Sourcery (7/31-8/4)
HBD Ray Dalio + LK99 + Barbie 🎉 Tradeshift, Lula, Petal, Converge, Knot API, Functional Finance, TytoCare, Octave, HerMD, Nile, GoStudent, Airalo, Neon, Cyble, Socket, Transcend, Akkio, Silk Security
Today is the day! 🎉
Happy Birthday to my long-time Westport CT mentor, Ray Dalio.. and to me 🥳
Here’s an embarrassing photo of us when my friend Caroline and I happened to sit next to him and his wife at sushi in the West Village back in 2019, he was very kind to take a photo. Though, I am still upset I was wearing a winter hat with a fur ball and ripped jeans. This is not how I pictured this meeting to happen..
However, I’ve finally turned 21 and am so excited about all that’s to come in this next chapter of my life. But in all seriousness, this last year has been an unbelievably rewarding whirlwind of adventures with old friends, new friends, family, Sourcery, and a lot of super ‘fun’ personal growth 😅 (cya vegan Molly - hello obsession with rotisserie chicken). I’m not sure I have any wise offerings or life lessons to share, but wow am I pumped about the upcoming wave of Seed/Series A B2B SaaS founders building in commerce enablement, creator economy, and the future of work.. 👀
Anyways, unlike the majority of VCs out there, I have yet to take a vacation this summer so I’m happy to announce that I am accepting any gifts in the form of a trip to the Mediterranean or Aegean Sea.. I’d even settle to go to Switzerland.. maybe, Cabo might work too. Thanks!
Keeping it light on the writing this AM because I’d like a break, but for all of your tech-curious needs here are some cool things to listen to and/or read, plus a plethora of interesting deals (Juul is back) below:
LK-99 superconductor progress, and yes, Varda has been at the forefront
Andrew McCallip, Varda’s posts on X
Andrew has been very much leading the pack for the US.. I don’t know half the stuff he’s talking about but I am all ears.
LK-99 breakthrough with Varda’s Delian Asparouhov & Andrew McCalip | E1788, This Week in Startups
Again, more Andrew, and even this new bearded man named Delian?
E140: LK-99, Sclerotic establishments, Fitch downgrades US debt, Trump indicted... again, All-in Podcast
A little let down they didn’t mention anything about the aliens on this one, seems like a huge miss IMO
Musings
Also: New Relic Take-Private, Zipline Fundraising & Top AI Charts
How Will a Venture Capital Recovery Feel? Observations from 2008, Tomasz Tunguz
Plant based seafood? And other ocean tech news + jobs, Will Lutz
Will is also a Leo and former Navy submariner.. he helped put to rest my debate on whether to take a chopper or submarine in case the yacht were to go down in the mediterranean.. if it wasn’t clear from Oceangate.. take the helicopter.
Cloud Giants Q2 Update, Jamin Ball
Broad update on AWS, Azure and GCP
There’s a new star of the U.S. economy this summer: women. ‘Is this how men have always felt?’
Currently ranking as the 45th highest-grossing movie of all time.
The death of hobbies: How side hustles turned everyone's leisure activities into work
My hobbies include long walks on the beach, hiking, boats, farmer’s markets, farms, airplanes, xeeting, and reading tech news. Oh, and I did take a pottery class earlier this year, that was fun.
. . .
Last Week (7/31-8/4):
Relevant deals include the 60+ deals across stages below.
I've categorized the deals below into four categories, Fintech, Care, Enterprise & Consumer, and Sustainability, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds. Highlighted deals include Tradeshift, Lula, Petal, Converge, Knot API, Functional Finance, TytoCare, Octave, HerMD, Nile, GoStudent, Airalo, Neon, Cyble, Socket, Transcend, Akkio, Silk Security, Topline Pro, Lightup, Source, Abbey Labs, Reflex, Grasp, GlassPoint, TruckLabs, Dynamon; New Relic, Brace/Stavvy, Juul, Hopin/RingCentral; Birkenstock, Arm, Triller
Final numbers on Mega Millions Lottery Hits All-Time High (hmm enticing) at the bottom.
Deals
Fintech:
- Tradeshift, a B2B payments and supply chain startup, raised $70m. HSBC led, and was joined by AYTK Ltd., LUN Partners Group, Fuel VC, Doha VC, Notion Capital, IDC Ventures and The Private Shares Fund. https://axios.link/3DFeaQg
- Lula, a Miami-based insurance infrastructure platform, raised $35.5 million in Series B funding. NextView Ventures and Khosla Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Founders Fund, Plug and Play Ventures, and others.
- Petal, an Atlanta-based consumer credit card startup, raised $20m in new equity funding from insiders and a $200m debt facility from Victory Park Capital. https://axios.link/3DJSOkZ
- Converge Insurance, a New York-based cyber risk management and underwriting startup, raised $15m in Series A funding led by Forgepoint Capital. https://axios.link/3OfVOKJ
- Debtbook, a Charlotte, N.C.-based public sector debt management startup, raised $12.5m in Series A extension funding. Elephant Partners led, and was joined by fellow insiders Meeting Street Capital and CreativeCo. www.debtbook.com
- Knot API, a startup that aims to help fintechs and banks maintain deposits, raised $10m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Nava Ventures led, and was joined by Plaid, Amex Ventures and Ken Chenault. https://axios.link/3rQtVBf
- Functional Finance, a software platform that integrates and automates data and reporting functions for insurance companies, raised $8 million in seed funding and $2 million in SAFE funding. New Enterprise Associates led the round and was joined by Walkabout Ventures, Altai Ventures, C.V. Starr Insurance, and others.
- EMTECH, a New York-based central banking software platform, raised $4 million in seed funding led by Matrix Partners India.
. . .
Care:
- Healthmap Solutions, a Tampa, Fla.-based health management company focused on kidney disease, raised $100 million in funding led by WindRose Health Investors.
- LightForce Orthodontics, a Burlington, Mass.-based personalized 3D printed braces system, raised $80 million in Series D funding. Ally Bridge Group led the round and was joined by Transformation Capital, CareCapital, Omega Venture Partners, Matter Venture Partners, the American Association of Orthodontics, Kleiner Perkins, Tyche Partners, and Matrix Partners.
- TytoCare, a New York-based virtual care company, raised $49 million in additional funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by MemorialCare, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, and Clal.
- Octave Bioscience, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based biotech focused on multiple sclerosis, raised $30m in Series B extension funding from Novartis, Hikma Ventures, Intermountain Ventures and insiders Blue Venture Fund, Echo Health Ventures, Section 32, Northpond Ventures, Deerfield Management, Casdin Capital and Merck Global Health Innovation Fund. www.octavebio.com
- HerMD, a Cincinnati-based women’s health provider, raised $18 million in Series A-1 funding. JAZZ led the round and was joined by B-Flexion and Amboy Street Ventures.
. . .
Enterprise & Consumer:
- Nile, a San Jose-based enterprise networking solutions provider, raised $175 million in Series C funding. March Capital and Sanabil Investments co-led the round and was joined by stc, Prosperity7, Liberty Global Ventures, 8VC, Geodesic Capital, FirstU Capital, and Valor Equity Partners.
- GoStudent, an Austrian tutor marketplace, raised $95m in equity and debt funding from Deutsche Bank, Left Lane Capital, DN Capital, Tencent, Prosus, DST, Coatue and Softbank. https://axios.link/45cnOG2
- Airalo, a Lewes, Del.-based eSIM connectivity provider, raised $60 million in Series B funding. e& Capital led the round and was joined by Antler Elevate, Liberty Global, Rakuten Capital, Singtel Innov8, Surge, and others.
- Neon, a San Francisco-based multi-cloud serverless Postgres provider, raised $46 million in Series B funding. Menlo Ventures led the round and was joined by Founders Fund, General Catalyst, GGV Capital, Khosla Ventures, Elad Gil, Snowflake Ventures, and Databricks.
- Cyble, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based cyber threat intelligence provider, raised $24m in Series B funding. Blackbird Ventures and King River Capital co-led, and were joined by Spider Capital, January Capital and Summit Peak Ventures. https://axios.link/3rYfye8
- Socket, a San Francisco-based supply chain attack detection software company, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by Abstract Ventures, Unusual Ventures, and others.
- Transcend Software, a Princeton, N.J.-based SaaS provider of generative design tools, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Autodesk, HG Ventures, PureTerra, Arosa Capital, and Riverstone Holdings invested in the round.
- Haus, a New York-based growth platform for brands, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Baseline Ventures, Haystack Ventures, Upside Partnership, Octave Ventures, and Mantis Venture Capital.
- Akkio, a Cambridge, Mass.-based generative analytics and machine learning provider to businesses, raised $15 million in Series A funding from Bain Capital Ventures and Pandome.
- Local Logic, a Canadian location intelligence insights provider, raised US$13m in Series B finding. GroundBreak Ventures and Investissement Québec co-led, and were joined by Band Capital Partners, Triovest Realty Advisors, Cycle Capital, Desjardins Group, Jones Boys Ventures, Second Century Ventures and Shadow Ventures. www.locallogic.co
- Silk Security, a New York-based cyber risk resolution company, raised $12.5 million in seed funding. Insight Partners and Hetz Ventures co-led the round and were joined by the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund and other angels.
- Topline Pro, a New York-based online scaling service for home services businesses, raised $12m in Series A funding. Forerunner Venturesled, and was joined by Bonfire Ventures, TMV and BBG Ventures. https://axios.link/3DCcZ4k
- Lightup, a Mountain View, Calif.-based data quality monitoring platform developer, raised $9 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz and Newland Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Spectrum 28 Capital, Shasta Ventures, Vela Partners, and Incubate Fund.
- Source, a Portland-based B2B marketplace for commercial construction products, raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. M13 led the round and was joined by Rise of the Rest, Rogue Venture Partners, Founders' Co-op, and Oregon Venture Fund.
- Language I/O, a Cheyenne, Wyo.-based multilingual customer support company, raised $8 million in Series A1 funding. Joint Effects led the round and was joined by Wyoming Business Council’s Wyoming Venture Capital Fund, Gutbrain Ventures, PBJ Capital, and Omega Venture Partners.
- Acelab, a New York-based building product selection company, raised $5.3 million in funding. Pillar VC, PJC, and Draper Associates co-led the round and were joined by Alpaca, Transcend Partners, Branagh Construction, and others.
- Abbey Labs, a San Francisco-based identity and access management company, raised $5.25 million in seed funding. Point72 Ventures led the round and was joined by Haystack, Essence Ventures, and other angels.
- Hushmesh, a Falls Church, Va.-based cybersecurity company, raised $5.2 million in funding. Paladin Capital Group led the round and was joined by Akamai Technologies.
- Dynamon, a Southampton, U.K.-based data analytics and simulation tools software company for commercial transport and logistics companies, raised £4 million ($5.02 million) in funding from bp ventures.
- Reflex, a San Francisco-based open-source, full-stack python framework for app building and development raised $5 million in seed funding. Lux Capital led the round and was joined by Abstract Ventures, Box Group, Y Combinator, Picus Capital, and Outset Capital.
- Steg.AI, an Irvine, Calif.-based enterprise security platform for digital assets, raised $5 million in funding. Paladin Capital Group led the round and was joined by Washington Square Angels, the NYU Innovation Venture Fund, and other angels.
- SnoFox, a New York-based business intelligence tool, raised $4.5 million in seed funding. Voyager Ventures led the round and was joined by Pale Blue Dot, Ponderosa Ventures, and Mudcake.
- Grasp, a London-based online learning platform, raised $4 million in seed funding led by Balderton Capital.
- Polars, an Amsterdam-based DataFrame library for data scientists and engineers, raised $4 million in seed funding led by Bain Capital Ventures.
- Jericho Security, New York-based cybersecurity startup, raised $3 million in pre-seed funding. Era led the round and was joined by Lux Capital, FoundersXFund, MetaLabs, Alcove, Textbook, Alumni Venture Group, Thorntree, Contrary, and others.
- ConfiAbogado, a Mexico City-based legal tech startup and B2C labor law provider in Latin America, raised $1.65 million in seed funding. Tuesday Capital led the round and was joined by DTB Capital, Seedstars International Ventures, 500 Global, Invariantes, Goodwater, GAIN Capital, and Side Door Ventures.
- CorralData, a New York-based data and analytics platform, raised $1.5 million in seed funding. NY Angels, the NY Angels Fund, eonCapital, and Hilltop Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Orange Ocean Ventures and Perimetre Capital.
- Wisecut, a Miami-based video editing software, raised $1 million in funding from Tim Draper.
. . .
Sustainability:
- Carbon Upcycling Technologies, a Canadian developer of circular decarbonization solutions, raised US$26m in Series A funding. Climate Investment and BDC Capital co-led, and were joined by Clean Energy Ventures, Amplify Capital, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, CRH Ventures and Cemex Ventures. https://axios.link/43U31Wp
- GlassPoint, a New York-based solar thermal provider for industrial decarbonization, raised $8 million in Series A funding. 300PPM led the round and was joined by former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Alcoa COO Tomas Sigurdsson.
- TruckLabs, a Phoenix-based startup focused on improving fuel efficiency and battery range for trucking fleets, raised $7m in Series B funding. Blue Bear Capital led, and was joined by insider Calibrate Ventures. www.trucklabs.com
- Dynamon, a British provider of data analytics and simulation software for commercial fleets, raised £4m from BP Ventures. www.dynamon.co.uk
- Divirod, a Boulder, Colo.-based flood management and water risk analytics company, raised $3.6 million in bridge funding. GHD, Thin Line Capital, and TDK Ventures invested in the round.
Acquisitions & PE:
- Francisco Partners and TPG agreed to acquire New Relic, a San Francisco-based software provider. The deal values the company at $6.5 billion.
- Walmart (NYSE: WMT) paid $1.4b to buy out Tiger Global's remaining stake in Indian online retailer Flipkart at a $35b valuation (down from where Flipkart was valued in 2021). Walmart also added a 1% stake from venture firm Accel, reportedly pushing its Flipkart ownership stake to around 77%. https://axios.link/44OydYs
- Stavvy acquired Brace, a Culver City, Calif.-based mortgage servicing technology company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Juul, the vaping company once valued at $38b by Altria Group (which has since divested), is seeking to raise around $1b in new funding, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/43RGidJ
- DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV) agreed to acquire Paris-based ad tech firm Scibids for $125m in cash and stock. Scibids had raised around $7m from Iris Capital and Blacksheep Ventures. https://axios.link/44QWsVV
- Hopin, a London-based virtual events company valued by VCs at $7.6b in 2021, sold its events management platform and interactive engagement tools to RingCentral (NYSE: RNG). https://axios.link/458xm4P
- Bobbie Baby acquired Nature’s One, a Columbus, Ohio-based pediatric nutrition company, from Juggernaut Capital Partners and Nature’s One founder Jay Highman. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Angeles Equity Partners acquired Custom Goods, a Carson, Calif.-based logistics platform, from Soundcore Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Mubadala Investment Company acquired a minority stake in Aligned Data Centers, a Plano, Texas-based data center company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- SimplePractice agreed to acquire the assets of Luminello, a San Francisco-based electronic medical record and practice management platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Waystar acquired HealthPay24, a Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based financial engagement solution and patient payment platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
. . .
IPOs:
- Birkenstock, a Neustadt, Germany- and Novato, Calif.-based shoe manufacturer, is weighing an initial public offering that could raise about $8 billion, according to Bloomberg. An earlier report stated the company plans to raise up to $6 billion for an initial public offering.
- Arm, the Cambridge, U.K.-based semiconductor unit of SoftBank, is targeting an initial public offering between $60-$70 billion as soon as September, according to Bloomberg.
- Triller, an LA-based video sharing and streaming platform, filed for a direct listing on the NYSE (ILLR). It plans to sell 42.9m shares at $5.85 per share, representing a $2.1b fully diluted market value, and reports a $192m net loss on $48m in revenue for 2022. https://axios.link/3QkYoSn
Funds:
- Greenoaks, an SF-based venture firm, raised $2.1b for its fifth fund, Kia reports. It had targeted $1.9b, which is the same amount it raised for Fund IV in 2021.
- Tuesday Capital raised $31m for its fifth seed-stage fund. https://axios.link/3KpnEmN
Mega billions
The jackpot for tomorrow’s Mega Millions draw is expected to stand at $1.55 billion, marking the third-largest lottery prize in US history and exceeding the current Mega Millions record of $1.537 billion that was set back in October 2018.
The prize pot has been building since April and, if a winning ticket is drawn, the lucky player could be offered a $757.2 million lump-sum cash option. If it feels like lotto jackpots have been getting bigger recently, that’s because they have — there's been four $1 billion jackpots in 2023 so far, as many as all the previous years combined.
Lotto luck
Higher ticket prices and interest rates have played a big part in the jumbo jackpots, as did changing the odds in 2019, with the likelihood of your Mega Millions ticket scooping you the jackpot going from 1 in 258.9 million to 1 in 302.6 million. This has meant that more than 115 days have passed since the last jackpot winner — though a lucky few did get richer after Friday’s draw, when seven $1 million prizes were handed out for matching 5 balls.
The $1.55 billion prize pot would be the highest in Mega Millions history, around $13 million more than the jackpot collected by an anonymous player in South Carolina 5 years ago. Even so, you're more likely to hit the billion figure playing Mega Millions compared to Powerball, as we charted in November — only two jackpots have met the threshold, compared to Mega Millions’ five.
The material presented on Molly O’Shea’s website are my opinions only and are provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. It is not a recommendation of, or an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy, any particular security, strategy, or investment product. Any analysis or discussion of investments, sectors or the market generally are based on current information, including from public sources, that I consider reliable, but I do not represent that any research or the information provided is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied on as such. My views and opinions expressed in any website content are current at the time of publication and are subject to change. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Happy Birthday!!!!!!! Molly!!!!. Hope you enjoy. You’re a wonderful person. And so proud of you all you’ve built with Sourcery. Keep it up and enjoy yourself. Turn up. Congrats on all your success. It’s much deserved. That is a wonderful picture.