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Necessary Nuggets
Happy Wednesday, and more importantly, happy new year! Welcome to the first official edition of Necessary Nuggets, a new, refreshed version of the NVTC Weekly Newsletter that still includes helpful tidbits on the tech world and updates from Necessary Ventures.
Necessary Nuggets now reaches the NVTC, NV LPs, NV founders, and other NV stakeholders. NVTC still has its private community space on LinkedIn, LPs will still receive quarterly fund reports and updates, and NV founders will still receive late night texts from Neil about market expansion opportunities. The newsletter content will be roughly the same but expanded to include interesting and relevant news for all subscribers.
You'll be able to access every newsletter edition from our blog. And if for some [dark and unimaginable] reason you'd like to unsubscribe, we'll always include that option down below. One thing is certain: it's golden hour here at Necessary Nuggets.
THIS WEEK’S FEATURES ⚡
🎢 The Fore-sea-able Future – Turning water to … metal.
⭐ Age Is Just a Number – Scientists think we might go to Neverland afterall.
⭐ Scoot Over, Slowpoke – Share scooters might be going extinct.
⭐ Kindling Creativity – Amazon Kindle writers are taking shortcuts.
NV Portfolio Highlight 🎢
Did you know aluminum and steel production accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions? Now, can you picture a world without aluminum and steel? Magrathea can, and it’s building a world where structural metal doesn’t require mining – the culprit of carbon-intensive metal production.
Magrathea is literally making waves. Instead of focusing on heavy metals like aluminum and steel, Magrathea uses seawater brine to produce magnesium. Magnesium is 1.5x lighter than aluminum, 3x lighter than steel, and faster and cheaper to machine. Many companies (think Audi, Volkswagen, Ford) are already turning to magnesium for new structures, and Magrathea gives the first sustainable way to get it.
Founded in March this year, Magrathea has already raised $2 million in financing. Although it’s still in early-stage development, the company has the potential to turn the metals industry on its head. The metal magnesium market was valued at $4.35 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7% from 2021 to 2031.
GOOD READS 📖
What if you didn’t have to grow up? 2023 will see new approaches to the biology of senescence – the process of deterioration with age. Aging is currently responsible for two-thirds of deaths thanks to medical advancements. Scientists are investigating ways to remove aged cells to slow down the process.
It doesn’t seem like shared scooters will replace cars as the dominant transportation method in cities any time soon. Despite the already expensive cost of riding scooters, companies still struggle to achieve profitability. Paris and LA are two examples of cities that leaned into e-scooter adoption to no avail: Paris may ban its 15,000 shared scooters, and the number of permitted scooter operators in LA may be limited.
Kaley’s Comment: If e-scooters aren’t the solution to sustainable commuting, then what is? People are increasingly turning their attention to e-bikes: sales are surpassing those of electric and hybrid cars combined. However, infrastructure is a growing issue. E-cyclists often run into safety and logistical issues which demand more attention to urban planning.
Amazon Kindle’s platform is known for speedy publishing thanks to AI. But what does widespread AI usage mean for fiction? Welcoming ChatGPT to the writing world also welcomed a host of fears surrounding creativity and plagiarism. This article discusses the question of control in collaborative writing with an AI in an interview with AI-assisted detective novelist Jennifer Lepp.
Crypto had a tough end to an even tougher year with the announcement that Kraken, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, will be shutting down operations in Japan. Kraken is one of many major industry players in cost-cutting mode in the wake of poor crypto market conditions. 2022 saw the demise of multiple coins and exchanges, such as Terra and FTX, casting an ominous shadow over crypto’s future in 2023.
Kaley’s Comment: Although many people are anxiously awaiting crypto’s demise, there is also a solid contingency more confident in it than ever. Circle’s Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte asserts that crypto’s rocky year will force better regulation and more established institutions for crypto technologies. Additionally, business is still flooding into crypto spaces. Notable VCs continue to invest in Web3 plays, and big brands are still embracing NFTs.
Tech has a long list of new year’s resolutions it should make progress on. The IPO market is just one indicator of tech’s struggles over the past year. In 2021, there were at least 10 IPOs that raised over $1 billion in the US; this year, there were none. Additionally, IPO deal proceeds dropped 94% in 2022. All signs suggest we’re witnessing a nasty hangover from the binge spending of 2021.
STARTUPS TO WATCH 🔥
Amid the funding slump, some companies still finessed one last round before the close of 2022.
Aerones is building a robotics system to scrub and inspect wind turbines. This past month, it raised $38.9 million in Series A funding and aims to raise at least $2.5 million more.
Money View is an Indian fintech company developing personalized credit and financial management solutions. It raised $75 million in a new Series E funding round led by Apis Partners to scale its core credit business and build more products.
Inclusively is helping companies recruit employees with disabilities. The startup raised $4.3 million in a convertible note round, a significantly large raise considering the company has raised a total of $6.9 million in funding over 5 rounds including this one.
Hyphen Group is a fintech platform that analyzes and compares financial products in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. It raised $22 million in a funding round led by PCCW. The announcement followed news that CEO Sam Allen is stepping down.
REDDIT HIGHLIGHT 📈
It wouldn’t be right to welcome the new year without properly recapping 2022. This Reddit clip wraps up the year well – and definitely makes you feel ready to bid 2022 farewell.
It’s worth noting that loss is shown as a total value rather than percentage, which would be a better representation for comparison. However, it’s still a solid graphic to demonstrate just how severely tech was hit this year, especially the big tech titans like Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla.
OUTRO
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