UNICORN WATCH THIS WEEK: In the aftermath of allegations regarding a privacy breach, Carta is shutting down operations of its secondary trading business. Meanwhile, ABL Space Systems and Relativity Space are leading a surge in investor interest within the aerospace industry.
Carta, a startup responsible for managing the cap table for around 40,000 privately funded startups, is discontinuing its role as a broker for stock sales in those companies in the wake of an explosive conflict of interest scandal.
ABL Space Systems, an aerospace and launch service provider, has secured at least $40M in a targeted $100M fundraising effort. This marks the first venture funding for ABL since October 2021, when it closed a $200M round at a $2.4B valuation.
Relativity Space, which launched the first 3D-printed rocket into space last year, is in discussions for a funding round valuing the company at around $4.2B, maintaining the valuation from its last round in 2021. Existing investors Bond and Social Capital are leading the round.
Ripple is initiating a buyback of $285M worth of its shares, valuing the company at $11.3B. The company plans to allocate $500M to this repurchase to cover the cost of converting restricted stock units into shares and taxes.
Circle, the stablecoin issuer, has filed confidential IPO papers after raising over $1B from notable firms, including General Catalyst, Goldman Sachs, IDG Capital, BlackRock, Fidelity, Marshall Wace, Bitmain, DCG, and Fin Capital.
Quora, the Q&A website, is raising funding for the first time in nearly 7 years, securing $75M from a16z. The funds will be used to fuel the growth of Poe, Quora's AI chat platform.
1X, the Norwegian AI robotics startup, secured $100M in funding for its second-generation android robot, NEO. EQT Ventures led the investment.
Flexe, a warehouse and logistics startup that achieved a $1B valuation, is undergoing a workforce reduction, laying off 38% of its employees
Discord is laying off 17% of its staff (about 170 people). Discord CEO Jason Citron attributes the layoffs to over-hiring, echoing a trend seen in other recent tech layoffs.
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Head of ESG at Colliers
2moExciting times!