In “The Monthly Rundown” series, I dive into a few up-and-coming startups from the past month, filtering by recent funding rounds and significant influxes of new website visitors. Stay tuned for an updated list each month and get a jump on the competition.
While a majority of the focus in January was on the public markets (/wallstreetbets frenzy), Crunchbase recorded $40.1 billion in global dollar volume for private companies in January, a 27.3 percent increase from December 2020. Several giant funding rounds dominated in January, with Rivian, Cruise, Lalamove and Robinhood all raising $1 billion+.
This month’s batch of hot startups range from a fintech company, a shared mobility platform, and what could be the next big social network.
Enjoy!
1. Clubhouse
HQ: San Francisco, California
Industry: Mobile Apps, Messaging, Social
Funding: Raised a $100 million Series B on Jan. 4. Lead Investor: Andreessen Horowitz
Web traffic: 520 percent monthly visits growth
Why I’m watching: Clubhouse, the audio-based social app that allows users to spontaneously join group chats, took the world by storm in January, with people like Elon Musk dropping in to chat about Mars, the future of Tesla, Bitcoin and more. The company is due for a public release and plan to use the funds to scale internationally and continue hiring across a variety of roles.
2. Vulog
HQ: Nice, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, France
Industry: Automotive, Car Sharing, Ride Sharing, SaaS
Funding: Raised a 26 million euro Series C on Jan. 20. (Read more…)