Yildiz Ventures Newsletter | 01-15 Aug’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 August 2024! ??
?? Online grocery / Food Delivery:?
?? The latest earnings results from Instacart, DoorDash and Uber show they are strengthening their grocery verticals thanks to retailer partnerships and ad spend- ??
?? Deliveroo has reported its first-ever net profit since launching more than a decade ago following cost reductions and a push into grocery and retail deliveries- ??
?? Indian instant delivery startup Zepto has finalized a $340 million round that values it at $5 billion,?up from $3.6 billion in June?and?$1.4 billion last August- ??
???? Gopuff has appointed Getir’s commercial director as its new director of category management and supply chain- ??
?? Ocado has increased its refinancing target to ￡700m amid “strong demand- ??
?? Robotics startup DELIVERS.AI valued at $36M as it raises fresh round- ??
?? Morrisons has expanded its rapid grocery delivery partnership with Deliveroo to 500 of its Daily convenience stores- ??
?? Gopuff is to extend its 24/7 delivery service to more regions in the UK- ??
?? Ocado is to trial offering reusable packaging for its own-brand everyday products such as pasta, rice and washing liquid- ??
?? Turkish Startups / VC & CVC News :
?? 212 ve üNLü Portf?y’den 15 milyon euro büyüklü?ünde giri?im sermayesi yat?r?m fonu- ??
?? Sanal restoran markalar? geli?tiren Mizanplus Kitchens, 1 milyon dolar tohum yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Fintech ?irketi Hayhay, Finberg'ten 18 milyon dolar de?erleme üzerinden yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Giri?imcilik Dünya Kupas?’n?n Türkiye finalini kazanan Laska, globalde ülkemizi temsil edecek. Laska, at?k lastikleri ?evre dostu y?ntemlerle geri d?nü?türerek ekonomiye kazand?r?yor- ??
??? Bilgi Teknolojileri ve ?leti?im Kurumu'nun internet sitesinde yer alan bilgiye g?re Roblox oyununa eri?im engeli getirildi- ??
? Yerli finansal teknoloji ?irketi United Payment, Ar-Ge Merkezi belgesini ald?- ??
?? Ultrason??zelinde?yapay zeka yaz?l?mlar? üreten giri?im: SmartAlpha- ??
???? KPMG’nin küresel startup yar??mas? Global Tech Innovator’?n Türkiye finaline kalan 10 giri?im belli oldu. Jüri taraf?ndan se?ilen 10 giri?im: Cropto, Fingate, Livemedy, Miniyol, Navlungo, Plastic Move, Spark Superapp, Syntonym, Teamsec ve Wisersense- ??
?? ?ok kanall? perakende medya platformu geli?tiren GoWit 1.3 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Yerli fintech Turan, tüm ülkelerden Türkiye’ye para transferi hizmetine ba?l?yor- ??
?? Global Startups / VC News :
?? Agrovision?secured $100 million?and hit unicorn status following a period of ‘meteoric growth’ and international expansion- ??
?? US-based?Siddhi Capital?closed its second fund with $135mn, doubling the size of its first fund. It will use the capital raised to support “growth-stage companies across consumer and food tech”- ??
?? Placer.ai, a startup developing AI market research based on location data, boosts valuation to $1.5B after quietly raising another $75M- ??
?? Tencent-backed Airwallex hits $500 million annualized sales, aims to get IPO-ready by 2026- ??
?? EliseAI lands $75M for chatbots that help property managers deal with renters- ??
?? Sweden's EQT to acquire majority stake in Swiss cybersecurity and data protection company Acronis- ??
?? Kiteworks captures $456M at a $1B+ valuation to help secure sensitive data- ??
?? Halda Therapeutics secures $126 million financing to advance Cancer Therapies into the Clinic for Major Solid Tumors- ??
?? Mechanical Orchard, led by ex-Pivotal CEO, scores $50M round led by Alphabet’s GV- ??
?? Cybersecurity company Abnormal Security, valued at $5.1 billion amid email security push, eyes eventual IPO- ??
?? Defense tech start-up Anduril Industries raises $1.5 billion, now valued at $14 billion- ??
????? E-commerce / Grocery:?
?? Albertsons’ loyalty program sees growth spurt. The grocer’s number of rewards members has increased by nearly 63% since the end of its fiscal year 2020- ??
? In its efforts to reduce food waste, Walmart has teamed up with organics recycler Denali to bring repackaging technology to over 1,400 stores- ??
??? Aldi adding Instacart’s omnichannel tech to all US stores. The discounter is also rolling out the grocery technology company’s Caper Carts overseas for the first time- ??
?? Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa is to inject an emergency ￡30m to “improve the in-store experience” as sales fall at the supermarket giant- ??
??? Kanun düzenlemelerinden etkilenen Temu'nun Türkiye ?zelinde ?ne ??kan verileri- ??
领英推荐
???? Grocery industry’s key to retail media standardization: data clean rooms. Experts said the tool can enable collaboration across the industry & help solidify consistent measurement metrics- ??
? Aldi will put an end to its click-and-collect service to focus on offering the “lowest possible prices” for customers- ??
?? Sainsbury’s has partnered with NCR Voyix. The?new seven-year deal with the?digital commerce solutions company?aims to boost consumers’ shopping experience- ??
?? Kroger comes under fire for use of electronic shelf labels. Two U.S. senators have raised concerns about the technology leading to price gouging and invading consumer privacy- ??
?? Pret A Manger has unveiled plans to offer some members of staff body-worn cameras as a new safety precaution amid the crime epidemic- ??
?? Morrisons is extending its partnership with Too Good To Go so that customers can purchase ‘Surprise Bags’ from around 930 of its Daily convenience stores- ??
?? FoodTech / Food Companies
?? Mars, the confectionery, food and petcare giant, has reached an agreement to acquire Pringles and Pop-Tarts maker Kellanova for $35.9bn, marking one of the largest deals of the year- ??
?? EIT Food?and?Foundation Earth?partnered to launch a new alliance to develop internationally recognised?standards for the environmental impact data of food, to help the industry meet its net-zero commitments- ??
?? Veganz Group, based in Germany,?raised €10mn?to scale production of its 2D-printed oat milk, Mililk, alongside its pea protein-based meat alternative & an almond milk-based product- ??
?? Agribusiness platform Agrizy secures $9.8m to connect India’s small food processors with global markets- ??
?? Global dairy co-op?Fonterra?has signed a multi-year joint development agreement with biomass fermentation startup?Superbrewed Food?to explore the potential of its “postbiotic” ingredient- ??
?? Terrantic closes $3.5M Seed Round to help Food Processors extend shelf life and increase production yields- ??
?? Armed with $12m in seed funding, Plonts launches plant-based cheese in New York, San Francisco- ??
?? Finnish company Collo gets €5 million to optimise food & beverage industry- ??
?? Adamo Foods raises ￡2m to bring ‘ultra-realistic’ steak alternative to market- ??
?? Above Food announces $34m acquisition of The Redwood Group’s crop ingredients business- ??
?? Leaf Agriculture raised $11.3m Series A. Leaf’s farm data API and platform aims to make data management easier for companies- ??
?? ?? ?? AI / Web3 / Metaverse / Blockchain / Gaming:
?? NEA led a $100M round into Fei-Fei Li’s new AI startup, now valued at over $1B- ??
?? The OpenAI alumni-turned-founders building startups in Europe- ??
?? DevRev, a startup using AI for customer support and other tasks, raised $100mn from?Khosla Ventures?and other investors in round that valued the company at $1.15B- ??
?? Sahara AI has raised $43 million as it seeks to address thorny copyright and privacy issues surrounding artificial intelligence technology- ??
?? xAI releases Grok-2, adds image generation on X- ??
?? MetaMask, Mastercard, and Baanx launch "world's first" crypto payment card. Functioning like a debit card, holders can directly use the crypto in their MetaMask wallet for everyday purchases- ??
?? Google debuts Pixel Studio AI image-making app- ??
?? SoundHound acquires Amelia AI for $80M after it raised more than $189mn- ??
?? AI Chip Startup Groq Gets $2.8 Billion Valuation in New Funding Round- ??
?? Sustainability:
?? Arda Biomaterials and Beavertown Brewery team up to turn brewery waste into sustainable fashion accessories- ??
?? VSParticle raises €6.5M for nanoparticle synthesis tech accelerating green hydrogen production- ??
?? Worth Reading ?
?? How the food industry is remaining resilient and innovative- ??
???? Mars defensive move in snacking isn’t a light bite. The deal looks pricey considering the outlook for the less healthy food in Kellanova’s portfolio- ??
?? Cocoa costs barely affect what you pay for a Freddo. For that, be glad- ??
?? Will fully automated checkout ever make it in grocery stores?- ??
? News from Y?ld?z Ventures’ Portfolio Companies?
?? Revo Capital portf?y ?irketi Midas, kripto dünyas?na ad?m atarak kripto al?m sat?m hizmeti sunmaya ba?lad?- ??
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