$17.4 billion funding for Massachusetts startups

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July 28, 2021

NPA Insights, July 2021

Massachusetts startups raised a record $17.4 billion in VC funding during the first six months of 2021.

This exceeds the total 2020 funding by half a billion $ already.

(Source: Boston Globe / PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor)

If I hear one more supplier tell me there is no money in startups.......

AND NOW SOME OPERATIONS NEWS

This Operations Update is provided with support from:

The State of Manufacturing

No real change of the PMI Index in June. Manufacturing shows a 2.3% gain over May.

Raw material pricing keeps going up and we do not see an end to this trend at this time.

To date it's almost 15% price increases from Jan- June of 2021.

The Malaysian government's COVID enhanced movement control order (EMCO) between July 3rd and July 16th, 2021, was lifted as of 17th July.

Here is a list of electronic suppliers that were impacted by this lockdown. (Source: Avnet)

In related news, Hong Kong is extending its Covid restriction through early August due to rising infection rates, further impacting shipments out of China. Major carriers like FedEx expect 3-5 day delays in clearing goods through Hong Kong.

STARTUP STUFF

Ithaca Startup Works is launching the Rev's Manufacturing Hardware Accelerator in partnership with Cornell University College of Engineering and is supported by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Applications close on September 20th. Apply here.

NPA's Boston Hardware Startups to watch in 2021!

Find the latest updates of the hottest Boston Startups here.

American Robotics Ondas Holdings, which recently acquired American Robotics, closed a $51.5M public equity raise for working capital and general corporate purposes. More on this here. (Source: BusinessWire)

Accion Systems raised a $42M Series C round at a new valuation of $83.5M. In addition, their latest products, TILE 2 and TILE 3, made it successfully into space via NanoAvionics on the latest SpaceEx launch at the end of June. More on the fresh dough here. (Source: Space Intel Report)

Flare Sara de Zarraga & Quinn Fitzgerald, the co-founders of Flare, are featured in InStyle's Badass 50 women who make the world a better place. More on this here. (Source: InStyle)

OptimusRide announced their latest Advisory Board. More on this here.

Smoodi's CEO Pascal Kriesche is being recognized as a Top 100 F&B Leader by GSAF, the Global Summit on All-things Food. Congrats! Read more about this here. (Source: Smoodi)

SparkCharge and Urgently partner to increase the availability of Mobile EV Charging. Find out more here. (Source: InsideEVs)

Starry Internet announced it's launching its high-speed internet service in Columbus, Ohio. Find out more here. (Source: Starry)

Tive raised $7.5M in an equity round to further develop its single-use tracker that provides data on shipments during the shipping process. Read more about this here. (Source: BBJ)

Our monthly survey

Time off is important, and I think the Europeans do it better than most other countries.

Some European countries or companies restrict email on holidays, weekends, or after hours. Others will block emails to their employees during vacation.

On one side, there are plenty of people that will balance it and stick with it.

The other side is many more that fail with the above approach (and not because they are weak). It's the same reason why people struggle to stick to diets, professional or sports goals, new years resolutions, etc.

There are many reasons as to why for both sides. Let us know what you think below. We'll publish the results in the next newsletter.

Should governments or companies get actively involved in limiting email, etc. during off time.

Yes, both government & companies should take actions.

Select

Yes, but only companies.

Select

Yes, but only the government.

Select

Yes, but I want to be able to opt out.

Select

No.

Select

ICYMI

Weddings are expected to rebound by 50% this year and some guests are getting worried. Bridesmaiddebt (Source: Bloomberg)

Zoom will add 3rd party apps to its video conferencing platform to make meetings more productive and engaging. HappyHourOnZoom (Source: BBC)

TikTok lets US users apply for jobs with Video resumes. Approximately three dozen companies are taking part in this pilot. CheckYourBackgroundDude (Source: Engadget)