Instabox and BudBee set to merge in a $1.7B deal

Plus: Atlas raises $200M Series B

Inside.com Part of   Network September 19, 2022

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Instabox and Budbee have announced a merger deal that is worth $1.7B. Both companies were founded in Stockholm, Sweden. More: Instabox and BudBee offer last-mile transport services for companies such as H&M. Besides Sweden, they operate in Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Finland, and Belgium. Once the deal is approved by the Swedish Competition Authority, the company will be named InstaBee. Not accounting for the founding team, investment company Kinnevik will be the largest shareholder in the company.

Atlas has raised a $200M Series B funding round. The startup is based in Chicago, Illinois. More: The funding round will be led by Sixth Street Growth. The company offers a SaaS platform that enables companies and organizations to hire employees, manage their pay, and complete other HR-related tasks more efficiently.  Atlas aims to use the funds to grow its team and invest in its tech stack by improving features such as software localization and real-time customer support.

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Ethic has raised a $50M Series C. Ethic is a software platform that enables its users to create personalized financial indexes. More: The funding round was provided by Jordan Park Group, UBS Next, Oak HC/FT, Nyca Partners, Sound Ventures, Urban Innovation Fund, and Kapor Capital. Ethic aims to use the funding for international expansion and product development. The company offers its product to advisors who work at Fidelity, Charles Schwab / TD Ameritrade, U.S. Bank, Northern Trust, Morgan Stanley, and Pershing.

First Star VC is in the process of raising a $40M fund. The fund will focus on deep tech companies. More: The firm is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. First Star invests in early-stage startups that operate in verticals such as robotics, blockchain, AI, and machine learning. The firm has previously launched two funds: a $10M fund in 2014 and a $25M fund in 2019. First Star has yet to announce the fund publically, but it has filed for its initial launch with the SEC.

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Today's funding 💵 SaaS Hone (California), an online platform that enables individuals to upskill and get hired in new markets: $30M B led by 3L Capital, with participation from Invus Opportunities, F-Prime Capital, Cowboy Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, Slack Fund, Semper Virens, and Swift Ventures. Litmus (California), an Industrial Edge Data platform that aims to make operating OT devices easier: $30M B led by Belden. Andgo Systems (Canada), a SaaS product for managing shift filling, vacation, and absence requests: $5.6M A led by First Ascent Ventures and Waterline Ventures. Agtech Agtonomy (California), offers autonomous farming equipment able to carry out manual labor tasks: $13.5M Seed III led by Cavallo Ventures and Mirae Asset Venture Investment. Health tech Alphyn Biologics (Maryland), develops innovative therapies for severe skin diseases: $3.3M A led by Queen City Angels with participation from the Angel Physicians Fund and Serial Stage Venture Partners. Fintech Neutronpay (Canada), enables businesses and individuals to send payments through Bitcoin's Lightning Network: $2.25M Seed led by Hivemind Ventures with participation from Republic, Cavalry, Ride Wave, Studio, Iterative, and Fulgur Ventures. Habito (U.K.), a home-financing startup that has submitted over $9B in mortgages: $5.6M growth led by Augmentum Fintech, SBI Investment, and Volution.  Artificial Intelligence Planck (Israel), offers an AI-powered data analytics platform for insurers: $23M growth led by Vintage Investment Partners, with participation from Team8, Greenfield, Arbor Ventures, Viola, 3L Capital, HDI, and Nationwide.

Quick Hits: Spending a lot of time managing your cloud infrastructure? Free up your schedule by using intelligent technology to streamline CloudOps.* PeopleHedge, a startup that aims to increase the efficiency and liquidity of community banks, has raised a $1.4M Seed led by Holt Xchange, with participation from Gustavson Capital and Bluefin Equity Partners. Australia-based Lumiant has received an undisclosed amount from Ric Edelman. Rubik, a New York-based real estate tech startup, has raised $3.5M to offer data analytics for single-family home investments. Ulu Ventures led the round. *This is sponsored content.

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Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. Editor Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords.

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