Meet January’s 11 new unicorns

Plus, a massive week for large deals February 20, 2024 Hi, {NAME}. We’re not exactly seeing new unicorn startups galloping into view like we did three years ago, but January was still [a strong month for new billion-dollar startups](. Eleven new companies joined [The Crunchbase Unicorn Board]( altogether adding $16 billion in value and spanning AI, clean energy, semiconductor, quantum computing and AR, among other sectors. Plus, last week saw [a lot of very large funding deals]( but also [more than 6,000 workers laid off by U.S. tech companies](. 🦄 [Meet January’s 11 new unicorns]( Eleven companies joined [The Crunchbase Unicorn Board]( in January — the first double-digit monthly count [in over a year]( — with more than half hailing from Asia. See also: [The Crunchbase Unicorn Board]( 🏅 [Lambda leads massive week for megadeals]( Ten U.S.-based startups each raised $100 million or more last week, an eerie throwback to 2021. Maybe startup investing is back, or maybe investors were just really excited about [this crop of companies]( which includes AI, biotech, music and advanced materials startups. See also: [The Crunchbase Megadeals Board]( ✂️ [Cisco tops weekly layoffs tracker]( A dozen companies joined our [Tech Layoffs Tracker last week]( altogether axing more than 6,000 jobs. They included big names in tech like [Cisco]( [Instacart]( and [Mozilla]( along with a handful of lesser-known startups. 🌱 [5 areas where seed investors are active]( From [construction tech]( to [AI health diagnostics]( to [spacetech]( our data shows seed-stage investors have been funding young startups across an array of fascinating industries. 🤝 [Crunchbase announces new partnership with monday.com]( Now, [monday sales CRM]( users can enrich their CRM records with Crunchbase’s best-in-class proprietary company data to quickly identify qualified opportunities and inform outreach. Find out more [here](. 🖤 [A change is gonna come. Right?]( Seven years after the #MeToo movement and four years after George Floyd’s killing sparked a global racial justice reckoning, startups led by Black founders and women still continue to receive single-digit percentages of funding. How do we do better? Guest author [Joey Mak]( of nonprofit [Chicago:Blend]( offers his perspective. 🧾 [These startups are growing alongside the gig worker economy]( Over the past few quarters, venture investors have poured hundreds of millions into companies with offerings aimed at freelance and gig workers. Top focus areas include platforms for finding work, accounting tools and apps tailored for specific industries. Related Crunchbase Pro list: [Freelance And Gig Worker Services Startups]( Get more with Crunchbase Enterprise Find out more about Crunchbase’s prospecting software that enables your entire team to find the right companies, identify the right people, and connect with the decision-makers who can move deals forward – all in one solution. [BOOK A MEETING NOW]( Recent Investments [Lambda]( [$320M]( / [Series C]( Lambda is a cloud-based GPU company catering to developers throughout the entire lifecycle of AI development. Categories: Artificial Intelligence (AI) • Cloud Computing • GPU • Hardware • Machine Learning • Software Founders: [Michael Balaban]( [Stephen Balaban]( Investors: [US Innovative Technology Fund]( (Lead), [1517 Fund]( [B Capital]( [+ 6 more]( [Plus Power]( [$98M]( / [Debt Financing]( Plus Power specializes in creating battery energy storage systems that enhance the efficiency and reliability of the electrical grid. Categories: Battery • Energy • Renewable Energy Founders: [Alex Fraenkel]( [Brandon Keefe]( Investors: [Greenprint Capital]( (Lead) [Duetti]( [$75M]( / [Debt Financing]( Duetti is a music financing platform that engages in buying catalog rights from independent musicians. Categories: Financial Services • FinTech • Music Founders: [Christopher Nolte]( [Lior Tibon]( Investors: [Northleaf Capital Partners]( (Lead) More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Kairos Aerospace]( $52M / [Series D]( [BlackRock]( [LangChain]( $25M / [Series A]( [Sequoia Capital]( [Duetti]( $15M / [Venture Round]( [Nyca Partners]( [Lava Network]( $15M / [Seed Round]( [HashKey Capital]( [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Jackpocket]( Pending acquisition by [DraftKings]( for $750M More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Prudeo Partners]( [Perigon Wealth Management]( $425M [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( Upcoming Tech Events [SXSW 2024]( March 8 - 16, 2024 in Austin SXSW 2024 celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. Accelerator Deadlines Date Accelerator Location Apr 1, 2024 [Founderville]( Greenville Apr 23, 2024 [(ERA) Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator]( New York [More Upcoming Deadlines]( Don’t see your event? 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