Yildiz Ventures Newsletter | 01-15 Apr’24
?? Hi there!
Welcome to Y?ld?z Ventures Newsletter, your bi-weekly roundup of news from the ever-changing world of start-ups!
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???Let's take a look at the highlights of the 01-15 April 2024! ??
?? Online grocery / Food Delivery:?
?? UK grocery delivery firm?Modern Milkman?has announced its?strategic acquisition?of the US based?Modern Milkman. They both deliver milk & soft drinks in reusable glass bottles, as well as eggs, baked goods- ??
?Grocery delivery giant Getir in talks about radical restructuring. Once-valued at ￡9.5bn, Getir is working with advisers on plans that could see it broken up or resort to an emergency restructuring mechanism- ??
?? Deliveroo has signed a “landmark” charter with the GMB Union, “pledging respect” between restaurants & riders. The?food delivery service’s agreement?follows suit from other restaurants & retailers who have already signed the new charter, inc. Morrisons, The Co-op, and Whole Foods- ??
?? Turkish Startups / VC & CVC News :
?? Yerli oyun ?irketi Mixer Games, Diffusion Capital Partners, WePlay Ventures ve stratejik melek yat?r?mc?lardan 5 milyon dolar de?erleme üzerinden yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Paribu, Web3 ve blokzincir medya ?irketi Kriptomeda'y? sat?n ald?- ??
?? Vispera, APY Ventures Bili?im Vadisi GSYF’den 500 bin dolar yat?r?m ald?- ??
???? Yeni nesil ?al??an esenli?i platformu Wellbees, Sabanc? Ventures liderli?inde yat?r?m ald?- ??
??? Enhencer, DCP liderli?inde 1 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald?. SaaS platformu Enhencer, her hacimden e-ticaret i?letmesine verimli reklamc?l?k ??zümleri sunuyor ve optimum yat?r?m getirisi sunuyor- ??
?? Tekstil at?klar?n?n izlenebilirli?ini ve geri d?nü?üm süre?lerinin y?netimini sa?layan Yerli at?k y?netim platformu Swatchloop, Founder One'dan yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Kybele's Garden, 250 bin dolar tohum ?ncesi yat?r?m ald?. Yat?r?m turuna Singapur merkezli Hatcher+ ve ABD merkezli Sente Ventures da kat?ld?- ??
?? Sosyal medya i?eriklerinin AI deste?iyle h?zl? ve kolay olu?turulmas?n? sa?layan Postuby, Alesta Yat?r?m liderli?inde k?prü turunda 900 bin dolar de?erleme üzerinden yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Self servis sigorta ??zümleri sunan Tamamliyo, Komplet ad?yla Avrupa pazar?na a??l?yor- ??
?? Ba?lant?l? mobilite teknolojileri giri?imi Comodif, 7mn dolar de?erleme üzerinden yat?r?m ald?- ??
???? Yapay zeka destekli interaktif hikaye olu?turma platformu: MidReal- ??
?? Global Startups / VC News :
?? Pigment, a business forecasting platform that handles business strategy in real-time, raises $145M Series D to enhance strategic decision-making in business- ??
?? Focus Group, a provider of business tech to SMEs, becomes a unicorn with new investment from Hg- ??
?? Shein posts over 2x profit growth to $2b ahead of IPO- ??
?? Spotify-backer Lakestar raises $600m for early stage and growth stage fund- ??
? Senoptica's food-waste-busting sensor technology gets FDA approval. Senoptica measures oxygen level inside packaged foods to predict spoilage before it happens- ??
?? Digital payment terms solution provider Hokodo announced a new €100 million debt facility from?Viola Credit- ??
?? Guesty snaps up $130M at $900M valuation to help property managers list on Airbnb and beyond- ??
?? Easop acquired by Remote to supercharge its HR SaaS- ??
?? Noname Security, a cybersecurity startup that protects APIs, is in advanced talks with Akamai Technologies to sell itself for $500 million- ??
?? Southeast Asia’s used-car marketplace?Carro?is raising about $100 million as it gears up for a stock-market debut. Startups seeks valuation of over $1.5B- ??
?? Cendana Capital, a fund of funds that invests in seed-stage,?& partner?Kline Hill Partners,?a firm focused on buying small previously owned private assets, announced a new $105mn fund to buy stakes in seed VC funds from LPs looking to sell- ??
???? Barcelona-based HR unicorn?Factorial?has raised $80M go-to-market investment from?General Catalyst- ??
?? Scayl comes out of stealth with its “fintech for fintech lenders” and €100M funding- ??
?? Tiger Global VC Fund Closes 63% Below Target With $2.2 Billion. Firm told investors in 2022 that it aimed to raise $6 billion- ??
?? BlaBlaCar secures €100M credit facility for growth ambitions- ??
?? Rubrik, a cloud and data security startup backed by?Microsoft, will seek to raise as much as $713 million in an initial public offering- ??
?? Aerospike raises $109M for its real-time database platform to capitalize on the AI boom- ??
????? E-commerce / Grocery:?
?? Amazon?is pulling its Just Walk Out cashierless technology large-format grocery store, Amazon Fresh, instead opting for its?Dash smart shopping carts, which use computer vision to scan products as consumers put them in the cart- ??
?? Five international retailers,?Tesco,?Ahold Delhaize,?Woolworths Group,?Empire Company /Sobeys?&?Shoprite, have teamed up to create?W23 Global,?a venture fund looking to invest $125 million over the next five years into innovative startups across retail- ??
?? Asda has extended its omnichannel payment solution partnership with payment service company Worldline for another five years- ??
?? Walmart will deploy robotic forklifts in its distribution centers- ??
??? eBay enters trading card commercial agreement with Collectors, acquires Goldin- ??
? Co-op Food MD dismisses removal of self-checkouts as it uses AI to tackle retail crime- ??
??Tesco has implemented AI technology to slash its energy costs by 10% and save over 385 tonnes of CO2e across its refrigerated distribution network- ??
?? Morrisons has become the first UK supermarket to roll out AI-powered cameras across its stores as it aims to boost availability and staff efficiency- ??
?? Waitrose has partnered with Tony’s Open Chain to launch nine own-brand chocolate bars to support more sustainable cocoa sourcing throughout the industry- ??
领英推荐
?? M&S?is investing ￡1m in tackling cows’ carbon footprint by changing the diet of the herds that provide its milk- ??
???? Alibaba will struggle to knock Temu off ecommerce top spot. Low operational costs and lower spending on warehousing and inventory give PDD-owned group an edge- ??
?? Morrisons has invested ￡1.4m in opening a new on-site innovation centre to support the growth of its Greenside fresh food manufacturing operation- ??
?? Asda has become the first UK supermarket to launch an online prescription service as it partners with online pharmacy Pharmacy2U- ??
?? FoodTech / Food Companies:
?? Pladis has added Godiva into its portfolio as it plans to accelerate the chocolate brand’s sales by 2026. The ￡3bn company started the integration of Godiva last year and said the move brings additional scale, luxury capabilities and consumer demand to the growing business- ??
???? Researchers at the?US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute?have?mapped out sugar cane’s genetic code, which could lead to more resilient crops and increased sugar production- ??
???? Copenhagen-based?Reduced?secured €6 million?to convert?food?and agriculture side streams into useful ingredients using fermentation technology- ??
?? US confectionery brand?Macalat?partnered with?MycoTechnology?to create a vegan, organic, zero-sugar, sweet dark chocolate bar made with?mycelium-derived flavour modulator?ClearIQ- ??
?? Cargill?is?partnering with Voyage Foods, which produces spreads and chocolates free from cocoa, nuts, and dairy, to offer sustainable alternatives to popular sweet treats- ??
?? RipeLocker claims it can?“double the shelf life”?of high-value crops, including blueberries, cherries, & walnuts. Producers can switch from air to ocean freight, saving costs as well as cutting waste- ??
?? UK-based?Plamil Foods?debuted the ‘world’s first’?chocolate bar made from whole coffee beans, aimed at capturing some of the billion-pound global coffee market- ??
?? Serenity Kids?secured $52 million Series B funding?for its baby?food?products with extra protein, whole foods, and less sugar and carbohydrates- ??
?? The Live Green Co.?launched a?breast milk fat analogue?and a post-biotic for gut health, both derived from yeast and produced via precision fermentation- ??
? Brazil’s?Aqua Capital?closed its third flagship fund with $450 million, to support sustainable agrifood solutions- ??
?? Onego Bio, based in Finland,?secured $40 million Series A funding?to commercialize its precision fermentation animal-free egg protein, Bioalbumen- ??
?? Givaudan,?MISTA?and?Bühler?announced the opening of a?state-of-the-art extrusion hub?at the MISTA Innovation Center in San Francisco, which will offer companies the opportunity to conduct product development trials for their extruded products- ??
?? Windfall Bio?raised $28 million Series A, to scale its solution, which helps to address methane emissions across various industries such as agriculture, oil and gas, and waste management- ??
?? Israeli molecular farming startup?Finally Foods?emerged from stealth w/ a?pre-seed inv.?from?The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, with which it will develop protein from potatoes, starting with casein- ??
??? Blue Tree Technologies—an Israeli startup using a patented process to selectively remove sugars from juice, milk, and beer—has secured self-GRAS status for its approach and has successfully scaled its solution with Israeli juice manufacturer?Priniv- ??
?? Ironic Biotech, a Swedish startup,?has raised €1M Pre-Seed for its?plant-derived proteins that allow iron to be easily absorbed into the blood- ??
?? The Canadian Space Agency?and?Impact Canada?awarded C$380k grand prize?to?Ecoation?&?Maia Farms?for their CANGrow?food?system, it can grow more than 700 kg of?food?annually- ??
?? A student at the?University of Texcoco?has developed?3D-printed bee hives?to help boost honey production- ??
?? A new report from the Pacific Coast?Food?Waste Commitment shows that grocery retailers on the west coast of the US?decreased their number of tons?of unsold?food?by 25% from 2019 – 2022- ??
?? ?? ?? AI / Web3 / Metaverse / Blockchain / Gaming:
?? Microsoft and OpenAI are working on plans for a data center project that could cost as much as $100 billion and include an AI supercomputer called "Stargate" set to launch in 2028- ??
?? Elon Musk’s xAI Seeks Up to $4 Billion to Compete With OpenAI. Fundraising deal could value Musk venture at $18 billion- ??
?? Microsoft will unveil new Windows and cloud AI features in May- ??
?? OpenAI to open doors to first Asia office in Tokyo. OpenAI will likely hire local talent for the Japan-based office, which will offer customer support to companies using its technology - ??
?? Spotify launches personalized AI playlists that you can build using prompts- ??
? Apple has licensed millions of Shutterstock images to train its AI- ??
?? Luminance's Generative AI-for-law raises $40M Series B- ??
?? Sustainability:
?? Cargill has signed five deals that expand the global agriculture firm’s contracted renewable energy capacity by 42% as part of its overall goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions- ??
?? Walkers is rolling out new paper outer bags for all Snack A Jacks multipacks to reduce the brand’s use of virgin plastic by 65 tonnes per year- ??
?? Nordic Bioproducts Group enters partnership to kickstart biodegradable plastic adoption- ??
?? Worth Reading ?
??? The future of e-commerce is video: 5 undeniable consumer stats- ??
???? The rise of the chief AI officer. More companies are appointing staff to oversee the tech- ??
???? Why chipmakers are investing billions into ‘advanced packaging’- ??
?? Shoplifting, self-checkout and the limits of AI. A shortlived retail crime wave is a warning about the unintended consequences of automation- ??
? News from Y?ld?z Ventures’ Portfolio Companies?
?? Revo portf?y ?irketi, KOB?’lere e-ticaret ve e-ihracat ??zümleri sa?layan?ikas, Seri A yat?r?m turunda Dünya Bankas? kurulu?u olan IFC?ve?Re-Pie Portf?y liderli?inde 20 milyon dolar bir yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Revo portf?y ?irketi ve Yapay zeka destekli kodsuz yaz?l?m platformu?Builder.ai,?Komünite?ile kurdu?u ortakl?k neticesinde Türkiye pazar?na giri? yap?yor- ??
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