October opens with a bang as startups raise big rounds

October 10, 2023

Hi, Agen. 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.

✂️ 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.