スーパーマーケットの店内で栄養豊富な水とLEDの光に照らされてトレイに並ぶ新鮮な葉物野菜やハーブを選んで購入する──成長を見せる垂直農法を牽引するのがベルリン発の農業ヴェンチャーInfarm（インファーム）だ。従来の農業に比べて圧倒的に省資源で二酸化炭素排出量が少ない垂直農法は、果たして富裕層向けの付け合わせサラダから、大衆向けの持続可能な作物へと移行することは可能だろうか？
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Playbook, which aims to be the ‘Dropbox for designers,’ raises $4M in round led by Founders Fund
When Jessica Ko was head of design at Google and then Opendoor, she realized that her teams spent about 90% of their time digging around Dropbox looking for assets. In many cases, they’d find older versions. Or they couldn’t find what they were looking for. Or even worse, they’d accidentally pick the wrong asset. “It […]
With investors like Lightspeed and The Chainsmokers, Mexican neobroker Flink raises $57M to boost financial inclusion in LatAm
Flink, a Mexico City-based neobroker, has raised $57 million in a Series B round of funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The financing comes just over six months after Flink raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Accel. Existing backers Accel, ALLVP, Clocktower and new investor Mantis Venture Capital (founded by The […]
Accel leads $18M Series A for Knoetic, a startup that wants to make HR professionals’ lives easier with software
Knoetic, a startup that has built a software analytics platform for chief people officers, emerged from stealth today with $18 million in Series A funding. For the unacquainted, chief people officers are also known as heads of human resources, or HR. Accel led the financing, which notably also included participation from over 100 angel investors, […]
Ramp raises $300M at a $3.9B valuation, makes its first acquisition
Less than five months after raising $115 million, spend management startup Ramp announced today it has raised $300 million in a Series C round of funding that values the company at $3.9 billion. That’s more than double the $1.6 billion that New York-based Ramp was valued at in April at the time of its Series […]
Givz raises $3M in seed funding to make donations a marketing tool for businesses
Givz, which has developed an API-powered platform that gives brands a way to convert discounts into donations, has raised $3 million in seed funding. Eniac and Accomplice co-led the financing for the New York-based startup. Additional investors include Supernode Ventures, Claude Wasserstein of Fine Day, Phoenix Club and Dylan Whitman. Givz was founded in 2017 […]
One banks $40M to offer ‘all-in-one’ financial services to the middle class
One, a startup that aims to bring “all-in-one banking” to the middle class, announced today that it has raised $40 million in a Series B round of funding. Progressive Investment Company (the insurance giant’s investment arm) led the round, which included participation from Obvious Ventures, Foundation Capital, Core Innovation Capital and others. The financing brings […]
Brazil’s Kovi closes $104M Series B to make car ownership ‘more inclusive’ in LatAm
We sometimes take for granted that most anyone who wishes to become say, an Uber driver, can do so. But that assumption is a narrow view considering there are many people who would love to earn income in that way but can’t because of lack of car ownership (and all that goes with it) — […]
米国の投資家が熱視線、コロナ禍で急成長するペットビジネス
新型コロナウイルスのパンデミックは、世界各地に空前のペットブームをもたらした。こうしたなか成長を見せているのがペット関連ビジネスだ。投資家たちが注目する、「飼い主の増加」以外の理由とは？
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Branch raises $48M from Lee Fixel’s Addition, Indeed to provide accelerated payments to workers
Branch, which has built a flexible workforce payments platform, announced today it has raised $48 million in Series B funding and closed on a $500 million credit facility. Lee Fixel’s Addition –– which has also backed the likes of Flipkart, Stripe and Coinbase – led the equity financing while the credit facility was secured in […]