Startups Weekly Recap
Funding Highlights
- Eyewa, a Mideast eyewear e-commerce platform, raised $100M in Series C funding.
- Cradle, an AI-powered protein design startup, secured $73M.
- Appcharge, a "Shopify for gaming," raised $26M.
- PlayAI, a voice cloning platform, closed a $21M seed round.
- Roon, a health tech startup offering video Q&As with doctors, raised $15M.
Notable News
- ServiceTitan's IPO was likely driven by internal deadlines.
- Data reveals high salaries at defense tech startup Anduril.
- The European Union's new leadership prioritizes scaling startups.
- Y Combinator often backs startups with similar products.
- Basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo launched a sports and entertainment VC firm.
- Cleo Capital launched a cybersecurity accelerator.
Market Trends
Latin American fintech is expected to be a key area of growth in 2025, showing signs of recovery after the 2021 correction. For related insights, check out Xiaomi's performance in the European smartphone market.