Sourcery (10/10-10/14)
web3 < Generative AI ~ Uniswap, Airwallex, NorthOne, nxyz, Northstar, Pillow, Rye, Astra, Arch, Brave Health, Spren, Shimmer, TripActions, Puttshack, Factorial, DataGrail, Stairwell, Katana
Cobwebs are Growing
Deal volume is not back, even as announcements have been signaling that deals are getting done and investors are interested, this is just not the case (they’re typically released months after signing). But to be fair, investors are interested, in fact, they’re very interested to get deals done. But the benchmarks and bar have risen quite high as we enter deeper into a downturn, and that has tightened the parameters of a ‘good deal’ for both founders and funds.
Series A-C financings, and even later, are sparse. Most investors are flocking earlier to the seed stage to enter a new era of innovation with less ‘risk’ (ie. still in the building/idea phase) and more ‘opportunity’ (ie. longer term horizons, fresh ideas). Secondarily, most Series A-B’s have been in the market for bridge rounds/extensions to top off their existing balance sheet to get them through the next 18-36 months.
Stages are one thing, and sectors are another. There has been a significant pullback in consumer investments as their numbers and outlooks aren’t looking too hot, web3 is accumulating a nice layer of dust on top as consumers are getting spooked by crypto winter, and increasing global tensions are leading countries to rethink their restricted manufacturing and talent. And so, where is the opportunity? There has been a flood of interest in generative AI with recent projects involving DALL-E and GPT-3 capabilities, commercial and personal privacy, as well as sustainability/climate projects offering hope and efficiencies for a cleaner world.
From a wider perspective, with the lull in momentum you have to step back and think hard: what is going to be truly transformative for the next decade? Who is leading it? And reflectively, where did we go wrong in the last cycle that we can learn from?
Reads
Antifragility as a Competitive Advantage in 2022, Tomasz Tunguz of Redpoint
How Low Could Valuations Go?, Tomasz Tunguz of Redpoint
Tail Risk and Updated Market Multiples, Jamin Ball of Altimeter
Digital health is just ecommerce all over again, Yoni Rechtman of Slow Ventures
Yuri Milner, founder of DST Global, said via Twitter that he and his family have officially renounced their Russian citizenships. Axios Flashback.
. . .
Last Week (10/10-10/14):
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 Uniswap, Airwallex, NorthOne, nxyz, Northstar, Pillow, Rye, Astra, Arch, Brave Health, Spren, Shimmer, TripActions, Puttshack, Factorial, DataGrail, Stairwell, Katana, Endor Labs, Alkymi, Diagram, NocoDB, Xiao Chi Jie, Relay, Soli Organic, Electra, Solestial, Continue AI, GreenPlaces; ForegRock, KnowBe4, DroneDeploy, Goat/Grailed; Flexjet
Final numbers on YoY Change in Consumer Price Index at the bottom.
Deals
Sources: TS, Pro Rata, FinSMEs, Pitchbook, StrictlyVC
Fintech:
- Uniswap Labs, a decentralized token exchange, raised $165m in Series B funding at a $1.66b valuation. Polychain Capital led, and was joined by Andreesseen Horowitz, Paradigm, SV Angel, and Variant. https://axios.link/3TlEXqW
- Airwallex, a Melbourne, Australia-based fintech platform, raised $100 million in Series E extension funding. Square Peg, Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Lone Pine Capital, Hermitage Capital, 1835i Ventures, and Tencent invested in the round.
- NorthOne, a New York-based SMB banking startup, raised $67m in Series B funding from Battery Ventures, Don Griffith, Drew Brees, Ferst Capital Partners, FinTLV, Next Play Capital, Operator Stack, Redpoint Ventures, Tencent and Tom Williams. https://axios.link/3MtL2iE
- GoHenry, a New York-based prepaid debit card and financial education app for kids and teens, raised $55 million in funding. Edison Partners, Revaia, and Nexi invested in the round.
- nxyz, a San Francisco-based Web3 infrastructure platform for blockchains, raised $40 million in Series A funding. Paradigm led the round and was joined by investors including Coinbase Ventures, Greylock Partners, Sequoia Capital, and other angels.
- CrowdStreet, an Austin-based real estate investing platform, raised $28 million in funding. TIAA Ventures, Cypress Equity Investments, The Dinerstein Companies, Foulger-Pratt, Grotech Ventures, Rally Ventures, Seven Peaks Ventures, and Green Visor Capital invested in the round.
- Northstar, an LA-based financial wellness benefit for employees, raised $24.4m. GGV Capital led, and was joined by PayPal Ventures, Thomson Reuters Ventures, Canvas Ventures and insiders M13, Workday Ventures, Parade Ventures, Foundation Capital, Designer Fund and RRE Ventures. www.northstarmoney.com
- Chronograph, a New York-based private markets technology company, raised $20 million in funding. Summit Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Carlyle Group and Nasdaq Ventures.
- Insite AI, a Bee Cave, Texas-based category and revenue growth management solutions provider for consumer brands, raised $19 million in Series A funding. NewRoad Capital and M12 invested in the round.
- Pillow, a crypto investment platform, raised $18m in Series A funding from Accel, Quona Capital, Elevation Capital and Jump Capital and Elevation. www.pillow.fund
- Mercantile, a New York-based credit card platform for small businesses, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Index Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including First Round Capital, General Catalyst, SV Angel, Operator Partners, Box Group, and others.
- Flueid, an Austin, Texas-based property title insurance startup, raised $15m in Series B funding from Aquiline Technology Growth and Commerce Ventures, plus $5m in debt from SVB. https://axios.link/3fWynIP
- Rye, a remote-based Web3 e-commerce company, raised $14 million in seed funding. a16z crypto led the round and was joined by investors including Solana Ventures, GOAT Capital, L Catterton, Electric Ant, Electric Feel Ventures, and other angels.
- Ntropy, a New York-based financial data intelligence platform, raised $11 million in Series A funding. Lakestar led the round and was joined by investors including QED Investors and January Ventures.
- Net Purpose, a London, U.K.-based sustainable investment platform, raised £10 million ($10.97 million) in Series A funding led by ETF Partners.
- Astra, a San Francisco-based card-to-card funding service provider, raised $10 million in Series A funding. FPV Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Slow Ventures and Allegis Capital.
- OatFi, a New York-based working capital infrastructure provider for B2B payments platforms, raised $8 million in seed funding. QED Investors led the round and was joined by investors including Portage Ventures, Picus Capital, Cambrian Ventures, Fin VC, Dash Fund, and Lorimer Ventures.
- Fintor, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based mobile real estate investing platform, raised $6.2m in seed funding from Public.com, Hustle Fund, 500 Global, VU Ventures and Graphene Ventures. https://axios.link/3MpvKLJ
- Payable, a London, U.K.-based payment operations platform, raised $6 million in seed funding. CRV and Earlybird Venture Capital co-led the round and were joined by investors including Conversion Capital, Clocktower Ventures, and other angels.
- Scale3 Labs, a San Jose, Calif.-based Web3 infrastructure company, raised $5.3 million in seed funding. Redpoint Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Mysten Labs and Howard University.
- Arch, a DeFi startup that seeks to become the "BlackRock of web3," raised $5m in seed funding co-led by Digital Currency Group and Upload Ventures. https://axios.link/3CnENrZ
- Otterspace, a non-transferable badge protocol for DAOs, raised $3.7m. Cherry Crypto and Inflection.xyz co-led, and were joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures, btov Partners and Paua Ventures. www.otterspace.xyz
- Moon Mortgage, a Miami, Fla.-based crypto lending platform, raised $3.5m in seed funding co-led by CoinFund and Cadenza Ventures. https://axios.link/3fUqxPY
. . .
Care:
- Brave Health, a Miami-based virtual mental health provider and engagement platform, raised $40 million in Series C funding. Town Hall Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Union Square Ventures, City Light Capital, and others.
- FOLX Health, a Boston-based digital health care service provider for the LGBTQIA+ community, raised $30 million in funding. 7wireVentures led the round and was joined by investors including Foresite Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Define Ventures, and Polaris Partners.
- NeuroFlow, a Wayne, Pa.-based behavioral health integration technology company, raised $25 million in funding led by SEMCAP Health.
- Spren, the Asheville, N.C.-based developer of the heart rate variability app Elite HRV, raised $11.3 million in seed funding. Drive by DraftKings led the round and was joined by investors including Eli Manning, MLB executive and general manager Theo Epstein, Boston Seed Capital, Karlani Capital, Permit Ventures, and others.
- Clerkenwell Health, a British clinical research org focused on psychedelics, raised £2.1m in seed funding from Lionheart Ventures, Convergence Partners, and Exceptional Ventures. https://axios.link/3ytBLRL
- Shimmer, a San Francisco-based ADHD coaching and treatment app, raised $1.3 million in seed funding. Y Combinator, Honeystone Ventures, Koa Labs, CVS Health vice president Megan Hall, Gaingels, and others invested in the round.
. . .
Enterprise & Consumer:
- TripActions, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based travel and expense management company, raised $154 million in Series G funding. Group 11, Zeev Ventures, A16Z, Greenoaks Capital, Base Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners invested in the round.
- Puttshack, a Chicago-based mini golf company, raised $150 million in funding from funds managed by BlackRock and Promethean Investments.
- Factorial, a Barcelona, Spain-based automated HR management platform for small and medium businesses, raised $120 million in Series C funding. Atomico led the round and was joined by investors including GIC, Tiger Global, CRV, K-Fund, and Creandum.
- Homa, a Paris, France-based game development company, raised $100 million in Series B funding. Quadrille Capital and Headline co-led the round and were joined by investors including Northzone, Fabric Ventures, Bpifrance, Eurazeo, and Singular.
- Immersive Labs, a Bristol, U.K.-based cyber resilience company, raised $66 million in funding. Ten Eleven Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Summit Partners, Insight Partners, Menlo Ventures, and Citi Ventures.
- DataGrail, a San Francisco-based data privacy platform, raised $45 million in Series C funding. Third Point Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Thomson Reuters Ventures, Sixty Degree Capital, Felicis Ventures, Operator Collective, Next47, Cloud Apps Capital, and others.
- Stairwell, a Mountain View, Calif.-based cybersecurity company, raised $45 million in Series B funding. Section 32 led the round and was joined by investors including Sequoia Capital, Accel, Lux Capital, Gradient Ventures, and other angels.
- Katana, a Tallinn, Estonia-based manufacturing ERP software company, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Northzone led the round and was joined by investors including Lightrock, Atomico, and 42CAP.
- Endor Labs, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based software reuse platform for development and security teams, raised $25 million in funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Sierra Ventures, and other angels invested in the round.
- IronVest, a New York-based cybersecurity startup, raised $23 million in seed funding. Accomplice led the round and was joined by investors including Trust Ventures, Ulysses, Joule Ventures, OurCrowd, and other angels.
- Zen Educate, a London, U.K.-based platform that connects schools with temporary and full-time teachers and teaching assistants, raised £19.3 million ($21.83 million) in Series A extension funding. Brighteye Ventures led the round and was joined by Adjuvo and others.
- Alkymi, a New York-based data workflow automation company, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Intel Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Canaan, Work-Bench, and SimCorp.
- Diagrid, a Seattle-based startup for developers to simplify and de-risk distributed systems, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Norwest Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Amplify Partners and Quiet Capital.
- Kyra, a London, U.K.-based creator economy platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Bonnier Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including LionTree, Torch Capital, GMG Ventures, Firstminute Capital, and others.
- Meilisearch, a Paris, France-based open-source search engine, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Felicis led the round and was joined by investors including CRV, LocalGlobe, ESOP, Mango Capital, Seedcamp, and Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch.
- Rye, a web3 e-commerce startup co-founded by Justin Kan, raised $14m led by Andreessen Horowitz. https://axios.link/3Cr5Xyk
- ARTA, a New York-based logistics software and fulfillment services provider for goods and collectibles, raised $11 million in Series A funding. AXA Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Corazon Capital, Coelius Capital, Pari Passu Venture Partners, and Mu Ventures.
- NocoDB, a San Francisco-based platform that turns a database into a smart spreadsheet, raised $10.5 million in seed funding. Decibel and OSS Capital co-led the round and were joined by investors including Uncorrelated Ventures, Together.Fund, and other angels.
- Konvy, a Thailand-based beauty e-commerce platform founded in 2012, raised $10m in Series A funding from Insignia Ventures Partners. https://axios.link/3yuZYak
- Xiao Chi Jie, a Seattle-based direct-to-consumer Chinese food brand, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Imaginary Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including actor Simu Liu, Goldhouse Ventures, Hyphen Capital, and others.
- Parity, a Toronto, Canada-based HVAC operations proptech company for mid-rise and high-rise apartment buildings and hotels, raised $8 million CAD ($5.83 million) in funding. Wyse, RET Ventures, and ArcTern Ventures invested in the round.
- Kive, a Stockholm, Sweden-based inspiration management platform for creatives, raised $7 million in seed funding. Heartcore led the round and was joined by investors including Creandum and EQT Ventures.
- Relay, an SF-based collaborative workflow startup, raised $5m in seed funding. Khosla Ventures led, and was joined by Neo, BoxGroup and SV Angel. www.tryrelay.app
- Dandi, a New York-based DEI analytics platform, raised $3.7m in seed funding co-led by Springbank and Alleycorp Impact. www.itsdandi.com
- Ribbon, a London, U.K.-based in-product research platform developer, raised £2.63 million ($2.90 million) in seed funding. Octopus Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including MMC Ventures, Concept Ventures, and other angels.
. . .
Sustainability:
- Soli Organic, a Rockingham, Va.-based soil-based, indoor farming company, raised $124.3 million in Series D funding. CDPQ and Movendo Capital co-led the round and were joined by investors inclduding B.V., S2G Ventures, Cascade Asset Management Company, and XPV Water Partners.
- Electra, a Boulder, Colo.-based decarbonization ironmaking company, raised $85 million in funding. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon, BHP Ventures, Temasek, S2G Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Lowercarbon Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Baruch Future Ventures, and others invested in the round.
- Solestial, a Tempe, Arizona-based solar energy company for space applications, raised $10 million in funding. Airbus Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including AEI HorizonX, GPVC, Stellar Ventures, Industrious Ventures, and others.
- Continue AI, a New York-based sustainability intelligence platform, raised $5.7 million in seed funding. Grove Ventures and Maple Capital co-led the round and were joined by investors including Ride Ventures, Liquid2, and Kindergarten Ventures.
- GreenPlaces, a Kittery, Maine-based provider of carbon accounting and emissions management software, raised $4m in seed funding led by Felicis, as first reported by Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3MxKlFc
Acquisitions & PE:
- Thoma Bravo agreed to acquire ForgeRock, a San Francisco-based identity-verification software developer. A deal is valued at around $2.3 billion.
- Vista Equity Partners agreed to acquire KnowBe4, a Clearwater, Fla.-based security awareness training and simulated phishing platform provider. A deal is valued at approximately $4.6 billion.
- Aplazo, backed by Oak HC/FT, acquired Sensai Metrics, a Mexico City, Mexico-based data analysis software platform for brands. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- PLAYSTUDIOS acquired Brainium, a Portland, Ore.-based games publisher, for $70 million.
- DroneDeploy agreed to acquire StructionSite, an Oakland, Calif.-based ground reality capture provider for the construction industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Insight Partners led a new investment in Aptean, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based ERP software company, from Vista Equity Partners at a $3.55b valuation. Existing Aptean backers Charlesbank Capital Partners and TA Associates will maintain equity positions. https://axios.link/3enxwAC
- Goat, the sneaker resale site valued by VCs at $3.7b, agreed to buy streetwear resale site Grailed, which had raised around $80m from firms like Goat, Thrive Capital and Index Ventures. https://axios.link/3Ti3Y61
. . .
IPOs:
Nothing to see here…
. . .
SPACs:
- Flexjet, a subscription-based private aviation company headquartered in Ohio, agreed to go public at an implied $3.1b valuation via Horizon Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: HZON), a SPAC led by Todd Boehly (who's investment firm, Eldridge, previously invested in Flexjet). https://axios.link/3T9qiyT
Funds:
- Nextview Ventures, a Boston and New York-based venture capital firm, raised $200 million across two funds.
- Scribble Ventures raised $55m for its second fund and $29m for an opportunities fund. https://axios.link/3RPgAkd
Final Numbers
Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios
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.