附近上门

This is a monthly column that runs down five interesting deals every month that may have flown under the radar. Check out last month鈥檚 entry here.

July has come and gone, and there were a few interesting rounds that may have flown under the radar as everyone tried to beat the heat. Here are some startup deals of note that may have been overlooked last month:

I want my NFTV

: What do you get when you combine NFTs and TV. Thanks to Trustless Media, we are going to find out.

The Web3 production house launched last month out of stealth with a $3.25 million round led by CEO and crypto billionaire . The new round will be used to help launch 鈥淣FTV鈥� shows in which community members can own content of the shows.

The company will sell NFTs which will allow its community to both co-create and co-own its shows. The Web3 production hub鈥檚 first NFTV show will be Coinage鈥攗nsurprisingly a show that will 鈥渆xplore crypto鈥檚 biggest stories and questions with a skeptical eye.鈥�

Have as many as you want

: The non-alcoholic drink market鈥攏ow at $820 billion鈥攊s roaring.

has noticed.

Los Angeles-based De Soi, premium non-alcoholic aperitifs co-founded by Perry, raised a $4 million seed round last month led by . The round also included participation from entertainment and sports agency , which represents Perry.

Perry met co-founder Morgan McLachlan in early 2020, when they both were both pregnant and looking for ways to unwind鈥攂ut without booze. Now, two years later, the startup has created a line of drinks that includes 鈥淕olden Hour鈥� and 鈥淐hampignon Dreams鈥濃�攚hich is made with reishi mushroom and passion flower.

De Soi is already available in a handful of stores and through online sites, but the company hopes to use the capital to expand its retail footprint and bring De Soi to shelves nationwide.

Too many drones

: Once upon a time it was startups that created drones that raised money. Now it is companies that try to detect drones and secure airspace that receive the cash.

鈥嬧�婼an Francisco-based Dedrone鈥攁 smart airspace security firm鈥攃losed a $30 million Series C-1 financing round led by technology company . Just last December, Dedrone raised a $30.5 million Series C.

The company鈥檚 solution can detect, identify, locate, analyze and mitigate nearly 300 different types of drones. That has become a necessity as drone usage has exploded through the years and law enforcement, critical infrastructure and entire countries are trying to increase airspace security.

Its counter-drone system is used by four of the G-7 nation governments, nine U.S. federal agencies, including the ; and more than 20 airports.

Clean AC

: July was hot in most of the U.S. and August likely will be too. Unfortunately, the way most of the country stays cool鈥攁ir conditioning鈥攊s not entirely environmentally friendly due to high energy consumption and the use of refrigerants.

Startup Blue Frontier is looking to change that and now has money from energy venture firm behind it. The Boca Raton, Florida-based company raised a $20 million Series A led by Gates-founded , Urban Tech Sustainability Fund and as it looks to decarbonize building cooling.

Air conditioning is sometimes an overlooked energy-eating culprit. According to Blue Frontier, electricity use for air conditioning currently exceeds the world’s capacity to deploy renewable energy and storage systems. The company鈥檚 AC system replaces the normal refrigerant with a proprietary salt solution that can both cool and dehumidify. With the salt solution as a liquid desiccant, it also can store energy and help users avoid using more energy during peak鈥攁nd expensive鈥攖imes. The company estimates its AC system can reduce electricity use by 50% to 90%.

Fair鈥檚 fair

: Doing what is fair sounds simple, but society has proven through history it鈥檚 difficult for many. Now just like most things, we can have it 鈥渁s-a-service.鈥�

Los Angeles-based Fairplay is a 鈥渇airness-as-a-service鈥� provider solution for algorithmic decision-making. The startup just landed a $10 million Series A led by .

The company uses AI to help reduce algorithmic bias for people of color, women and other historically disadvantaged groups. The company already has launched two APIs that analyze loan applications and lending.

Fairplay will use the new proceeds to move its services into the insurance coverage, advertising and fraud industries.

Illustration: Dom Guzman