Startups Weekly: Drama or game-changer? You decide

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This week was low on M&A and IPO news, but there was still some drama to follow, if that’s your thing — and more importantly, some worthy startups getting funded.

Most interesting startup stories from the week

From frivolous to more serious, there was no shortage of legal startup developments this week.

Clued up: Startups launched products such as “Truely” to catch people using viral AI cheating app Cluely, but the startup says it is ready to stay one step ahead with hardware products that will make it even harder to detect.

Besieged: Troubled fashion startup CaaStle is facing new lawsuits and allegations after its founder was accused of financial misconduct.

Figure it out: Hot robotics startup Figure AI sent cease-and-desist letters to at least two brokers who run secondary marketplaces, demanding that they stop marketing the company’s stock.

Still fighting: Imaguru was Belarus’ first startup hub. Now its founders are in exile but continue their mission, with hubs in Warsaw and Madrid supported by European institutions.

Serial drama: Deel officially agreed to be served legal papers in the lawsuit initiated by its rival Rippling over alleged spying.

Flawed: A mysterious London-based investor asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge to stop the sale of EV startup Canoo’s assets to its CEO, calling it a “flawed” process.

Most interesting VC and funding news this week

If all the startups that announced funding rounds this week reach their goals, the world might be a better place. Plus, some funds are ready to back even more entrepreneurs.

Casting a net: Cast AI, a startup building tools to optimize workloads for AI and automated tasks, raised a $108 million Series C to fuel its R&D and geographic expansion.

Strong run: Lightrun, an Israeli startup whose AI-enabled observability platform helps debug code, locked in a $70 million Series B co-led by new backer Accel alongside previous investor Insight Partners.

Legal tech: Supio, a startup that uses AI to automate data collection and analysis for legal teams, raised a $60 million funding round led by Sapphire Ventures.

Bold vision: IXI, a Finnish startup hoping to bring autofocus to prescription glasses, raised $36.5 million from Amazon Alexa Fund and others to work on its first commercial product.

B2B trade: Nuvo, a San Francisco-based startup whose platform facilitates purchasing of physical goods between businesses, raised a $34 million Series A from Sequoia Capital and Spark Capital.

And OmniRetail, which aims to facilitate B2B e-commerce across Nigeria and West Africa, raised a $20 million Series A co-led by Norwegian development finance institution Norfund and Nigerian VC firm Timon Capital.

Early detection: Japanese startup Craif, a Nagoya University spinout that uses microRNA to develop AI-powered early cancer detection software, raised a $22 million Series C to fuel its expansion and R&D.

Ballooning: Near Space Labs, a startup whose balloon-based aerial imaging platform can have dual-use applications, secured a $20 million Series B led by Bold Capital Partners, a VC firm founded by Peter Diamandis.

Hot: Glacier, a startup behind a robot-enabled recycling fleet already deployed in several U.S. cities, secured a $16 million Series A led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund, with participation from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund.

Not broken: Kintsugi, an AI sales tax startup named after the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery, raised $15 million from tax technology solution provider Vertex and $3 million from existing investors at a $150 million post-money valuation, up from $80 million in November.

No more burping: Hoofprint Biome, a startup slashing methane emissions by modifying cattle’s microbiome, raised a $15 million Series A led by SOSV.

U.K. upside: Volution, a U.K.-based VC investing in fintech, AI, and SaaS startups, launched a new $100 million fund to double down on its thesis.

One-up: European entrepreneur-focused platform EWOR launched its own “founder fellowship,” committing approximately $68 million to the initiative, which will compete with Harry Stebbings’ fellowship Project Europe.

Last but not least

You may not have heard of Ali Partovi, but those in the know have. The Iranian-born Harvard graduate has an impressive multi-decade-long track record that spans founding and exiting several startups and early investing in tech giants. He now leads 8-year-old venture firm Neo, whose early funds are performing exceedingly well.