Meet the nine new startup unicorns
While nine companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in October, the majority of the existing unicorn companies that raised additional funding last month did so through extension rounds that came with no increase in value, an analysis of Crunchbase data shows. And interestingly, zero companies joined from Silicon Valley.
Cyber leads new unicorn count for October
Two of the nine new unicorns that joined the Unicorn Board last month focus on cybersecurity, while a single company was in the generative AI category — a startup based in Beijing that is less than a year old. Let’s take a look.
Related Crunchbase Pro list: The Crunchbase Private Unicorn Company List
️ Quantum startup locks up $100M from Microsoft, others
The $100 million deal includes a strategic collaboration that will pair the Vancouver-based startup’s scalable and unified quantum computing and networking with Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.
Related Crunchbase Pro list: Quantum Computing Funding
How to approach an investor for the first time
Alex Menn, partner at Begin Capital, says that his fund alone receives about 10,000 pitches a year from startup founders looking for funding. Menn shares advice for how to break from the crowd to find and pitch potential investors.
The robots are still rising, albeit with less funding
Relatively speaking, robotics remains a popular sector for venture dealmaking, Crunchbase data shows. While total funding is lower, the percentage of venture capital going to startups in the space hasn’t changed much since the peak, with investors backing concepts that include grocery e-commerce automation and a robot vacuum that doesn’t require you to first remove toys, clutter and other obstacles from the floor.
Related Crunchbase Pro list: 2023 Robotics Funding
Quantitative benchmarking: A competitive edge for entrepreneurs
Why should entrepreneurs move from qualitative and focus on quantitative benchmarking? Startup adviser Itay Sagie delves into three critical pain points startup founders might face when conducting competitive analysis and benchmarking.
Funding may be slow, but these investors got busy
Startup investment continues to be spotty, with October dipping below the already-subdued monthly averages we’ve seen this year. But some investors are picking up the pace a bit. We look at the 10 most active U.S. startup investors last month.
