{"id":12327,"date":"2025-03-28T20:30:25","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T20:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/startups-weekly-mercurys-valuation-soars\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T20:30:25","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T20:30:25","slug":"startups-weekly-mercurys-valuation-soars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/startups-weekly-mercurys-valuation-soars\/","title":{"rendered":"Startups Weekly: Mercury’s valuation soars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/p>\n
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Get ready for the latest edition of Startups Weekly, your go-to source for a weekly rundown of the startup world’s most significant happenings. To receive this recap in your inbox every Friday, sign up here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

This week was a rollercoaster ride, with the startup ecosystem seeing a mix of achievements and setbacks. While some companies made strides in innovative fields like nuclear energy and electric vehicles, others faced challenges, including financial struggles and layoffs.<\/p>\n

Most Interesting Startup Stories of the Week<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Hasan
Image Credits:<\/strong>Courtesy of Hasan Sukkar<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This week’s startup news was a mixed bag, with finalized public exits, delayed IPOs, and a range of developments that brought both promise and disappointment.<\/p>\n

Customer Concerns<\/strong>: An investigation by TechCrunch revealed that several companies listed on 11x’s website were not actual customers<\/a> of the startup, which is backed by a16z and Benchmark. Sources also pointed out that 11x used unconventional methods to calculate its annual recurring revenue.<\/p>\n

Delayed IPO<\/strong>: Cerebras Systems’ IPO has been delayed again<\/a>, with the AI chipmaker’s national security review still ongoing after filing to go public in 2024.<\/p>\n

Nuclear Developments<\/strong>: Terrestrial Energy, a U.S. nuclear startup, went public via SPAC<\/a> and is expected to net $280 million. Meanwhile, Bill Gates-backed Commonwealth Fusion Systems achieved a key milestone<\/a> in constructing its demonstration reactor.<\/p>\n

Bankruptcy Filing<\/strong>: Vertical farming company Plenty filed for bankruptcy<\/a> after raising nearly $1 billion in funding from notable investors, including SoftBank Investment Advisers and Bezos Expeditions.<\/p>\n

Layoffs<\/strong>: Block, the fintech startup co-founded by Jack Dorsey, laid off 931 employees<\/a>, as revealed in a leaked email. This move follows previous layoffs in 2024.<\/p>\n

Rumors and Acquisitions<\/strong>: Nvidia is reportedly close to acquiring Lepton AI<\/a>, a startup that rents out servers powered by Nvidia’s AI chips. Additionally, FuriosaAI, a South Korean AI chip startup, turned down an $800 million acquisition offer<\/a> from Meta.<\/p>\n

Most Interesting VC and Funding News This Week<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Mercury
Image Credits:<\/strong>Mercury \/ Left to right: Max Tagher (co-founder and CTO), Jason Zhang (co-founder and COO), and Immad Akhund (co-founder and CEO)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We’ve curated a list of funding rounds that caught our attention this week, ranging from pre-seed to Series E, along with new funding for VCs to support emerging startups.<\/p>\n

Digital Banking Boost<\/strong>: Mercury, a digital banking startup, secured $300 million<\/a> in primary and secondary funding, including a Series C led by Sequoia, more than doubling its valuation to $3.5 billion post-money.<\/p>\n

Valuation Increase<\/strong>: Island, a company that specializes in enterprise browsers, raised $250 million<\/a> in a Series E led by Coatue, valuing the startup at $4.85 billion, a significant increase from its previous round less than a year ago.<\/p>\n

Micromobility Startup<\/strong>: Rivian spun out a new micromobility startup called Also, which has already received $105 million<\/a> from Eclipse Ventures. The startup aims to build small EVs, with its flagship product set to enter production next year for the U.S. and European markets.<\/p>\n

Automation Funding<\/strong>: n8n, a Berlin-based workflow automation startup, raised $60 million<\/a> in a funding round led by Highland Europe, with participation from HV Capital and previous investors Sequoia, Felicis, and Harpoon. Sources indicate the valuation was close to $270 million.<\/p>\n

Ramp for LatAm<\/strong>: Mendel, a Mexico City-based YC alum, raised a $35 million Series B<\/a> and expects to reach profitability by late 2025.<\/p>\n

AI Expansion<\/strong>: Arcade, a generative AI marketplace, simultaneously announced its $25 million Series A funding<\/a> and its expansion into home goods, starting with rugs.<\/p>\n

Paid AI Agents<\/strong>: Former Outreach CEO Manny Medina launched Paid, a startup that has already raised $11 million in pre-seed funding<\/a> to ensure AI agents receive compensation.<\/p>\n

AI-focused Fund<\/strong>: Emergence Capital closed a $1 billion seventh fund<\/a> to invest in B2B companies, with a particular interest in AI.<\/p>\n

New Fund<\/strong>: French VC firm Daphni announced the first closing of its third fund, Daphni Blue, with approximately $215 million secured<\/a> out of its $270 million target.<\/p>\n

Broader AI Investments<\/strong>: Amazon’s Alexa Fund is expanding its focus<\/a> beyond voice startups to include a broader range of AI investments.<\/p>\n

Last but Not Least<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A recent report highlighted the world’s 20 hottest open source startups. You can find the full list and more details here<\/a>. Notably, more than half of these startups have AI at their core.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Source Link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get ready for the latest edition of Startups Weekly, your go-to source for a weekly rundown of the startup world’s most significant happenings. To receive this recap in your inbox…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[3852,321,319],"class_list":["post-12327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-newsletters","tag-startups-weekly","tag-venture-capital"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1283548531.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}