VCs Are Still Chasing Protein, Even As Fake Meat Falls Out Of Favor

How Founders Can Reduce Platform Risk Before It Threatens Growth

Founders should treat dependence on app stores as infrastructure risk, since a sudden removal can disrupt customer access, subscriptions and revenue with no reliable path to reinstatement.

Italy’s Poste targets a €600M co-investment fund for data centres

Poste Italiane has launched a co-investment fund targeting €600M ($665M) for digital infrastructure projects, including data centres, according to the company’s third-quarter earnings presentation on Thursday.

Drone startup Uforce raises $700m backed by Valor Equity Partners, UK National Wealth Fund

Griffin raises $20M to add cards and stablecoins to its banking platform

Griffin, the UK bank that lets fintechs and platforms embed accounts and payments into their own products, has raised a $20M Series B led by Octagon Partners. The round values the London-based company at over $100M and will fund its expansion into card issuing and stablecoin services.

Munich’s SE3 raises $30M to give Europe’s drones spatial intelligence

SE3, the Munich startup building spatial intelligence software for autonomous systems, has raised a $30M Series A led by Accel, with Keen, Lakestar, and Seedcamp participating. The round comes just five months after the company emerged from stealth with a €5.5M seed.

Lithuania’s Biomatter raises $18M for AI enzyme design

Vilnius-based Biomatter has raised $18M in a Series A round to scale its AI enzyme design platform. Astanor led the oversubscribed round. Existing investors UVC Partners, Inventure and Metaplanet also took part.

Exclusive: Nubank Alum Raises $14M For Colombia’s Palomma To Tackle Rent Payments, Landlord Financing

Colombia-based startup, Palomma, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Mexican venture firm Cometa to expand its financial services business for landlords, tenants and property managers, Crunchbase News has exclusively learned.

The Crunchbase Unicorn Board Tops 1,900 Companies In October, With 34 Companies Joining — Half Under 4 Years Old

A total of 34 companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in October, adding more than $96 billion in value and $14.8 billion in total funding to the board. The board also reached a new record of 1,900 private companies last month, along with a new record for the U.S.

Startup Founders Are Using AI To File Patents. Here’s Where DIY Becomes A Liability.

AI can help startups reduce patent preparation costs, but DIY applications may overlook critical issues.