INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week noteworthy startups and venture capital news
Before I jump into today topic, let catch up a bit
Last week, I wrote about Chinese investor activity in Africa
Before that, I noted Airbnb issues.
Remember, you can send me tips, suggestions and feedback to kate.clark@techcrunch.com or on
If you&re new, you can subscribe to Startups Weekly here.
Europe appeal
This week I want to talk about Europe and not just because I&m in
Europe prepping for TechCrunch annual conference, TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin
But because of a new trend we&re seeing in which U.S
venture capital funds strike deals overseas—more than ever.
Forbes wrote a piece on this trend this week alongside the release of their
annual European Midas List, which ranks the top VCs on the continent
More and more, top funds, including the likes of Sequoia and Benchmark, are writing checks to companies in London, Dublin, Amsterdam,
Stockholm and more.
Sequoia, for example, funded a teenager in Dublin, Ireland this year
Evervault is building a data protection solution aimed at developers, by way of an API, which aims to bake data protection into the app from
We hear a number of other top firms are sending partners over seas, too, or considering making such moves
Why? To search for companies to add to their global portfolios (in a region where they may also see a nice discount)
As we prep for a new year, this is one of several trends in VC I&ll be keeping an eye on.
Workplace toxicity
If you didn&t log on to
Twitter this week, you may have missed The Verge investigation into workplace toxicity at Away, a ‘unicorn& travel company known for its
lightweight, compact suitcases (full disclosure: I have an Away bag)
Read that story first, then check out Winnie co-founder and chief executive officer Sara Mauskopf piece from this week, &The inevitable
takedown of the female CEO,& in which she questions why we celebrate female-founded companies, until they rise too far
Here a passage:
Aggressive.Blunt.Furious.These are words that have been used to criticize the behavior of female CEOs of prominent companies
likeThinx, Cleo, Rent the Runway andThirdLove, to name a few
Away is the latest female-led company to come under fire, in an article in The Verge on Thursday.
First, let me be clear:A toxic work
culture is never acceptable
Regardless of who started a company or what kind of stress the company is under, it never okay to mistreat employees
Some of the things that came to light in these pieces are particularly abhorrent: sexual harassment, lying about one credentials, creating
an unsafe space for underrepresented groups, overworking employees
These are dynamics that need to be called out and eliminated at all companies, whether female or male-led
The Away example is no exception.
The top VC deals of the week:
Vroom nabs $254M to take its growth up a gear
Flipkart leads $60M investment
in logistics company Shadowfax
Autonomous shuttle startup May Mobility gets $50M
Fashion rental company Style Theory nabs $15M
GitGuardian
nabs $12M to help developers write more secure code
Uniform Teeth gets $10M for its teeth-straightening operations
Brazilian fintech startup
Cora raises $10M
Meatable, the startup developing tech for manufacturing cultured meat, raises $10M
Reelgood raises $6.75M for its universal
streaming guide
Apostrophe secures $6M to let you see a dermatologist from your phone
Plus, read my profile of VSCO, the photo-sharing and
editing app you may have never heard of
That is, until the &VSCO girl& meme craze of 2019.
Disrupt Berlin
It hard to believe it already that time of the year again, but Disrupt
Berlin is this week! I&m in Berlin this week to meet with Europe top VCs and some of the most promising founders in the region
If you&re here too, make sure to say hi
Here are a few things you can expect to hear about at the event:
Learn how to win customers and influence consumers
Three of the best tackle
the thorny issue of Brexit for startups
Learn how to raise your first Euros
#Equity
If you like this newsletter, you will definitely
enjoyEquity, which brings the content of this newsletter to life — in podcast form! Join myself and Equity co-host Alex Wilhelm every
Friday for a quick breakdown of the week biggest news in venture capital and startups.
This week, we discussed Harlem Capital debut fund, a
$40 million effort that will back minority entrepreneurs
On top of that, we shared thoughts on Figure latest funding, European venture capital activity and more.
Equity drops every Friday
at 6:00 am PT, so subscribe to us onApple Podcasts,Overcast,Spotifyand all the casts.
