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| Hey Insiders, Today we are taking a look at Byju's layoffs, a VC funding uptick in Japan, and Plantd's partnership with D.R. Horton. Scroll down for some quick hits, and then let us know what other content you'd like to see in future issues.
Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Byju's, India's most valuable startup, is going to cut up to 1,000 jobs. The company eliminated 3,000 jobs last year. More: - The edtech company postponed its plan to go public in 2022 due to macroeconomic conditions.
- Through this layoff, Byju's aims to reduce its expenses as it pushes toward profitability.
- The Bengaluru-based startup was last valued at $22B.
- Backed by investors such as Sequoia India, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, BlackRock, and UBS, it has raised around $6B.
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| 2 | | 
What happened: International investors' interest in Japanese startups is growing due to supportive governmental policies, per Coral Capital's CEO James Riney. Additionally, China's tech crackdown and rising tensions between the U.S. and China are prompting investors to switch their focus toward Japan. As a result, Riney expects Japanese startups to defy the global venture funding slump this year. What the numbers say: Japanese startups nabbed $6.2B (877.4B yen) in funding in 2022, up 3.1% from 2021's tally of $6B (850.8B yen). The upward trajectory continued this year, with funding increasing slightly in Q1 2023. What's next: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is looking to increase investments in Japanese startups tenfold to $70B (10T yen) over the next five years. Japan is considering easing the restrictions on domestic funds and providing tax incentives to new startups in order to entice foreign investors. | | | |
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| 3 | | Sustainable and carbon-negative homebuilding materials manufacturer Plantd inked a major partnership with homebuilder D.R. Horton. Plantd co-founder and CEO Josh Dorfman called the partnership a validation of their products. Plantd will supply the first 250,000 panels to D.R. Horton before delivering the products to other clients. More: - The Durham, North Carolina-based startup makes homebuilding materials derived from grass as an alternative to the wood-based Oriented Strand Board (OSB).
- Plantd recently opened an 80,000-square-foot production facility in Oxford, North Carolina.
- The firm expects to begin full deliveries to D.R. Horton in 2024.
- D.R. Horton will use the materials to build 1,000 new single-family homes, starting in North Carolina.
- Earlier this January, Plantd raised $13.6M in Series A funding from 31 investors.
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| 4 | | Investors have reportedly uncovered financial irregularities at health and wellness startup Mojocare. Investors claim that the firm inflated revenue figures and dealt with vendors related to founders. Mojocare has denied all accusations. More: - Investors also discovered that the firm's business model was "not sustainable due to a variety of operational and market factors."
- The news of financial discrepancies comes a day after Mojocare laid off the majority of its workforce, culling 150 to 170 roles.
- The Indian startup has raised $23M from investors, the last of which came in the form of a $21M Series A funding led by Eduardo Saverin's VC firm B Capital in August 2022.
- Mojocare is also backed by Chiratae Ventures and Peak XV Partners (formerly known as Sequoia India and Southeast Asia).
Zoom out: - Mojocare joins the growing list of Sequoia-backed startups facing misconduct allegations, including GoMechanic, Zilingo, BharatPe, and Trell.
- Upon discovering the previous irregularities, Sequoia said it would take proactive steps to increase governance in portfolio startups, such as training sessions, whistleblower policies, and internal audits.
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| 5 | | Startups in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region raised $445M in May 2023. The figure is a significant increase from the $7M raised in the month prior. More: - Startups in the UAE raised most of the funding, managing to score $422M across 14 deals.
- Qatar placed second, with $12M raised by the delivery app Snoonu.
- Saudi Arabian startups placed third, raising $6M across 15 funding deals.
- In terms of verticals, VC invested mostly in fintech, followed by e-commerce.
- 92.8% of the investments went to startups with all-male founding teams, while only 7.2% went to companies with female founders.
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| 6 | | TDK Ventures has announced that it is expanding to Europe to invest its $150M fund into clean energy. The company's first European office will be in London. More: - TDK Ventures' EX1 fund will be deployed in European and North American startups that help accelerate the decarbonization process globally.
- The firm claims that it chose London as its first office location in Europe due to its tech ecosystem, which includes a large number of startups and venture capitalists.
- TDK Ventures is the venture capital arm of TDK Corporation, a Japanese conglomerate that specializes in manufacturing electronic components.
- This announcement comes at a time when the U.K. government is actively presenting the country as a tech hub and has made legislative changes to become more competitive.
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- French airplane manufacturing startup VoltAero unveiled the first prototype of its hybrid-electric single-engine aircraft, the Cassio 330.
- Swiss-Israeli fintech startup Okoora launched its AI-powered payments, banking, and risk management application in multiple European nations.
- DTE, an Iceland-based startup developing analytics solutions for the metals industry, closed its Series A2 funding round with $10M funding provided by Novelis, Metaplanet, the European Innovation Council (EIC) fund, Chrysalix Venture Capital, and Brunnur Ventures.
- Insight Partners led a €10M ($10.9M) Series A round into SPARETECH, a German startup that has developed a data platform for industrial spare parts.
- Defense tech startup Mach Industries nabbed a $5.7M seed round led by Sequoia Capital.
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Term of the Day Freemium: Freemium is a strategy used by startups where they provide basic features of a service to customers for free and advanced features for a fee. Question of the Week How do you feel about the phrase "The customer is always right"? Join the conversation |
INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot.
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. | | This newsletter was edited by Beth Duckett | |
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