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Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here . The aftermath of DeepSeek’s launch was arguably the biggest tech story of the week, especially for anyone keeping a close eye on public markets. But private companies, too, made headlines. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits: Voi Technology In startup land, even a small profit is newsworthy and could lead to tomorrow’s IPOs. In the meantime, we look at an M&A and some mission-driven startups fighting fire. Scooting along : Swedish shared micromobility startup Voi reported its first profitable year . While modestly cash-positive, these 2024 results put the scooter and e-bike company in a better position to explore an IPO in upcoming years. Merging humanoids : OpenAI-backed Norwegian robotics startup 1X acquired Kind Humanoid , whose three-person team had started working with high-profile designer Yves Béhar in 2024. On track : French health insurance startup Alan revealed that it generated approximately $525 million in revenue in 2024 and confirmed its goal to reach profitability by 2026. Firefighters : In the aftermath of Southern California’s recent devastating fires, TechCrunch’s Tim De Chant rounded up startups that help measure and mitigate wildfire risk . Most interesting VC and funding news this week Image Credits: Mike Kane/Bloomberg / Getty Images Some significant rounds were announced this week, but perhaps even more interestingly, we saw some sizable valuation increases. Hot like fusion : Nuclear startup Helion raised a $425 million Series F round of funding to help build a fusion reactor for Microsoft. This new round is smaller than the previous one, but valuation increased to $5.245 billion. Perking up : Barcelona-based corporate travel management platform TravelPerk closed a $200 million Series E round of funding at a $2.7 billion valuation — almost twice its previous $1.4 billion valuation. Quantum race : With $104 million in Series B funding , French startup Alice & Bob secured one of the larger rounds for a quantum computing startup in Europe. AI against cancer : Quibim, a Spanish startup that’s developing AI models for medical imaging, raised a $50 million Series A round of funding to double down on its U.S. expansion plans. Its flagship product, QP-Prostate, focuses on prostate cancer detection. Challenging Autodesk : Motif, a startup developing architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) software, secured $46 million in seed and Series A funding to challenge its founders’ former employer, Autodesk, with a next-generation design platform for buildings. Bigger target : Regulatory filing revealed that 8VC, the Austin-based VC firm led by Palantir founder Joe Lonsdale, is hoping to raise around $1 billion for its sixth fund. Its previous flagship vehicle closed at $880 million in 2023. Taking it to 11: ElevenLabs, which works in the AI audio field, announced that it raised $180 million in a Series C round , valuing the company at $3.3 billion post-money. Andreessen Horowitz and ICONIQ Growth are co-leading investment. Last but not least Image Credits: Stefan Herrick / Getty Images Apologies for ending on a negative note, but data suggests that 2025 will be another brutal year of startup wind-downs . However, AngelList CEO Avlok Kohli provided a more positive outlook, noting that these figures “are still very low relative to the number of companies that were funded across both years.”
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