Sourcery (3/8-3/12)
Kraken, NYDIG, BlockFi, Flutterwave, M1 Finance, MainStreet, Pipe, Vendr, HiMarley, Eco, AgentSync, AcreTrader, Forward Health, Cedar, ixLayer, WorkFusion, Snyk, Icertis, SeekOut, Privacera, Neeva...
Last Week (3/8-3/12):
Relevant deals include the 60+ deals across stages below.
I've categorized the deals below into four categories, Fintech,Care, Future of Work, and Sustainability, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds. Highlighted deals include Kraken, NYDIG, BlockFi, Flutterwave, M1 Finance, MainStreet, Pipe, Vendr, HiMarley, Eco, AgentSync, AcreTrader, Forward Health, Cedar, ixLayer, WorkFusion, Snyk, Icertis, SeekOut, Privacera, Neeva, Tackle.io, Flatfile, Section4, Datagrail, Gather, Thoughtspot, Assembled, Daily, WorkOS, Bedrock Ocean, H2Pro, Porter Road. Docsend, GE, Remix, Disguise, Pluralsight, Axonius, Curv, Makerpad. Coupang, Cousera, Olo. Buzzfeed, Cazoo, Boxed, Shutterfly.
Final numbers on PE-Backed M&A at the bottom.
Deals
Sources: TS, Pro Rata, FinSMEs, Pitchbook, StrictlyVC
Fintech:
- Kraken, a San Francisco-based crypto exchange, has been in talks to raise at a $20 billion valuation after shelving plans to go public via SPAC, per Decrypt. Read more.
- NYDIG, a New York-based provider of technology and investment solutions for Bitcoin, raised $200 million. Investors included Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Morgan Stanley, New York Life, MassMutual, Soros Fund Management,FS Investments, Bessemer Venture Partners and FinTech Collective.
- Starling, a U.K.-based challenger bank, raised £272 million ($376 million) in Series D funding, valuing it at £1.4 billion ($1.9 billion). Fidelity Management & Research Company led the round and was joined by investors including Qatar Investment Authority (QIA); RPMI Railpen, and Millennium Management. Read more.
- BlockFi, a Jersey City, N.J.-based crypto financial services company, raised $350 million in Series D funding, valuing it at $3 billion. Bain Capital Ventures, partners of DST Global, Pomp Investments, and Tiger Global led the round and were joined by investors including Susquehanna Government Products, Bracket Capital, Paradigm, Valar Ventures, and Morgan Creek Digital.
- Flutterwave, a San Francisco-based payments technology company, raised $170 million in Series C funding. Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management led the round.
- Zego, a London-based insurtech, raised $150 million in Series C funding, valuing it at $1.1 billion. DST Global led the round and was joined by investors including General Catalyst. Read more.
- Corvus Insurance, a Boston-based provider of insurance products powered by A.I.-driven risk data, raised $100 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led the round.
- M1 Finance, a Chicago-based automated investing, borrowing, and banking products app, raised $75 million in Series D funding. Coatue led the round.
- MainStreet, a San Jose, Calif.-based firm for startups to claim government tax credits, raised $60 million. SignalFire led the round and was joined by investors including Gradient Ventures, Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures, Tusk Ventures, and Des Traynor (Intercom founder).
- Pipe, a San Francisco-based trading platform for recurring revenues, raised $50 million. Raptor Group and Siemens Next47 led the round and was joined by investors including Shopify, Slack, HubSpot, Okta, Chamath Palihapitiya, Marc Benioff, Michael Dell’s MSD Capital, Republic, Alexis Ohanian, and Joe Lonsdale.
- Vendr, a Boston-based SaaS buying platform, raised $60 million in Series A funding. Tiger Global Management led the round and was joined by investors including Craft Ventures, Y Combinator, Sound Ventures, Garage Capital, and F-Prime Capital.
- Wrapbook, a New York-based digital financial services firm focused currently on the entertainment industry, raised $27 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by investors including Equal Ventures, Uncork Capital, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo and Michael Ovitz.
- Hi Marley, a Boston-based messaging platform for insurers, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Emergence Capital led, and was joined by insiders Underscore VC, True Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures and Greenspring Associates.www.himarley.com
- Komainu, a St. Helier, Jersey-based digital asset custody services provider, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Alan Howard of Elwood Asset Management led the round and was joined by investors including Galaxy Digital, NOIA Capital, and Nomura Research Institute.
- Eco, a San Francisco, Calif-based digital crypto app, raised $26 million in funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by investors including Activant Capital, Founders Fund, Coinbase Ventures, Slow Ventures, Tribe Capital, Valor Capital Group,Expa, and Pantera Capital. Read more.
- AgentSync, a Denver-based insurance industry infrastructure company, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Elad Gil and David Sacks’ Craft Ventures led the round and were joined by Marc Benioff, Caffeinated Capital, Operator Collective, and Nine Four Ventures. This brings the company’s valuation to $220 million.
- Zeni, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based bookkeeping tech company, raised $13.5 million in Series A funding. Saama Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Amit Singhal, Sierra Ventures, SVB Financial Group, Liquid 2 Ventures, Firebolt Ventures, Dragon Capital, and Twin Ventures.
- AcreTrader, a Fayetteville, Ark.-based farmland investing platform, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Jump Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Narya Capital, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, RZC Investments, and Revel Partners.
- MobileCoin, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency firm, raised $11.4 million across two rounds from Future Ventures and General Catalyst.Read more.
- Cube, a New York-based provider of planning and analysis software for corporate finance teams, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Mayfield led, and was joined by Bonfire Ventures and Operator Collective. www.cubesoftware.com
- AeroPay, a Chicago-based digital payments platform powering bank transfer payments for businesses, raised about $5 million. Chicago Ventures led the round.
- Cheese, a Pasadena, Calif.-based digital banking platform aimed at Asian Americans and immigrants, raised $3.6 million in seed funding. Ifly.com and Amplify co-led, and were joined by Wedbush Ventures, Idealab, Operate Venture Studio, Adam Nash and Spencer Rascoff.http://axios.link/AnfR
- Clara, a Mexico City-based corporate card and business spend management solution, raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by investors including Picus Capital, Canary Ventures, SV Angel, GFC, SOMA Capital, Liquid2, and Adapt Ventures.
- InterPrice Technologies, a New York-based capital markets fintech firm, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Bowery Capital led, and was joined by Operator Partners, Chaos Ventures and Dash Fund.
. . .
Care:
- Forward Health, San Francisco-based maker of a tool for doctors and patients to monitor health, raised $225 million in Series D funding. Investors included Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Marc Benioff, and The Weeknd.
- Cedar, a New York-based patient engagement and financial technology platform, raised $200 million in Series D funding. Tiger Global Management led the round, valuing the business at $3.2 billion.
- Advise Health Holdings, a medicare agency, raised $100 million. Oak HC/FT led the round and was joined by investors including Adams Street Partners and Hamilton Lane.
- Ixlayer, a San Francisco-based health diagnostics platform, raised $75 million in Series A funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by PearVC Bobby Yazdani, Dara Khosrowshahi, Anne Wojcicki, Zeshan Muhammedi and Hamid Moghadam. www.ixlayer.com
- CorVista Health, a Cary, N.C.-based digital health company focused on cardiovascular disease diagnosis, raised $65 million in Series C funding. Ambix Life Science Fund I led the round and was joined by investors including MedVenture Partners.
- Tausight, a Boston-based company focused on patient health information, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Polaris Partners and Flare Capital Partners led the round and were joined by investors including .406 Ventures.
. . .
Future of Work:
- WorkFusion, a New York-based provider of automation software, raised $220 million in Series F funding. Georgian led the round.
- Snyk, a Boston-based cloud native application security company, raised $175 million in Series E funding. Some $125 million was raised via secondary transactions. The round, led by Accel and Tiger Global, values the business at $4.7 billion. Investors also included Addition, Boldstart Ventures, Canaan Partners, Coatue, GV, Salesforce Ventures, Stripes, and BlackRock.
- Icertis, a Bellevue, Wash.-based contract management company, raised $80 million in Series F funding, valuing it at $2.8 billion. B Capital Group led the round and was joined by investors including Greycroft, Meritech Capital Partners, Premji Invest, PSP Growth, and e.ventures.
- SeekOut, a Redmond, Wash.-based provider of the A.I.-powered recruiting software, raised $65 million in Series B funding. Tiger Global Management led the round and was joined by investors including Madrona Venture Group and Mayfield.
- Privacera, a Fremont, Calif.-based cloud data governance and security company, raised $50 million. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Sapphire Ventures, Battery Ventures, Accel, Cervin, and Point 72.
- Preply, a San Francisco-based edtech marketplace for tutor-based foreign language learning, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Owl Ventures and Full In Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Point Nine Capital, Hoxton Ventures, as well as EduCapital, All Iron, Diligent Capital and Evli Growth Partners.
- Neeva, a Mountainview, Calif.-based maker of an ad free search engine, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Sequoia Capital and Greylock led the round and was joined by investors including Inovia Capital.
- NuORDER, a Los Angeles-based e-commerce platform, raised $45 million. Brighton Park Capital and Imaginary Ventures led the round.
- ActZero, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based cybersecurity startup focused on small and mid-sized businesses, raised $40 million in seed funding. Point72 Hyperscale led the round.
- Tetrate, a San Francisco-based cloud application networking company, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Sapphire Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Scale Venture Partners and NTTVC.
- Tackle.io, a Boise, Id.-based software company focused on cloud marketplace, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by investors including Bessemer Venture Partners.
- Flatfile, a Denver-based data onboarding software company, raised $35 million in Series A funding. Scale Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Workday Ventures, Afore Capital, Gradient Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures.
- Centrical, a New York-based employee engagement and performance focused company, raised$32 million. Intel Capital and JVP led the round and were joined by C4 Ventures, Citi Ventures,Aleph, CE Ventures, La Maison Compagnie d'Investissment, and 2B Angels.
- Section4, a New York-based upskilling platform, raised $30 million in Series A funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by Learn Capital and GSV Ventures.www.section4.com
- DataGrail, a San Francisco-based privacy platform, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Felicis Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including HubSpot and Okta.
- Gather, a virtual gathering space platform, raised $26 million in Series A funding. Sequoia Capital led, and was joined by Index Ventures, YC Continuity, Jeff Weiner, Dylan Field and Kevin Hartz. http://axios.link/uUP6
- Securonix, an Addison, Tx.-based maker of a log management and security response platform, raised $24 million in funding. Capital One Ventures was the investor.
- ThoughtSpot, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based search and A.I.-driven analytics company, raised $20 million from Snowflake Ventures.
- Assembled, a San Francisco-based operating system for customer support teams, raised $16.6 million in Series A funding. Emergence Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Stripe, Basis Set Ventures, and Felicis Ventures.
- LinearB, a Tel Aviv and Los Angeles-based maker of developer team software, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Battery Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including 83North, Ariel Maislos, and TechAviv Founder Partners.
- Daily, a maker of a developer platform for audio and video, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Lachy Groom led the round and was joined by investors including Tiger Global. Read more.
- WorkOS, a San Francisco-based developer platform for enterprise apps, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Lachy Groom led the round and was joined by investors including Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, Kevin Hartz, Brianne Kimmel, Josh Buckley, Scott Belsky, Rahul Vohra, Cristina Cordova, Akshay Kothari, and Matt Biilmann.
- Splashtop, a San Jose, Calif.-based remote access and remote support firm, raised $15 million from existing investors Sapphire Ventures, Storm Ventures, NEA, and DFJ DragonFund.
- Forma.ai, a Canada-based sales performance analytics provider, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Crosslink Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Golden Ventures, Panache Ventures, Uncork Capital, and Xfund.
- Songclip, a New York-based technology solution for integrating popular licensed music as a feature in social apps, raised $11 million. Gregg Smith of Evolution VC Partners led the round and was joined by investors including The Kraft Group, Michael Rubin, Raised in Space, Gaingels, and Forefront Venture Partners.
- Allganize, a San Francisco, Calif.-based provider of technology that allows enterprises to automate answering questions, raised $10 million in funding. Atinum Investment led the round and was joined by investors including Stonebridge Ventures and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
- TripleBlind, a Kansas City, Mo.-based creator of a privacy and API-focused virtual exchange solution, raised $8.2 million in seed funding. Dolby Family Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Okta Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, Operator Partners, Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, AVG Basecamp Fund, Anorak Ventures, and Quiet Capital.
- Bedrock Ocean Exploration, an ocean exploration startup, raised $8 million in seed funding. Investors included Eniac Ventures, Primary Venture Partners, Quiet Capital, and R7. Read more.
- Refraction AI, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based delivery robot startup, raised $4.2 million in seed funding. Pillar VC led the round and was joined by investors including eLab Ventures, Osage Venture Partners, Trucks Venture Capital, Alumni Ventures Group, Chad Laurans, and Invest Michigan.Read more.
- Woflow, a San Francisco-based data infrastructure, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Craft Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Base10 Partners and Flex Capital.
- DocJuris, a Houston, Texas-based maker of contract negotiating tool for in-house counsels and procurement teams, raised $3.2 million in seed funding. RTP Seed led the round and was joined by investors including Watertower Ventures, Crossbeam, Seed Round Capital, and Remote First Capital.
- Full Speed Automation, a Los Gatos, Calif.-based maker of manufacturing software, raised $3.2 million. HCVC led the round and was joined by investors including Catapult Venture Capital, Seedcamp, Serena Capital, Kima Ventures, and Diaspora Ventures. Read more.
- Mentorcam, a Los Angeles-based video messaging platform, raised $1.4 million in pre-seed funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by investors including Studio VC, Kosinski Ventures, and Realize Tech Fund.
. . .
Sustainability:
- H2Pro, an Israel-based green hydrogen production company, raised $22 Million in Series A2 funding. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe, and IN Venture led the round. Investors also included iAngels, TPY Capital, Contrarian Ventures,Bazan,Horizons Ventures, New Fortress Energy, and OurCrowd.
- Planted, a Zurich-based startup making a vegetarian chicken alternative, raised $18 million (CHF 17 million) in Series A funding. Vorwerk Ventures and Blue Horizon Ventures led the round. Read more.
- Porter Road, a Nashville, Tenn.-based sustainability-focused animal butcher, raised $10 million in Series A funding. L37 Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including River Park Ventures, Middleland, FJ Labs,Kelvin Beachum,MAX Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, and Slow Ventures.
- Plan A, a Berlin-based platform for corporate carbon footprint tracking and reporting, raised $3 million. Demeter led, and was joined by Coparion and SoftBank. http://axios.link/Zz1g
Acquisitions & PE:
- Dropbox (Nasdaq: DBX) agreed to buy DocSend, a San Francisco-based document sharing and tracking platform, for $165 million. DocSend had raised around $15 million from firms like August Capital and DCM Ventures. http://axios.link/6FTP
- General Electric (NYSE: GE) is in advanced talks to merge its aircraft-leasing business with AerCap Holdings (NYSE: AER), as first reported by WSJ. This would create the world's largest jet-leasing business, valued north of $30 billion, which is certain to invite antitrust scrutiny. It also further streamlines GE, which has been shedding ancillary businesses since Larry Culp took over as CEO in 2018.
- The Carlyle Group acquired a majority stake in Disguise, a London-based provider of live event virtualization solutions, from Livingbridge. www.disguise.one
- A group of investors including Bain Capital will acquire the assets of By Chloe, the vegan restaurant chain, out of bankruptcy for $333,000. The deal will not include the By Chloe trademark. Read more.
- Via agreed to acquire Remix, a San Francisco-based transportation software maker, for $100 million in cash and equity. Sequoia Capital backs Remix.
- Vista Equity Partners increased its $3.5 billion takeover offer for Pluralsight (Nasdaq: PS), a Utah-based provider of workforce development software, by 11%. The move comes after some shareholder opposition to the original agreement. www.pluralsight.com
- ICONIQ Growth, Alkeon Capital, DTCP, and Harmony Partners acquired a stake in Axonius, a New York-based cybersecurity asset management company, from YL Ventures for about $270 million.
- PayPal agreed to acquire Curv, a New York-based digital asset security platform. Investors including Team8 back the firm. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Zapier, a San Francisco-based no-code automation tool, acquired Makerpad, a British no-code education service and community that had been seeded by firms like Earnest Capital. Zapier shareholders include Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Threshold Ventures. http://axios.link/YP4K
. . .
IPOs:
- Alkami, a Plano, Texas-based provider of digital banking solutions for banks and credit unions, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (ALKT) and reports a $51 million net loss on $112 million in revenue for 2020. Alkami raised around $250 million from firms like General Atlantic (24.1% pre-IPO stake), S3 Ventures (23.9%), Argonaut PE (16.2%) and D1 Capital Partners (5.6%). http://axios.link/Iza7
- Coursera, a Mountain View, Calif.-based online learning company, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (COUR) and reports a $67 million net loss on $294 million in revenue for 2020. It raised $463 million in VC funding, most recently at a $2.6 billion valuation, from firms like NEA (18.3% pre-IPO stake), G Squared (15.9%), Kleiner Perkins (9.2%), Future Fund (7.9%), The Lampert Foundation, GSV Ventures and Learn Capital. http://axios.link/SRpo
- Olo, a New York-based restaurant ordering and delivery platform, set IPO terms to 18 million shares at $16-$18. It would have a fully-diluted value of $3.1 billion, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (OLO). The company reports $3 million of net income on $98 million in revenue for 2020, and raised over $80 million in VC funding Raine Group, RRE Ventures, Tiger Global, Battery Ventures, Staley Capital and Wellington Management. http://axios.link/WJuJ
- Coupang, a South Korean e-commerce giant, raised its IPO price range from $27-$30 to $32-$34. It still plans to offer 120 million shares, and list on the NYSE (CPNG). The company reports a $475 million net loss on $12 billion in revenue for 2020, while include SoftBank Vision Fund, Greenoaks Capital, Maverick Ventures and Sequoia Capital. http://axios.link/au05
- Deliveroo, a U.K.-based food delivery company, announced plans to go public in London. Read more.
- Trustpilot, a Denmark-based online platform for consumer reviews, is seeking to raise $50 million in an IPO in London, valuing the business at as much as $1.4 billion. Read more.
. . .
SPACs:
- DocGo (f.k.a. Ambulnz), a New York-based provider of last-mile telehealth and medical mobility solutions, agreed to go public at a $1.1 billion implied valuation, via reverse merger with Motion Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: MOTN), a SPAC led by former Fleetmatics CEO Jim Travers. Ambulnz raised a small amount of funding from Valor Equity Partners, Fine Day Ventures, Vast Ventures and The Hillview Group. http://axios.link/Cx1c
- IronNet Cybersecurity, a McLean, Va.-based cybersecurity firm, is in talks to merge with LGL Systems Acquisition, a SPAC, per Bloomberg. A deal could value the business at $1.2 billion. ForgePoint Capital and Kleiner Perkins back IronNet. Read more.
- Velo3D, a Cambell, Calif.-based maker of 3D metal printers, is in talks to merge with Jaws Spitfire Acquisition, a SPAC from Barry Sternlicht. A deal could value it at over $1 billion, per Bloomberg. Read more.
- Grab, the Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm, is weighing plans to go public in the U.S. via merger with a blank-check company, per Bloomberg. Read more.
- BuzzFeed is in talks to go public via acquisition by 890 5th Avenue Partners (Nasdaq: ENFA), per Bloomberg. Just days ago, BuzzFeed laid off dozens of staffers who had joined via the HuffingtonPost acquisition. http://axios.link/WNgE
- Boxed, a New York-based online bulk retailer, is in talks to go public via merger with Seven Oaks Acquisition, a SPAC, per Bloomberg. A deal could value the firm at over $1 billion. Read more.
- Cazoo, a U.K.-based used-car online platform, is weighing merging with Ajax I, a SPAC, in a deal that could value it at 6 billion pounds ($8.3 billion), per Sky News. Read more.
- Shutterfly, a Redwood City, Calif.-based photo company backed by Apollo Global Management, is in talks to go public via merger with Altimar Acquisition II, a SPAC, per the Wall Street Journal.Read more.
- Lerer Hippeau Acquisition, a SPAC led by Lerer Hippeau focused on technology-enabled businesses, raised $200 million.
- Cipher Mining, a newly formed subsidiary of blockchain company Bitfury, will go public via merger with Good Works Acquisition, a SPAC. The deal values the combined business at about $2 billion.
Funds:
- VMG Partners, a San Francisco, Calif.-based private equity firm, raised $850 million for VMG Partners V.
- Luminate Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, raised about $890 million for its third fund. Read more.
- High Alpha Capital, an Indianapolis-based software venture firm, closed a $110 million fund focused on enterprise cloud companies.
Final Numbers
Source: Refinitiv Deals Intelligence. Data through March 6, 2021.
Global private equity volume hit $133.2 billion through last Friday, up 41% year-to-date over 2020, per Refinitiv.
U.S. volume is up 91% to $72.6 billion.
Asia (ex-Japan) is up 167%, while Europe is down 4%.