Yildiz Ventures Newsletter | 15-28 Feb ’25
?? Hi there!
Welcome to Y?ld?z Ventures Newsletter, your bi-weekly roundup of news from the ever-changing world of start-ups!
Get access to the latest trends, insights, and innovations from the start-up ecosystem so that you can stay ahead of the curve.
Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just a passionate individual about innovation, disruption, and entrepreneurship, we hope you'll find something valuable in our newsletter. ??
???Let's take a look at the highlights of the 15-28 February 2025! ??
?? Online grocery / Food Delivery:?
?? Co-op is launching a new million-pound rapid delivery grocery app, ‘Peckish’ - ??
?? Just Eat agrees to €4.1bn offer from Prosus - ??
?? SEA food delivery grows 13% as Grab leads: report - ??
?? Indonesian online motorcycle taxi drivers to rally for labor rights - ??
??Uber sues DoorDash over alleged anti-competitive tactics - ??
?? Swiggy shares in focus as company plans Rs 1,000 crore investment in Scootsy's expansion - ??
?? Battery-swapping companies cash in on quick commerce’s EV turn - ??
?? India’s quick commerce to grow - ??
?? Swiggy to invest $115 mn in supply chain unit - ???
?? Turkish Startups / VC & CVC News :
??? QNBEYOND H?zland?rma Program? 7.D?nem Ba?vurular? A??ld? - ??
?? Kuantum bili?im ?irketi QuEra, Sabanc? Ventures’?n da kat?ld??? turda 230 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald? - ??
?? Dijital varl?k y?netim platformu POINTSHIP, 1.9 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald? - ??
?? ABD merkezli Splitvolt, Vestel Ventures'tan yat?r?m ald? - ??
?? “Türkiye Startup Yat?r?mlar?” raporundan ?ne ??kanlar - ??
?? Good Job Games, Menlo Ventures'tan 100 milyon dolar?n üzerinde de?erleme ile yat?r?m ald? - ??
?? Yapay zeka pazaryeri Eachlabs, Right Side Capital liderli?inde yat?r?m ald? - ??
?? Dünyada i? güvenli?i sekt?rüne y?n veren Türk giri?im - ??
?? ABD’li QuEra, Sabanc? Ventures’?n da kat?ld??? turda 230 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald? - ??
?? Ba?lant?l? TV reklam platformu sunan yerli giri?im TVekstra, ArabyAds ve LG Ad Solutions ile stratejik ortakl?k kurdu - ??
?? Duygu ?ktem Clark ile Getir, Deepseek, San Francisco ve SpaceX’e yat?r?m? - ??
?? Global Startups / VC News :
?? Finansal yapay zeka ??zümleri geli?tiren Unique, 30 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald? - ??
?? Bybit siber sald?r?s?nda yakla??k 1,5 milyar dolar de?erinde kripto para ?al?nd? - ??
?? Mistral AI'?n yapay zeka asistan? Le chat, 14 günde 1 milyon indirmeye ula?t? - ??
?? Aramco’s VC arm invests in AI cloud startup Ori - ??
?? Pharma giant Schwabe unveils €100m fund for European consumer health startups - ??
?? OpenAI updates ChatGPT policy for neutrality, diversity - ??
?? Meta may engage Trump over EU regulations - ??
?? Monument Bank targets Nasdaq listing following ￡200m funding round - ??
?? Cambridge Innovation Capital launches ￡100M Fund for deeptech and life sciences - ??
?? Spore.Bio secures $23M Series A for on-site microbiology testing - ??
?? Revolut continues with hybrid working, despite move to new global HQ - ??
?? Level Zero Health bags ￡5.5, the largest Pre-Seed round raised by a European female-founded company - ??
?? 4Founders Capital launches new €44M fund for Spanish-linked startups - ??
?? British legaltech Luminance secures $75M Series C - ??
? naturalX Health Ventures, 100 milyon euroluk yeni bir fon olu?turdu - ??
????? E-commerce / Grocery:?
???Lidl to sell via TikTok Shop in ‘supermarket first’ - ??
?Temu, Shein face uncertainty after Trump’s tariff change - ??
?? M&S makes trio of senior hires to boost international growth - ??
?? M&S lower carbon parsnips hit shelves - ??
?? Alibaba to invest more than 50$billion in AI - ??
?? M&S first to trial Neighbourly’s new surplus food initiative - ??
?? Aldi sees and raises Lidl’s pay offer for store workers - ??
?? Sainsbury’s joins ChargeUK as EV ambitions grow - ??
?? Lidl’s TikTok Shop launch sells out in 18 minutes - ??
?? Tech’s grocery bros gear up to take on the supermarkets - ??
? Target hit by consumer anger at its retreat from diversity policies - ??
?? FoodTech / Food Companies
?? Zurich-based Food Brewer, which produces cocoa via plant cell culture, raised a $5.6 million seed extension round with strategic investments from Lindt & Sprüngli and Puratos’ Sparkalis to scale sustainable cocoa production - ??
?? Why Is Chocolate So Expensive Right Now? - ??
?? AI-powered meal planning platform Remy acquired UK-based food waste prevention app Kitche to expand its reach and enhance its efforts to reduce household food waste across the UK and Europe - ??
?? Can mycelium finally become a cheap vegan alternative? - ??
? EU plans Donald Trump-style import ban on food - ??
???COYO Introduces “Australia’s First” Oat and Coconut Dairy-Free Yoghurt - ??
?? Jumbo Launches Plant-Based Yogurts Made From Dutch-Grown Soy - ??
???New Zealand Societies Submit Petition Calling for Clearer Labelling of Vegan Products - ??
???French scaleup ?nsect raised over $600m to farm insects at scale, but is now nearing insolvency - ??
???Blackbird Foods: Ahimsa Companies Continues Vegan Acquisition Spree with Frozen Pizza Maker - ??
???Georgia Bill Seeks to Restrict Meat Labeling for Plant-Based and Cultivated Products - ??
?? Coca-Cola enters trendy prebiotic soda market with Simply Pop - ??
?? Heinz enlists help from the public in search of new beans flavour - ??
?? Meal prep platform Remy acquires food waste app Kitche - ??
?? The Cultivated B Unveils Synthetic Growth Factor to Reduce Cultivated Meat Costs - ??
?? ?? ?? AI / Web3 / Metaverse / Blockchain / Gaming:
?? Son d?nemde ?ne ??kan 5 insans? robot - ??
?? Amazon, yapay zeka destekli Alexa+'? tan?tt? - ??
?? Tencent launches new AI model to rival DeepSeek - ??
?? OpenAI just released GPT-4.5 and says it is its biggest and best chat model yet - ?? / OpenAI, yeni yapay zeka modeli GPT-4.5'i tan?tt? - ??
?? Apple adds AI features, spatial content app to Vision Pro - ??
?? ‘Game on’: Tech execs say DeepSeek ramps up China-U.S. competition but won’t hurt OpenAI - ??
??? Japanese chipmaker Kioxia reports $2.7b profit, stock up 19% - ??
?? What Europe needs to compete in AI - ??
?? UK researchers develop AI to monitor animal emotions - ??
? South Korea suspends access to DeepSeek - ??
?? Spotify plans $6 Music Pro service with AI, ticket perks - ??
?? Musk’s xAI to unveil Grok 3 AI chatbot - ??
?? Apple, Gemini'? Apple Intelligence'a eklemeye haz?rlan?yor - ??
?? Amazon, Zoom rakibi uygulamas? Chime'i kapat?yor - ??
?? Yapay zeka giri?imi Together AI, 3 milyar dolar de?erleme üzerinden 305 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald? - ??
??? Microsoft, kuantum bili?im ?ipi Majorana 1'i duyurdu - ??
?? Microsoft'un oyun üretebilen yapay zeka modeli: Muse - ??
?? Sustainability:
??? The EU has introduced its?first legally binding food waste reduction targets - ??
???? METYCLE raises €14M Series A for metal recycling platform - ??
?? The 50 top-funded greentech companies in Asia - ??
?? Single-use plastic cups ban at some venues under scheme - ??
??? Green shipping and climate change – here comes the wind - ??
?? New guidance shows how cities are figthing back against air pollution - ??
?? Could wave energy become the new nuclear? - ??
?? Worth Reading ?
?Glasswall: The things anonymous founders say about VCs - ??
?? OpenAI merges o3 into GPT-5, plans GPT-4.5 release first - ??
??? India to make its first chip by October 2025 under plan - ??
?? Europe needs to make it easier for its startups to do business - ??
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