North American Startup Funding Cools to $92B, Yet Still Runs Hot
Startup investment in the U.S. and Canada fell 35% from the second quarter to $92 billion, but it was still up 50% on a year earlier and exits picked up.
Business Building
YoLa Fresh Shuts Down After $9M: A Hard Lesson in Agritech
Moroccan agritech startup YoLa Fresh, which linked smallholder farmers with retailers, has ceased operations after failing to secure funding for its next stage.
Dream Labs Raises $90M Seed to Give Any Robot a Brain
Dream Labs closed a $90 million seed round for Dream-1, a robot model that learns from videos of people at work and rents out by the hour from 75 cents.
Plinto Raises €2.9M to Catch Duplicate Invoices Before They Bite
Copenhagen startup Plinto builds AI agents that check every transaction against contracts and budgets, and it has raised €2.9 million from People Ventures and Emblem.
Estonia's Newest Unicorn Hits $2.2B Weeks After Joining the Club
Blackwall, which filters web traffic inside hosting providers, raised a $100 million Series C led by AVP at a $2.2 billion valuation, weeks after becoming a unicorn.
Penn Dropouts Raise $13M for a Prop Firm That Shares the Upside
Vest lets qualifying retail traders use its capital and keep up to 80% of profits, and it has closed a $13 million seed round led by Portal Ventures.