Roundup of news and ideas from the world of startups – Week ending 23rd Dec 2018
News you can use
Google announces Adopt a Startup program finalists – Google recently announced 8 startups selected for Grand Finals from its Adopt A Startup contest. The grand Finals in The Foundry on December 11th, 2018. The startups from European Union (EU) include
- BidRecruit, Dublin
- Dashmote, EU
- Flexiwage, Meath
- JumpAGrade, Limerick
- Nasal Medical, Dublin
- TrustAp, Dublin
- Urban Volt, Dublin
- Wellola, Dublin
Corporate M&A
VMware paid $550 million to acquire Kubernetes startup Heptio – more than ten times Heptio’s total funding — in a deal that closed last week, as VMware seeks to enhance its multicloud toolkit. VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Heptio for cash and assumed unvested equity awards, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing Monday, Dec. 10. Specifically, VMware plans to use Heptio assets to enhance its existing Pivotal Container Services (PKS) portfolio. PKS is a Kubernetes lifecycle management platform for which VMware partners with Pivotal ; both companies are controlled by Dell Technologies.
Why Autodesk Just Spent $1.15 Billion On Two Construction Tech Startups – Autodesk’s construction software business is getting its second acquisition-fueled jolt of the past few weeks. The company announced on Thursday that it is acquiring startup BuildingConnected for $275 million. The acquisition of BuildingConnected comes exactly one month after Autodesk announced plans to acquire PlanGrid, another construction tech startup, for $875 million in November (the deal closed today). Together, the two acquisitions mean San Rafael, California-based Autodesk has paid $1.15 billion in a month for the startup companies.
Google Cloud acquires DevOps Research Firm DORA – Google Cloud is acquiring DevOps Research and Assessment LLC (DORA), a digital transformation research firm that has collaborated with Google in the past. DORA announced the acquisition in a blog post that the combination will give developers access to data-driven insights using DevOps in the cloud.
Failed Startups
AI security camera maker Lighthouse shutting down – A Bay Area based startup, Lighthouse, that was trying to market a $300 security camera with some sophisticated artificial intelligence capabilities, is shutting down. The reason was the lack of “commercial success” of its product.
Cryptocurrency startup Basis shutters operations following SEC concerns – The volatile swings in crypto currency is leading to a lot of startups shutting down. Last week we saw news of Swiss Crypto Mining Firm Envion ordered by court to Shut Down. This week, Basis, Crypto’s Top Funded Startup announced that it was shutting down. Basis had bagged $133 million from top VCs announced that it is shutting down and also returning the money to investors.
Hyperloop startup Arrivo is shutting down as workers are laid off – The company, started by former Hyperloop One executives, furloughed all employees in November while it sought new funding. Futuristic transportation startup Arrivo shut down its operations this week, The Verge has learned. All of the company’s 30 or so employees were furloughed in late November, with about half being completely laid off at the end of that month, according to two employees who were granted anonymity because they signed non-disclosure agreements. Now, the Los Angeles startup is shutting down because it hasn’t been able to secure new funding, these people say.