Sourcery (12/19-1/6)
2023 ~ Aztec Network, Arrakis Finance, Nectar, Mangomint, Herself Health, Crescendo Health, Netskope, SirionLabs, Razor Group, CyberCube, Imagen, User Interviews, Deep Voodoo, Product Science
Welcome to 2023!
Grateful for the hard learnings, new memories, and blossoming relationships from 2022… but very excited to hit the ground running again. Wishing everyone a healthy New Year!
IN/OUT
In a period of reflection and learnings, let’s uncover the ins/outs as we head into 2023:
OUT: Crossover funds, crypto, TikTok, conferences, fraud, overspending, oat milk…
IN: Sub-$1B Funds, Generative AI, roundtable dinners, UX/UI, offices, American Dynamism, due diligence, savings, prebiotics…
Still IN: Community, authenticity, time-blocking calendars, *LA*, books, seaweed snacks, intermittent fasting, unplugging, subscribing to Sourcery, sharing Sourcery with 5 friends…
2022 in Books
Since it’s that time of year to flex your book skills (like the 14/18 Audible Badges I’ve maintained 😮💨 ) here are some of the most interesting books I’ve consumed in 2022. The titles are pretty self-explanatory so I’ll leave it to you to click the links for summaries.
(Honorable mention for the best recs by book expert Kerry Bennett)
Blood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power
The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power
On the list for 2023
(TY Yoni for most of this inspo. Please share other recs!)
The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future
Chip War: The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
I'm Just Saying: A Guide to Maintaining Civil Discourse in an Increasingly Divided World
. . .
While you were OOO the last 3 weeks (12/19-1/6):
Relevant deals include the 30+ 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 Aztec Network, Arrakis Finance, Nectar, Mangomint, Herself Health, Crescendo Health, Netskope, SirionLabs, Razor Group, CyberCube, Imagen, User Interviews, Doorstead, Deep Voodoo, Product Science, Automotus, Snaptrude, SurrealDB, Artifact, Poly, Husslup, Arcadia, OpenSolar; Overheard, Billtrust, Mondelez, DailyPay/Chime
Final numbers on US VC Deals at the bottom.
Deals
Fintech:
- Aztec Network, a London-based encrypted blockchain developer, raised $100 million in Series B funding. a16z crypto led the round and was joined by investors including A Capital, King River, Variant, SV Angel, Hash Key, Fenbushi, and AVG.
- Liberate Innovations, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of insurance claims automation and client communications solutions, raised $7 million in a Seed funding round led by Eclipse Ventures. BusinessWire
- Vint, a Richmond, Va.-based fractional investment platform for wine and spirits, raised $5m in seed funding led by Montage Ventures. https://axios.link/3PH82w0
- Rainmaker Games, an Austin, TX-based free platform for P2E games, raised $4.7 million in a new Seed round of funding co-led by Placeholder and Hivemind Capital, with participation from Hivemind, Shima Capital, Peer Ventures, Coinfund, Side Door Ventures, Blockwall Capital, Placeholder and Tokenbay Capital. VentureBeat
- Arrakis Finance, a decentralized market-making protocol, raised $4m in a seed funding round from Uniswap Labs Ventures, Accel, Polygon Ventures and Robot Ventures. https://axios.link/3WtxBD8
. . .
Care:
- KeyCare, a Chicago, IL-based virtual-first care platform, completed a Series A funding round with new investments from Ziegler and two health systems, bringing total Series A raise to over $27 million. VC News Daily
- Nectar, New York-based allergy care platform, raised $16.5 million in Series A funding. Harmony Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Juxtapose and Obvious Ventures.
- Mangomint, a Los Angeles-based salon and spa software platform, raised $13 million in Series A funding. OpenView led the round and was joined by investors including startup300 and other angels.
- Herself Health, a St. Paul, MN-based provider of primary care to women over 65, raised a $7 million Seed funding round led by founding partner Juxtapose. FinSMEs
- Wisdo Health, a New York, NY-based social mental health and clinical referral company, added $5 million in financing, closing its $11 million Series A round led by Alive Israel Healthtech Fund and Bridge Builders Collaborative, with participation from a number of individuals. FinSMEs
- Crescendo Health, a San Francisco, CA-based clinical research data startup, raised $3.4 million in a financing round led by Define Ventures. Forbes
. . .
Enterprise & Consumer:
- Netskope, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based cloud access security company, raised $401m via a convertible note financing. Morgan Stanley Tactical Value led, and was joined by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and CPP Investments. The company was valued at $7.5b via a late 2021 venture round led by ICONIQ Growth. www.netskope.com
- Tredence, a San Jose-based data science and A.I. solutions company, raised $175 million in Series B funding from Advent International.
- SirionLabs, a Bellevue, WA-based AI-powered contract lifecycle management company, announced that its Series D funding has reached $110 million as a result of an investment by Brookfield Growth; previously announced $85 million round was led by Partners Group, with participation from existing investors Sequoia India and Tiger Global. VC News Daily
- Razor Group, a Berlin-based e-commerce consumer goods businesses aggregator, raised $70 million in funding from L Catterton.
- Advanced Navigation, a Sydney-based A.I. robotics and navigation technology developer, raised $68 million in Series B funding. KKR led the round and was joined by investors including AI Capital, Main Sequence, Malcolm Turnbull AC, In-Q-Tel, and Our Innovation Fund.
- CyberCube, an SF-based cyber risk analysis startup, raised $50m. Morgan Stanley led, and was joined by Stone Point Capital and insiders Forgepoint Capital, Hudson Structured Capital Management and MTech Capital. www.cybcube.com
- VMRay, a Bochum, Germany-based threat detection and analysis provider, raised $34 million in Series B funding. Tikehau Capital led the round and was joined by investors including NRW.BANK, Gründerfonds Ruhr, eCAPITAL, and High-Tech Gründerfonds.
- Helm.ai, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of driver assistance system software, raised $31m in Series C funding. Freeman Group led, and was joined by ACVC Partners, Amplo and strategic investors Honda Motor Co., Goodyear Ventures and Sungwoo Hitech. https://axios.link/3V3DJAU
- ImagenAI, an Israeli photo editing tool, raised $30m from Summit Partners. https://axios.link/3BNfwIm
- User Interviews, a remote-based user insights platform, raised $27.5 million in Series B funding. Sageview Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Teamworthy, Accomplice, Las Olas VC, Trestle Partners, ValueStream, Remarkable Ventures, and FJ Labs.
- Doorstead, a San Francisco, CA-based big data and operations technology company for property management, raised $21.5 million in a Series B round of financing led by Avanta Ventures, with participation from MetaProp, M13 and Madrona. TechCrunch
- Deep Voodoo, an AI entertainment startup founded by "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, raised $20m led by Connect Ventures, a partnership between agency CAA and venture firm NEA. https://axios.link/3jfB8Xo
- Product Science, an LA-based mobile performance management platform, raised $18m from backers like Slow Ventures, Coatue, K5 Global, Mantis Ventures, Peter Fenton and Jerry Murdock. https://axios.link/3vCKz6k
- Automotus, a Los Angeles-based automated curb management solution, raised $9 million in seed funding co-led by CityRock Ventures, Quake Capital, Bridge Investments, Unbridled Ventures, Keiki Capital, NY Angels, Irish Angles, SUM Ventures, and LA’s Cleantech Incubator Impact Fund.
- Revel, a social platform for NFTs, raised $7.8m in seed funding led by Dragonfly Capital. https://axios.link/3G1nf8e
- Snaptrude, a New York-based building design platform for architects, raised $6.6 million in funding. Accel and Foundamental VC co-led the round and were joined by investors including Possible Ventures, Invision founder Clark Valberg, RFC, CapitalX, Home co-founder Thilo Konzok, and other angels.
- Caden, a New York, NY-based open personal data platform, raised a $6 million Seed round led by Streamlined Ventures, with participation from existing investors including AME Cloud Ventures and 1707 Capital, as well as new investors Industry Ventures, Montage Ventures, Akuna Capital and Lightning Capital, bringing total funds raised to $9.4 million. VC News Daily
- SurrealDB, a London, UK-based serverless cloud database-as-a-service provider, raised $6 million in a Seed funding round led by FirstMark. TechCrunch
- Artifact, a Walnut, Calif.-based startup that helps record families stories via audio, raised $5m from GV, Spark Capital, Offline Ventures, Goodwater Capital and Atento Capital. www.heyartifact.com
- Poly, a San Francisco-based A.I. company for design assets, raised $4 million in seed funding co-led by Felicis, Bloomberg Beta, and NextView Ventures.
- Husslup, a digital marketplace app for Hollywood creatives, raised $2.5m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. f7 Ventures and Fuel Capital co-led, and were joined by Ulu Ventures, Gaingels and 360 Venture Collective. https://axios.link/3WsNwl5
. . .
Sustainability:
- Arcadia, a Washington, D.C.-based climate technology company, raised $125 million in funding. Magnetar Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Keyframe Capital and Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group.
- OpenSolar, a Sydney-based solar design and proposal software company, raised $15 million in funding. Telstra Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including 2150, Titan Grove, and entrepreneurs Alec Guettel and Howard Wenger.
Acquisitions & PE:
- Doing Things Media, an Atlanta-based parent company to several viral Instagram accounts which raised a $21.5 million Series A round of funding led by Volition Capital earlier this year, acquired Overheard, a Los Angeles, CA-based social media content brand. Axios
- EQT Partners completed its $1.7b acquisition of Billtrust (Nasdaq: BTRS), a B2B accounts receivable automation and integrated payments company that went public last year via SPAC. www.billtrust.com
- Mondelez International (Nasdaq: MDLZ) agreed to sell its chewing gum portfolio to Dutch confectionary company Perfetti for $1.35b. Among the included brands are Chiclets, Bubblicious, Dentyne and Trident.
Mondelez continues to seek a buyer for its Halls cough drops unit, as it refocuses on food and chocolate.
- Chime, an SF-based fintech valued by VCs at $2.65b, was twice rebuffed in efforts to buy New York-based paycheck advance startup DailyPay, per The Information. https://axios.link/3Wboasn
- Dedrone, a Sterling, Va.-based airspace security startup that's raised over $130 million in venture capital funding, acquired Aerial Armor, a Phoenix-based developer of drone detection systems, as first reported by Axios. https://axios.link/3XpDMZB
. . .
IPOs:
Nothing to see here…
. . .
SPACs:
Nothing to see here…
Funds:
- General Atlantic, a New York-based growth equity firm, raised approximately $3.5 billion for a fund focused on climate solutions.
- The 81 Collection, a Chicago-based VC firm focused on capital-intensive “hard” industries like manufacturing and retail, raised $41m for its debut fund. www.81collection.com
Final Numbers: U.S. VC deals
Source: PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. * As of Dec. 31, 2022.
U.S. venture capital deal activity continued to decline in Q4 2022, although the quarter-over-quarter drop-off slowed, per an early look at the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report.
It was a record-breaking year for U.S. venture fundraising, in terms of dollars, with $162.6 billion closed across 769 funds.
Exit value was minimal, hitting just $71.4 billion across IPOs and disclosed value sales. That's the first time the total figure has fallen short of $100 billion since 2016, and the Q4 figure was the weakest since Q1 2013.
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.
Haha lol one of my favorite episodes. I remember that episode. Classic Larry David.