The Great Startup Debate: To Partner or Not to Partner?

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This first week of February was busy on the geopolitical front, as well as in the world of startups and VC news, with many announcements and significant amounts of capital changing hands.

Most Interesting Startup Stories from the Week

Image Credits: Waabi

Startups took different views on the recurring dilemma of whether to partner or not. Plus, a cautionary tale on high burn rates, and IPOs ahead.

Joining Forces

Following a similar partnership with Aurora Innovation, Volvo Autonomous Solutions partnered with self-driving truck startup Waabi to jointly develop and deploy autonomous trucks. Commercial pilots are set to launch in Texas soon, with a driverless demonstration on public roads planned for the end of the year.

Additionally, space startups OurSky and PlaneWave merged to create Observable Space, aiming to develop the next generation of telescopes.

Going Solo

Figure AI, a robotics company, exited its deal with OpenAI, choosing instead to focus on in-house AI due to a “major breakthrough.” The startup is developing a general-purpose humanoid robot for commercial and residential use.

Meanwhile, Google’s X spun out Heritable Agriculture, a startup leveraging AI to improve crop yield.

Takeover

XOi, a startup that builds software for maintenance professionals, acquired competitor Specifx to expand its datasets on repairs, funded by a $230 million round announced this week.

High Burn

Failed Canada-based accounting startup Bench burned through $135 million before filing for bankruptcy.

IPOs Ahead

TechCrunch compiled a list of tech companies poised to go public this year, including two space and defense tech startups, Karman and Voyager Technologies.

Most Interesting VC and Funding News This Week

Image Credits: Aparna Jayakumar / Bloomberg / Getty Images

This week also brought us exciting funding news across various sectors:

Adtech

Canadian programmatic advertising startup StackAdapt raised $235 million growth funding led by Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG).

Fund of Funds

India announced a new $1.15 billion fund of funds for startups to expand its funding programs.

Indian LLMs

Ola billionaire founder Bhavish Aggarwal announced a $230 million investment into his AI startup Krutrim.

Deep Tech

Hitachi Ventures secured $400 million for its fourth fund, focusing on deep tech startups.

Ozempic Effect

Startups Berry Street and Fay raised $50 million each, benefiting from the rise of GLP-1 drugs.

Riot!

French startup Riot raised $30 million to enhance its cybersecurity solutions, achieving a valuation over $170 million.

Cherry on Top

German VC firm Cherry Ventures raised a new $500 million fund for early-stage investments.

First Fund

European VC firm Emblem raised $85 million for its initial fund, targeting promising startups.

Last but Not Least

Image Credits: Andriy Onufriyenko / Getty Images

European AI startups raised $8 billion in 2024, with 70% of that capital going into seed to Series B rounds, indicating a maturing landscape.