21 - Latitude, PIN, and Wexler

April 24, 2023

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Now, let's dive into this week's startups.

Startup spotlight

  • Industry - Data & Analytics

  • Headquarters - US

  • Year founded - 2022

  • Stage - Pre-seed

  • Key investors (public source) - Moonfire

Over the past decade, significant improvements have been made in the way companies store, transform, and use their data, thanks to the emergence of the modern data stack. This new paradigm has enabled incredible advancements in the field, but it has also excluded most decision-makers from participating in the process. Despite the fact that data exploration is inherently a collaborative process, most tools are black boxes that are inaccessible to non-technical people.

The consequences of this exclusion are apparent: long feedback loops, data teams overwhelmed with requests, uneven expectations, loss of context… These issues can be addressed through a better approach.

Latitude is revolutionizing this process by providing teams with the ability to build low-code data apps, which allows them to gain insights quickly and easily. The platform is designed with real-time collaboration, high-performance, and ease-of-use in mind, making it a truly modern tool. With Latitude, decision-makers can now actively participate in data exploration, leading to faster processing, better results, and true self-service.

Founder(s) background: César M. - ex-VP of Product @ Factorial, Gerard Clos - ex-Director of Engineering @ Factorial

The venture-backed startup market1 has driven significant financial returns over the last decade, with the potential for continued growth in the future. However, the market has been largely inaccessible to most people due to accreditation rules that require investors to meet certain income or net worth requirements. PIN aims to democratize access to this market, potentially opening up a vast untapped market of investors.

The company's solution is community clubs, SEC-compliant investing vehicles that allow anyone to invest in startups, regardless of accreditation. PIN automates the legal, tax, and administrative work associated with starting a legal entity to invest in startups together. This allows leaders and investors to focus on sourcing, investing, and community engagement.

Founder(s) background: Steph Mui - Co-founder @ Stanford 2020, a venture fund solely to invest in their fellow classmates’ ventures

  • Industry - AI, Legal Tech

  • Headquarters - UK

  • Year founded - 2022

  • Stage - Pre-seed

  • Backed by (public source) - Entrepreneur First

Wexler is an AI writing assistant designed specifically for lawyers, capable of analyzing and drafting legal documents rapidly and efficiently.

With the increasing use of AI in law firms, it has become a necessity rather than a mere desire. This technology is changing the way legal businesses operate, much like email did in the 1990s. By using AI tools, lawyers can save time and effort on labor-intensive tasks like document drafting, contract creation and review, and research. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that nearly a quarter of a lawyer's current workload can potentially be automated.

Founder(s) background: Gregory Mostyn - ex-Growth Marketing Director @ CogX, Head of Marketing @ Verve; Kush Madlani - ex-Applied Researcher @ Tractable, Associate @ J.P. Morgan

Do you know of a startup that we should write about in our newsletter? Please send us a reply!

Funding news

  • Yonder, a London-based startup, has raised £62.5mm in Series A funding with Northzone and RTP Global among the backers. The startup has developed a credit card product that focuses on rewards shopping.

  • Scan.com, a London-based medical imaging startup connecting patients with scanning centers for MRI, ultrasound, CT, and X-ray, has raised $12mm in a Series A round of funding. The round was co-led by Oxford Capital, Aviva Ventures, YZR Capital, Triple Point Ventures, and Simplyhealth Ventures, with participation from Forefront Venture Partners.

  • Alongside, a crypto index-focused platform, has raised $11mm in a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Franklin Templeton Investments, Village Global, Not Boring Capital, and angel investors.

  • Shield, a web3 security company, raised $2.1mm in pre-seed funding from investors including Kraken Ventures, Eterna Capital, Alchemy, Moonpay, and leading security investors. Shield is a member of a16z's Crypto Startup School.

Notable numbers

20%

Tiger Global Management's $12.7 billion fund, launched in 2021, had a paper loss of 20%, net of management fees, as of December, according to a report in The Information.

$25 billion

Roughly $25 billion worth of IPOs priced globally in March and April, nearly twice the amount seen in the first two months of the year, when listings virtually ground to a halt. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Asia continues to lead the way with the vast majority of deals. Deal sizes on average were smaller, and the money raised so far this year remains 51% below the same period last year.

82%

In the first quarter of the year, funding to VC-backed web3 startups hit its lowest point since the very early days of the space as deal flow continues to slow. Venture funding plummeted 82% year to year, dropping from $9.1 billion in Q1 of 2022 to only $1.7 billion, per Crunchbase data.

Job openings

  • Beacons: Head of Finance - Hybrid (San Francisco)

  • Casual: Frontend (UI) Engineer, Senior Full-stack Product Engineer, Backend (Data) Engineer - Remote (US, Canada, and UK)

  • Oversee: Full-stack Engineer (Junior/Senior) - On-site (New York City)

  • Porter (YC W23): Founding Full-Stack Engineer - Remote (preferably SF Bay Area)

Please reach out for more information or an introduction.

Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next week!

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