{"id":669636,"date":"2025-05-16T16:26:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T13:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/startups-weekly-a-brighter-outlook-but-dont-get-carried-away\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T16:26:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T13:26:51","slug":"startups-weekly-a-brighter-outlook-but-dont-get-carried-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/startups-weekly-a-brighter-outlook-but-dont-get-carried-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Startups Weekly: A brighter outlook, but don&#8217;t get carried away"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a26b5261a412\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a26b5261a412\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/startups-weekly-a-brighter-outlook-but-dont-get-carried-away\/#Most_interesting_startup_stories_from_the_week\" >Most interesting startup stories from the week<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/startups-weekly-a-brighter-outlook-but-dont-get-carried-away\/#Most_interesting_VC_and_funding_news_this_week\" >Most interesting VC and funding news this week<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/startups-weekly-a-brighter-outlook-but-dont-get-carried-away\/#Last_but_not_least\" >Last but not least<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Welcome to Startups Weekly \u2014 your weekly recap of everything you can\u2019t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday?<\/em><em> Sign up here<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Startup <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> this week was fairly routine \u2014 in a good way: Aside from a minor kerfuffle between Y Combinator and Google, there was no headline-grabbing drama. Just steady progress and business as usual.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Most_interesting_startup_stories_from_the_week\"><\/span><strong>Most interesting startup stories from the week<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1390\" height=\"928\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?w=680\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1712611\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg 1390w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=680,454 680w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=1200,801 1200w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=1280,855 1280w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=430,287 430w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=720,481 720w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=900,601 900w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=668,446 668w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=562,375 562w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=924,617 924w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/chime-bank-card.jpg?resize=708,473 708w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1390px) 100vw, 1390px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Chime<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With IPO plans, acquisitions, and new launches, this week offers genuine reasons for optimism and bullishness. But don\u2019t get carried away, either: We\u2019re not ready for Theranos 2.0.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Interesting filing<\/strong>: Digital consumer bank Chime publicly filed for an IPO this week. Among other numbers, the paperwork revealed it paid around $33 million to the Dallas Mavericks as part of its marketing efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Neon lights<\/strong>: Databricks is planning to spend around $1 billion to acquire Neon, a startup building an open source alternative to AWS Aurora Postgres, with hopes that their combined offerings will let customers more efficiently deploy AI agents (whatever those are).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Catching the worm<\/strong>: Savings and investment startup Acorns acquired EarlyBird, an investment gifting platform for families, for an undisclosed amount. EarlyBird will shut down, and its co-founders will help build out Acorns Early, the startup\u2019s smart money <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> for kids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bridging gaps<\/strong>: AutoUnify, the latest startup coming out of Porsche\u2019s partnership with venture studio UP.Labs, hopes to become the Plaid of automotive retail with an API that bridges the communication gap between dealerships and service shops on one side and manufacturers and software vendors on the other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Friend or foe<\/strong>: Google launched its AI Futures Fund, a new initiative seeking to invest in AI startups that use DeepMind\u2019s tools. Also this week, Y Combinator released a brief accusing Google of being a \u201cmonopolist\u201d that has \u201cstunted\u201d the U.S. startup ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Dual use<\/strong>: British startup Vertical Aerospace is working on a hybrid-electric eVTOL aircraft that would capitalize on its position as the only European player in the space, among rising demand for home-grown defense solutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Are you kidding?<\/strong> Elizabeth Holmes\u2019 partner, Billy Evans, is reportedly trying to raise $50 million in funding for a new blood-testing startup with a pitch that resembles Theranos\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Most_interesting_VC_and_funding_news_this_week\"><\/span>Most interesting VC and funding news this week<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3796\" height=\"2774\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?w=680\" alt=\"Bestow founders\" class=\"wp-image-3006263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg 3796w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=150,110 150w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=300,219 300w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=768,561 768w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=680,497 680w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=1200,877 1200w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=1280,935 1280w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=430,314 430w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=720,526 720w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=900,658 900w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=800,585 800w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=1536,1122 1536w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=2048,1497 2048w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=668,488 668w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=513,375 513w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=844,617 844w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Bestow2025.jpg?resize=708,517 708w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3796px) 100vw, 3796px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Bestow<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI was once again a recurring theme in the pitches from startups that announced rounds this week, but these companies focus on a wide range of sectors and problems. Plus, there\u2019s fresh funding for fintech and for New York-based startups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bestowed: <\/strong>Insurtech startup Bestow raised a $120 million <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Series<\/a> D, including $75 million in primary investments, to launch new products and underwriting capabilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>AMD-powered<\/strong>: Las Vegas-based TensorWave raised a $100 million funding round co-led by Magnetar and AMD Ventures for its data center infrastructure, which primarily relies on AMD hardware.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>One step ahead<\/strong>: Sprinter Health, a company offering at-home preventative healthcare services such as blood draws, raised a $55 million Series B round led by <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a> Catalyst.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Pan-African<\/strong>: Egyptian startup Nawy, Africa\u2019s largest proptech platform, secured a $52 million Series A led by Partech Africa and $23 million in debt financing to support its MENA expansion. Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are its next markets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Breakfast club<\/strong>: Fast-growing AI note-taking platform Granola raised a $43 million Series B at a $250 million valuation and launched a collaboration feature for teams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fusion in a bottle<\/strong>: University of Wisconsin spinoff Realta Fusion obtained $36 million in fresh funding, which it plans to use to finalize the design of its Anvil prototype reactor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Talking babies<\/strong>: Hedra, a company helping artists produce podcasts featuring AI-generated talking babies, locked in $32 million from a16z.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fashionable<\/strong>: Doji, a startup hoping to make virtual apparel try-ons both fun and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>, secured a $14 million seed round led by Thrive Capital it will use to improve its AI avatars.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bigger apple<\/strong>: New York-focused VC firm Work-Bench raised $160 million for its fourth fund, which will support seed-stage founders building enterprise software.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Deeper<\/strong>: Mercury co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund launched a $26 million fund to back early-stage startups more formally than as an angel investor. The fintech company was last valued at $3.5 billion in a March funding round.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-last-but-not-least\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Last_but_not_least\"><\/span><strong>Last but not least<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1658\" height=\"1286\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?w=680\" alt=\"Eric Slesinger\" class=\"wp-image-3005790\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png 1658w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=150,116 150w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=300,233 300w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=768,596 768w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=680,527 680w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=1200,931 1200w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=1280,993 1280w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=430,334 430w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=720,558 720w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=900,698 900w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=800,621 800w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=1536,1191 1536w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=668,518 668w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=483,375 483w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=795,617 795w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-12-at-12.25.06PM.png?resize=685,531 685w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1658px) 100vw, 1658px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Eric Slesinger<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CIA officer turned investor Eric Slesinger may be the only American VC exclusively investing in European defense tech. In a recent episode of the StrictlyVC Download podcast, he told TechCrunch about the arguably prescient move that led him to found 201 Ventures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/05\/15\/startups-weekly-a-brighter-outlook-but-dont-get-carried-away\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to Startups Weekly \u2014 your weekly recap of everything you can\u2019t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. Startup news this week was fairly routine \u2014 in a good way: Aside from a minor kerfuffle between Y Combinator and Google, there was no headline-grabbing drama&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":669637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GettyImages-1729864150.jpg?resize=1200,794","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[28340,74839,88571,70917,151824,67874,71745],"class_list":["post-669636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-europe","tag-fundraising","tag-newsletters","tag-startups","tag-startups-weekly","tag-united-states","tag-venture-capital"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}