TLDR:
- Italy-based app company, Bending Spoons, plans to lay off 75% of the staff of WeTransfer following its acquisition.
- Warp, a YC alum payroll startup, faced controversy over its marketing strategy.
Summary:
Welcome to Startups Weekly, your weekly recap of startup news. This week showcased varying attitudes towards risk-taking in the startup world. Here are the key highlights:
Shrinking teams: Bending Spoons, an app company based in Italy, announced plans to lay off 75% of the staff of WeTransfer, a Dutch file transfer startup it acquired in July. This follows previous job cuts at other acquired companies like Evernote, Filmic, and Meetup.
Warped views: Warp, a YC alum payroll startup, found itself in controversy due to an unusual marketing strategy involving one of its affiliate accounts on X.
Level-headed innovation: Neurode, a Sydney-based company, developed a headband using light electrical stimulation in the prefrontal cortex to treat ADHD symptoms like lack of focus. The company hopes to gain FDA approval for its wearable device.
On the fundraising front:
- Formo, a Berlin-based food tech startup, raised $61 million in a Series B round to scale production of dairy-free cheese.
- Qualifyze, a Frankfurt-based startup, secured a $54 million Series B round to expand in the U.S. and enhance analytics and AI in its supply chain products for pharmaceutical companies.
- Neat, a Paris-based embedded insurance startup, raised €50 million in debt and equity funding.
- Smartcat, a vendor of automated translation tools, raised a $43 million Series C to grow its team and invest in product development.
In VC and fund news:
- London-based VC firm Atomico raised $1.24 billion across two funds, focusing on Series A and Series B investments.
- Alpha Partners announced a $153 million fund to help seed investors exercise pro rata rights in later rounds.
Lastly, the article discusses the challenges faced by startups due to fragmented state-level regulations and the need for founders to consider compliance early on in their business plans.
