<p>VC investment into quantum computing declined by 50% last year according to the &#8220;State of Quantum 2024&#8221; report, dropping from $2.2 billion in 2022 to $1.2 billion, with funds switching in favor of generative AI. However, government spending on quantum was predicted to hit $40 billion over the next decade. Now a new VC European [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Private equity firm Everstone is acquiring a majority stake in Wingify, one of India&#8217;s first bootstrapped SaaS success stories, for about $200 million, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The deal, finalized this week, marks a significant exit for Wingify&#8217;s founder Paras Chopra, who built the startup without raising any external funding since [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Caffeinated Capital, a San Francisco venture firm started by solo capitalist Raymond Tonsing, is raising $400 million for its fifth fund, according to a regulatory filing. The firm, an early investor in software company Airtable and defense startup Saronic, has already raised $160 million toward the fund. If Caffeinated hits its target, it will be [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Chris Young, Microsoft&#8217;s head of of business development and its venture unit, M12, resigned from his role on Wednesday, the company said.</p>

<p>As enterprises look at how they can best leverage AI to increase their employees&#8217; productivity, search is an obvious use case. In most companies, after all, data lives in multiple disconnected silos and the combination of large language models, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), and enterprise-grade integration services now makes it easier than ever to not [&hellip;]</p>

<p>As enterprises look at how they can best leverage AI to increase their employees&#8217; productivity, search is an obvious use case. In most companies, after all, data lives in multiple disconnected silos and the combination of large language models, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), and enterprise-grade integration services now makes it easier than ever to not [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Hindustan Unilever has agreed to acquire beauty startup Minimalist for about $342 million, as the consumer goods giant seeks to expand in India&#8217;s fast-growing premium skincare market. Hindustan Unilever will initially acquire a 90.5% stake in the direct-to-consumer brand through secondary buyouts and primary investment, with the remaining 9.5% to be purchased from founders in [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Hindustan Unilever has agreed to acquire beauty startup Minimalist for about $342 million, as the consumer goods giant seeks to expand in India&#8217;s fast-growing premium skincare market. Hindustan Unilever will initially acquire a 90.5% stake in the direct-to-consumer brand through secondary buyouts and primary investment, with the remaining 9.5% to be purchased from founders in [&hellip;]</p>

<p>French AI lab Mistral is working toward an initial public offering, co-founder and CEO Arthur Mensch said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Mistral is &#8220;not for sale,&#8221; Mensch said, adding that the company plans to open an office in Singapore to focus on the Asia-Pacific region and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>French AI lab Mistral is working toward an initial public offering, co-founder and CEO Arthur Mensch said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Mistral is &#8220;not for sale,&#8221; Mensch said, adding that the company plans to open an office in Singapore to focus on the Asia-Pacific region and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The AI startup market is sprawling, from companies looking to develop new chips, to those using AI to build robots, to others looking to use AI to create niche solutions for industry-specific workflows. There are a lot of potential areas for venture capitalists to invest in, but there are clearly a few subsectors they are [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The AI startup market is sprawling, from companies looking to develop new chips, to those using AI to build robots, to others looking to use AI to create niche solutions for industry-specific workflows. There are a lot of potential areas for venture capitalists to invest in, but there are clearly a few subsectors they are [&hellip;]</p>

<p>At a recent investor meeting, early-stage African investor Oui Capital informed limited partners that it had returned its $4 million debut fund following the sale of some shares in the business banking platform Moniepoint. The African fintech unicorn has so far proven to be a standout investment for five-year-old Oui Capital. When it launched its [&hellip;]</p>

<p>At a recent investor meeting, early-stage African investor Oui Capital informed limited partners that it had returned its $4 million debut fund following the sale of some shares in the business banking platform Moniepoint. The African fintech unicorn has so far proven to be a standout investment for five-year-old Oui Capital. When it launched its [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Peter Conway has recruited for some of the buzziest defense and hard tech firms in Silicon Valley over the last decade, like Palantir and Mach Industries.</p>

<p>Peter Conway has recruited for some of the buzziest defense and hard tech firms in Silicon Valley over the last decade, like Palantir and Mach Industries.</p>

<p>Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week&#8217;s newsletter is about startups, but it is also about Big Tech companies expanding their reach, both through acquisitions and through investments. Most interesting startup stories [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Surprise! Donald Trump’s big, audacious ambition to buy Greenland from Denmark has a tech angle. Ken Howery, named as U.S. President-elect Trump’s pick to be the next ambassador to the country (and thus chief broker of any deal), is one more part of the rich seam of tech people running through Trump’s upcoming administration.  Part [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Surprise! Donald Trump’s big, audacious ambition to buy Greenland from Denmark has a tech angle. Ken Howery, named as U.S. President-elect Trump’s pick to be the next ambassador to the country (and thus chief broker of any deal), is one more part of the rich seam of tech people running through Trump’s upcoming administration.  Part [&hellip;]</p>

<p>After two years of relatively muted investment activity, it seems that VCs are starting to pour capital into startups at pandemic-era levels once again. But a closer look shows that they aren’t really. In the fourth quarter of last year, investors funneled $74.6 billion into U.S. startups, a substantial increase from the average of $42 [&hellip;]</p>