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Paradigm Raises Seed Round, Launches Spreadsheet Platform
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By Marc Vartabedian, WSJ Pro
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Good day. There is a new contender in the startup race to challenge Microsoft Excel’s stranglehold on the world of spreadsheets.
San Francisco-based Paradigm said Monday it’s launching its artificial intelligence-powered spreadsheet platform with $5 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst. Its software was designed with AI from the outset, making more seamless use of the advanced technology than legacy companies that have instead tacked it onto existing products, the startup said.
This year through mid-August, venture investors committed roughly $92 billion to U.S. future of work and business productivity startups, eclipsing 2024’s full-year total of $70 billion and a 142% jump over 2023’s funding haul, according to research firm PitchBook Data.
The data, while it captures funding for developing spreadsheet technology, also covers a broader segment of workplace tech tools.
Paradigm’s coming out ratchets up a fierce battle among startups brandishing AI to unseat Excel. Venture investors have been pumping capital into these upstarts developing AI-infused spreadsheet platforms and workplace-productivity tools.
“There’s a lot of anticipation around the space because there are a lot of players, many with slightly different approaches,” said Anna Monaco, the 23-year-old founder and CEO of Paradigm. “There’s not one that’s clearly ahead, so there’s that anticipation around who will win because it’s a massive market.”
Read the full article.
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And now on to the news...
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Databricks Chief Executive Ali Ghodsi Photo: Weber Shih for WSJ
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Databricks Raising Funds at $100 Billion Valuation
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Databricks, a data-analytics software company, is finalizing a funding round that would value it at $100 billion, a 61% increase from its last funding round in December.
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Venture-capital firm Thrive Capital is set to co-lead the new round, according to people familiar with the matter. The company expects to have other co-lead investors, but details, including the size of the round, haven’t been finalized. Andreessen Horowitz is also planning to put money into the company, according to the people.
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Databricks, which sells software that helps companies access and analyze data sets, has experienced a surge in growth with the AI boom. Data scientists at its client companies use its software to analyze large volumes of information they collect. Adidas, for example, uses Databricks to help it analyze sentiment from millions of customer reviews, feedback it uses to improve its products.
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“The finance team tells me to not use this term, but I think Databricks has a shot to be a trillion-dollar company. But we have a lot of work ahead of us to get there.”
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— Databricks Chief Executive Ali Ghodsi
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High-Tech Bedding Company Eight Sleep Raises $100 Million
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When your product’s power users include tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, where do you go next? For “sleep fitness” startup Eight Sleep, the answer is Main Street. The 11-year-old startup on Tuesday said it had raised $100 million in a Series D funding round, partly to expand into physical retail and medical devices that could be covered by insurance.
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The funding round brings Eight Sleep’s valuation to close to $1 billion, up from nearly $500 million in 2021, according to the company.
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Investors in the new funding round include HSG, Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, Y Combinator and the Formula One driver Charles Leclerc.
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SoftBank Invests $2 Billion in Intel as U.S. Considers Taking 10% Stake in Chip Maker
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SoftBank Group has agreed to invest $2 billion in embattled chip maker Intel, a boost from the private sector that coincides with a government rescue effort. Trump administration officials are discussing taking a 10% stake in Intel in a bid to revive the company’s fortunes and bolster semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., according to people briefed on the talks. Additional investment is helpful for Intel, but the company needs customers for its chip design and fabrication businesses to get back on track, industry analysts say.
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People
Scale Venture Partners promoted Maggie Basta and Max Abram to principal, and Damian Gardiner to senior associate.
MarginEdge, a restaurant-management and bill payment platform, promoted Tara Clever to chief revenue officer. She was most recently senior vice president of marketing and partnerships at the company.
Exits
Salesforce agreed to acquire Regrello, a startup that automates complex business processes.
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Keychain, a New York-based AI-powered manufacturing platform for the consumer packaged goods industry, scored $30 million in Series B funding led by Wellington Management and BoxGroup.
Basic Capital, a New York-based 401(k) platform, closed a $25 million Series A round led by Forerunner Ventures and Lux Capital.
Sola, a provider of an AI co-pilot for robotic process automation, scored a $17.5 million Series A round. Led by Andreessen Horowitz, the funding included participation from Conviction and Y Combinator.
Palabra AI, a London-based developer of an AI-powered speech translation engine, raised an $8.4 million pre-seed round. Seven Seven Six led the investment, which included participation from Creator Ventures.
ChemFinity Technologies, a critical mineral recovery system provider, was seeded with a $7 million investment co-led by At One Ventures and Overture.
Infinity Loop, a New York-based vendor contract intelligence platform, raised $5 million in seed funding. Glasswing Ventures and TIAA Ventures led the round, which included participation from Plug and Play and others.
Studio Atelico, an AI-first game studio based in San Francisco and London, closed a $5 million round from investors including Air Street Capital.
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A recent ‘Roomies’ episode revolved around a broken air conditioner. PHOTO: BILT
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