The hottest Funding Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Science Topics

🧠 Mental Health Market, Funding Trends, Startup Sale Price Dilemma, $500K in Funding and more

Lolita's Newsletter • 137 implied HN points • 28 May 23
💼 Business Startups Mental health Funding Entrepreneurship Investment
  1. The mental health market is projected to reach $537 billion by 2030 with opportunities for innovative solutions to improve lives.
  2. Stigma around mental health treatment is decreasing, with more people supporting individuals with mental illnesses to live full and productive lives.
  3. Various funding opportunities are available for founders, especially in the mental health and diverse founder spaces.

Affirm's Earnings: Funding Costs Soar 223% Year Over Year

Fintech Business Weekly • 126 implied HN points • 28 May 23
💰 Finance Earnings Funding Loans Expenses
  1. Affirm's funding costs increased by 223% year over year due to rising rates and increased funding debt.
  2. Affirm's revenue saw a modest increase, with interest income and virtual card revenue offsetting declines in other areas.
  3. Households are facing declining financial well-being, with expenses outpacing income and savings dwindling.

The Changing Nature of Pre-Seed Syndication

Venture Reflections • 6 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
💼 Business Investing Funding Startups Venture Capital
  1. The landscape of pre-seed investment is shifting, making it more challenging for founders to raise pre-seed rounds.
  2. Certain categories like defense tech and AI are skipping pre-seed investment due to high capital requirements.
  3. Many pre-seed investment partners are now focusing more on larger rounds with companies that have traction, resembling seed rounds.
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The Having of Wonderful Ideas

Worcester Sucks and I Love It • 117 implied HN points • 24 Feb 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education & Policy Community Engagement Funding
  1. The proposed charter school by Old Sturbridge Village in Worcester is facing pushback due to concerns about how it will harm the public schools and students.
  2. The charter proposal lacks coherence and capacity, with doubts about its ability to deliver on its educational promises, especially for diverse learners.
  3. Approval of the charter would divert significant funds from the District and undermine the gains made by the Student Opportunity Act.

How to afford homeschooling 💰

joinmodulo • 98 implied HN points • 17 Feb 23
🚌 Education Curriculum Childcare Funding Resources Jobs
  1. Homeschooling is more affordable than you might think, with many families spending an average of $600-$1800/year on education.
  2. The biggest expense to consider when homeschooling is childcare, and families should explore creative solutions like swapping care with other parents.
  3. Consider the costs of living, such as housing near good schools, when evaluating the affordability of homeschooling.

Lessons Answer.AI can learn from history’s greatest R&D labs

FreakTakes • 11 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Research & Development Industrial Funding Innovation
  1. Learn from the past: Draw lessons from historical R&D labs like Edison's Menlo Park Lab and the Early GE Research Laboratory.
  2. Focus on application: Aim to build practical, impactful technology rather than just pursuing theoretical breakthroughs.
  3. Embrace innovation: Be bold, think long-term, and run your own race free from competition.

Snyk: Shift left security

The Product Person • 78 implied HN points • 17 Apr 23
💼 Business Security Startups Funding Product-Market Fit Growth
  1. Snyk is a $7.4 billion startup focusing on helping developers find and fix vulnerabilities in open-source code.
  2. Snyk offers a range of products like Snyk Code, Snyk Container, and Snyk Infrastructure as Code to enhance security.
  3. Snyk's growth was fueled by a developer-first approach, leading to rapid adoption and a unique product-led growth strategy.

The Rainy Day Problem

The Radar • 59 implied HN points • 11 Jul 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Military Funding Leadership Investigative Reporting Government
  1. The Air Force's lack of planning has left Airmen and families in uncertainty and chaos due to funding shortfalls.
  2. The 'Rainy Day Problem' highlights how organizations, like the Air Force, must plan to protect their stakeholders from foreseeable issues.
  3. Failure to address the funding shortfall swiftly and improve planning could lead to erosion of trust within the Air Force and impact readiness.

Preconditions for Starting

Texts with Founders • 7 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
💼 Business Startup Funding Customers Investors
  1. Having a good co-founder can make starting a company less lonely and more successful.
  2. Relying on funding or accelerators as preconditions to starting may show a lack of commitment to building a successful startup.
  3. Starting with customers before seeking investors can lead to faster validation, more successful fundraising, and show commitment to the company's growth.

Series B Activity: August 2023

Magid and Co • 39 implied HN points • 05 Sep 23
💰 Finance Investment Deals Funding Startups
  1. Series B deals over $100M declined over the years - from 15 deals in 2021 to none in 2023.
  2. Series B deal volumes decreased significantly in two years, indicating a shift in deal trends.
  3. Data on Series B deals worldwide (ex-China) shows deals with a raised amount above $5M and non-therapeutics companies.

Manifest Grants

Fifty Years News • 35 implied HN points • 30 Aug 23
🔬 Science Funding Innovation Grants
  1. Innovative ideas in science often struggle to get funding for testing and development.
  2. Manifest Grants provides fast funding of $25,000 to $100,000 for scientists to accelerate their ideas in 30 minutes application time.
  3. The goal is to bridge the gap between lab bench ideas and real-world impact by supporting innovators in translating their ideas into solutions.

The True Efficacy of Carbon Removal Technology

Warming Up to Climate Tech • 58 implied HN points • 28 Mar 23
🌞 Climate & Environment Climate tech Funding
  1. Carbon removal technologies like afforestation and carbon capture play a crucial role in mitigating climate change and achieving net zero emissions.
  2. Innovative startups are developing novel methods for carbon capture, such as direct air capture and biochar production.
  3. Investment in carbon removal technologies is increasing, with significant VC funding going towards startups in this sector.

Levitation at Room Temperature: The Race to Replicate

Exponential Industry • 39 implied HN points • 30 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Manufacturing Funding Partnership Acquisition Robotics
  1. Room temperature superconducting material LK-99, could revolutionize various industries from transportation to computing.
  2. Companies are racing to replicate the results and bring new products to market quickly.
  3. Investments, partnerships, and acquisitions in the industry are accelerating innovations and expansions.

Series A activity: Week of July 17, 2023

Magid and Co • 39 implied HN points • 24 Jul 23
💼 Business Startups Funding Deals Statistics
  1. The post shares data on Series A deals done in the last week of July 2023.
  2. The summary stats provide information on Series A deals worldwide, excluding China, where the amount raised is over $5M, and the company is not focused on therapeutics.
  3. The post encourages readers to subscribe for free to receive new posts and support the author's work.

It's a DARPA-filled Week

The Good Science Project • 18 implied HN points • 03 Nov 23
🔬 Science Technology Research Funding Computers
  1. Recent articles are discussing the different perspectives on the ARPA funding model for research.
  2. Eric Gilliam is starting a comprehensive project analyzing past DARPA projects, aiming to create a resource for funders in similar organizations.
  3. This week is filled with DARPA-related content for those interested in ARPA initiatives.

Series A Activity: June 2023

Magid and Co • 39 implied HN points • 05 Jul 23
💰 Finance Investment Funding Venture Capital Founders
  1. There was a significant decrease in Series A deal activity from June 2022 to June 2023, with 290 deals in 2022 compared to 146 in 2023.
  2. It's crucial for founders to closely monitor individual firm actions rather than just market-level statistics, especially when major players from previous years are less active.
  3. Founders seeking funding should focus on understanding which investors are actively writing checks and building relationships with these firms, even if they are less known or harder to reach.

2 years of building a commercial open-source company

Navaneeth’s Newsletter • 49 implied HN points • 31 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Startups Funding Software Development Competition
  1. Started ToolJet as a project during home quarantine and faced challenges but received positive feedback from users.
  2. Launched ToolJet's public beta and open-sourced the codebase, gaining quick traction on ProductHunt and HackerNews.
  3. Raised VC funding for ToolJet, transitioned to ToolJet 1.0 with enhanced features, and continued building towards ToolJet 2.0 despite competition.

Forced to Thrive or Perish with Technology Bets

Exponential Industry • 39 implied HN points • 02 Jul 23
💼 Business Manufacturing Funding Partnership Acquisition
  1. Focused technology development bets lead to world-leading products and enduring companies.
  2. Advancements in automation technologies are reshaping industries and changing the balance between automation and human labor.
  3. Investments in high-tech solutions like robotics, AI, and additive manufacturing are driving innovation and efficiency across various sectors.

Science Funders, High-Risk Research, and Apple Pie

The Good Science Project • 33 implied HN points • 18 Jul 23
🔬 Science Funding Research Peer Review Innovation
  1. Science funding agencies struggle to fund truly high-risk projects due to the constraints of peer review processes.
  2. Agency staff may be hesitant to deviate from traditional practices, even if officially given the authority to do so.
  3. Well-intentioned programs for high-risk research can be underused due to organizational norms and resistance to change.

Google SQL Translator API, StackOne €3.3M, Salt Security Developer Portal

The API Changelog • 2 implied HN points • 12 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Fintech Security Events Funding
  1. Google introduced a unified SQL translator API for BigQuery, aimed at enhancing efficiency in translating jobs and supporting various SQL dialects.
  2. StackOne secured €3.3M in seed funding to improve its AI-powered unified API for SaaS enterprises, acknowledging its potential in streamlining SaaS integrations.
  3. Salt Security launched a Developer Portal as a centralized resource to automate API security, focused on improving developer experiences and enabling secure API integrations.

Garuda Ventures' New $31M Fund

Tippets by Taps • 14 implied HN points • 25 Oct 23
💼 Business Venture Capital Investing Startups Entrepreneurship Funding
  1. Garuda Ventures raised a $31 million fund to support exceptional founders at an early stage.
  2. They focus on four core themes in their investments: Intelligent Applications, Commerce Infrastructure, The New Perimeter, and Climate 2.0.
  3. Garuda Ventures emphasizes the importance of empathy, candor, and operating excellence when supporting founders.

Interview: Jeffrey Marqusee (formerly a DOD research funder)

The Good Science Project • 29 implied HN points • 11 Jul 23
🔬 Science Research Technology Funding Peer Review Innovation
  1. Jeff Marqusee led research programs on environmental and energy issues at the Department of Defense.
  2. His program solicited and funded high-risk research proposals by setting aside specific funding and conducting internal reviews.
  3. An unintended experiment showed the importance of funding high-risk research and the limitations of peer review in making funding decisions.