So, how are Europe’s startups doing?

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I’ve been maintaining a tally of the European startup ecosystem since properly earlier than I moved to the U.S., and today’s report from Creandum about the state of venture investing in Europe gave me pause. This, together with PitchBook’s report of what happened across the pond final 12 months, provides as much as a fancy image.

So far as I can see — and as I mentioned in my column this week — the ecosystem in Europe continues to be fairly fragmented and immature, and funding throughout the pond took a 16% dip in 2022 in comparison with 2021. That isn’t distinctive to Europe, in fact; 2022 was exhausting throughout the board, and in comparison with the years earlier than, there have been only a few liquidity occasions throughout the startup world:

Knowledge from PitchBook exhibits that exit values in 2022 had been dismal. Picture Credit: PitchBook

Throughout, 2022 was a dismal 12 months: We haven’t seen this little M&A and IPO exercise since 2016. The entire worth of exits in 2022 was $71 billion. The 12 months earlier than, it was greater than ten instances that.

Unhealthy years occur, however I’m going to maintain a really shut eye on how shortly the VC markets bounce again. My suspicion is that the U.S. enterprise trade is extra resilient within the face of a gradual 12 months or two and that LPs are much less simply spooked. In different phrases, it’s going to be telling to see who raises new funds, the place, and with what funding theses over the following three to 5 years.

Well being tech is sticking its tongue out, saying aaaaaaaaaah

Picture Credit: adventtr (opens in a new window) / Getty Photos

Spotify co-creator Daniel Ek’s new firm raised a $65 million spherical of funding for his preventative healthcare startup Neko Well being — all of the extra spectacular on condition that that is reportedly the primary exterior spherical of financing for the Stockholm-based firm.

Lightspeed Ventures made its first funding in Africa, backing Berry Well being, which goals to deliver judgment-free healthcare to a continent the place stigma cuts deep and is affecting many.

Information of the contemporary rounds comes on the heels of a wholesome quantity of exercise in well being tech — Public Ventures launched a $100 million impression fund specializing in nascent life science and clear tech startups, significantly in Canada.

Get away the X-ray imaginative and prescient: Ingrid experiences that Augmedics snaps up $82.5 million to enhance the end result of spinal surgical procedure utilizing AR and AI.

He loosened his silk rainbow bow tie. Issues had been about to get spicy . . .: I wrote about how intercourse toy firm Lovense is leaning into the AI craze, utilizing ChatGPT to whisper candy, customizable fantasies into your ear holes.

A run on your cash: Ingrid wrote about Munich-based EGYM, which raised $225 million from Jared Kushner’s Affinity Companions to make the health club smarter and fewer sucky.

It’s purses at daybreak for social media

Picture Credit: Bryce Durbin / Information World

For those who’ve stumbled throughout the Information World homepage previously week, you then’ve seen our wall of protection on the utter drama-fest that’s the social media panorama in the mean time. Funding large Constancy already adjusted down its Reddit valuation a month in the past, however Manish experiences that it additional deepened its valuation cuts for Reddit this week, after the Reddit protest plunges person engagement.

For those who look past the Reddit dumpster fireplace for a fraction of a second, the remainder of social media is aflame as properly. Twitter rivals soar after Musk makes one other boneheaded transfer, and Paul argues that its rivals must get their act collectively in an effort to grow to be a real competitor.

Apropos rivals, Meta’s Twitter competitor Threads went dwell and shortly handed 2 million downloads in simply two hours, and greater than 30 million in a day. I do know, I didn’t actually see it coming both, however Information World compiled an all-your-questions-answered article about Threads. My first impression? The app isn’t nice, however Instagram’s community impact is formidable, and Twitter has been screwing up so monumentally since Musk’s acquisition that it could simply be all it takes to place the chicken app in its grave.

That’s a cross from us, mon frère: Natasha L factors out that Meta’s Threads app is a privateness nightmare and that it received’t launch within the EU but. This follows a report {that a} bunch of tech giants are having to determine how to answer the EU’s rebooted antitrust regime.

Cash didn’t deliver API-ness: Ivan ponders what’s occurring over at Reddit because the social media website braces for all times after API adjustments.

Lawsuits from a parallel universe: Devin experiences {that a} Louisiana decide silenced White Home social media talks in a lawsuit that appears fairly wild. He writes, “It’s virtually pitiable how desperately the lawsuit peddles its conspiracy theories, making out routine emails to be collusion and [the] elimination of rule-violating content material as censorship.” So . . . that’s enjoyable.

Take down these tweets: Whereas we’re on the subject of untamed courtroom instances, Twitter was attempting to wriggle out of a case in India, however the decide didn’t mince phrases: “Punishment for non-compliance is 7 years imprisonment and limitless high quality.” For sure, Twitter’s plea in opposition to India’s authorities was dismissed, though the core of the case remains to be curious: Twitter has been requested to take down lots of of accounts and tweets, usually for denouncing the Indian authorities.

Skynet awakens

Picture Credit: Getty Photos / sompong_tom

AI is in every single place, however by no means has it been so confusingly head scratching as within the case of Humane’s first product: The Ai Pin. The secretive startup has been round since 2018 and has reportedly raised greater than $230 million since then — and I can’t for the lifetime of me determine why that is higher than simply saying, “Hey, [voice assistant],” into your nearest good system. Somebody, please, clarify it to me.

Did I point out that AI is sizzling? Up to now couple of weeks, I had two founders attain out to me for fundraising recommendation, solely to get again to me a pair weeks later with an “lol, I suppose we don’t need assistance; we simply received a number of time period sheets.” The suitable groups are elevating formidable quantities of funds because the FOMO units in amongst traders. One instance is Typeface, which is constructing generative AI for manufacturers and simply introduced a $100 million increase at a $1 billion valuation.

On prime of that, one of many wilder tales we’ve seen thus far was a founder promoting its four-month-old “OpenAI for China” play for $234 million. Which means the startup gained about $2 million of valuation per day from beginning to acquisition. Yowzers.

By the way, if somebody desires to share some AI-related decks for my Pitch Deck Teardown series, I wouldn’t be mad.

Sure, that is undoubtedly Bobby’s mom. He can not come to highschool as we speak: Ingrid experiences that Voice.ai raises $6 million as its real-time voice changer approaches 500,000 customers.

Hey, robotic, you seize the crayons, I’ll make the espresso: Kyle experiences that Runway raised $141 million because it builds generative AI instruments for content material creators.

We are able to’t measure this, nevertheless it’s undoubtedly 10x higher: Over on TC+, Software program.com co-founders Geoff Stevens and Brett Stevens argue that the productiveness boosts builders see by utilizing AI are a little bit of smoke and mirrors — not least as a result of no person appears to agree on the way to measure productiveness amongst software program builders within the first place.

High reads on Information World this week

Unhealthy horndog, no porn for you: Amanda experiences that Pornhub blocks entry in Mississippi, Virginia and Utah amid altering legal guidelines associated to obligatory age verification for grownup websites. As an alternative of attempting to do age verification by way of checking your government-issued ID as requested by legislation, Pornhub took a distinct method. Go to the location from one of many blocked states, and also you’re met with a video the place grownup performer Cherie DeVille explains why age verification techniques are a nasty concept.

Working remotely, or not remotely working: On TC+, Becca argues that distant work startups that may final aren’t truly, technically, distant work startups. As an alternative, corporations that centered on distant work are tapping into developments that had been already in play, with extra autonomy and extra flexibility, wherever you’re working from.

Taking a chunk of the Goldman Scrumptious apple: Goldman could also be “on the lookout for a approach out” of its high-profile cope with Apple, which not too long ago expanded to incorporate financial savings accounts for Apple Card holders, Harri experiences.

Gradual, gradual, then quick: There’s one thing to be stated for laying the groundwork for a corporation earlier than elevating enterprise capital, however Romain’s report this week is an outlier: After bootstrapping for eight years and rising to $16.4 million of annual income, French accounting startup Dougs raised $27 million.

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