Welcome to Startups Weekly \u2014 your weekly recap of everything you can\u2019t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday?<\/em> Sign up here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s rare to report on an 11-figure startup acquisition, let alone multiple high-value deals in a single week. And there are more subtle signs that things are looking surprisingly upbeat in startup land.<\/p>\n This week brought us some acquisitions, new startups, and sometimes heated rivalries.<\/p>\n Bet paid off:<\/strong> It took some serious nerve<\/a> for Wiz to walk away from Google\u2019s $23 billion offer last year, but it was worth it. Google now agreed to pay a record $32 billion in cash<\/a> to buy the cloud security startup, plus another $1 billion in retention bonuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n This exit will be a large liquidity event for many, but particularly for Israel-based VC Cyberstarts, which will get a massive 200x return<\/a> on its early investment into Wiz.<\/p>\n Amped up: <\/strong>SoftBank Group will acquire chip startup Ampere Computing<\/a> in a $6.5 billion all-cash deal that is expected to close in the second half of 2025.<\/p>\n Reinsured:<\/strong> Insurtech startup Next Insurance is getting acquired by Germany\u2019s Munich Re for $2.6 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n Synthetic dreams:<\/strong> Nvidia reportedly acquired<\/a> synthetic data startup Gretel for a nine-figure price tag exceeding its latest $320 million valuation.<\/p>\n Bits and bolts:<\/strong> The former CEO role of one-click checkout startup Bolt is launching a new e-commerce startup. Spangle AI, as it\u2019s called, creates custom landing pages<\/a> for shoppers based on what they searched for or clicked on.<\/p>\n Generalist robots:<\/strong> A key senior research scientist at DeepMind left Google to create Generalist AI<\/a>, a stealth robotics startup that is already backed by Nvidia, with the ambition \u201cto make general-purpose robots a reality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Replaced:<\/strong> Shortly after its IPO filing, Swedish scale-up Klarna announced it would now be Walmart\u2019s exclusive BNPL partner<\/a> instead of competitor Affirm.<\/p>\n Freightnemies:<\/strong> Logistics unicorn Flexport is suing two former employees<\/a> who formed competing startup Freightmate AI, alleging that they stole documents and code, which the pair strongly denies.<\/p>\n HR drama: <\/strong>HR tech company Rippling is suing competitor Deel<\/a> in a lawsuit largely centered on an employee who Rippling claims was working as a spy for Deel. Deel denied the allegations.<\/p>\n Here are some funding news items that, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, hinted at confidence this week.<\/p>\n European cloud:<\/strong> Evroc, a Swedish startup aiming to build \u201csecure, sovereign, and sustainable hyperscale cloud\u201d from Europe, raised $55 million in Series A funding<\/a>.<\/p>\n No dilution:<\/strong> Spanish HR unicorn Factorial secured $120 million<\/a> from General Catalyst. This is neither equity nor venture debt, but rather a nondilutive loan.<\/p>\n Assistive programming:<\/strong> Graphite, an AI-powered code-review platform, secured a $52 million Series B round<\/a> led by Accel, with participation from Anthropic\u2019s Anthology Fund and others.<\/p>\n AI-hungry:<\/strong> Food e-commerce startup GrubMarket raised a $50 million Series G equity round<\/a> at a post-money valuation of over $3.5 billion and said it will fund the implementation of more technology, including AI.<\/p>\n Upbeat:<\/strong> Fintech-focused VC firm Ribbit Capital is raising $500 million<\/a> for a new fund in yet another positive signal for the sector.<\/p>\n Climate investments:<\/strong> Just Climate, an offshoot of Al Gore\u2019s Generation Investment Management, raised $175 million<\/a> from Microsoft\u2019s Climate Innovation Fund and CalSTRS.<\/p>\n Shortly after Y Combinator\u2019s W25 Demo Day<\/a> and a couple weeks before its spring batch, the accelerator announced the departure of once-CEO Michael Seibel<\/a>, who had already transitioned into a less operational group partner role and will now simply be a \u201cpartner emeritus.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nMost interesting startup stories from the week<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Most interesting VC and funding news this week<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Last but not least<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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