Startup Monday: Latest tech trends & news happening in the global startup ecosystem (Issue 145- November 10)

Welcome to Startup Monday, my weekly newsletter that recaps the week in the global startup ecosystem. To have this newsletter emailed to you, you can sign up here.

Narine Emdjian, MBA

Top startup news to follow this week:

1. Emerge raises ￡56m to invest in AI-heavy education and future of work startups

The firm plans to invest cheques of between ￡500k-2m into companies building in everything from language learning to talent sourcing

London-based VC firm Emerge has raised ￡56m for its second fund to invest in 25 to 27 startups working on learning and the future of work.

The fund was oversubscribed, general partner Nic Newman tells Sifted (it had targeted ￡50m), and tops the 10-year-old firm’s first fund of ￡16m in 2019. Newman says about 70-80% of its existing LPs reupped for the second fund. LPs include KfW Capital, Laerdal Invest, Jacobs Foundation and Southern New Hampshire University. The firm started raising in January 2023 and closed in July this year.?

Emerge will invest pre-seed and seed cheques of between ￡500k-2m, taking a 15% stake in startups and reserving about 25% of the fund for follow-on investments.?

‘Almost deeptech’ founders

AI has increasingly been working its way into education, with startups building everything from language learning apps to AI copilot helpers for workers. And though it isn’t a novel technology in the edtech space (companies like language learning app Duolingo have been using AI for many years), Newman sees a shift in the new set of startups: 10 years ago, founders were “probably an ex-teacher or an ex-head of [learning and development] with an ok technical cofounder,” Newman tells Sifted. “Now, with the role of AI and large language models, you've got a completely different type of founder who's really tech-savvy, almost deeptech. They're machine learning graduates, they're [physicists], they're mathematicians, they have a completely different understanding of building products, building for scalability, building rapidly.”?

Newman says Emerge has seen edtech and future of work companies with “growth rates that we’ve never seen” before — with some startups going from zero to ￡5m in annual recurring revenue in a year.?

Emerge is eyeing startups in areas like talent assessment and selection, career navigation, language learning, educator tools and co-pilots, talent sourcing, self improvement and workforce development.

It employs a team of six, as well as 110 venture partners— to help source deals, do due diligence on companies and support startups. The venture partners include co-founders and CEOs of edtechs Udemy, Coursera, Kahoot and Springboard, as well chief learning officers and chief human resources officers from IBM and McDonalds, he says. Many of the venture partners are also invested as LPs in Emerge’s new fund, and they write angel cheques into investments they like, says Newman.?

Some 70% of the fund will be invested in Europe and the UK (30% will be invested globally), Newman says. “Within Europe there are three centres for the future of work and learning innovation: number one is London, number two is Berlin and number three is Amsterdam,” as well as the Nordics, he says. But “we're most excited about the French and German ecosystem.”?

The new fund has already written a cheque into Colossyan, an AI video platform for workplace learning that lets users create videos from text with AI avatars.

‘Edtech’ is out, ‘human potential’ is in

Last year, Newman says the team at Emerge was analysing about 700 companies using AI in education and future of work; this year, he says they’ve identified about 20k.?

That massive jump is due to a couple of big trends, Newman says: “There's a whole host of founders who would have been doing fintech or proptech two or three years ago, because they saw the huge upside there, and are now jumping into the category of future of work and learning, because they can see it becoming more deeptech, they can see much more scalability,” he says.

“People have also realised that, of all the categories out there, [educational publisher companies like the] Pearson’s, the McGraw Hill’s, the incumbent providers, are at risk of significant disruption through better innovation, and many of those larger companies are struggling to really move fast enough to use AI properly. I think entrepreneurs sense that.”?

Emerge's portfolio includes London-based AI recruitment tool Popp AI, German play-based children’s learning platform Edurino and British higher education recruitment startup Unibuddy.?

2. Glint Solar grabs $8M to help accelerate solar energy adoption across Europe

Solar energy is booming, which is good news for Glint Solar. The Norwegian software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup has built a platform that’s helping energy giants and large solar developers such as?E.ON, Recurrent Energy, and Statkraft reduce the time it takes to plan and pre-design solar installations, accelerating the transition to renewables.

Glint’s software pulls in data from multiple sources to help speed up solar project assessments. The platform features adaptable layout designs and yield estimates, along with country-specific geographic information system (GIS) data and topographic analysis to make it easer for solar developers to evaluate potential sites. Cloud-based collaboration features allow teams to access essential project data. The platform can also be used as a project presentation aid by serving up 3D-rendered project layouts “in seconds.”

Since TechCrunch last spoke with the climate startup in June 2022, when it closed a $3 million seed round, its customer base has grown almost 10x, according to CEO and co-founder Harald Olderheim. It’s now announcing an $8 million Series A to keep stoking the growth fire by expanding into more markets in Europe.

Its main regions for customers currently are France, Germany, the Nordics, and the U.K. but with the new funding, the March 2020-launched SaaS will be expanding its sales teams to target customers in “the rest of Europe,” including Italy and Spain, Olderheim says.

One notable change since Glint Solar launched is that it’s narrowed the service proposition to support the planning of land-based solar installations — dropping an earlier dual product focus that had included floating-solar installations, too.

Olderheim said the software can still be used for planning floating solar. But he noted there’s more demand for ground-based installations. “It’s a bigger market,” he said, explaining why they’ve opted to streamline their sales approach.

Glint Solar also isn’t focused on roof-mounted solar installations. Some of its customers are using its software to help plan solar arrays on “big rooftops” as well, per Olderheim. But, again, the reason it’s not focusing effort there is because it’s going after the largest demand chunk.

3. Venture capital firm HATCo to buy Summa Health for $485 million

The deal will allow Summa Health to eliminate $850M in existing debt.

Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health has entered a definitive agreement to be purchased by venture capital firm General Catalyst Health Assurance Transformation (HATCo) for $485 million.

The purchase will allow the health system to eliminate $850 million in existing debt, according to Summa Health. The health system will transform from a nonprofit health system to a for-profit, taxable system.

HATCo was founded in 2023 by General Catalyst, a private venture capital firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The definitive agreement, announced Thursday, outlines a significant investment in the health system, Summa Health said. The purchase price of $485 million, when added to Summa Health's current cash, will eliminate its $850 million debt.

The remaining cash, after closing adjustments, will fund a new, separately governed community foundation that will support focused investment to benefit community health in the Greater Akron region, the health system said.?

HATCo has committed $350 million in capital funding within the first five years for routine purposes, and investment in technologies.? Additionally, HATCo has committed $200 million for strategic and transformative investments that will drive innovation over the first seven years.

The transaction is subject to regulatory review and approval. Summa Health and HATCo are submitting applications related to the proposed transaction to the Ohio Attorney General, the Ohio Department of Insurance, the Federal Trade Commission and other applicable authorities in compliance with regulatory review processes.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Summa Health and HATCo said they have been working to shape a comprehensive plan that includes maximizing resources and improving workflow.?The organizations have begun to collaborate on a transformation plan, which includes the creation of working groups with representation across Summa Health.

Employees, providers and the leadership team of Summa Health will transition to the new entity. Maintaining and growing Summa Health's workforce is critical to pursuing this transformative work, the companies said.?

Summa Health will maintain its charity care policy, community benefit and essential services it currently offers, while it also focuses on sustainable growth and enhanced care access.

THE LARGER TREND

Summa Health has more than 1,300 licensed beds in the following clinical settings: Summa Akron Campus, Summa Barberton Campus and Summa Health Wadsworth-Rittman Medical Center.

It is among the largest integrated healthcare delivery systems in Ohio, encompassing a network of hospitals, community medical centers, a health plan, an accountable care organization, a multispecialty physician organization, research and the Summa Health Foundation.

ON THE RECORD

"As part of HATCo, Summa Health will be better positioned to build upon our existing strengths and capabilities while also benefiting from new opportunities and technology. Our goals are to expand access to care and improve the experience for our patients, providers and staff," said Dr. Cliff Deveny, Summa Health president and CEO.

"We view this long-term investment as a critical milestone – not only to build on Summa Health's existing strengths, but also to create a blueprint for the future of healthcare delivery," said Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst, and founder and executive chairman of HATCo.?

4. Perplexity raising new funds at $9 bln valuation, source says

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Perplexity is raising new investment that would value the search startup at $9 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, a sign of heightened investor enthusiasm around artificial intelligence companies.

California-based Perplexity is set to raise $500 million in the new funding round led by venture capital firm Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), which also holds a board seat in the startup, the source said.

The company had raised $73.6 million in Series B funding in January. The funding round, led by IVP, had valued the company at about $520 million.

The meteoric success of OpenAI's ChatGPT has attracted investors to AI startups as businesses are racing to adopt the technology. Building large language models (LLMs) also requires billions in funding.

OpenAI closed a $6.6 billion funding round last month, which could value the company at $157 billion and cement its position as one of the most valuable private companies in the world.

Since the release of ChatGPT, publishers have been raising the alarm on chatbots that can comb the internet to find information and create paragraph summaries for the users.

Media conglomerate News Corp-owned (NWSA.O), opens new tab publishers sued Perplexity in October, claiming that the startup engages in a "massive amount of illegal copying" of their copyrighted work.

New York Times (NYT.N), opens new tab also sent Perplexity a "cease and desist" notice last month, demanding it stop using the newspaper's content for generative AI purposes.

Perplexity, which provides information by searching the internet, is also backed by Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab founder Jeff Bezos and chip designer Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab.

The AI company is among the leading firms attempting to uproot the search engine market dominated by Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the funding being finalized by Perplexity.

5. Zhipu, one of China’s ‘AI Tigers’, raises US$210 million for venture capital fund

The Z Fund says it aims to take advantage of its parent’s leading position in China’s AI sector to discover promising early-stage start-ups

Zhipu AI, one of China’s top generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) start-ups, has announced the initial closing of its venture capital vehicle, which aims to invest in related start-ups to strengthen the company’s ecosystem, borrowing a page from ChatGPT owner OpenAI.

The Zhipu Ecosystem Fund, also known as the Z Fund, raised 1.5 billion yuan (US$211 million) from its parent and a group of state-backed and private entities, according to a statement published Friday on its official WeChat account.

They include the Beijing municipal government’s investment unit Shijingshan District Modern Innovation Industry Development Fund, and Fuzuo Capital, which is affiliated with Hangzhou Industrial Investment Group, the investment vehicle of eastern Zhejiang province’s capital city.

Private equity fund Yanbei Capital, and Guangdong Aofei Data Tech, a cloud computing infrastructure provider based in southern Guangdong province, are also among the limited partners.

Zhipu is building up its investment arsenal as competition heats up in China’s crowded GenAI market, which has seen the launch of more than a hundred large language models (LLMs) – the technology underpinning products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

6. Paris-based ZE Energy secured €54 million to offer environmentally responsible solutions

Paris-based ZE Energy, an independent producer of renewable energy specializing in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), has raised €54 million in a funding round led by Amundi Transition énergétique.

The investment brings new stakeholders to ZE Energy, including Amundi’s Core+ infrastructure funds and Demeter’s Climate Infrastructure Fund, a notable player in energy transition financing. Existing shareholder Sorégies also contributed to the round, alongside Marguerite, HTGF, and ZE WAY INVEST.

According to Matthieu Poisson, CEO of Amundi Transition énergétique, this partnership marks a commitment to supporting the infrastructure for sustainable energy solutions: “We are very optimistic about the development of infrastructure solutions combining solar energy production and storage (BESS), allowing us to play a key role in the decarbonization of the electricity system.” Poisson added, “We are delighted to partner with the founders, existing shareholders, and management team of ZE Energy, a team that has proven its potential through its achievements since inception. We look forward to supporting them in this European growth and expansion plan.”

Driving the renewable energy transition

Founded in 2019, ZE Energy has quickly established itself as a leader in renewable energy with a focus on hybrid solar power plants that integrate photovoltaic systems with energy storage, tailored specifically for continental Europe. ZE Energy manages all aspects of its projects, from development and financing to construction and operation. It sells green energy directly to consumers or through tenders, aiming to offer stable, reliable energy solutions.

Mathieu Lassagne, founder of ZE Energy, emphasized the value of the company’s approach in the current market: “In a context of increasing volatility in solar energy prices, the model proposed by ZE Energy stands out as a high-performance solution, supporting a controlled energy transition.” He further noted, “Our model, which combines solar production with energy storage, is also meeting growing interest. In the first half of 2024, solar energy prices have increasingly become negative due to overproduction at certain times. Being able to store this energy, and thus avoid price volatility, is the optimal solution for both producers and consumers.”

Strategic growth with fresh capital

ZE Energy intends to utilize the newly raised funds to support its expansion across Europe over the next two years. With a current project portfolio exceeding 1 GW in solar capacity and over 400 MW in battery storage, the company plans to grow its operational and construction-ready portfolio to 900 MW of solar power and 600 MWh of storage by 2026.

Philippe Detours, Managing Partner at Demeter, shared his insights on ZE Energy’s role in promoting energy efficiency: “With its hybrid assets, the company is introducing an energy efficiency approach that aligns perfectly with the vision and investment thesis of the Climate Infrastructure Fund. This fundraising will support ZE Energy’s growth in France and internationally.”

Sorégies, a longstanding partner of ZE Energy, echoed these sentiments. Frédéric Bouvier, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Sorégies Group, stated: “Flexibility is a major challenge for the energy transition. For this reason, we are continuing our collaboration, capitalizing on the complementarity of our approaches and the success of our joint achievements. Our partnership leads to the development of efficient solutions that offer our customers green, local, controllable electricity at a stable price. Together, we are pursuing our goal of making the energy transition accessible to all.”

ZE Energy’s recent funding round underscores the growing investor interest in sustainable energy solutions that integrate renewable energy production with advanced storage technologies. By supporting solar production and storage in Europe, ZE Energy aims to offer resilient, environmentally responsible solutions that serve both producers and consumers while fostering energy stability across the continent.

7. DeepRoute raises $100M in push to beat Tesla’s FSD in China

DeepRoute.ai, a Shenzhen-based autonomous driving technology startup, raised $100 million from Great Wall Motor. The startup aims to get its automated driving systems into as many vehicles in China before Tesla takes off next year, according to a Reuters report.

DeepRoute did not publicly disclose the name of its automaker backer, but reports in the Chinese media, including a press release, point to Great Wall Motor. The automaker is one of China’s biggest, with new vehicle sales hitting 970,612 in the first 10 months of this year. GWM’s presence in Europe is also increasingly growing, as it works with BMW to produce the next Mini EV hatchback.

A spokesperson for DeepRoute told TechCrunch the startup will use the money to develop end-to-end visual-language-action models, which can directly interpret visual and language inputs to make driving decisions without separate steps needed for perception, planning, and control. DeepRoute also plans to use the funds to explore the possibilities for a future robotaxi business globally and to collaborate with more automakers.

That last goal seems to be top of mind for the startup, particularly as the Tesla’s driver assistance system, called Full Self-Driving (FSD), is gearing up to launch in China and Europe in the first quarter of 2025. China lifted certain restrictions on Tesla vehicles in April, clearing a path for the automaker to roll out FSD, which isn’t actually fully self-driving but does perform some automated driving tasks in cities and on highways.

DeepRoute is now racing to get its own ADAS into around 200,000 cars in China by the end of 2025, CEO Maxwell Zhou told Reuters. That’s a 10x increase from the 20,000 vehicles its tech is deployed in today.?

The first vehicle model with DeepRoute’s system, which has yet to be publicly disclosed, launched in August. Zhou said the tech will come to two more models, including one co-owned by Geely and Mercedes-Benz, this year.

8. MealMe, the startup integrating food ordering tech into apps, picks up $8M

MealMe, a unified API that embeds food and retail ordering into consumer apps and websites,?announced on Thursday that it secured $8 million in Series A funding. The newly raised capital brings the total amount raised to $16 million.?

Since its launch in 2019, MealMe has undergone several changes. Initially, it was a consumer app designed to help people find the best deals on delivery from restaurants and grocery stores. It then evolved to allow consumers to order food directly through the MealMe app.

The company has now completely transitioned to a B2B model, offering its API for other businesses to integrate ordering technology into their applications and websites. When a company integrates MealMe’s API, it gets access to real-time product pricing and availability, and it enables customers to order their products from local stores.

MealMe says that its API provides inventory data on more than 1 billion products from more than 1.2 million grocery stores, restaurants, and retailers across the U.S. and Canada. It currently serves more than 100 customers, including Fantuan Delivery, Favor Delivery, Tripadvisor, and others.

Matthew Bouchner, MealMe co-founder and president, told TechCrunch, “We built the API for ourselves with the consumer app to add ordering from stores into our app, and then realized that, OK, well, we can continue growing our app, or we can pivot to B2B and be the infrastructure layer for anybody that needs the ability to pull menus and inventory and send orders into stores.”

Bouchner added that the company made the pivot after seeing the growing trend of embedded commerce, which essentially involves integrating e-commerce features into existing platforms. This allows businesses to offer their products directly to customers through platforms they already use.

9. Paris-based Axeleo Capital secures €125 million for its new Green Tech Industry fund

Axeleo Capital, an independent French venture capital firm, has announced the first closing of its new €125 million Green Tech Industry I fund. The fund is backed by three major investors: the Révolution Environnementale et Solidaire fund, Bpifrance, and the Fonds National de Venture Industriel (FNVI).

Founded in 2017 and with nearly €300 million in assets under management, AXC is taking a new step forward by positioning itself to become one of the major players in Europe in the financing of industrial innovation and is pursuing its VC strategy of developing thematic funds.

A new strategy supported by a multidisciplinary team

Today, financing the first facilities of industrial and innovative start-ups lacks resources and specialised players capable of addressing their unique industrial and commercial risks.

At the initiative of Guillaume Sarlat and Marc Lechantre, this ‘Green Tech Industry I’ fund is inherently impact-driven and classified as Article 9, aiming to finance innovative and resilient green technologies in Europe. By combining financial and industrial expertise, the goal is to provide start-ups and their founders with decisive support at the critical stage of establishing their first facilities and scaling up their operations.

Guillaume has over 20 years of experience in tech and Greentech as an investment banker and investor. Marc spent more than 16 years in the automotive industry with the Stellantis group, in roles spanning production, strategy, and international management.

With the operational involvement of Mathieu Viallard, co-founder of Axeleo Capital, the GTI I team was recently joined by Sandra Dubos as Investment Director. With a degree in biochemistry, Sandra has over 15 years of experience in tech, including six years in venture capital, particularly in deep tech, chemistry, and healthcare.

A European ambition for the Greentech industry

With a final target of €250 million, GTI I aims to make 15 to 20 investments in Europe, with lead tickets ranging from €3 million to €10 million across sectors such as energy (new renewable energies, storage, etc.), chemicals and materials (biomaterials, plastics recycling, etc.), agriculture and food (bio-based fertilisers and pesticides, etc.), and mobility (electric motors, decarbonisation of air and sea transport, etc.).

Eric Burdier and Mathieu Viallard, co-founders of Axeleo Capital stated: “Following the success of our Software B2B strategies, the launch of GTI I represents a major step in the development of our management company. In line with our values and our entrepreneurial DNA of supporting founders, this fund allows us to address a field of major innovations around decarbonisation, green technologies, and the renewal of industrial sectors in Europe.”

Guillaume Sarlat and Marc Lechantre said: “With the entire Axeleo Capital team, we are delighted with this first closing, which allows us to act now. The support of our sponsors and investors, whom we thank for their confidence, reinforces our collective ambition to contribute to the emergence of tomorrow’s European and green industrial sectors.”

10. The Hague-based 4impact Capital closes €68 million fund II to drive digital innovation and sustainability

4impact Capital, a Dutch-based venture capital firm, has announced the close of its second fund, raising €68 million. This SFDR Article 9 fund is focused on early-stage digital and sustainability startups in North-Western Europe, supporting companies with scalable solutions for global challenges alongside strong financial returns.

Since the launch of its first fund in 2019, 4impact Capital has pursued a vision of catalyzing sustainable change by merging technological advancement with measurable, positive impact. The firm’s team draws from diverse backgrounds, including Goldman Sachs, Mubadala, and Citi, and is bolstered by seven venture partners across Europe and the U.S. Fund II has already backed six ventures, among them Coolgradient, Deftpower, and Carbonfuture, with each addressing critical issues like energy efficiency, grid optimization through EV batteries, and high-quality carbon removal solutions.

“We are a complementary and diverse team committed to working closely with our portfolio companies. We don’t just invest – we partner with them, providing the support needed to fuel their growth and success. What drives us is the opportunity to catalyse positive change, and we are excited to help shape the businesses of the future,” said 4impact founding partner Pauline Wink.

Founding partner Ali Najafbagy added: “We are very grateful to our investors who back us to support visionary entrepreneurs who are working hard on making our planet future-proof through technology enablement. Our tech focus areas are remote sensing, AI and big data, and emerging technologies such as blockchain. Through these digital technologies we can help solve parts of labour shortage and contribute to a sustainable and competitive Europe and beyond.”

Investors in Fund II include notable supporters such as Invest-NL, the European Investment Fund (EIF), and Oost NL, underscoring confidence in 4impact’s mission. Marjut Falkstedt, Chief Executive of the EIF, remarked, “In tackling the innovation financing gap, we have to do all we can to support innovative small businesses so that they can both startup in Europe but also stay and grow in Europe. 4impact Capital’s mission to empower startups with transformative potential aligns with this EIF objective to support innovation while generating social and environmental value. Funds like these have the potential to make a significant impact on Europe’s sustainable future.”

Jellie Banga, Member of the Executive Board of Invest-NL, highlighted the collaboration, stating: “Invest-NL’s additional investment in 4impact, as part of the Dutch Future Fund initiative, highlights our strong partnership with the EIF. Our combined ticket resulted in a successful final closing, providing increased capital to support impactful ventures.”

Looking ahead, 4impact plans to invest in around 25 companies at the Seed and Series A stages, emphasizing sectors that integrate digitization and sustainability, especially in Benelux, DACH, and the Nordics. As partner Victor Straatman noted: “With new capital and the backing of our venture partners – who bring leadership experience from companies like Tesla, Apple, and Dept – we’re stepping into an exciting phase for impact-driven founders. The acceleration of AI presents not just opportunities, but responsibilities. How can we leverage AI for good – e.g. using predictive analytics to reduce emissions and foster a more sustainable society? The time to act is now, and we’re here to support those bold enough to take on this challenge.”