Money for tech that matters

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The week before Thanksgiving is typically busy with announcements of all sorts, but this week has been particularly interesting. Money was flowing to big problems, like defense, cybersecurity, and health.

Most interesting startup stories from the week

Let’s start with the bad news and (temporarily?) dash hopes. But there’s good news too.

Low battery: Struggling Swedish unicorn Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., delivering a setback to Europe’s hopes of staking a claim in the battery-manufacturing space.

Above the line: German fintech unicorn N26 had its first profitable quarter, with a net operating income of €2.8 million ($2.9 million) during the third quarter of 2024.

Wiz buys Dazz: Cybersecurity heavyweight Wiz acquired Dazz, a specialist in security remediation and risk management. According to sources, the cash-and-share deal is valued at $450 million, slightly more than Dazz’s recent $400 million post-money valuation.

Data pipelines: Alongside its Q3 earnings, cloud company Snowflake announced it agreed to acquire data pipeline management company Datavolo for an undisclosed sum.

Most interesting fundraises this week

Some mega-rounds were announced this week, and smaller but still hefty amounts also went to startups tackling big problems.

Quick commerce, quick funding: Indian quick-commerce startup Zepto raised $350 million in new funding, its third round of financing in only six months ahead of a planned IPO next year.

Gold rings: Finnish smart ring maker Oura raised a $75 million investment from glucose device maker Dexcom in a Series D round of funding that brought its valuation to more than $5 billion.

New unicorn: Lighthouse, a data analytics platform for the hospitality industry, raised a Series C round of $370 million led by KKR at a $1 billion valuation.

Egg-like fusion: U.K.-based nuclear startup Tokamak Energy raised $125 million to continue development of its egg-like reactor design. The U.K. Atomic Energy Authority spinout has been working on fusion since 2009.

Crossing the Atlantic: Portuguese dual-use drone startup Tekever raised €70 million ($74 million) in a Series B round led by Scottish investment company Baillie Gifford & Co. and the NATO Innovation Fund. The funding will help it expand into new markets, specifically the U.S.

Lightening up: Lightning AI, a startup that adapts PyTorch Lightning to enterprise needs and supports their AI plans, recently secured $50 million from Cisco Investments, J.P. Morgan, Nvidia, and K5 Global to expand the Lightning platform to new markets and grow its customer base.

Good cause: OneCell Diagnostics, a startup that works on limiting cancer recurrence with AI, raised $16 million in an oversubscribed Series A round that will help it expand into the U.S. and scale its business in India.

Most interesting VC and fund news this week

Bullish on Blue Bear: Blue Bear closed a $160 million third fund to back AI founders in climate, energy, and industry as part of its software-centric thesis.

Bling, bling: Bling Capital, the seed VC firm founded by former Khosla Ventures general partner Ben Ling, secured $270 million for its fourth fund, half of which is earmarked for follow-on investments.

Last but not least

Defense tech startups raised almost $3 billion so far in 2024, according to Crunchbase. That’s already more than 2022’s previous $2.6 billion record and over only 85 deals compared to 113 that year.