Mon.Jan 10, 2022

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Kodland, which teaches kids digital skills, grabs $9M to scale its online coding school

TechCrunch

London-based Kodland , which started out back in 2018 offering in-person courses for children to learn digital skills like computer programming before switching focus to online learning from early 2020, has closed a $9 million Series A funding round to scale into more markets. The round is led by Redseed Ventures, with participation from Baring Vostok, Kismet, Flyer One Ventures and Alexander Nevinsky, a partner at New York-based I2BF.

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Why I Only Invest in US-Based Startups

Entrepreneur's Handbook

And What to Do to Get American Investment Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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Parrot, a tool for digitizing Mexico’s restaurants, takes in $9.5M

TechCrunch

The global pandemic threw a wrench in the plans of restaurants all over the world two years ago when diners stayed home, causing many eateries to shift their business to pickup or delivery. Roberto Cebrián and David Villarreal both had experience working with restaurants in Mexico and recognized that many restaurants were not prepared to change their operations quickly, so they jumped on the opportunity to help them.

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Business Basics To Perfect: 12 Entrepreneurs Weigh-In

StartupNation

What is one business basic every entrepreneur should perfect when looking to start a business? To help you master the business basics, we asked business leaders and entrepreneurs for their best insights. From delivering the right pitch to upskilling when necessary, there are several business basics to perfect when looking to start a business. Here is what 12 thought leaders had to say: Deliver the right pitch.

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From Curiosity to Competitive Edge: How Mid-Market CEOs Are Using AI to Scale Smarter

Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage

This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.

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Y Combinator will now invest $500,000 in accelerator companies

TechCrunch

Startup accelerator Y Combinator announced this morning that it has updated its terms, providing participating companies with more total cash. The group will now invest $500,000 in batch startups. The money comes in two different forms. The first is the well-known Y Combinator equity deal, worth $125,000 for 7% of accelerated startups. The group will now also offer $375,000 in the form of an uncapped SAFE note — a simple agreement for future equity — with a “most favored nation

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Jakarta-based SME financial platform KoinWorks scoops up $108M Series C

TechCrunch

The backbone of Indonesia’s economy are its estimated more than 60 million SMEs. But many lack access to working capital and, especially before the pandemic, managed their finances using manual processes like spreadsheets. With COVID-19 prompting many to digitize, startups that focus on SMEs have been raising large rounds of funding to scale up quickly.

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Do Data Startups Command a Premium in the Fundraising Market?

Tomasz Tunguz

After writing my predictions for the year 2022 , a reader asked how I would measure if this were truly the decade of data. Good question! The market determines which sectors are in favor and which sectors aren’t. Stealing a page from Michael Mauboussin’s Expectations Investing , company value contains information about investors' expectations for a company.

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Is cell-cultured meat ready for prime time?

TechCrunch

Meat has been part of the human diet since before we found fire, but it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the production of meat at scale is more of a detriment to the environment and the world than a benefit. Across cultures and geographies, animals have been such a vital part of the food chain that it’s hard to imagine a world where animals are not put to the knife to produce protein.

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Why Entrepreneurs Are Made, Not Born

StartupNation

You either have it or you don’t. How many times have you heard that? Or, a business owner saying, “I was born to be an entrepreneur.” But in business and life, things are rarely that black and white. In my experience of launching Kardia and 14 other impactful companies over the last four years, I’ve realized that the question of whether entrepreneurs are born or made goes a lot deeper than most people think.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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Nigeria’s ThankUCash secures $5.3M to build infrastructure for cashback, deals and BNPL services

TechCrunch

Loyalty, deals and rewards services are a rarity in most African markets. The unit economics and other factors such as currency instability make such businesses hard to pull off in the region. Yet, ThankUCash , a platform launched in 2018 by Connected Analytics , has managed to thrive, proving that not all is gloom in the deals, coupon and rewards business.

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WJR Business Beat: Is This the End of the Office? (Episode 342)

StartupNation

On today’s Business Beat, Jeff Sloan reveals survey results on the impact of the Omicron COVID variant on the return to in-office work. Tune in to the Business Beat, below, to find out what some businesses are doing in response to Omicron: Tune in to News/Talk 760 AM WJR weekday mornings at 7:11 a.m. for the WJR Business Beat. Listeners outside of the Detroit area can listen live HERE.

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Bolt raises $709M at an $8.4B valuation to expand its transportation and food delivery super app

TechCrunch

Economies of scale are an essential cornerstone for on-demand companies, and to that end one of the hopefuls in the space has raised a big round to grow its business. Bolt — the startup and app of the same name that operates on-demand ride hailing, shared cars and scooters; and restaurant and grocery delivery — has raised €628 million ($709 million at current rates), at a valuation of €7.4 billion ($8.4 billion).

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An Entrepreneur Advises on Juggling Challenges, Putting Principles Before Money

StartupNation

This excerpt is adapted from “Seven Years on the Front Line: True Stories and Tough Lessons about a Small Business that You Won’t Learn in a Classroom” by Sarah Y. Tse ©2020 and is reproduced with permission from TSE Worldwide Press. In all the stories in this book, I was dealing with two or three challenges simultaneously. There was no respite, no break, no time to regroup.

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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Business banking startup Qonto raises $552 million at $5 billion valuation

TechCrunch

French startup Qonto has raised a $552 million Series D funding round (€486 million). Following this investment, the startup has reached a valuation of $5 billion (€4.4 billion). This is one of the largest rounds in the French tech ecosystem. Qonto is a challenger bank focused on business bank accounts. The startup focuses primarily on small and medium companies as well as freelancers.

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What I Learned About Pricing From an Entrepreneur Whose Company Sold for $4.75 Billion

Entrepreneur's Handbook

If finding the perfect price for your startup’s product is hard, it’s probably because you’re approaching your market the wrong way. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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Indonesia’s eFishery raises $90M from Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sequoia Capital India

TechCrunch

Indonesia-based eFishery announced today that it has raised what it claims is the largest round of funding by an aquaculture tech startup in the world. The company, which provides feeding devices, software and financing for fish and shrimp farmers, got a $90 million Series C co-led by Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sequoia Capital India, with participation from returning investors the Northstar Group, Go-Ventures, Aqua-Spark and Wavemaker Partners.

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5 Reasons You Won't Make it as a Freelancer

Entrepreneur's Handbook

And five ways to make sure that you do Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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The GTM Intelligence Era: ZoomInfo 2025 Customer Impact Report

ZoomInfo customers aren’t just selling — they’re winning. Revenue teams using our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform grew pipeline by 32%, increased deal sizes by 40%, and booked 55% more meetings. Download this report to see what 11,000+ customers say about our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform and how it impacts their bottom line. The data speaks for itself!

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Ankorstore reaches $2 billion valuation two years after launching its wholesale marketplace

TechCrunch

French startup Ankorstore has raised a $283 million Series C funding round (€250 million). Founded in November 2019, it took Ankorstore around two years to reach a post-money valuation of $2 billion (€1.75 billion). The company operates a wholesale marketplace for independent retailers across Europe. Ankorstore lets independent brands sell their products to independent retailers.

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[Stellar Cyber in Business Wire] Stellar Cyber named a Finalist for CRN’s 2021 Tech Innovator Award

OurCrowd

Stellar Cyber, the leading security operations platform for MSSPs and innovator of Open XDR, is announcing that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named it as a Finalist for the 2021 CRN Tech Innovator Awards. Stellar Cyber is being recognized for its Open XDR Platform in the Managed Detection and Response category. Read more here. . The post [Stellar Cyber in Business Wire] Stellar Cyber named a Finalist for CRN’s 2021 Tech Innovator Award appeared first on OurCrowd Blog.

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AskNicely answers how companies can best connect with frontline workers

TechCrunch

AskNicely is the latest company attracting capital for its app targeting shift or frontline worker success as more businesses rightly begin to see how valuable these employees are to their bottom line and how technology can ensure these key employees are empowered to help the company grow. Aaron Ward, CEO, AskNicely. Image Credits: AskNicely. The Portland, Oregon-based company, which has its tech team in New Zealand, began developing its SaaS customer experience management tools in 2014 for busi

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YC’s $500,000 Standard Deal

Y Combinator

We have a new standard deal at Y Combinator. When a company is accepted into the YC batch program, we now invest a total of $500,000. We still invest $125,000 for 7% and now also invest an additional $375,000 on an uncapped safe with an MFN 1. This is the type of deal that we have wanted to offer YC founders for years — and with the recent success of YC companies, including ten IPOs in 2021 and more to come this year, we are now able to do so.

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How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

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Arive raises $20M for an instant delivery service beyond groceries and essentials

TechCrunch

Instant purchase and delivery of food and other essentials was one of the big bubbles of opportunity in the world of e-commerce in the last year, with dozens of startups big and small emerging and scooping up funding to build out businesses to bring items like groceries, toilet paper and Tylenol to people’s doors in 30 minutes or less. Now a startup called Arive that’s applying this concept to the wider world of consumer goods in a Prime Now-style service — partnering with prem

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[Alpha Tau in PR Newswire] Alpha Tau announces results of first US clinical trial of Alpha DaRT™ in malignant skin & soft tissue cancers, showing complete response in all ten treated tumors at approximately 12 weeks and no product-related serious adverse events

OurCrowd

Alpha Tau Medical Ltd. (“Alpha Tau”), the developer of the innovative alpha-radiation cancer therapy Alpha DaRT™, announced today that all ten patients in its US multi-center pilot trial of the Alpha DaRT for malignant skin & soft tissue cancers have reached the secondary endpoint for measurement of tumor response. The study met its primary feasibility endpoint, as all patients had successful delivery of radiation by Alpha DaRT.

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Doctolib is now used by 300,000 doctors and medical workers

TechCrunch

French startup Doctolib held a (virtual) press conference this morning to share some metrics, look back at the company’s recent product launches and give a hint about future investments. Doctolib started as a booking platform for doctors and has expanded to other services for doctors and medical workers in general. With its software-as-a-service strategy, medical workers pay a monthly subscription to use Doctolib’s tools and use them with their patients.

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Ignoring Website Accessibility: Could It be Killing Your Conversions?

StartupNation

E-commerce has never been so popular. Post pandemic, e-commerce trading has increased by 35% , making it one of the fastest-growing years for the new digital high street. Source: The Future of Commerce. As more businesses move online in order to compete within their niches , UX perfection is key if retailers want to see success among a tidal wave of competition. .

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5 Ways You Can Win Faster with Gen AI in Sales

Incorporating generative AI (gen AI) into your sales process can speed up your wins through improved efficiency, personalized customer interactions, and better informed decision- making. Gen AI is a game changer for busy salespeople and can reduce time-consuming tasks, such as customer research, note-taking, and writing emails, and provide insightful data analysis and recommendations.