Early-stage funding flows to climate fintech and finance, SPACs pivot as market conditions sour, and more - March 2, 2022

March 2, 2022 [More early-stage funding flows to climate fintech and finance]( Since last year, at least 40 companies at the intersection of climate, carbon-tracking and finance have pulled in $475 million in known funding, according to Crunchbase data. The overwhelming majority of funding has been at seed or early-stage, which portends that there’s significantly more money to come as these companies scale. [SPACs pivot as market conditions for deals sour]( While a long list of SPACs that formed in 2020 approach their deadline to find a target company, not all of them will, given market conditions. That means several will have to either work out a deal to extend or dissolve. [Startup funding announcements slowed dramatically after Ukraine attack]( Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global venture funding announcements and disclosures have slowed dramatically. Since last Thursday, when the attack commenced, just 154 companies across the globe have revealed a seed, early- or late-stage venture investment of disclosed size, per Crunchbase data. [Electric Capital raises $1B fund as crypto prices jump]( San Francisco-based crypto asset management firm Electric Capital announced the close of a new $1 billion fund—just as crypto prices bounced back Tuesday morning. The new fund will go toward investments in crypto networks, Web3 protocols and blockchain-enabled businesses. [Spy on your employees, make the Great Resignation worse]( Tracking and monitoring employees is dehumanizing. Surveillance is stifling—even if managers are well-intentioned, writes ConnectFor founder Danielle Boris. [With billions in funding, flying cars still wait to soar]( While stuck in gridlock, who among us has not fantasized of soaring vertically above all the stalled vehicles and flying swiftly to our destination? In recent years, companies working on electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and flying cars have raised unprecedented sums as they move closer to commercializing a vision of air travel without the huge carbon footprint or massive runways. [Why this startup’s Ukrainian employees are staying put despite war]( The leadership team at customer success startup Totango had been monitoring the tension between Russia and Ukraine for several weeks. But when they offered to relocate their team of about 15 people in Ukraine to Tel Aviv, where Totango has operations, the employees chose to stay. We talk with CEO Guy Nirpaz and those employees in Ukraine about how they’re responding. [7 steps to successfully conduct market research for startups]( Looking into how to do market research for a startup? Here’s everything you need to know about how to conduct market research so you can validate your startup idea with relevant industry insights before you hit the ground running. 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Categories: E-Commerce • Grocery • Local • Mobile • Retail Founders: [Larry Liu]( Investors: [SoftBank Vision Fund]( (Lead), [Greyhound Capital]( [iFIT]( [$355M]( / [Private Equity Round]( IFIT is a global subscription technology company that provides interactive personal training. Categories: Fitness • Subscription Service • Training • Wellness Founders: [Gary Stevenson]( [Scott Watterson]( Investors: [L Catterton]( (Lead), [Scott Watterson]( [Biomason]( [$65M]( / [Series C]( Biomason is a developer of a building materials technology that employs natural microorganisms to grow bio cement in ambient temperatures. 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