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Top startups news to follow this week:
1. Upswing Health, Condition-Based Musculoskeletal Healthcare Eliminates Systemic Waste, Closes $5 Million Seed Round
UPSWING HEALTH, the physician-founded musculoskeletal (MSK) health care innovator, whose diagnostic, triage, treatment, and recovery platform solves the crisis of both excessive, inappropriate utilization and under-treatment of millions of orthopedic injuries, announced today that it has closed its oversubscribed seed round. This $5 million round features participation from new and existing investors – leaders in digital health, technology, and finance- including Montage Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, WTI, Ikigai Healthcare Fund, and other strategics. The new funding will be used to fuel Upswing Health’s rapid growth, attract additional key leadership, and accelerate product development, marketing, and partnership sales.
MSK injuries and chronic conditions that require treatment are currently shoved thoughtlessly into the same treatment protocols, whether in the ER, urgent care, primary care, or directly to orthopedists — without upfront precision or diagnostic intelligence. Upswing Health addresses this fundamental flaw, proving that if you identify the problem at the top of the “care funnel” using its proprietary assessment tool, patients can be efficiently directed to the right treatment approach. This saves time – giving the patient more rapid care and relief – and keeps them out of the ER or Urgent Care unless absolutely necessary. Importantly, it means time-stressed and expensive orthopedists get involved only when necessary.
Upswing Health was founded in 2017 by Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeons Dr. Jay Kimmel and Dr. Steven Schutzer, who faced this problem daily. With more than 60 years of combined orthopedic and surgical practice, they sought to deliver convenient, equitable access to higher quality orthopedic care more efficiently and at a lower cost. An end-to-end offering — part diagnostic platform, part virtual clinic, part treatment program — Upswing Health helps people of all ages in their “ouch moments” diagnose, prevent and recover from orthopedic injuries.
It recently hired as CEO Yenvy Truong, a seasoned healthcare executive who began her career as an analytical chemist and ascended the ranks of several corporations before embarking as the founder and catalyst of multiple successful companies in digital health, metabolic, functional, anti-aging, and regenerative medicine arenas. Throughout her career, Yenvy has embodied a passion for systemic reform and has long promoted the implementation of cutting-edge technology and other medical and scientific developments into standard patient care.
2. Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market to Reach US$341.4 Billion by the Year 2027
According to Reportlinker.com “Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Industry” report the global AI market is projected to reach US$341.4 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 32.8% over the analysis period 2020-2027. The U.S. Accounts for Over 41.2% of Global Market Size in 2020, While China is Forecast to Grow at a 39.1% CAGR for the Period of 2020-2027. It’s estimated that the Artificial Intelligence market in the U.S. currently accounts for a 41.22% share in the global market. China, the world second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$64.7 Billion in the year 2027 trailing a CAGR of 39.1% through 2027. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 27.6% and 29% respectively over the 2020-2027 period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 31.2% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$64.7 Billion by the year 2027.
In the global Hardware segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 36.6% CAGR estimated for this segment. Finance.Yahoo
3. Venture capital continues to target crypto and fintech for funding, with Web3 emerging as a major trend in 2022
London-based asset manager Fasanara Capital has launched a $350 million investment fund to back fintech and cryptocurrency startups that can deliver new use cases for the emerging Web3 economy, reports CoinTelegraph
The company, which manages $3.5 billion in assets, is targeting early-stage startups in the fintech and crypto spheres. It plans to establish long-term relationships with project founders and other industry veterans. This includes potentially larger equity commitments than traditional venture capital firms.
Founded in 2011, Fasanara Capital is a fintech investment firm increasingly specialized in digital assets and lending technologies. The company is regulated by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority and has the backing of the European Investment Fund, a Luxembourg-based financial institution that facilitates small business loans through private banks and funds.
Two of Fasanara’s portfolio companies recently achieved unicorn status: ScalaPay, an Italian payment service provider, and Grover, a German smartphone and subscription service company. In the startup world, a unicorn is a company that achieves a valuation of $1 billion or more.
4. Tiger Global, hit by $17B in hedge fund losses, has nearly depleted its latest VC fund
According to a new report from Financial Times, the low-flying-yet-seemingly-ubiquitous 21-year-old outfit has seen losses of about $17 billion during this year’s tech stock sell-off. FT notes that’s one of the biggest dollar declines for a hedge fund in history.
As shocking, per FT, according to the calculations of a fund of hedge funds run by the Edmond de Rothschild Group, Tiger Global’s hedge fund assets have been so hard hit that the outfit has in four months erased about two-thirds of its gains since its launch in 2001.
The question is whether that trouncing will impact the firm’s venture business, which — like that of many other venture businesses — has ballooned rapidly in recent years. In 2020, the firm closed its twelfth venture fund with $3.75 billion in capital commitments. Early last year, it closed its thirteenth venture fund (titled XIV for superstitious reasons) with $6.65 billion before closing its newest fund, fund XV, with a massive $12.7 billion in capital commitments in March of this year.
Yet even that new fund — which reportedly took less than six months to raise and includes $1.5 billion in commitments from Tiger Global’s own employees — is almost fully invested already, according to a source close to the firm.
5. Postmates founder banks $23 million for his new crypto startup TipTop, TechCrunch Reports
Postmates founder Bastian Lehmann’s new crypto startup TipTop was lightly teased out a few weeks ago, but now the stealth startup is sharing some info on its early funding, though there’s not much info on what they’re actually doing with that money.
Lehmann notes that the company has raised a $23 million Series A from a16z with Marc Andreessen himself joining the startup’s board. Other backers in the round include Sam Altman, Naval Ravikant, Andy McLoughlin, Jeff Clavier and Dan Romero, among others.
The startup is keeping things as vague as possible on its website and job listings with redacted graphics promising “consumer finance solutions for a changing web” and that they’re “building protocols and infrastructure” doing something “at the intersection of fiat and crypto.” It’s all publicly unclear, but investors seem eager to throw some money behind Lehmann after Postmates’ $2.65 billion exit to Uber in mid-2020.
6. Biotechnology Services Market Is Expected To Reach $267 Billion By 2026
According to The Business Research Company’s research report on the biotechnology services market, The global biotechnology services market is expected to grow from $129.14 billion in 2021 to $151.10 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.0%. The growth in the market is mainly due to companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. TBRC’s biotechnology services market growth analysis states that the market is expected to reach $267.29 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 15.3%. This is mainly due to unhealthy lifestyles, a growing aging population, rising inactivity and obesity. According to the World Health Organization, chronic disease prevalence is expected to rise by 57% globally by the year 2020. China and India together had about 193.4 million diabetic patients in 2019, and India is expected to have about 101 million diabetic patients by 2030. In the field of mental health, the World Health Organization predicts that one in every four people will be affected by a type of mental disorder such as depression, schizophrenia, or anxiety in the future. In response to this, national governments across the globe are rapidly increasing their medical research expenditure. The world’s population is also growing older with every passing year.
7. MassMutual Ventures closes $300M fund to back Asia and Europe startups
MassMutual Ventures (MMV) has launched a $300 million new fund to back early-stage companies in Asia and Europe.
The MMV Asia and Europe team’s third vehicle will invest in startups across digital health, financial technology, enterprise SaaS and cybersecurity, managing director of MMV Ryan Collins said in an interview with TechCrunch.
The third fund will write checks pre-Series A through Series B across Asia countries like India, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia (but excluding China) and Europe countries, including the U.K, Germany, France and Sweden, Collins said adding that the third fund can also invest in South Korea and Japan opportunistically.
“This fund reinforces MMV’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific region and building a global platform as we look to capitalize on attractive opportunities in Europe,” said Doug Russell, managing director and head of MassMutual Ventures. “MMV’s overall investment capital has more than doubled in size in just two years, underscoring the significant opportunity we see in backing strong founders building great businesses.”
8. Barcelona-based Freeverse.io picks up €10 million to create living assets – a new innovation in the NFT market, EU-Startups reports
With the vision to fuel a faired model of digital ownership, Freeverse.io has just picked a Series A investment round of about €10 million. The funding was co-led by Earlybird and Target Global, alongside existing investors Adara Ventures and 4Founders Capital.
NFTs might be a relatively new phenomenon, but Freeverse is already launching a new, next-generation level to this market. Founded in 2019 in Barcelona, Freeverse allows companies to build products that feature next-generation NFTs – so-called ‘living assets’.
In 2021, NFT sales skyrocketed, reaching over $20 billion according to Freeverse, as both businesses and end-users came to understand the potential that is unlocked by blockchain-certified digital ownership. Freeverse’s core product is a platform that allows companies (such as brands, game developers, or other content creators) to add a crucial new layer to their products: the ability of NFTs to change and evolve based on how they are used by their owners.
As a result, how the NFT is used has a greater effect on its value than merely its rarity or scarcity. The aim of Freeverse’s innovation is to tackle one main criticism amidst the digital collectables boom – the fact that the market relies on speculation. Consumers buy ‘rare’ digital assets with the sole intention of selling them on, whilst hoping for a profit. There’s little concrete knowledge, and it leaves a lot of uncertainty around the NFT space.
CEO Alun Evans, explained: “Living Assets represent the way forward for digital ownership in the metaverse and beyond. The fact that Living Assets are valued more by how they are used, as opposed to simple speculation, means that they enable a fairer and more sustainable business model for both companies and consumers. As such, we expect our approach to become a core component within the emerging web3 sector.
9. Vienna-based byrd raises €53 million to strengthen its position in Europe’s e-commerce fulfilment market
On admission to facilitate smoother e-commerce fulfilment, byrd has just raised over €53 million in a fresh funding round led by Cambridge Capital, with participation from Speedinvest, Mouro Capital, Elevator Ventures and other existing shareholders.
Based in Vienna, byrd operates a virtual network to provide order fulfillment services to online retailers across Europe via its proprietary software platform. Combining various OMS (Order Management Systems) with its proprietary WMS (Warehouse Management System), the startup connects more than 350 online retailers and D2C brands with fulfillment centers and shipping services across Europe.
Founded in 2016, byrd’s cloud-based logistics solution allows retailers to optimize operations and to unlock their growth potential on a global scale – and is already used to seamlessly integrate with platforms like Shopify and Amazon in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria. The company has also recently launched new warehouse locations in Italy and Spain.
Alexander Leichter, CEO and co-founder of byrd, explained: “E-commerce retailers are under ever more pressure from consumers to deliver as fast as possible, without charging for shipping. At the same time, the global supply chain crunch is putting increasing pressure on margins and creating significant delivery issues. This means retailers must look for scalable fulfillment services that cover their core markets globally.”
10. Fintech startup TIFIN raises funds at $842 mln valuation
Fintech platform TIFIN said on Thursday it had raised $109 million in fresh capital in a late-stage funding round, with investments from Franklin Resources and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, that valued the firm at $842 million
The new series D round also saw investments from private equity firm Motive Partners and Hamilton Lane.
Even as tech valuations in public markets suffer amid volatility and rate-hike fears, several private companies have raised funds this year as venture capital and private equity firms continue to bet on the sector.
TIFIN, founded in 2018, runs an artificial intelligence powered financial platform geared towards investors to help them manage their wealth and bridge the gap with asset managers.
The company intends to use the funds from the round to fuel its growth by adding additional products and expand outside the United States into new markets.
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Narine Emdjian, MBA
Federal Funding Expert- Helping startups & academic scientists to acquire federal funding / Podcast Host @hyetechminds
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