{"id":63312,"date":"2025-01-03T18:31:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T18:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/bench-saved-by-the-bell-and-other-last-minute-deals-that-closed-2024\/"},"modified":"2025-01-03T18:32:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T18:32:41","slug":"bench-saved-by-the-bell-and-other-last-minute-deals-that-closed-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/bench-saved-by-the-bell-and-other-last-minute-deals-that-closed-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Bench saved by the bell, and other last-minute deals that closed 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Welcome to Startups Weekly \u2014 your weekly recap of every little thing you’ll be able to\u2019t miss from the world of startups. Need it in your inbox each Friday?<\/em> Sign up here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to 2025! The primary half of the week was comparatively quiet by way of startup bulletins, however exercise is already beginning to choose up. We\u2019re additionally gearing up for CES; in case your {hardware} startup is attending, make sure to let us know<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most attention-grabbing startup tales from the week<\/h2>\n
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Picture Credit:<\/strong>Bench<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not like different dealmaking, M&A exercise didn\u2019t cease \u2014 a minimum of not on objective.<\/p>\n

Final-minute save<\/strong>: Bench, the Canadian accounting startup that suddenly shut down a few days ago<\/a>, will likely be acquired by HR tech company Employer.com<\/a> for an undisclosed sum in a last-minute deal.<\/p>\n

2024\u2019s final mega-deal<\/strong>: World Huge Know-how (WWT), a tech providers firm based mostly in St. Louis, agreed to amass Canadian IT supplier Softchoice in an all-cash mega-deal at a valuation of approximately $1.25 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2024\u2019s final curtain shut: <\/strong>French meals supply startup Epicery ceased operations after nine years<\/a>. Since 2021, it belonged to Geopost\/DPDgroup, which not too long ago offered last-mile supply service Stuart at a major loss.<\/p>\n

2025\u2019s first mega-deal: <\/strong>Thomson Reuters acquired tax automation firm SafeSend for $600 million<\/a> in an all-cash transaction.<\/p>\n

No performed deal<\/strong>: The U.Okay.\u2019s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into IBM\u2019s planned acquisition of cloud software vendor HashiCorp<\/a>, which the Federal Commerce Fee is already investigating.<\/p>\n

Competitors forward<\/strong>: In an interview with TechCrunch<\/a>, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev talked about his firm\u2019s plans to more and more compete with still-private prediction markets startups like Kalshi and Polymarket.<\/p>\n

Most attention-grabbing fundraises this week<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Picture Credit:<\/strong>Calo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The brand new 12 months hunch had exceptions, and startups exterior the U.S. introduced contemporary funding rounds this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dinner is served<\/strong>: Riyadh-based meal supply startup Calo raised $25 million to expand beyond the Middle East<\/a>, with ambitions to go international and cater to extra customized meals customization wants.<\/p>\n

AI care<\/strong>: Brazilian startup Carecode, which builds AI brokers for the healthcare sector, raised a $4.3 million pre-seed round<\/a> led by a16z and QED, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, KDX Ventures, K50 Ventures, and Latitud Ventures.<\/p>\n

Federated computing<\/strong>: Apheris, a German startup that leverages federated computing for AI life sciences use circumstances, secured $8.25 million<\/a> in a Sequence A spherical led by deep tech VC companies eCAPITAL and OTB Ventures.<\/p>\n

Most attention-grabbing VC and fund information this week<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Picture Credit:<\/strong>Accel<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Holding on<\/strong>: Accel raised $650 million for its eighth India fund<\/a>. The agency, which not too long ago deepened its focus on rural India<\/a>, will see a number of of its Indian portfolio firms go public this 12 months.<\/p>\n

Prediction time<\/strong>: Twenty VCs shared with TechCrunch their predictions on enterprise tech in 2025<\/a>, from AI brokers to enterprise budgets. As an example, Index Ventures accomplice Nina Achadjian stated she anticipates \u201cextra liquidity in 2025, each for M&As and the general public markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Extra predictions<\/strong>: In response to TechCrunch\u2019s Tim De Chant, 2025 will likely be the year climate tech learns to love AI<\/a>, as a consequence of skyrocketing computing wants that drive demand for all kinds of improvements to scale back environmental impression.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n