyst.
A group of cases: In a new phase in recent legal problems, Flock Safety is to be condemned and the mayor who says the public safety company wrongfully fired him.
Partner room: 3D design app Safe rooms a partnership with Googlewhich will invest $1 million in startups and give you access to Gemini AI.
A wild ride: Defense tech headhunter Peterson Conway is a man, and his reputation makes up for it very good reading.
Very interesting money this week
This year he almost had his first pentacorn – but not quite. And several other multinational financial groups also made headlines.
Near-pentacorn: Livestream buy app Whatnot raised $265 million in Series E fundingputting his net worth at around $5 billion ($4.97 billion, to be exact). The company also revealed that its annual gross merchandise value (GMV) exceeded $3 billion.
Blue Ocean: Xocean, an Irish robotics startup that collects ocean data from unmanned submarines (USVs), earned $119 million expanding beyond the field of energy and hydrography.
Crossing the border: NomuPay, an Irish start-up founded by German payments fintech Wirecard, raised a $37 million Series B round at a valuation of $200 million expanding its payment channels in underserved markets across Asia.
Payment: OnPay, an Atlanta-based startup that develops payroll and HR solutions, raised more than $100 million in new funding, including $63 million Series B round led by Carrick Capital Partners, backed by AB Private Credit Investors.
Games on: Grand Games, the Turkish startup behind Magic Sort and Car Match, has been promoted $30 million Series A funding led by London-based Balderton, which also recently supported Find a Cat developer Agave Games.
The most interesting VC and investment news this week
New: Defiant, a new European VC firm, he went out in secret and he announced his intention to raise 70 million dollars for his first fund, which focuses on B2B SaaS and fintech, and that he has already raised 30 million dollars.
Car rides: Trucks-focused Transportation Venture Capital plans to raise 30% of its total $70 million in new revenue. The new fund, the third to date, is backed by a handful of partners, including car dealers, tire manufacturers, insurance companies, and airlines.
India-focused fund: Silicon Valley-based South Park Commons is raising the Indian fund. Some VC firms have found the market tough, but others have doubled down, though Accel is taking a measured approach. In an interview with TechCrunch, partner Shekhar Kirani said the company could earn “billions of dollars” for his latest India fund, but chose not to.
Last but not least
VC investment in some emerging markets declined more than 40% in 2024, it is half of the global VC investment went to Silicon Valley. The data comes from different sources, but the picture is the same, and as the AI boom continues, there is no indication that this will change in 2025.
