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Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly retread of everything you ca n’t drop from the world of startups . Want it in your inbox every Friday?Sign up here .
This week was supposed to be a curt one in the U.S. , as it started with a holiday . But Inauguration Daykept some founders engaged , and the following day brought us more than their fair part of startup news .
Most interesting startup stories from the week
This calendar week reminded us that not all sale are created equal , and that it is often deserving looking beyond the price tag . Plus , there were sound troubles for an AI decacorn .
No divvy : Divvy Homes , a rent - to - own startup backed by a16z , is betray to a part of Brookfield Propertiesfor about $ 1 billion . However , some shareholdersmay not see a dimefrom the sales event .
Beauty for sales event : Consumer commodity giant Hindustan Unilever tally toacquire Peak XV - backed Amerindic skin care startup Minimalistfor about $ 342 million — more than the $ 300 million valuation it reportedly seek in a fundraising attempt last yr .
cock-a-hoop markdown : AI - powered parking platform Metropolisacquired electronic computer visual modality company Oostofor a fraction of what the inauguration had raised to day of the month . Formerly known as AnyVision , it had lost angel over its engineering being used in controversial surveillance program .
Legal clash : value at $ 13.8 billion last twelvemonth , Scale AI is facing itsthird worker lawsuitof 2025 , with contractors claiming they suffered psychological harm from write prompt about disturbing content . A spokesperson for Scale AI said it had “ numerous guard in place . ”
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Most interesting VC and funding news this week
Series B rounds announced this week varied greatly in size , with some of these surpass other Series C rounds . And for troupe that do n’t quite feel like going public yet , there are still more alphabetic character in the ABC .
Pre - IPO letter : Data analytics program Databricksclosed a $ 10 billion Series J fairness funding roundat a $ 62 billion valuation , with an extra $ 5.25 billion in debt financing . Meta is second the company as a strategical investor . From cat to unicorn : Neko Health , the Swedish body - glance over inauguration co - founded by Spotify ’s Daniel Ek , and whose name signify “ cat ” in Japanese , raiseda $ 260 million Series B round of fundingat $ 1.8 billion post - money .
Money to move : Lindus Health , a startup backed by Peter Thiel and Creandum that is presently moving its military headquarters from the U.K. to the U.S. , secureda $ 55 million Series B roundto “ fix the broken in clinical tryout industry . ”
spend less : AI - powered SaaS spend management platform Verticeraised a $ 50 million Series C round of fundingled by Lakestar , at a valuation close to $ 500 million , accord to sources .
Amerindic robotics : Indian - base autonomous nomadic automaton startup Ati Motors raiseda $ 20 million Series Bto mature internationally . The U.S. already dominates Ati ’s revenues , and the company hope to further benefit from demand for robotics manufactured out of doors of China .
Crypto crypto crypto : take advantage on crypto ’s comeback , AngelList and CoinList team up up tolaunch crypto extra purpose vehicle and crypto gyre - up vehiclesthat will let crypto founders provoke cap using crypto coin .
Last but not least
AI is still red blistering , but there are always subsectors that VCs are more concerned in . To figure out whichtypes of AI startups they ’d most care to backthis class , TechCrunch round up some finding from our late survey of 20 endeavour VCs . In short : Think company , not features .
