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Welcome to 2025! The first half of the week has been relatively quiet in terms of launch announcements, but the action has already begun. We're gearing up for CES. If your hardware startup is attending; Be sure to let us know!.
The most interesting startup stories of the week
Unlike other transactions, M&A activity hasn't stopped — at least not on purpose.
Save for the last minute.: Bench Canadian accounting startups. It suddenly shut down a few days ago.will be. Acquired by HR technology company Employer.com. For an undisclosed amount in a last-minute deal.
The last big deal of 2024: St. Louis-based technology services company World Wide Technology (WWT) has agreed to buy Canadian IT services provider Softchoice in a small cash deal. It is worth about 1.25 billion dollars..
The final curtain closes on 2024: French food delivery business Epicery begins. Operations ceased after nine years.. From 2021 it belongs to Geopost/DPDgroup, which recently lost last mile delivery service Stuart significantly.
The first big deal of 2025: Thomson Reuters has acquired tax automation company SafeSend. $600 million In an all-cash transaction.
The deal isn't done yet.– UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) An investigation has been opened into IBM's acquisition of cloud software vendor HashiCorp.The Federal Trade Commission is already investigating.
Competition: in one Interview with TechCrunchRobinhood CEO Vlad Tenev talked about his company's plans to compete with private prediction market startups like Kalshi and Polymarket.
This week's most interesting fundraisers
There were exceptions to the New Year slump, with startups outside the US announcing more funding this week.
Served dinner.: Riyadh-based food delivery startup Calo raised $25 million. Expanding beyond the Middle East.Catering to customized food needs with ambitions to go worldwide.
Which AI?– Brazilian startup Carecode, which builds AI agents for the healthcare sector; It raised $4.3 million in a pre-seed round. Endeavor Catalyst; KDX Ventures; Led by a16z and QED with participation from K50 Ventures and Latitud Ventures.
Federated computing: Apheris is a German startup deploying federated computing for AI careers; It earned $8.25 million. Series A round led by deep tech VC firms eCAPITAL and OTB Ventures.
This week's most interesting VC and funding news
It's ongoing.: Accel is raised. $650 million for its eighth India fund. Clarity is recent. Increased focus on rural India.It will see its Indian portfolio companies go public this year.
Estimated time– Twenty VCs shared their predictions with TechCrunch Business technology by 2025From AI agents to enterprise budgets. For example, Nina Achadjian, a partner at Index Ventures, said she “expects more liquidity in 2025” for both M&As and public markets.
More predictionsAccording to TechCrunch's Tim De Chant; It will be 2025. This is the year weather tech learns to love AI.Due to the ever-expanding computing needs, demand for various innovations to reduce environmental impact.