Startups Weekly: Cutting through Google I/O noise

Summary

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. Despite Google I/O capturing as much attention as anticipated, some startups still took their chances and shared announcements this week, while others simply had to go with the flow when their news made headlines. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:OpenAI This week’s most interesting startup stories came from current and former IPO hopefuls, some of which also provided exits to earlier-stage ventures. Billion-dollar hire? Jony Ive and his firm LoveFrom will lead creative and design work at OpenAI after the company acquired io, the AI device startup he co-founded with Sam Altman, in an all-equity deal valuing that startup at $6.5 billion. Million-dollar employees: BNPL giant Klarna is on track to reach $1 million in revenue per employee, up from $575,000 a year earlier, after its AI-driven efficiency push reduced its customer service costs. To further showcase its use of AI, Klarna’s quarterly earnings were presented by an AI avatar of its CEO. Brex for Zip: Brex is partnering with former competitor Zip, a 5-year-old procurement startup, with hopes to grow its enterprise customer base and keep on reducing its cash burn, one of the boxes to tick for a potential IPO. Running out of money: Microsoft-backed AI software company Builder.ai entered insolvency proceedings despite having raised more than $450 million in funding at a unicorn valuation. New ride: Einride founder Robert Falck transitioned from CEO to executive chairman as the electric and autonomous trucking startup works toward scaling, fundraising, and a potential IPO. Fresh lights: Luminar, a lidar company whose billionaire founder was recently replaced as CEO following an ethics inquiry, could secure up to $200 million through the sale of convertible preferred stock. Open road: The Breakaway, a Y Combinator alum that makes a popula...