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Who Can Live Without TikTok???

Who Can Live Without TikTok???

Christopher Webster
January 20, 2025

Startups:

Perplexity AI bids to merge with TikTok:

Perplexity AI is one of the newest bidders to emerge for TikTok’s U.S. branch. If you don’t know what Perplexity AI is, it is a free AI search engine. Think of it like ChatGPT meets Google search. TikTok was shut down this weekend then restored, which in itself is major news, because the major national security concern from the U.S. government. However, the bid would create a new entity between the two companies, and most investor’s in TikTok’s parent company ByteDance would be able to keep their equity in the new company. What does Perplexity get out of this? Well, they obviously would get a whole lot more video data, which they hope brings more video to their AI search engine. What do you think is going to happen to TikTok?

Struggling Proptech:

What is proptech? Otherwise known as property technology, proptech is the technology that is used in the real estate industry. And the industry has definitely seen better days. This can be seen from the lack of recent investment. U.S.-based real estate startups saw $11.1 billion of funding in 2021 and only $3.7 billion last year. The two startups that are the most recent victims of the harsh times for this sector are Divvy Homes and EasyKnock. Divvy Homes seems to be starting the process of being acquired in what looks to be a fire sales, while EasyKnock is closing down for good. This doesn’t come as a shock to anyone as both companies have been showing signs of failure for awhile now. Will we see this industry make a comeback?

Why Bench failed:

As you may recall, accounting startup, Bench closed down abruptly during the holidays. This came as a huge shock to most people since the company seemed to be doing well. Bench even had $2.8 million in cash at the time of their closure, but their was one overarching problem. Debt! And a whole lot of it. Bench had $64.5 million in liabilities on their balance sheet. For an accounting startup you would think they would know how to keep their debt under control. The worst part is that Bench owed the National Bank of Canada $50 million of the total debt they owed. Throughout the life of the company, which began in 2012, Bench was able to raise $113 million from investors like Shopify and Bain Capital Ventures. There is a big bankruptcy mess to deal with for Bench’s acquirer Employeer.com. Time will tell if we will see more stories like this in 2025.

Venture:

Oui Capital:

The early-stage African VC firm Oui Capital has returned their $4 million debut fund. This comes from selling some of their shares in Moniepoint, an African-based business banking platform. Oui Capital invested $150,000 into the company which has since generated $8 million in returns. The one investment alone allows them to pay back that first fund. Now, all future returns from the investment will be pure profit for Oui Capital. This is rare for such a young VC firm, especially in Africa, to return their first fund. However exits are still rare in Africa and they’re still a developing market. With the growing tech ecosystem will we star to see more M&A or even IPOs coming out of Africa?

Big Tech:

No more drones:

Amazon has suspended their testing of drone deliveries after two of their drone crashed into one another. This will delay their Prime Air Program, which aims to deliver around 500 million packages a year to customers by 2030. This isn’t the first incident with Amazon’s drone testing. They have now had multiple drones crashing into one another. Does this give some room for a startup to beat Amazon to market? When will it be commonplace to get your packages delivered by drones?

I’m back…:

TikTok seems to be the only thing people are talking about other than returning President Donald Trump. This weekend the company seems to have found its second life. Guess people will still be able to mindlessly scroll through videos and ignore the real world around them for a little longer. Only 12 hours after TikTok went dark due to the ban from former President Biden it came back online. President Trump has reassured TikTok’s service providers that they would not be punished for bringing the app back online and that he would delay the ban immediately. The delay will most likely be another 90 days. What’s next? Will Trump let China keep control of the company? Will this just give more time for a U.S. based company like Trump’s ally Elon Musk’s X to buy it? Or is this just delaying the inevitable?