Startups that are Ramp-ing up, and startups that are full of sh**

Aug 25, 2023

This week, the hosts dive into Nvidia's explosive earnings and its impact on the tech landscape. Ramp's billion-dollar valuation steal a spotlight, revealing the pressures of the fintech market. They explore Lex's innovative AI writing tool and celebrate Northvolt's massive investment in U.S. battery production. Controversy surrounds Better.com's public listing, while Cruise faces setbacks in San Francisco. Plus, a quirky look at startups in the waste management sector that have caught attention at TechCrunch.

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INSIGHT

Nvidia's Explosive Growth

Nvidia's Q2 earnings were exceptionally strong, doubling last year's revenue.
Demand for AI chips, driven by the generative AI boom, fuels this growth.

INSIGHT

Ramp's Resilience

Ramp, despite a down round, maintains a multi-billion dollar valuation.
This signifies resilience in the current fintech market.

INSIGHT

Fintech Valuation Correction

Fintech valuations are decreasing, correcting prior overvaluations.
The market now differentiates revenue quality, impacting fintech's value.

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This is our Friday show, and we’re talking about the week’s biggest startup and tech news. Here's what Mary Ann, Alex and Kirsten Korosec got into:

Nvidia blew the doors off with its earnings report. We talked through some of the high-level numbers and marveled at the company's growth. TechCrunch has more on the matter here.
Ramp raises $300M: In this market, a multi-billion-dollar valuation is a win for a fintech, even if Ramp's new price tag is a bit lower than it was previously. So, while Ramp likely doesn't love that it raised a down-round, it does have fresh capital and is worth $5.8 billion. That's simply not that bad.
Lex raised $2.75M: Alex covered AI-powered writing tool's Lex seed round. Kirsten got to give the app a try, and we all had nice things to say about the nascent startup.
Northvolt is bringing its volts to North America: The global battery-building boom includes Swedish company Northvolt building a new facility in the United States. The company raised $1.2 billion from BlackRock.
Better.com went public: Mary Ann interviewed the company's CEO ahead of its SPAC-led public market listing, which got panned.
In the transit world, Cruise got its wings clipped in San Francisco after an accident involving a fire truck. Alex is annoyed. Mary Ann is not.
This year's TechCrunch Battlefield 200 companies feature a lot of startups focused on excrement. We're not kidding.

That’s all from us this week. We are back Monday morning, chat then!

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