Sourcery 🌳 Google's Gemini, OpenView, Uber, SaaS Earnings
(12/4-12/8) Mistral AI, AutogenAI, Center, January, Machinery Power, MistralAI, Vast Data, AssemblyAI, Tovala, Dust Identity, Coreweave, OurSky, Trackstar...
VC Deal Announcements Pick-Up
The deals section below is quite full this week as we assume the PR windows are beginning to close before the holiday season. I’d expect the coming weeks to be a lot slower than this. But for now, there are many interesting companies in the Fintech, AI, Hardtech, Cybersecurity, and Aerospace areas below, + some juicy M&A deals.
Musings
Macro
VC Firm OpenView Abruptly Winds Down After Key Partners Leave, Returns Sour, The Information
Reid Hoffman on the Psychology of Great Founders, The Generalist
Bankrupt SmileDirectClub shuts down, says its ‘Lifetime Smile Guarantee’ is canceled — but Smile Pay users are expected to keep paying, Fortune
Gemini, Quantum Computing Breakthrough, Brain Implants, saRNA, Biotech on Mars,
SaaS
Q3 ‘23 Earnings Summary Preview,
of Altimeter
AI
How to Improve Your LLM : Combine Evaluations with Analytics, Tomasz Tunguz
Are We Asking AI Models the Right Questions? + Cybertrucks, Ark Invest
Musk’s X.AI to Raise $1 Billion, The Information
Google’s best Gemini demo was faked, TechCrunch
Google Made Some Unforced Errors During Its Highly Anticipated Gemini Launch, Ark Invest
. . .
Last Week (12/4-12/8):
Relevant deals include the 60+ deals across stages below.
I've categorized the deals below into five categories, FinTech, Care, Enterprise & Consumer, HardTech, and Sustainability, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds. Highlighted deals include Pontera, AutogenAI, Center, Simply Homes, Babylon, January, Machinery Power, Necto, Ketryx, Ladder, Orchid, InpharmD, MistralAI, Vast Data, AssemblyAI, MaintainX, Tovala, Dust Identity, Replicate, Liquid AI, Leonardo AI, Mine, Rhythms, ON, Opal Security, Extropic, Alta AI, Respell, Trackstar, Coreweave, Pragmatic, Gecko Robotics, Nth Cycle, Air Space Intelligence, Atomic Industries, OurSky; Nearmap/Betterview, Arctos/Paris Saint-Germain, Five9/Zoom
Final numbers on Infrastructure Deals by KKR at the bottom.
Deals
Fintech:
- Pontera, a New York City-based provider of wealth management services for 401(k) participants, raised $60 million in funding. ICONIQ Growth led the round and was joined by existing investors Blumberg Capital, Collaborative Fund, Hanaco Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and The Founders Kitchen.
- AutogenAI, a Londonn, U.K.-based AI tool designed to help organizations write bids, tenders, and proposals faster, raised $39.5 million in Series B funding. Salesforce Ventures and Spark Capital led the round and were joined by Blossom Capital.
- Center, a Bellevue, Wash.-based corporate card, travel, and employee expense management platform, raised $30 million in Series C funding. Top Tier Capital Partners led the round and was joined by existing investor Durable Capital Partners.
- Simply Homes, a Portland, Maine-based platform designed to optimize the acquisition, renovation, and leasing of stagnant houses for lower-income families, raised $22 million in funding. Gutter Capital and Watchung Capital led the round and were joined by Village Global, Ambush Capital, RavenOne Ventures, and others.
- Babylon, a Bitcoin staking protocol, raised $18m. Polychain Capital and Hack VC co-led, and were joined by Framework Ventures, Polygon Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, OKX Ventures, Finality Capital, Breyer Capital and Symbolic Capital. www.babylonchain.io
- January Technologies, a New York City-based debt collection platform designed to make debt collection more fair and with less risk, raised $12 million in Series B funding. IA Ventures led the round and was joined by Brewer Lane Ventures, Third Prime, Reciprocal Ventures, and others.
- Machinery Partner, a Boston, Mass.-based company that procure and finances heavy machinery and equipment purchases, raised $11 million in funding. Armory Square Ventures led the round and was joined by Pritzker Group and others.
- Sharpen, a Concord, Mass.-based reading program focusing on early-risk assessment, raised $11m in Series A funding led by Learn Capital, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3tbn7iD
- Spade, a New York City-based provider of transaction data for the card ecosystem, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Flourish Ventures led the round and was joined by a16z, Gradient Ventures, Y Combinator, and others.
- Pachama, a San Francisco-based platform designed to help companies invest in reforestation and conservation projects, raised $9 million in a Series B extension from T.Capital, Lowercarbon Capital and Positive Ventures.
- Necto, a New York City and Singapore-based developer of software designed to make communication between corporate banks secure and efficient, raised $8 million in seed funding from Nyca Partners, Point72 Ventures, Vine Ventures, Avenir Growth, Communitas Capital, Edison Partners, and AFG Partners.
- Asato, a Saratoga, Calif.-based AI assistant for enterprise asset management, raised $7.5 million in seed funding. Intel Capital and Lip-Bu Tan led the round and was joined by Shah Capital Partners and angel investors.
- Mulberri, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AI-driven embedded insurance platform, raised $6.8 million in Series A funding. Eos Venture Partners led the round and was joined by existing investors Hanover Technology Management, MS&AD Ventures, and Altamont Capital Partners.
- Curvance, a DeFi platform for lending and borrowing, raised $3.6m in seed funding from Offchain Labs and Wormhole. https://axios.link/3TaS4hu
- Solvento, a Mexico City, Mexico-based developer of technological and financial solutions designed to help companies in the trucking sector automate and speed up collections and payments, raised $3.5 million in a seed extension. Quona Capital led the round and was joined by Dynamo Ventures, Ironspring Ventures, Proeza Ventures, and Zenda VC.
. . .
Care:
- Ketryx, a Somerville, Mass.-based provider of lifecycle management software for medical applications, raised $14 million in Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Ubiquity Ventures and others.
- Ladder, an Austin, Texas-based virtual strength training startup, raised $12m in Series A funding co-led by Tapestry VC and LivWell Ventures, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3R8JJse
- Orchid, an SF-based reproductive tech startup focused on longevity, raised $12m from Prometheus Fund, Starbloom Capital, Refactor Capital, Pebblebed, Day One Ventures, and Conviction Capital. www.orchidhealth.com
- InpharmD, an Atlanta, Ga.-based platform designed to provide AI-powered responses to clinical health questions, raised $6 million in seed funding. 645 Ventures led the round and was joined by Atlanta Ventures, Y Combinator, Qlarant Capital, and others.
. . .
Enterprise & Consumer:
- Mistral AI, a Paris startup founded this year that makes open-source software and is aiming to compete with OpenAI, officially closed a $415 million round at approximately a $2 billion, according to Bloomberg. Andreessen Horowitz led the transaction, with additional investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Salesforce, BNP Paribas, CMA-CGM, General Catalyst, Elad Gil, and Conviction. TechCrunch has more here.
- VAST Data, a New York City-based AI data platform company, raised $118 million in Series E funding. Fidelity Management & Research Company led the round and was joined by New Enterprise Associates, BOND Capital, and Drive Capital.
- ContactMonkey, a Toronto-based internal communications platform, raised $55m in Series A funding led by Updata Partners. https://axios.link/3RlRj2W
- AssemblyAI, a San Francisco-based developer of speech-to-text and other AI models, raised $50 million in Series C funding. Accel led the round and was joined by Insight Partners, Smith Point Capital, Daniel Gross, Nat Friedman, and Y Combinator.
- MaintainX, a San Francisco-based maintenance and frontline execution platform, raised $50 million in Series C funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Amity Ventures, and others.
- Tovala, a Chicago, Ill.-based meal delivery company, raised $45 million in funding from General Catalyst.
- Dust Identity, a Newton, Mass.-based company that authenticates and tracks objects with invisible diamond dust, raised $40 million in funding. Castle Island Ventures led the round and was joined by Amex Ventures, Airbus Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and 8VC.
- ArmorCode, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based AppSecOps platform, raised $40m in Series B finding. HighlandX led, and was joined by NGP Capital, Ballistic Ventures, Sierra Ventures and Cervin Ventures. https://axios.link/3RqO6jx
- Replicate, a San Francisco-based portfolio of many open source machine learning models, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by NVentures, Heavybit, Sequoia, and Y Combinator.
- Liquid AI, an MIT spinout that's developing liquid neural networks, raised $37.5m in seed funding. OSS Capital and PagsGroup co-led, and were joined by Breyer Capital, Duke Capital Partners, Argean Capital Management, Latham & Watkins, Samsung Next, Capgemini & ISAI, and angels like Tom Preston Werner and Naval Ravikant. https://axios.link/46LYc2Q
- Leonardo.Ai, a Sydney, Australia-based AI platform designed to generate images, art, and allow users to build their own AI models, raised $31 million in funding from Blackbird, Side Stage Ventures, Smash Capital, and others.
- Mine, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based developer of data privacy software, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Battery Ventures led the round and was joined by PayPal Ventures, Nationwide Ventures, and others.
- Center, a Bellevue, Wash.-based expense and travel software maker, raised $30m in Series C funding led by Top Tier Capital Partners, with Durable Capital Partners also participating. https://axios.link/3uLUd9x
- Rhythms, a Bellevue, Wash.-based AI-powered operating system that identifies the habits of high performing teams, raised $26 million in seed funding. Greenoaks and Madrona led the round and were joined by Accel, Cercano, and Founders’ Co-op.
- ON (fka GameOn Technology), an SF-based AI chatbot for brands and enterprises, raised $25m in Series C funding from Equiam, B3 Capital, Commonwealth Financial Network and Mirae Asset Venture Investment. www.onplatform.com
- Opal Security, a New York City and San Francisco-based identity, security, and access management platform for enterprises, raised $22 million in Series B funding. Battery Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Greylock and Box Group.
- Kognitos, a San Jose, Calif.-based business automation platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Khosla Ventures led the round and was joined by Clear Ventures, Engineering Capital, and Wipro Ventures.
- Rohirim, a Reston, Va.-based generative AI model designed to train on a specific company’s data and automate tasks like generating proposals, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by existing investor General Purpose Venture Capital.
- Extropic, a stealth AI startup, raised $14.1m in seed funding. Kindred Ventures led, and was joined by Buckley Ventures, HOF Capital, Julian Capital, Marque VC, OSS Capital, Valor Equity Partners and the Weekend Fund. www.extropic.ai
- Sharpen, a Concord, Mass.-based literacy platform for children, raised $11 million in funding. Learn Capital led the round and was joined by others.
- Yogi, a New York City-based product insights platform for consumer brands, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Blueprint Equity led the round and was joined by existing investors.
- Qortex, a New York-based video analytics platform, raised $10m in seed funding. GFT Ventures led, and was joined by Silicon Road Ventures. https://axios.link/46IWPSQ
- Shadow, a data workflow platform, raised $9m in seed funding led by Paradigm. www.shadow.xyz
- DataCebo, a Boston, Mass.-based developer of synthetic data designed to train enterprise AI and models, raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Link Ventures and Zetta Venture Partners led the round and were joined by Uncorrelated Ventures.
- Asato, an enterprise Copilot platform, raised $7.5m in seed funding. Intel Capital and Lip-Bu Tan co-led, and were joined by Shah Capital Partners. www.asato.ai
- Sindri, a Denver, Colo.-based zero-knowledge proof infrastructure platform, raised $5 million in seed funding. CoinFund led the round and was joined by others.
- Atla AI, a developer of safety guardrails for generative AI in "high stakes" areas like legal and financial, raised $5m. Creandum led, and was joined by YC and Rebel Fund. www.atla-ai.com
- Respell, a San Francisco-based AI bot designed to automate workflows, raised $4.8 million in seed funding. Craft Ventures led the round and was joined by Abstract Ventures, Zapier, and others.
- Enveedo, a Miami, Fla.-based cybersecurity company, raised $3.2 million in seed funding. Silverton Partners led the round and was joined by Runtime Ventures and Blu Ventures.
- Pimento, a Paris, France-based AI tool for creativity, raised €3 million ($3.2 million) in seed funding. Partech led the round and was joined by Cygni and angel investors.
- HomeCooks, a London, U.K.-based marketplace designed to connect independent food creators and chefs to consumers, raised $3.1 million in seed funding. SpeedInvest led the round and was joined by DFF and Love Ventures.
- Trackstar, a New York City-based developer of software designed to make warehouse management systems more efficient, raised $2.6 million in seed funding. TMV led the round and was joined by Y Combinator, Operator Stack, Soma Capital, and angel investors.
- GameTree, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based app for gamers to find teammates and friends, raised $1.7 million in seed funding from Corazon Capital, Full Stack Ventures, Goodwater Capital, and others.
- Harriet, a London, U.K.-based AI tool for HR teams, raised £1.2 million ($1.5 million) in pre-seed funding. Concept Ventures led the round and was joined by Frontline Ventures, Portfolio Ventures, and Notion Capital.
. . .
HardTech:
- CoreWeave, a Roseland, N.J.-based cloud computing platform, was valued at $7b via a Fidelity-led investment, per Bloomberg. Other backers include Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, Jane Street, JPMorgan, Goanna Capital, Zoom Ventures and Nat Friedman. https://axios.link/414SS9Q
- Pragmatic, a British semiconductor tech firm, held a £162m first close on its Series D round. M&G's Catalyst and UK Infrastructure Bank co-led, and were joined by Northern Gritstone, Latitude, MVolution Partners and insiders British Patient Capital, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and Prosperity7 Ventures. https://axios.link/488rcmR
- Gecko Robotics, a Pittsburgh-based maker of physical infrastructure inspection robots, raised $100m in Series C extension funding from backers like USIT and Founders Fund. https://axios.link/46EKTBu
- Foretellix, an Israeli developer of verification and validation solutions for self-driving, raised $85m in Series C funding. 83North led, and was joined by Temasek, Toyota's Woven Capital, Nvidia, Artofin and insiders MoreTech, Nationwide, Volvo Group VC, Jump Capital, Next Gear Ventures, and OurCrowd. www.foretellix.com
- Nth Cycle, a Boston, Mass.-based metals refining company, raised $37 million in Series B funding from VoLo Earth Ventures, Caterpillar Venture Capital, and others.
- Air Space Intelligence, a San Francisco-based developer of AI-powered aviation technology, including a program that calculates the best plane routes, raised $34 million in Series B funding. a16z led the round and was joined by existing investors Bloomberg Beta, Renegade Partners, and Spark Capital.
- EnCharge AI, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of AI chips designed for more efficient and sustainable computation, raised $22.6 million in funding from VentureTech Alliance, RTX Ventures, ACVC Partners, and others.
- Atomic Industries, a Cleveland Heights, Ohio-based tool and die-making automation startup, raised $17m in seed funding. Narya led, and was joined by 8090 Industries, Acequia Capital New Industrials, Porsche Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Toyota Ventures and Impatient Ventures. https://axios.link/47FQ5q9
- OurSky, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based network of telescopes designed to provide data for space applications, raised $9.5 million in seed funding. Upfront Ventures led the round and was joined by Oceans Ventures, Venrex Investment Management, Marlinspike Partners, and Embedded Ventures.
. . .
Sustainability:
- Safi, a London, U.K.-based marketplace for trading recyclables internationally, raised $19.5 million in Series A funding. Nosara Capital led the round and was joined by LowerCarbon and Transition.
- Cambium Carbon, a Baltimore-based sustainable wood supplier, raised $5.3m in seed funding. MaC Venture Capital led, and was joined by Blue Pool Capital, Rise of the Rest, Alumni Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Gaingels and Avesta. www.cambriumcapital.com
Acquisitions & PE:
- Wiz, backed by Blackstone, acquired Raftt, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based platform where software developers can collaborate on projects or work on multiple features at once, for between $40 and $50 million, according to Bloomberg.
- Insight Enterprises acquired SADA, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based provider of cloud consultancy and technical services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- ACI Learning, backed by Boathouse Capital, acquired Infosec Learning, a Baltimore, Md.-based cybersecurity, cyber ranges, and software education platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- H.I.G. Capital completed the sale of Just Home Healthcare Services, a Fair Lawn, N.J.-based provider of medically focused adult day health and in‐home personal care services. Honor Health Network, backed by Webster Equity Partners, acquired the Personal Home Care and Adult Day Health business, while RHA Health Services, backed by Blue Wolf Capital, acquired the Group Home and Independent Living Program business. www.jhcare.org
- Nearmap, an Australian portfolio company of Thoma Bravo, agreed to acquire Betterview, an SF-based property intelligence and risk management startup that had raised $34m in VC funding from firms like Nationwide Ventures, Guidewire Software, and ManchesterStory, Runway Venture Partners and Alumni Ventures. www.betterview.com
- Arctos Partners acquired a minority stake in Paris Saint-Germain, a Paris, France-based French soccer club, from Qatar Sports Investments, at a valuation of approximately €4 billion ($4.3 billion).
- Reverence Capital Partners is seeking to sell up to a 20% stake in Osaic, a Phoenix-based wealth management group, per Bloomberg. The deal could be valued at $2.5b. https://axios.link/3RqnuPE
- Thoma Bravo completed its $3.6b sale of Imperva, a San Mateo, Calif.-based cybersecurity company, to Thales (Paris: HO). https://axios.link/3QaXhV2
- Qatar Holding is seeking to sell around 362m shares in Barclays (LSE: BARC), which could fetch $644m, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3uHWGlk
- Farfetch (NYSE: FTCH) CEO José Neves is mulling a take-private of the luxury fashion retailer, alongside top shareholders Richemont, Alibaba, and JP Morgan, per The Telegraph.
- Five9 (Nasdaq: FIVN) is seeking a buyer, two years after its shareholders rejected a $14.7b all-stock takeover by Zoom (Nasdaq: ZM), per Bloomberg. The San Ramon, Calif.-based cloud center software company currently has a $6.2b market value. https://axios.link/48kXfA7
Funds:
- Canapi Ventures, a Washington, D.C., New York City, and Wilmington, N.C.-based venture capital firm, raised $750 million in its second fund focused on companies in the financial infrastructure, lending and credit payments, real estate technology, cybersecurity, and other sectors.
- Congruent Ventures, a San Francisco, Calif.-based venture capital firm, raised $275 million in its third fund focused on early stage climate tech companies.
- Intuitive Ventures, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based venture capital firm, raised $150 million for their second fund focused on health care companies improving access to care, developing precise diagnostics and interventions, and developing health care data ecosystems.
Final Numbers: Infrastructure deals
Data: Preqin Pro through Oct 6, 2023. Chart: KKR.
KKR is expecting an upswing for infrastructure deals in 2024, according to a letter sent to investors and then published on the firm's website:
"We have welcomed the early signs of a thaw in capital markets, which should help facilitate an increase in private infrastructure transaction activity. We also believe that the gap between buyers and sellers of infrastructure assets has been closing, particularly as sellers have had more time to adjust their expectations on pricing and as the path of inflation and future interest rates seems to be at least somewhat more certain."
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.