Air Taxi pioneer Lilium faces financial turbulence

Six bullets of updates

1. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Stability unveils Stable Diffusion 3.5 series with 8 billion parameters for more diverse image generation.

2. 📺 London-based Synthesia has quadrupled its team since 2022 to push for a 'ChatGPT-style' moment in AI video.

3. 🚖 China's self-driving startup WeRide's shares rose 19% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday. 

4. 📖 After selling Anchor to Spotify, the co-founders reunited to build an AI educational startup called Oboe.

5. ✂️ Rental car startup Kyte, which bills itself as the “best alternative to Hertz,” is slashing staff and shrinking to two markets for survival.

6. 🛩️ Airdog’s founders are back with a precision-strike drone for modern warfare.

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Air Taxi pioneer Lilium faces financial turbulence

Lilium, the German startup developing electric air taxis, faces an uncertain future after announcing plans to file for insolvency and pursue government-supervised restructuring. Despite raising $1.1 billion since 2021 and attracting big-name investors like Honeywell and BlackRock, the company has run out of funds. A recent appeal for a €50 million loan from the German government was denied, placing Lilium at risk of bankruptcy if it cannot secure new financing.

Founded in 2015, Lilium aimed to revolutionize urban travel with its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, but the costs of development, certification, and production have strained its resources. Competing companies like Joby Aviation and Vertical Aerospace are also raising funds, but with first passenger flights projected no sooner than 2026, the high-stakes eVTOL market is proving a tough lift for all. 

Lilium's stock has dropped 75% in the past two days. According to its website, the company employs over 1,000 people. Read more!

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. From Pitch Deck to Funding | October 31 | Webinar

2. Crash Course in Financial Modeling | November 5 | Webinar

3. Financial Modeling Bootcamp | November 11-15 | LIVE 1-week bootcamp

4. Techstars Columbus | November 20 | Columbus

5. Techstars New York City Accelerator | November 20 | New York City

6. Techstars Anywhere Accelerator | November 20 | Remote

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These companies just raised money

1. 🚗 Waymo raises $5.6B from Alphabet, a16z, and others to boost its autonomous vehicle growth journey.

2. 🤢 Alimetry raises $18M to advance its AI-powered wearable, diagnosing gastric disorders without invasive tests.

3. 🟦 Bluesky secured a $15M Series A to expand its decentralized social platform, adding 3M users last month alone.

4. 🚀 Rocketing to success, Lumen Orbit secures a sizzling $10M seed round for its space-based data centers.

5. 🏥 Pharos, a YC startup, lands a $5M seed to use AI in quality reporting, freeing up hours of hospital admin work.

6. 🫘 Cafeteria raises $3M to connect teens with brands, offering insights and paying $5-$20 per feedback session.

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Perplexity hits big with 100M queries amid $8B valuation talks

Perplexity's AI search engine is flexing its silicon muscles with 100M weekly queries, a sharp rise from 250M monthly queries in July. As it gears up for one-click e-commerce and plans for sponsored searches with brands like Nike, it faces legal battles over content scraping. News Corp and others have slapped Perplexity with lawsuits, dubbing it a "content kleptocracy." 

Amidst this storm, the startup is negotiating a $500M raise at a whopping $8 billion valuation. This is a reminder that in tech, the bigger you get, the more lawsuits you can attract! At the same time, however, its popularity opens doors that could keep you perplexed. Read more!

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The FATAL Flaw Pushing GoPro to Bankruptcy 

GoPro’s hidden flaw may be why it’s collecting dust. This video shows its rise, missed opportunities, failed drones, and how DJI took over. Is there a future for GoPro, or has your smartphone already won? Subscribe here!

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