Yildiz Ventures Newsletter | 15-30 Apr’24
?? Hi there!
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???Let's take a look at the highlights of the 15-30 April 2024! ??
?? Online grocery / Food Delivery:?
??? Grocery delivery startup Getir said in a statement that it was withdrawing from its U.S. and European markets and would refocus its financial resources on Turkey- ?? Getir is exiting Europe & closing Gorillas. Getir is exiting Germany, UK & Netherlands and will focus solely on Turkey- ??
?? Getir investors are set to fund the rapid delivery firm’s withdrawal from the UK with a new cash injection - ??
?Getir is in discussions with investors to explore the sale of its n11 online shopping platform, among other possibilities- ??
?? Amazon launches low-cost grocery delivery subscription plan in US. The subscription plan would allow Amazon's Prime members to get unlimited grocery delivery at $9.99 per month- ??
?? US online grocery sales are expected to?hit $120 billion by 2028, growing at three times the growth rate of the in-store grocery segment- ??
?? Underground delivery startup?Pipedream Labs?raised $13mn, to enhance its “Instant Pickup” service, which enables a restaurant or grocery store to hand off an order to a customer in under 15 seconds- ??
?? Gopuff has unveiled a new B2B platform which enables businesses to use its speedy delivery network to deliver items ordered on their own websites- ?? Also Gopuff is to price match discounter Aldi on essential grocery favorites for customers in London- ??
?? Turkish Startups / VC & CVC News :
??? Yerli e-ticaret analiz platformu heybooster, 770 bin euro yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Finansal teknoloji giri?imleri kuran Pionr, ?deme ??zümleri sunan Tahsildar’? sat?n ald?- ??
???? Visa Avrupa ?novasyon Program?'n?n Türkiye aya??nda, 2024 d?nemi i?in se?ilen fintech’ler, Bakiyem, Fimple, Finartz, Minted Connect ve PayWall oldu- ??
?? ?zmir merkezli oyun ?irketi Mage Games, Actera liderli?inde ve Ludus Ventures’?n kat?l?m? ile 3,5 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? Finartz ve Aktif Tech, Türkiye’nin ilk ?zelle?tirilebilir EMV 3D Secure hizmetini duyurdu- ??
?? Endüstriyel IoT i?in u?tan uca Edge AI platformu OctaiPipe, Gelecek Etki Fonu'nun kat?ld??? Seri A ?ncesi yat?r?m turunda toplamda 3 milyon sterlin yat?r?m ve 500 bin sterlin hibe ald?- ??
?? Yerli yapay zeka ?irketi Cerebrum Tech, Avrupa ve Orta Do?u’ya Do?u? Teknoloji ile a??l?yor- ??
??? Online al??veri? platformu?Hipicon, Ergün Holding i?tiraki?Ergün Ventures’tan?1 milyon dolar de?erinde?yat?r?m ald???n? a??klad?- ??
?? Fingate.io , Ko? GSYF’den 1,2 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald?- ??
?? ?ner Tekin Vestel Ventures'?n gelecek planlar?n? anlatt?. Bugüne kadar 33 giri?ime yat?r?m yapan Vestel Ventures, 2023 y?l? i?inde ise toplam 9 yeni ?irkete yat?r?m yapt?- ??
???? ?nsan Kaynaklar? süre?lerini dijitalle?tirmeye odaklanan?Teamso,?SLPLUS Holding?taraf?ndan 1 milyon dolar de?erleme ile yat?r?m ald???n? a??klad?- ??
? Meta ?irketinin X'e rakip olarak piyasaya sürdü?ü ve globalde 150 milyon ayl?k aktif kullan?c?s? olan Threads uygulamas?, Rekabet Kurumu'nun karar? sonras? Türkiye'de eri?ime kapand?- ??
?? Global Startups / VC News :
?? AI-powered food waste reduction startup AIPERIA raises €7.5M funding- ??
?? Spend management startup Ramp raises another $150M co-led by Khosla and Founders Fund at a $7.65B valuation- ??
?? Danish fintech?Flatpay, which provides payment software for SMBs, has raised a?€45M Series B round two years after its founding in 2022- ??
?? Lawhive raises $12M to expand its legal tech AI platform for small firms- ??
???? Finmid raises €35M for embedded finance software. The company provides a range of capital and payment solutions that SMBs can use to scale- ??
?? Xaira, an AI drug discovery startup, launches with $1 Billion, says it’s ‘ready’ to start developing drugs- ??
?? Danish-founded Ageras raises €82M for fintech acquisitions. Ageras provides cloud-based accounting software to over 300,000 SMEs in Europe- ??
?? 14Peaks Capital closes first fund at $30M for the future of B2B SaaS- ??
?? Payflows, an AI-powered SaaS finance platform,?has raised €25M in Series A funding- ??
????? E-commerce / Grocery:?
?? Kroger?& Albertsons are expanding their planned sale of grocery stores, offloading 166 more locations than previously agreed upon to get regulatory approval for their proposed $25 billion merger- ??
?? Amazon to push cashierless shopping tech into more third-party stores, even as it reduces its reliance on the technology in its own- ??
?? ?ok Market, ?stegelsin'i 220 milyon TL kar??l???nda sat?n ald?- ??
?? Swiss supermarket chain?Migros?debuted a range of meat alternatives made from?upcycled spent brewer’s grain, developed in partnership with?Circular Food Solutions- ??
?? Tesco is rolling out new hyper-personalised offers and promotions to its?loyalty scheme?members under a new ‘Clubcard Challengers’ solution- ??
?? Nisa’s independent retailers have hit a milestone, saving 175,000 meals from going to waste with?surplus food app?Too Good To Go- ??
?? International convenience chain 7-Eleven could?rebuild its presence in the UK as its parent company Seven & I Holdings looks to further expand into Europe- ??
?? BP has implemented staff body-worn cameras in a bid to “combat retail crime effectively” in stores facing high levels of abuse and crime- ??
?? Canadian startup?Micromart?is using AI-powered image recognition technology to create just-walk-out convenience in any store with its?just-plug-in micro-market cabinets- ??
??? Morrisons Ramps up Retail Media with Digital Screens & AI App Launch- ??
?? Aldi has become the first UK supermarket to move to 100% recycled plastic for its own-brand soft drinks and bottled water range in England and Wales- ??
?? FoodTech / Food Companies
?? The?European Union?is set to fine Cadbury and Oreo owner?Mondelez?for?restricting sales of its products?between EU member states- ??
?? KEY, a US-based functional beverage startup led by former?PepsiCo?and?Coca-Cola?execs,?secured $4 million seed funding?for its zero-sugar ketone-fueled energy drink- ??
?? Swiss chocolatier?Lindt?unveiled a plant-based version of its?popular Lindor truffles, made using oat milk- ??
?? UK-based?MYOM?has developed a?shelf-stable oat paste?that turns into “sensational, full-bodied” oat milk when combined with water- ??
?? Innit, an innovator in personalized food intelligence, unveiled its FoodLM Validators which use expert nutrition, health, & culinary algorithms to fact-check generative AI results- ??
?? Dutch cultivated meat pioneer?Mosa Meat?secured €40 million to support the “next phase” of its growth plans ahead of a planned launch in Singapore- ??
?Unilever?is?struggling to sell?its ￡15 billion ice cream division due to the sheer size of the brands, and may be forced to retain a significant minority stake- ??
?? Precision fermentation whey producer?Perfect Day?is?being sued?by its contract manufacturing partner?for fraud & breach of contract. Olon claims $112m in unpaid bills, $32m in damages- ??
? Coffee startup?Rarebird Inc.?has received a patent for its?formulation, made with paraxanthine, a caffeine alternative that occurs naturally in the body when the liver metabolizes caffeine- ??
???? UK-based?Sinless Foods?makes handmade, plant-based alternatives to eggs,?including fried and poached, made with ingredients such as rice starch, pea protein, and pumpkin powder- ??
?? Nestlé?is facing criticism after a report by Swiss investigative organization?Public Eye?found that it?adds sugar and honey?to infant milk and cereal products sold in many poorer countries- ??
?? Snack manufacturer?Wilde Brands, producer of what it claims to be the ‘world’s first’ chips made of chicken breast, egg whites and bone broth,?secured $20mn?to fuel its expansion plans- ??
?? ?? ?? AI / Web3 / Metaverse / Blockchain / Gaming:
?? Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion into G42, an AI firm based in the United Arab Emirates, as the U.S. giant looks to strengthen its position in the technology- ??
?? Amazon's cloud-computing arm announced it would invest $11 billion in Indiana to build data centers, marking the state's largest capital investment, and promising at least 1,000 jobs- ??
?? OpenAI inks strategic tie-up with UK’s Financial Times, including content use- ??
?? AI computing firm Blaize has raised $106 million in funding, including from existing investors such as Mercedes-Benz and Temasek- ??
?? Perplexity becomes an AI unicorn with new $63 million funding round. The SF-based AI-native search company will use the money to add new talent and continue developing its platform- ??
?? IBM moves deeper into hybrid cloud management with $6.4B HashiCorp acquisition- ??
?? AI coding assistance startup Augment Inc. announced its $227 million Series B round at a $977 million post-money valuation- ??
?? Sustainability:
? EU has agreed?new legislation?to set packaging reduction targets for its member states (5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 & 15% by 2040), & will ban certain single use plastic packaging formats from Jan’30- ??
?? Flora has launched the world’s first plastic-free paper tub in Sainsbury’s- ??
?? Hellmann’s?Canada joined forces with Italian sustainable fashion label?ID.Eight?to create a limited-edition collection of?sneakers made from food waste- ??
?? Worth Reading ?
?? Getir’s speedy UK exit: What went wrong?- ??
?? ? Military is the missing word in AI safety discussions. Government attempts to regulate the technology must look at its use on the battlefield- ??
? News from Y?ld?z Ventures’ Portfolio Companies?
?? Revo Capital ve Earlybird Digital East Fund portf?y ?irketi, yerli yat?r?m uygulamas? Midas, Portage Ventures?liderli?inde ger?ekle?en A serisi yat?r?m turunda 45 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald?. Revo ve Earlybird’de yat??rm turuna kat?ld?- ??
?? ?la? ke?iflerine yard?mc? olmak i?in yapay zekay? kullanan Yoneda Labs, 500 Emerging Europe'un kat?ld??? turda 4 milyon dolar yat?r?m ald?. Tur Khosla Ventures liderli?inde ger?ekle?ti- ??
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