Sourcery ☀ Apple Vision Pro, LA Tech Week

(5/29-6/2) Magic, RealBlocks, Holdings, Boom, Vault, Strive Health, Carrum Health, Wellplaece, CoreWeave, Measurabl, Pixxel, Cortex, Sana, Vartana, Deep Sentinel, Fortify

Jun 06, 2023

Happy LA Tech Week!! ☀️

To start the celebration of the best city ever, this past weekend we went on a silly field trip to LA’s “real” comedy club, Largo at the Coronet. This is where I’m told all the ‘legit comedians’ go (from a comedian). It's kind of like a dive bar mixed with an 80s elementary school auditorium, and much less ‘mainstream’ than the Comedy Store or Laugh Factory (I’ve had really great nights there too!).

Ben Schwartz (aka Jean-Ralphio from Parks&Rec) & his ‘Friends’ performed long-form improv where they take two prompts from the audience & then create a spontaneous hour long storytelling experience together woven with all the keywords. I had tears run down my face and knots in my stomach, it was quite funny. Had to be there.

Hmmm, but wait. This sounds familiar… ah no, I will not be going into how improv and generativeAI are similar. C’mon guys, there’s more to life. Like Apple Vision Pro.

Back to #LongLA

AKA the best city in the USA to launch a startup with its growing community, diverse culture, creative ideas, Upfront Ventures, & wide range of successful B2B & B2C founders and companies.

There are over 340+ events this week from yoga, surfing, a Universal Studios backlot tour, Beverly Hills parties, Malibu happy hours, sushi, hiking, spaceships, AI, gaming, pickleball, panels, hackathons, etc. Needless to say, there’s something for everyone and it’s truly amazing how the community really came together to liven things up.

Major shout out to Katia Ameri at a16z for organizing and cheerleading this week. Not only that but she did it for SF last week and has more coming up! If you’re still looking for something to attend, check out the Master Calendar.

In the spirit of all things LA, we’ve made the unofficial official #LongLA Dad Hat & #LongLA Crewneck Sweatshirt with local tech startup Fourthwall’s automated brand/creator shop platform. (It’s actually too easy, too fast.. quite addicting, & the printing/embroidery is much more realistic in person than the genAI images 😂.)

Shop: sourcerymerch.com + discount code: Sourcery All sales go to supporting Sourcery’s continued growth!

Musings

If you have to listen/watch anything this week, check out Logan Bartlett’s interview with Spotify’s Swedish Founder & CEO Daniel Ek
- TLDR: you don’t need to be an egomaniac power-hungry shell of a person to be a billionaire. Yeah, you might be smart (or lucky) as hell, but are you kind, thoughtful, and engaging?
  - (4:21) The entrepreneurial journey to Spotify
  - (10:21) Making millions but feeling aimless
  - (27:50) Sleeping outside record label offices
  - (45:32) Taking elements from iconic CEOs to mode
  - (51:15) Natural Biases & reevaluating what you need for your mission
How Much More Efficient Should a SaaS Startup Be When Using AI?, Tomasz Tunguz
VC Contagion, Is Venture Capital Killing Itself? Kyle Harrison
👽 Ex–Intelligence Official Says Government Is Hiding Alien Technology From Congress, NYMag
- Show. us. the. aliens.

@MollySOShea

. . .

Last Week (5/29-6/2):

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 Magic, RealBlocks, Holdings, Demox Labs, Boom, Vault, Strive Health, Carrum Health, Wellplaece, CoreWeave, Measurabl, Pixxel, Cortex, Sana, Vartana, Ariga, Deep Sentinel, Fortify, Predibase, Galvanick, UpCodes, Platformatic, Cognosys, Antimatter, CleanJoule, Cur8; Jellyfish, Bablic, Blueground

Final numbers on US IPO Filings (..yikes) at the bottom.

Deals

Fintech:

- Magic, a San Francisco-based wallet-as-a-service provider, raised $52 million in funding. PayPal Ventures led the round and was joined by Cherubic, Synchrony, KX, Northzone, and Volt Capital.

- RealBlocks, a New York-based alternative investment platform, raised $10m in Series A extension funding co-led by Crosslink Capital and Left Lane Capital. https://axios.link/3qiC7tl

- Holdings, an SF-based business cash diversification startup, raised $7m in seed funding from backers like Album VC, Fin Capital and Hustle Fund, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/43tDSC8

- Demox Labs, a San Francisco-based privacy infrastructure company for zero-knowledge blockchains, raised $4.5 million in pre-seed funding. HackVC led the round and was joined by DCVC, Amplify Partners, Coinbase Ventures, CRV, OpenSea, and CSquared.

- Boom, a New York-based rent reporting platform, raised $4.5m in seed funding. Starting Line led, and was joined by Clocktower Ventures, Company Ventures and Gilgamesh Ventures. https://axios.link/43cXlY1

- Vault, an online bank for Canadian SMBs, raised US$3.7m in seed funding co-led by Gradient Ventures and Fin Capital. https://axios.link/3N7Q8mC

. . .

Care:

- Strive Health, a Denver-based kidney care company, raised $166 million in Series C funding. NEA led the round and was joined by CVS Health Ventures, CapitalG, Echo Ventures, Town Hall Ventures, Ascension Ventures, and Redpoint.

- Carrum Health, a San Mateo, Calif.- based health care spend platform, raised $45 million in Series B funding. OMERS Growth Equity led the round and was joined by Revelation Partners, Tiger Global, Wildcat Venture Partners, Cross Creek, and SpringRock Ventures.

- Dock Health, a Boston-based provider of health care admin tools, raised $5m. MassMutual led, and was joined by DaVita Venture Group and insider August Capital. www.dock.health

- Wellplaece, a San Francisco-based supply purchasing platform for dental professionals, raised $3.5 million in seed funding co-led by Eniac Ventures and Bee Partners.

- Grapefruit Health, a Chicago-based patient engagement platform, raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding. Antler, GoAhead Ventures, Hustle Fund, Litquidity, LongJump Ventures, SUM Ventures, Sweater, The Fund Midwest, and others invested in the round.

. . .

Enterprise & Consumer:

- CoreWeave, a Roseland, N.J.-based cloud provider, raised an additional $200 million in funding from Magnetar Capital.

- Measurabl, a San Diego-based provider of real estate portfolio management software, raised $93m in Series D funding. Energy Impact Partners led, and was joined by Moderne Ventures, WVV, Suffolk Construction, Broadscale, Camber Creek, Salesforce Ventures, Building Ventures, Constellation Technology Ventures, Concrete Ventures, RET Ventures, Colliers and Lincoln Property Co. https://axios.link/3MKHfxQ

- Swing Education, a San Francisco-based online marketplace connecting schools and substitute teachers, raised $38 million in Series C funding co-led by funds advised by Apax Partners and Reach Capital.

- Pixxel, an El Segundo, Calif.-based hyperspectral earth imaging technology company, raised $36 Million in Series B funding. Google led the round and was joined by Radical Ventures, Lightspeed, Blume Ventures, growx, Sparta, and Athera.

- Cortex, a San Francisco-based internal developer portal, raised $35 million in Series B funding. IVP led the round and was joined by Craft Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and YCombinator.

- Sana, a Stockholm-based learning and knowledge platform, raised $28 million in funding. NEA led the round and was joined by Workday Ventures.

- Hyro, a New York-based conversational artificial intelligence platform, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Macquarie Capital led the round and was joined by Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, Black Opal Ventures, K20, Hanaco Ventures, Spero Ventures, and Mindset Ventures.

- Vartana, a San Francisco-based B2B sales closing and financing platform, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Activant Capital led the round and was joined by Mayfield and Audacious Ventures.

- Ariga, a Tel Aviv-based database schema management platform, raised $18 million in funding co-led by Tiger Global and TLV Partners.

- Atly, a New York- and Tel Aviv-based social mapping platform, raised $18 million in funding. Target Global, Tal Ventures, and FKA Brands invested in the round.

- Deep Sentinel, a Pleasanton, Calif-based live video monitoring security provider, raised $15 million in funding. Intel Capital led the round and was joined by Shasta Ventures, Slow Ventures, UP2398, and The Syndicate.

- Fortify, a Boston-based materials science and additive manufacturing startup, raised $12.5m from the VC arms of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. www.3dfortify.com

- Predibase, a San Francisco-based machine learning platform for developers, raised $12.2 million in Series A extension funding led by Felicis.

- Galvanick, a Los Angeles-based industrial infrastructure cybersecurity company, raised $10 million in seed funding. MaC Venture Capital, Founders Fund, Village Global, Countdown Capital, Hanover Technology Investment Management, Shrug Capital, 8090 Industries, and others invested in the round.

- Alcion, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based data management startup, raised $8 million in seed funding. Walden International chairman Lip-Bu Tan, Postman CEO and founder Abhinav Asthana, DataRobot CEO Debanjan Saha, and investor Amarjit Gill invested in the round.

- Qflow, a London-based construction tech company, raised £7.2 million ($8.93 million) in Series A funding. Systemiq Capital led the round and was joined by Ascension Ventures, Bridge Investment Group, Gravel Rd, Greensoil Proptech Ventures, Grosvenor, and others.

- HostGPO, a Los Angeles-based group purchasing organization and marketplace for vacation rental hosts, raised $6 million in funding co-led by Navitas Capital and OMNIA Partners.

- Canopus Networks, an Australian network analytics startup, raised A$4.5m from Konvoy Ventures. www.canopusnetworks.com

- UpCodes, a San Francisco-based code compliance platform, raised $3.5 million in Series A funding. Building Ventures led the round and was joined by PlanGrid’s cofounders, CapitalX, and Bragiel Bros.

- Platformatic, a San Francisco-based backend development platform for developers and enterprises, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Decibel, Panache Ventures, GitHub founder Tom Preston-Werner, and other angels invested in the round.

- XONAI, a London-based cloud optimization platform, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Kadmos Capital led the round and was joined by Adara Ventures, Deep Science Ventures, Nauta Capital, Notion Capital, and others.

- UpdateAI, a Los Angeles-based customer success platform, raised $2.3 million in funding. IdealabX led the round and was joined by Stage Venture Partners, Zoom Ventures, A16z’s scout fund, and Howard Morgan.

- Cognosys, a Vancouver-based A.I. productivity agent, raised $2 million in seed funding led by Sangeen Zeb at GV.

- Antimatter, a New York-based meme-based learning and teaching platform, raised $2 million in seed funding. Version One led the round and was joined by Spacecadet, Ordinary, Gregory Levey, Haystack, and Compound.

- Proxima, a San Francisco-based game studio, raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding. London Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Konvoy Ventures, Progression Fund, and Valhalla Ventures.

. . .

Sustainability:

- CleanJoule, a Salt Lake City-based sustainable aviation fuel company, raised $50 million in funding. Indigo Partners, GenZero, Cleanhill Partners, and others invested in the round.

- CUR8, a London-based carbon-removal climate-tech startup, raised £5.3 million ($6.57 million) in pre-seed funding. GV led the round and was joined by CapitalT.

Acquisitions & PE:

- The Brandtech Group acquired Jellyfish, a London-based digital media and marketing group. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Unbabel acquired Bablic, a Tel Aviv-based website translation company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Wicked Kitchen, an Edina, Minn.-based maker of plant-based foods, acquired Current Foods, an SF-based alt-seafood protein startup that had raised over $20m from firms like GreatPoint Ventures, Union Grove Venture Partners and Electric Feel Venture. https://axios.link/3INvQfx

- Blueground, a New York-based furnished monthly rental property company valued by VCs at $750m, acquired German rival Nestpick. https://axios.link/3owC8tl

. . .

IPOs:

Nothing to see here…

. . .

SPACs:

Nothing to see here…

Funds:

- Pear VC, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, raised $432 million for a fund focused on early-stage investing.

- Talis Capital, a London-based venture capital firm, raised $175 million for its third fund.

- Khosla Ventures raised $1b for what it's calling "Excelsior Fund," per an SEC filing. The firm isn't commenting, but this may be a feeder fund for the $3b that Khosla Ventures is currently raising.

- Selva Ventures, an LA-based firm focused on consumer brands "that promote healthier living," raised $34m for its second fund. https://axios.link/45xveVj

Final Numbers: U.S. IPO filings

Source: Renaissance Capital. Data through 5/30/2023.

No major IPOs are scheduled to price on U.S. exchanges this week. But there is a small bit of pickup among IPO filings, which are up over 18% from this same point in 2022.

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.