October opens with a bang as startups raise big rounds

Plus, the sustainable clothing startups raising billions October 10, 2023 Hi, {NAME}. When’s the last time you darned a sock? Wait, never? A couple generations ago, mending clothes was something families commonly did. We put patches on ripped pants, sewed up sweaters for another season, and even fixed sock holes. Now, of course, you’d be hard-pressed to find people in wealthy nations who do that — it’s far easier to buy cheap replacement clothes. But our clothes-buying habits have taken a huge toll on our environment, generating millions of tons of apparel waste and sucking up valuable land and water resources. Today, we look at [the startups working on more sustainable clothing options](. 🧦 [Sustainable clothing startups sew up billions in funding]( As the tremendous environmental impact of fast fashion becomes ever-more obvious, sustainability is becoming a much more powerful mantra in the apparel space. That’s reflected in startup funding, where [purveyors of secondhand clothes, recycled or recyclable fabrics, and other environmentally-conscious approaches to fashion have raised billions over the years]( Crunchbase data shows. Related Crunchbase Pro list: [Funded Startups Related To Sustainable Clothing]( 💥 [Top 10: Parking, AI, energy raise big as October opens with a bang]( Last week saw a lot of big U.S. startup funding rounds, including one of more than $1 billion to help awaken the slumbering M&A market. The big deals ran the gamut, from parking (yes, parking!) to energy to good old AI. See also: [The Crunchbase Megadeals Board]( ✂️ [Crypto sector cuts jobs as woes mount]( In case you needed more evidence that the NFT fad is over, last week [Yuga Labs]( — the heavily-funded startup behind those “bored ape” images — confirmed that it was cutting jobs and restructuring the company. Crypto forensics firm [Chainalysis]( also cut jobs. They joined a logistics unicorn, publicly-traded software company and other tech employers on our [Tech Layoffs Tracker]( last week. 😐 [North American startup investors mostly said ‘meh’ in Q3]( If we had to summarize the North American investment environment in Q3 in three letters, “meh” might be a good pick. Last quarter was a decidedly ho-hum one for startup investing in North America, the largest venture market in the world. We saw a few big venture-backed IPOs, most notably [Instacart]( and [Klaviyo]( debut to tepid early performances. But we also saw some big rounds led by AI and sustainable battery tech. And we saw a bit of recovery in later-stage financings. [We break it all down here](. Recent Investments [Valeo]( [600M EUR]( / [Post-IPO Debt]( Valeo is an automotive supplier and manufacturer that designs and produces a wide range of automotive products. Categories: Automotive • Industrial Manufacturing • Manufacturing Founders: [Eugène Buisson]( Investors: [European Investment Bank]( (Lead) [Stoke Space]( [$100M]( / [Series B]( Stoke Space is a developer of reusable rockets that provide access to and from any orbit to the satellite industry. Categories: Aerospace • Product Design • Space Travel Founders: [Andy Lapsa]( [Thomas Feldman]( Investors: [Industrious Ventures]( (Lead), [Breakthrough Energy Ventures]( [In-Q-Tel]( [+ 8 more]( [SpaceX]( [Unknown]( / [Debt Financing]( SpaceX is an aviation and aerospace company that focuses on reducing costs associated with space travel. Categories: Advanced Materials • Aerospace • Manufacturing • Space Travel • Transportation Founders: [Elon Musk]( Investors: [Intesa Sanpaolo]( (Lead) More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Observe]( $50M / [Convertible Note]( [Sutter Hill Ventures]( [Machina Labs]( $32M / [Series B]( [Innovation Endeavors]( [Phaver]( $7.0M / [Seed Round]( - [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Orchard Therapeutics]( Pending acquisition by [Kyowa Kirin]( for 57B JPY More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Tribal Group]( [Ellucian]( 172M GBP [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( #{Rails.configuration.daily.cb_url} Discover innovative companies and the people behind them. [Follow Us on Crunchbase]( [View Jobs on LinkedIn]( [Follow Us on Twitter]( [Like Us on Facebook]( 564 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94104 © 2023 Crunchbase Inc. All rights reserved. [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( [Unsubscribe]( from Crunchbase Daily.