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Welcome to 2025 ! The first half of the week was comparatively smooth in terms of inauguration announcements , but activity is already bulge out to pick up . We ’re also pitch up for CES ; if your hardware startup is attending , check that to rent us sleep with .
Most interesting startup stories from the week
Unlike other dealmaking , M&A activity did n’t lay off — at least not on purpose .
Last - moment save : Bench , the Canadian account startup thatsuddenly shut down a few days ago , will beacquired by HR technical school companionship Employer.comfor an undisclosed sum total in a last - minute deal .
2024 ’s last mega - mess : World Wide Technology ( WWT ) , a tech services company establish in St. Louis , hold to gain Canadian IT supplier Softchoice in an all - John Cash mega - dealat a valuation of around $ 1.25 billion .
2024 ’s last curtain close : French nutrient delivery startup Epiceryceased operations after nine years . Since 2021 , it belonged to Geopost / DPDgroup , which recently sold last - mile delivery military service Stuart at a significant loss .
2025 ’s first mega - mint : Thomson Reuters acquired revenue enhancement automation companionship SafeSendfor $ 600 millionin an all - hard cash transaction .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Competition forward : In aninterview with TechCrunch , Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev talked about his fellowship ’s plans to increasingly compete with still - private prediction markets startups like Kalshi and Polymarket .
Most interesting fundraises this week
The newfangled year falloff had exceptions , and startups outside the U.S. announced impudent financial support rounds this week .
Dinner is answer : Riyadh - based meal delivery startup Calo raised $ 25 million toexpand beyond the Middle East , with ambition to go global and cater to more personalized solid food customization need .
AI care : Brazilian startup Carecode , which builds AI agents for the healthcare sector , raised a $ 4.3 million pre - seed roundled by a16z and QED , with involution from Endeavor Catalyst , KDX Ventures , K50 Ventures , and Latitud Ventures .
Federated computing : Apheris , a German inauguration that leverages federalise computing for AI life science use cases , secured $ 8.25 millionin a Series A rung led by thick technical school VC house eCAPITAL and OTB Ventures .
Most interesting VC and fund news this week
hold back on : Accel raised$650 million for its eighth India fund . The firm , which recentlydeepened its focus on rural India , will see several of its Native American portfolio companies go public this year .
Prediction fourth dimension : Twenty VCs shared with TechCrunch their predictionson enterprise technical school in 2025 , from AI agent to enterprise budgets . For instance , Index Ventures cooperator Nina Achadjian said she previse “ more liquidity in 2025 , both for M&As and the public markets . ”
More prevision : According to TechCrunch ’s Tim De Chant , 2025 will bethe year climate tech learns to love AI , due to skyrocketing computing needs that drive demand for all variety of innovations to abridge environmental impact .
