El Segundo, Calif-based artificial gravity space habitation startup Vast acquired efficient rocker maker Launcher for an undisclosed sum. Vast will gain access to in-house manufacturing talent and will be able to expand its development capabilities as a result of the move. "Speed of execution is a critical element of our mission and Launcher has shown that this is in their DNA," said Vast's founder and CEO, Jed McCaleb. 

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• Vast will leverage Launcher's spacecraft Orbiter to test its space station components and substations. 
• Launcher will continue to work on its rocket engine E-2, with additional support from Vast. 
• Launcher's founder Max Haot is set to join Vast as its president. 
• Haot will oversee the development of Orbiter, E-2, and space station programs. 
• Launcher's team will be merged with Vast's after it moves into a new facility in Long Island.

BlocPower, which works on making buildings more energy efficient, raised a $24M Series B led by VoLo Earth Ventures. The startup also raised $130M in financing led by Goldman Sachs.

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• BlocPower is currently working on the electrification of 1,000 residential and 600 commercial buildings in Ithaca, New York.
  • The project involves a total of 6,000 buildings, as the city intends to become the first net-zero municipality in the U.S.
• The round included participation from Kimbal and Christina Musk, NBA player Russell Westbrook, and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, among others.
• Buildings comprise 38% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., per the U.S. Green Building Council.

Hectare, a Software-as-a-Service platform that gives farmers insights on trading and logistics, raised a $20M Series A. The U.K.-based startup plans to use the funds for product development and to expand to other markets. 

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• Hectare claims 130,000 agriculture businesses on its platform in the U.K., with a 50% split on crops and livestock companies.
• The startup says it reduced the carbon footprint of the beef and sheep supply chain by 2.5 million livestock miles.
• "We initially saw a clear path for technology to reduce farming transaction costs by up to 90%. Those opportunities then spread wider into sustainability benefits including animal welfare, traceability, food sustainability, and security," said the startup's co-founder and CEO, Jamie McInnes.
• Last month, Source.ag, a startup that helps commercial greenhouses optimize their yield via AI models, raised a $23M Series A.

New York-based medication delivery startup NextMed has drawn criticism from health professionals over its advertisements, which lack drug-risk information and reportedly promoted drugs for unapproved uses. NextMed reportedly faked client reviews and published fake testimonials on its website. The startup is under fire from the public for failing to provide clients with requested services.

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• NextMed was promoting drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro for weight loss.
• Ozempic and Mounjaro are diabetes drugs that are not approved for weight loss purposes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 
• After the WSJ questioned the startup about the issues, NextMed stopped running all its television ads and changed the content of its website.  
  • Their commercials, which aired on Fox News, ESPN, and MSNBC, were seen 99 million times. 
• The firm has reportedly raised $7M in funding to date and generated nearly $10M in revenue in 2022. 
• NextMed was trying to raise a $30M funding round.

Snoop Dogg revealed he is one of the founders of the Web3 streaming app Shiller. The rapper previously partnered with metaverse platform Sandbox on an NFT collection and Yuga Labs on a metaverse-themed performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. 

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• Shiller enables creators to request tokens or NFTs in exchange for access to streaming.
• Originally scheduled for release in January, the app has set a target for April.
• According to a McKinsey study, social commerce surpassed $400B in gross merchandise volume in 2022.

French retail marketplace startup Ankorstore is reorganizing its workforce and could reportedly lay off around half of its workforce, sources close to the matter informed Business Insider. In Feb. 2022, co-founder Nicolas Cohen said the company had to move "very fast" to gain a first-mover advantage (FMA). Ankorstore's layoffs seem to stem from its need to reduce the burn rate amidst the global slowdown as tech companies prioritize profitability over growth. 

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• Ankorstore was last valued at $2B and has raised $387M (€365M) in total funding from VCs. 
• Notable backers of the firm include Tiger Global, Coatue, and Index Ventures. 
• LinkedIn estimates that Ankorstore currently has nearly 600 employees, up from its previously disclosed figure of 400 from Feb. 2022. 
• The firm announced its first round of layoffs last October when it let go 20% of its workforce. 

Zoom out:

• Layoffs.fyi data shows that 450 tech companies have collectively laid off 120,000 staff members so far in 2023. 
• Ankorstore's rival, Faire, reduced its workforce strength by 7% in Nov. 2022.

I'm Kiani from Inside.com, and last week, we asked our community, "Do you have any product managers on your team, and what led to hiring your first one?" Here are some highlighted responses we received:

• Jason Trumpberg (p/jasontrumpberg), Broker, answered, "Oh boy, do I have a story for you! Hiring a product manager was like finding a needle in a haystack. It took forever to find the right person who not only had the right skillset, but also understood our vision and goals for Handshaking.com. We finally found our first product manager, who is an absolute rockstar, but let me tell you, the hiring process was hilarious. We had to go through so many resumes and interviews that we started to question if product managers even existed or if it was just some made-up job title … Now that we have a product manager on board, it's like night and day. Tasks are getting done efficiently and we're making progress towards our goals."
• Theodora Chimonez (p/theodora-chimone), Chief of Product at Nerdbug Limited, answered, "I have 3 PMs in my team. When we were ready to push NerdBug into becoming an operational entity, the question of what roles and people who'd fit that role was a top priority. I needed someone who can "take charge," someone passionate that could pick up the mantle and run with it. Someone whose work I was already familiar with."

Join the conversations at Inside.com, and we may shout out your name and business or contact you for more! ⭐️

Quick Hits:

• Demonstrating security and compliance can be time-consuming and expensive. Until you use Vanta, start a free trial.*
• B2B e-commerce startup Alerzo laid off 15% of its workforce. This is the Nigerian startup's second round of layoffs after it reduced its workforce by 5% last September. 
• African startup Flutterwave lost $4.2M funds from its platform after a recent hack, per TechCrunch and Techpoint Africa. 
• San Francisco, Calif.-based urban scooter startup Lime filed a lawsuit against Hertz, reportedly seeking compensation for allegedly poaching senior employees. 
• Singaporean VC firm Iterative invested in 18 startups that emerged from the sixth cohort of its accelerator program. 
• Spacegoods, a mental health supplement startup, expects to generate £5M ($6M) in revenue by May 2023, a significant achievement given that it is only in its first year of operation.

*This is sponsored content.

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