This week in the world of startups, partnerships and acquisitions took center stage, with several notable deals and collaborations making headlines. Meanwhile, funding news was also abundant, with startups across various sectors securing significant investments to fuel their growth.

In the partnership department, Volvo Autonomous Solutions teamed up with self-driving truck startup Waabi to develop and deploy autonomous trucks, with commercial pilots set to launch in Texas soon. Another notable partnership was the merger of space startups OurSky and PlaneWave, which created Observable Space, a new company focused on creating the next-generation of telescopes.

On the other hand, robotics company Figure AI chose to go solo, exiting its deal with OpenAI to focus on in-house AI development following a "major breakthrough." The startup is working on a general-purpose humanoid robot for commercial and residential use. Google's X also spun out Heritable Agriculture, a startup using AI to improve crop yield.

In acquisition news, XOi, a startup building software for maintenance personnel, acquired competitor Specifx to expand its datasets on repairs. The acquisition was made for an undisclosed sum and was funded by a $230 million round announced this week.

However, not all startups were as fortunate, as failed Canada-based accounting startup Bench burned through $135 million before filing for bankruptcy, according to records. This serves as a cautionary tale on the importance of managing burn rates.

Looking ahead, several tech companies are preparing to go public this year, including two space and defense tech startups that filed to go public last month: Karman and Voyager Technologies. Deel, a fintech/HR startup, is also expected to go public soon, following a major secondary sale.

In funding news, Canadian programmatic advertising startup StackAdapt raised a $235 million growth funding round led by Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG). India also announced a new $1.15 billion fund of funds for startups as part of its federal budget for 2025-26. Ola billionaire founder Bhavish Aggarwal invested $230 million into Krutrim, the AI startup he created to push for Indian LLMs.

Other notable funding rounds included Munich-based CVC Hitachi Ventures securing $400 million for its fourth fund, Berry Street and Fay each raising $50 million to match dietitians with patients, and French startup Riot raising a $30 million Series B round to expand its focus on cybersecurity education. German VC firm Cherry Ventures also raised a new $500 million fund, while European VC firm Emblem raised $85 million for its initial fund.

Finally, a report by Galion.exe, Revaia, and Chausson Partners revealed that European AI startups collectively raised $8 billion in 2024, with 70% of that capital going into seed to Series B rounds. This suggests that the figure could increase as the scene matures.

Overall, this week's news highlights the dynamic nature of the startup ecosystem, with partnerships, acquisitions, and funding rounds driving innovation and growth across various sectors.