Sourcery (5/9-5/13)

Downturn? ~ Paddle, Chainalysis, PayMob, Irreverent Labs, BVNK, Moralis, Co:Create, Arianee, Casa, Highlight, Sudozi, Pulsenmore, Osmind, AcuityMD, Legacy, Ours, Rippling, Habi, Supabase...

Clearly something is in the air, and this time it is different. 

There is no insidious pandemic, no shut downs, no stimulus to help ease it, no orange man with fluffy yellow hair. The tech world, crypto world, and all surrounding markets are all reaching points of inflection and an impending correction. But are we really surprised? After pumping the economy with stimulus, handing out free money and pushing PPP, going all in meme stocks, Dogecoin, NFTs, anything to get us to the moon, distracting ourselves with Tiger King and TikTok, our free time is over. For the most part, real human survival mode is over. However, business survival mode is making another go around and this time it is for real.

So, if 2020 was time to build, what is 2022?

2022 is not the time to hunker down. 2022 is time to show up, and as Kim K would say, get your f**ing ass up and work.

As a summary of things I’ve heard around the tech/VC world, let’s go in.

We are unwinding the "risk doesn't matter" mindset of investing. A generation has gotten its fingers burned now with Luna / Terra ... that it turns out can go do zero as can Dogecoin, GameStop and yes, even many NFTs. This is driven by market forces far bigger than retail investors looking for a quick buck. It is driven by people who control trillions of dollars rebalancing their portfolios away from technology stocks and towards stocks that provide everyday, important goods like food, tobacco, oil & gas, fertilizers and other real-world goods. Supply & demand. When demand of tech stocks decreases the value goes down.

But if you look at NASDAQ it doesn't look so bad, right! "only" down 20% or so. That is deceiving because the market is overweight the bigger stocks like Apple, Google Microsoft, Facebook and the like who aren't hit as badly as smaller cap stocks. Many VC-backed companies of the past 15 years are down 60%, 70%, 80% or greater.

We’ve tested that overcapitalization and overvaluation, was in fact, not at all helpful for companies growth.. (maybe to some) but also maybe some companies don’t actually have to build that fast. Solid foundations like company culture, customers, go-to-market, and business models take time and nurturing. No community adjusted EBITDA here. Now we have to go back, reevaluate and readjust based on the core structures of our businesses. Founders must ask themselves, what is the true value of this business? Is it 10x-20x-50x NTM/Fwd revenue? Probably not if you’re running under $5M in ARR with >$100M in funding. Big trends to come will revolve around trimming the fat of these businesses and getting back to basics, back to core values, and back to focus. It’s time to sober up.

VC investing is a function of "price I get paid at exit" divided by "price I pay at entry" and for some reason VCs stopped caring about the denominator. So let's call this the "VC denominator effect." They need to lower the numerator on future deals. But how do we do that when the last round valuation was overpriced? Simple. Shift focus. VCs will likely shift focus to new deals on younger companies who aren't already overvalued. We’ve been watching this with Tiger already. 

Late stage investors are making an example out of themselves, especially crossover funds who pumped high flying category contenders. Softbank announced a $20 billion loss and massive reduction in venture financings and is now focused on earlier-stage deals. Tiger Global had a $17 billion loss and is doing the same. Keep in mind that $37 billion was nearly the entire size of the VC industry just 12 or 13 years ago!

So what happens now?

First, don’t get scared. This is a leadership moment. It’s time to adapt. And tying back to last week’s piece on the Kentucky Derby in relation to the Tech Blowout, it’s time to put the blinders on.

Some investors (but not all) may slow pacing, focus on their portfolio founders and cautiously wait out market fluctuations. Founders will get to work and do what they need to do to refocus (or focus) their businesses.

If you want to dig in a little deeper, David Sacks of Craft Ventures went All-In with Chamath, Calacanis and Freeberg to lay out the entire situation. And even went further to explain it out to his portfolio founders directly. Take a listen:

David Sacks @DavidSacks

Yesterday we met with all of our portfolio company founders to discuss the current downturn, what caused it, and how to survive it. We’ve decided to make the recording public. You can watch it here:

youtu.beCraft Ventures: Operating during a downturnCandid discussion with David Sacks and Jeff Fluhr on public markets, venture capital and historic outcomes of economic downturns.To download slides, click he...

+1 for good measure, Social Capital founder Chamath Palihapitiya recently put it in his annual investor letter: “After a decade of free money, quantitative easing, zero interest-rate policy, and an unprecedented bull market, the best party in town (‘long’ equities) has come to an end.”

Thank you to those who helped create this piece, you know who you are, real experts who have been through more fluctuations than Covid and the “Covid unwinding.” Hope I didn’t embarrass you.

Follow us on Twitter Linkedin for just the top deals recap

@MollySOShea@MarissaCohen

. . .

Last Week (5/9-5/13):

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: Paddle, Chainalysis, KuCoin, Talos, PayMob, Irreverent Labs, BVNK, Moralis, Co:Create, Arianee, Casa, Highlight, Satori, Meld, Paper, Sudozi, Pulsenmore, Osmind, AcuityMD, Legacy, Turquoise Health, Walnut, Reverence, Ours, Rippling, Habi, Abnormal Security, oHouse, Pyramid Analytics, Stord, Hugging Face, Evisort, SirionLabs, Supabase, Observe, Mashgin, Gusto, Certn, Komodor, StackHawk, Concentric, Bliq, OtterTune, PocketLaw, LandGate, Bubbles, Full Harvest, Socket, Mentum, Sunday Security, Boomerang, Identitypass, Arcadia, Carbon Clean, SkySpecs, Brightseed, Common Energy, Mission Zero Technologies; Chelsea Football Club, iCIMS, Danone, Troops, Scalefast, Soylent, AMC, Makerbot, Checkout.com; Instacart; Grindr, Getaround

Notable funds raised include Flow, a Vancouver-based Web3 platform for games, apps and digital assets, raised $725 million for an ecosystem fund, and Unusual Ventures raised $485M for its third seed stage software fund.

Want some hope? 

1. Check out a wonderful upside slide from SoftBank's ambitious quarterly presentation (As of May 2022) at the bottom

2. Grindr is going public via SPAC at $2.1B valuation

---

Deals 

Sources: TS, Pro Rata, FinSMEs, Pitchbook, StrictlyVC

Fintech:

- Paddle, a British provider of payments infrastructure for SaaS companies, raised $200m in Series D equity and debt funding at a $1.4b valuation. KKR led, and was joined by FTV Capital, 83North, Notion Capital, Kindred Capital and lender SVB. http://axios.link/loeS

- Chainalysis, a New York-based blockchain analysis company, raised $170m in Series F funding at an $8.6b valuation led by GIC, per The Information. http://axios.link/7zJy

- KuCoin, a Seychelles-based global cryptocurrency exchange, raised $150 million in pre-Series B funding led by Jump Crypto and was joined by investors including Circle Ventures, IDG Capital, and Matrix Partners.

- Talos, a New York-based digital asset trading technology provider, raised $105 million in Series B funding led by General Atlantic and was joined by investors including Stripes, BNY Mellon, Citi, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, DRW, SCB 10x, Matrix Capital Management, Fin VC, and Voyager Digital. 

- Oasis Pro, a Darien, Conn.-based fintech and blockchain firm, raised $27 million in Series A funding from investors including UDHC, Blizzard the Avalanche Fund, Inveniam, Redwood Trust, TrustLabs, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Gate Ventures, LedgerPrime, and StableNode. 

- Paymob, an Egyptian fintech that lets merchants accept digital payments in-store, raised $50m in Series B funding. PayPal Ventures, Kora Capital and Clay Point co-led, and were joined by Helios Digital Ventures, British International Investment, Nclude and insiders A15, FMO and Global Ventures. http://axios.link/yAIO

- Irreverent Labs, a Seattle-based blockchain-enabled gaming company raised $40 million in Series A funding led by a16z and was joined by investors including Solana Ventures, Infinity Ventures Crypto founding partner Brian Lu, Creative Artists Agency founder Michael Ovitz, Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, Capitoria, Mantis VC, Unlock Venture Partners, Keen Crypto, and Advancit Capital. 

- BVNK, a London-based provider of banking services and payments for crypto-native businesses, raised $40m in Series A funding at a $340m post-money valuation. Tiger Global led, and was joined by The Raba Partnership, Avenir, Kingsway Capital, Nordstar, Concentric and Base Capital. http://axios.link/h3jk

- Moralis, a web3 development platform, raised $40m in Series A funding from EQT Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Dispersion Capital. www.moralis.io

- Token.io, a London-based account-to-account payments platform, raised $40m. Cota Capital and TempoCap co-led, and were joined by Element Ventures, MissionOG and PostFinance and insiders Octopus Ventures, Opera Tech Ventures and SBI Investments. http://axios.link/NbYI

- Co:Create, a remote-based NFT minting company, raised $25 million in seed funding led by a16z and was joined by investors including VaynerFund, Packy McCormick’s Not Boring Capital, Amy Wu, and others. 

- ​​Infinicept, a Denver-based embedded payments provider, raised $23 million in funding led by SVB Financial Group and Piper Sandler Merchant Banking and was joined by MissionOG. 

- Arianee, a Paris-based Web3 solution for brands, raised €20 million ($21.1 million) in Series A funding led by Tiger Global and was joined by investors including Bpifrance, ISAI, Noia Capital, Cygni Capital, Commerce Venture, and Motier Ventures. 

- Casa, a Denver-based Bitcoin key management protocol, raised $21 million in Series A funding led by Acrew Capital and was joined by investors including Positive Sum Ventures, Naval Ravikant, Scott Belsky, Avon Ventures, Stillmark, Tioga Capital, Castle Island Ventures, and Lerer Hippeau.

- Tumelo, a British investor transparency startup, raised $19m in Series A funding. Treasury led, and was joined by Legal & General, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures and Nucleus Adventure Capital. http://axios.link/sGlj

- Altro, a San Francisco-based online credit building platform, raised $18 million in funding from investors including Pendulum, Dick Parsons, Marcy Ventures, Citi Ventures, Black Capital Fund, and Concrete Rose Fund.

- Ness, maker of a fintech app that rewards users for healthy behavior, raised $15.5m in seed funding, as first reported by Axios Pro. Will Ventures led, and was joined by Core Innovation Capital, Accomplice, Digitalis, GFC, Portage, Refactor Capital, Atypical and RiverPark Venture. http://axios.link/KBbi

- Cushion, a San Francisco-based bank and credit card fee negotiation company, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Rose Park Advisors and was joined by investors including Flourish Venture, Vestigo Ventures, TSEF, Green Cow Venture Capital, and CMFG Ventures Discovery Fund.

- Highlight, a web3 community membership platform, raised $11m in seed funding. Haun Ventures led, and was joined by 1kx, SciFi VC, A_Capital, Floodgate, Coinbase Ventures, 35 Ventures, Polygon Studios, Mischief VC, DAO Jones and Offline Ventures. http://axios.link/8aVW

- Crowdz, a Campbell, Calif.-based invoice financing marketplace, raised $10m. Citi and Global Cleantech Capital co-led, and were joined by Bold Capital Partners, TFX Ventures and Augment Ventures. http://axios.link/2O0X

- Chainflip Labs, a Berlin-based cross-chain decentralized exchange, raised $10m from Framework Ventures, Blockchain Capital and Pantera Capital. http://axios.link/9HJA

- Satori, a San Francisco-based decentralized derivatives platform for Polkadot, raised $10 million in seed funding. Polychain Capital and Blockchange Ventures led the round and were joined by investors including Jump Crypto, Gavin Wood, Coinbase Ventures, Portal, Acala, Astar, Parallel, and Clover.

- Faye, an Israeli travel insurance startup, raised $8m in seed funding. Viola Ventures and F2 VC co-led, and were joined by Portage Ventures, GFC and ex-NBA player Omri Casspi. http://axios.link/I4y2

- Meld, a fintech dev-ops startup, raised an $8m in seed funding led by Coatue. http://axios.link/3DVG

- Paper, a crypto-focused payments processor, raised $7.3m in seed funding. Electric Capital and Initialized Capital co-led, and were joined by Polygon, FalconX, Long Journey Ventures, ThirdWeb and Night Capital. http://axios.link/lSfe

- Computecoin, a Web3 and metaverse infrastructure application, raised $6.2 million in funding led by Aves Lair. 

- Sudozi, an Austin-based financial software developer, raised $4.3 million seed in seed funding led by Pear VC and was joined by investors including S3 Ventures and Mischief. 

- Based, a Los Angeles-based Web3 communication solution, raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Progression Fund, Collab + Currency, Hannah Grey VC, Franklin Templeton Blockchain, Palm Tree Crew, GFR, and other angels.

. . .

Care:

- Pulsenmore, an Israeli ultrasound-focused home care startup, secured more than $50m from GE Healthcare. http://axios.link/iAug

- Osmind, a San Francisco-based mental health EHR, raised $40 million in Series B funding led by DFJ Growth and was joined by investors including Susa Ventures, Lachy Groom, former Allergan CEO and chairman and current Osmind board member Brent Saunders, Helena Goodman, H1 Insights CEO Ariel Katz, General Catalyst, Future Ventures, Tiger Global, and Pear VC. 

- AcuityMD, a remote-based medtech software and data platform, raised $31 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Venture Partners and was joined by investors including Benchmark, Ajax Health, and Artisanal Ventures.

- Legacy, the celebrity-backed sperm testing and storage startup, raised $25m in Series B funding at a $150m valuation, per Axios Pro. Bain Capital Ventures led, and was joined by FirstMark Capital, Section 32 and TQ Ventures. http://axios.link/pZs5

- Turquoise Health, a San Diego-based health care price transparency startup, raised $20m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Andreessen Horowitz led, and was joined by Tiger Global and insiders Bessemer Venture Partners and Box Group. http://axios.link/l9Id

- Walnut, a Brooklyn-based healthcare financing platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding ​led by Gradient Ventures and was joined by investors including CityRock Venture Partners, Newark Ventures, Afore Capital, 2048 Ventures, AngelList, Weekend Fund, Company Ventures, Banana Capital, Goodwater Capital, Muse Capital, and other angels. 

- Greater Good Health, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based value-based care providers centered around nurse practitioner, raised $10m in Series A funding. LRVHealth led, and was joined by Martin Ventures and Health Velocity Capital. www.greatergoodhealth.com

- Reverence, a New York-based in-home care tech platform, raised $9.5m led by Target Global and bought staffing startup Hirehand. www.reverencecare.com

- Handspring, a Newark, N.J.-based mental health care provider for children, raised $6.2 million in seed funding. Newark Venture Partners and NextView Ventures led the round and  were joined by investors including 25madison Ventures, Arkitekt Ventures, Quantum Angels, and other angels.

- SimpliFed, a New York-based baby feeding telehealth startup, raised $6m in seed funding. Morningside Ventures and The Venture Collective co-led, and were joined by NY Ventures, Elizabeth Street Ventures, Waterline Ventures and 3CC. www.simplifed.com

- Hannah Life Technologies, a Singapore-based at-home fertility startup, raised $5m. Monk’s Hill Ventures led, and was joined by Golden Gate Ventures and Anthro Ventures. http://axios.link/ezHH

- Anja Health, an LA-based cord blood banking startup, raised $4.5m in seed funding. Seven Seven Six led, and was joined by Harvest Ventures and Crista Galli Ventures. www.anjahealth.com

- Ours, a Houston-based premarital counseling startup, raised $4.5 million in seed funding Led by TMV and was joined by investors including Serena Ventures, Lakehouse Ventures, Collaborative Fund, GreyMatter, Bonobos founding CEO Andy Dunn, and other angels.

. . . 

Enterprise & Consumer: 

- Rippling, an SF-based employee onboarding management platform, raised $250m at an $11.25b valuation. Bedrock and Kleiner Perkins co-led, and were joined by insiders YC and Sequoia Capital. Also, Bedrock took a bit of a victory lap at Pro Rata's expense.

- Habi, a Colombian residential real estate marketplace, raised $200m in Series C funding. Homebrew and SoftBank co-led, and were joined by Banco Mercantil del Norte, Grupo Financiero Banorte, Tiger Global, Inspired Capital, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst and Henry Kravis. http://axios.link/707H

- Abnormal Security, an SF-based email security company, raised $210m in Series C funding at a $4b valuation. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Greylock and Menlo Ventures. www.abnormalsecurity.com

- oHouse, a Seoul-based interior design content platform, raised $182 million in Series D funding from investors including SoftBank Ventures Asia, BRV Capital Management, Vertex Growth, BOND, Korea Development Bank, IMM Investment, and Mirae Asset Capital. 

- Pyramid Analytics, a London, New York, and Tel-Aviv-based decision intelligence platform provider, raised $120 million in Series E funding led by H.I.G. Growth Partners and was joined by investors including Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings, Kingfisher Capital, and General Oriental Investments, JVP, Maor Investments, Sequoia Capital, and Viola Growth. 

- Stord, an Atlanta-based cloud-based supply chain company, raised $120 million in Series D funding led by Franklin Templeton and was joined by investors including Sozo Ventures, Strike Capital, 137 Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, BOND, Susa Ventures, Dynamo Ventures, Lux Capital, and Salesforce Ventures.

- Hugging Face, a New York-based repository for ready-to-use ML models, raised $100m in Series C funding at a $2b valuation. Lux Capital led, and was joined by Sequoia Capital, Coatue and insiders Addition, Betaworks, AIX Ventures and Thirty Five Ventures. http://axios.link/7VJxGFC,

- Evisort, a San Mateo, Calif.-based no-code contract intelligence startup, raised $100m in equity and debt funding. TCV led, and was joined by Breyer Capital and insiders General Atlantic, M12, Amity Ventures and Vertex Ventures. http://axios.link/gtKk

- Vention, a Montreal-based digital manufacturing automation platform, raised US$95m in Series C funding. Georgian led, and was joined by Fidelity Investment Canada and insiders White Star Capital, Bain Capital Ventures and Bolt Ventures. www.vention.io

- SirionLabs, a Bellevue, Wash.-based contract management software platform, raised $85 million in Series D funding led by Partners Group and was joined by investors including Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global. 

- Supabase, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based Database-as-a-Service company, raised $80 million in Series B funding led by Felicis and was joined by investors including Coatue and Lightspeed. 

- Observe, a San Mateo, Calif.-based SaaS observability platform, raised $70m in Series A-2 funding from Sutter Hill Ventures, Capital One Ventures and Madrona Venture Group. http://axios.link/bQ3Q

- Nexite, a Tel Aviv-based data platform for the retail industry, raised $67 million in Series C funding led by Pitango Growth and Saban Ventures and was joined by investors including Battery Ventures, Intel Capital, Pitango First, and Vertex Ventures. 

- Mashgin, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based touchless self-checkout system provider, raised $62.5 million in Series B funding led by NEA and was joined by Matrix Partners. 

- Gusto, a cloud HR services company valued by VCs at $9.5 billion, raised $55m in an extension to last year's Series E round. http://axios.link/2ZfE

- Carma, an Australian used car marketplace, raised US$52m in Series A funding led by General Catalyst. www.carma.com.au

- Certn, a Victoria, British Columbia-based background screening solutions provider, raised $50 million in Series B funding led by B Capital and was joined by investors including BMO, Tribe, Inovia Capital, Telstra Ventures, Scribble, Moxxie Ventures, and Gaingels Covalent Ventures. 

- Dusty Robotics, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of construction robots, raised $45m in Series B funding. Scale Venture Partners led, and was joined by insiders Baseline Ventures, Canaan Partners, Root Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners and Cantos. www.dustyrobotics.com

- Komodor, an Israeli continuous reliability platform dedicated to Kubernetes, raised $42m in Series B funding. Tiger Global led, and was joined by Felicis Ventures. www.komodor.com

- Brookaway, an Israeli ground transport booking startup, raised $35m in Series C funding. Red Dot Capital Partners led, and was joined by Tenere Capital and insiders Aleph, Corner Ventures and Entrée Capital. http://axios.link/QrUw

- Mohari Hospitality (dba Mint House), a residential hospitality startup, raised $35m in Series B funding. Mark Scheinberg led, and was joined by Revolution Ventures, Allegion Ventures and Ingleside Investors. http://axios.link/ih2Y

- Azumo, a Chicago-based display technology company, raised $30 million in funding led by Anzu Partners and was joined by investors including SABIC Ventures, VectoIQ, Dipalo Ventures, and Energy Foundry.

- WizeHire, a Houston-based hiring platform, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global and was joined by investors including Amplo and Mercury. 

- Mathison, a New York-based DEI hiring and retention platform, raised $25m in Series A funding. F-Prime Capital led, and was joined by Bain Capital Ventures, SemperVirens, ANIMO Ventures, GTM Fund, Gaingels and JPMorgan. www.mathison.io

- StackHawk, a Denver-based application security platform, raised $20.7 million in Series B funding. Sapphire and Costanoa Ventures co-led the round and were joined by investors including Foundry Group and others.

- Tenyx, a Palo Alto-based A.I. technology company, raised $15 million in seed funding from investors including AME Cloud Ventures, Cota Capital, Morado Ventures, Pathbreaker Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and StageOne Ventures, and other angels.

- Concentric, a San Jose-based autonomous data security company, raised $14.5 million in Series A funding led by Ballistic Ventures and was joined by investors including Citi Ventures, Core Ventures Group, Engineering Capital, and Clear Ventures. 

- Bliq, a Berlin-based provider of workflow management solutions for gig economy drivers, raised $13.5m in Series A funding. NEA led, and was joined by Speedinvest and insiders Proeza Ventures and Revel Venture Partners. www.bliq.ai

- Synergies, a Boston-based provider of factory analytics, raised $12m in Series A funding. NGP Capital led, and was joined by New Future Capital. http://axios.link/xwdj

- OtterTune, a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based database automation and optimization platform, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Intel Capital and Race Capital and was joined by Accel.

- SureCam, a St. Louis-based dash cameras and fleet management company, raised $11.5 million in funding led by Lewis & Clark Capital and was joined by CCA Financial. 

- Oriient, a Tel Aviv-based indoor GPS solution provider, raised $11 million in Series A funding  and was joined by investors including OurCrowd, Regal Four, F2 Venture Capital, NGN Partners, and Future Energy Ventures. 

- PocketLaw, a London and Stockholm-based legal services and contract management software company for businesses, raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Atomico and was joined by angels including Personio co-founder Hanno Renner and COO Jonas Rieke, Pitch founder Christian Reber, Pleo co-founder Jeppe Rindom, Gloria Baeuerlein, the dbt Labs board member and former Gainsight COO Allison Pickens, Kinnevik’s Cristina Stenbeck, and Susanna Campbell

 - LandGate, a Denver-based marketplace and data provider for commercial land and solar, wind, minerals, water, and carbon offsets, raised $10 million in Series B funding led by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources and was joined by Kimmeridge. 

- Bubbles, a San Francisco-based video collaboration tool, raised $8.5 million in seed funding from investors including Khosla Ventures, Craft Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, 468 Ventures, and Bain Capital.. 

- Pico MES, a Redwood City-based manufacturing software company, raised $6.75M in seed funding led by Congruent Ventures and was joined by investors including Union Labs, Lemnos Labs, SE Ventures, and Schneider Electric. 

- Novu, a Tel Aviv-based notification infrastructure platform developer, raised $6.6 million in seed funding led by Crane Venture Partners and was joined by investors including Eniac, MXV Capital, Entrée Capital, Ariel Maislos, and other angels.

- Xage, a Palo Alto-based zero trust security company, raised an additional $6 million in Series B funding from investors including SCF Partners and Overture Climate Fund.

- BalkanID, an Austin-based identity governance and administration platform, raised $5.75 million in seed funding from investors including Uncommon Capital, Afore Capital, Sure Ventures, and other angels. 

- Quality Clouds, a British development governance platform for ServiceNow and Salesforce, raised £5.25m. YFM Equity Partners led, and was joined by Aldea and insider Adara Ventures. www.qualityclouds.com

- Full Harvest, a San Francisco-based online marketplace connecting farmers with commercial produce buyers, raised $5 million in funding from investors including Rabobank’s Food & Agri Innovation Fund and JAL Innovation Fund.

- Socket, a Stanford, Calif.-based open source software cybersecurity startup, raised $4.6m in seed funding from Unusual Ventures, Village Global and South Park Commons. http://axios.link/dfo6

.- Graft, a San Francisco-based A.I.-based data analytics platform, raised $4.5 million in pre-seed funding led by GV and was joined by investors including NEA, Essence VC, Formulate Ventures, and SV Angel. 

- Mentum, a provider of customizable investment APIs and widgets for Latin American companies, raised $4.2m. Gradient Ventures led, and was joined by Gradient Ventures, Soma Capital and YC. http://axios.link/VFJx

- Sunday Security, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity startup, raised $4 million in seed funding led by MoreVC and was joined by angels including former CEO at AT&T and chairman of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee John Donovan, Palo Alto Networks CBO Amit Singh, president, Global Go-To-Market at PANW Shailesh Rao, founder and former CEO at Centrify Tom Kemp, and others.

- Manara, a cohort-based training ­­platform focused on MENA tech talent, raised $3m led by Stripe. http://axios.link/TnGd

- Boomerang, a Miami-based lost and found tech platform, raised $2.8m in seed funding from GGV Capital, Relay Ventures, Animal Capital, Unanimous Capital, MVC, BevPac, 305 Ventures, Kalyon Ventures, Gaingels and Flamingo Capital. www.thanksboomerang.com

-  Identitypass, a Lagos-based identity verification API, raised $2.8m in seed funding from YC, Soma Capital, True Capital Fund and Sherwani Capital. http://axios.link/K5oJ

- Dirt, an entertainment and culture newsletter, raised $1.2m in seed funding led by Collab+Currency, per Axios. http://axios.link/902Z

. . .

Sustainability:

- Arcardia, a Washington, D.C.-based startup that pulls energy use data from smart meters via its API, raised $200m in Series E funding at a $1.45b valuation. JPMorgan led, and was joined by Triangle Peak Partners and insiders Camber Creek, Tiger Global Management, Wellington Management and Drawdown Fund. http://axios.link/reiX

- Carbon Clean, a London-based carbon capture startup for heavy industry, raised $150m in Series C funding. Chevron led, and was joined by AXA Investment Managers, Samsung Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, TC Energy and insiders CEMEX Ventures, Marubeni Corp. and WAVE Equity Partners. http://axios.link/NDwj

- SkySpecs, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based startup that monitors renewable energy assets like wind turbines, raised $80m. Goldman Sachs led, and was joined by NextEra Energy Resources and insiders Statkraft Ventures, Equinor Ventures, Evergy Ventures, UL Ventures and Huron River Ventures. http://axios.link/gqEl

- Brightseed, an SF-based plant nutrient tech startup, raised $68m in Series B funding. Temasek led, and was joined by insiders Lewis & Clark AgriFood, S2G Ventures, CGC Ventures, Germin8 and AgFunder. http://axios.link/dcqm

- Ambient Photonics, a Mill Valley, Calif.-based developer of photonics energy harvesting tech, raised $31m in Series A funding. Amazon and Ecosystem Integrity Fund co-led, and were joined by Future Shape and I Squared Capital. www.ambientphotonics.com

- Common Energy, a New York-based community solar provider, raised $16.5 million in funding from S2G Ventures.

- Rensair, a London-based air purification startup, raised $7m in Series A funding led by Hoxton Ventures. www.rensair.com

- FutureProof Technologies, a San Diego-based climate risk analytics platform, raised $6.5 million in funding led by AXIS Digital Ventures and was joined by investors including Innovation Endeavors and MS&AD Ventures. 

- Mission Zero Technologies, a London-based direct air capture technology startup, raised $5 million in seed funding from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Anglo American.

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Acquisitions & PE: 

- Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital agreed to acquire Chelsea Football Club, a London-based soccer club, for £4.25 billion ($5.25 billion). 

- TA Associates acquired a stake in iCIMS, a Holmdel, N.J.-based recruiting software platform. As part of the deal, TA Associates and existing investor Vista Equity Partners now own equal 50% stakes in the company.

- Danone (Paris: DANO) is ending its partnership with Chinese dairy firm Mengnui (HK: 2319), by selling its 25% stake in milk powder maker Yahili (in exchange for 100% of the Dumex Baby Food infant milk business) and its 20% stake in a joint venture. http://axios.link/FmTX

- General Atlantic invested in Dallas-based Buff City Soap, a Dallas-based maker of plant-based soaps and personal care products. www.buffcitysoap.com

- Peak Rock Capital acquired Mojix, an LA-based supply chain SaaS. www.mojix.com

- Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) agreed to buy Troops, a New York-based Slackbot for sales teams that had raised over $20m (plus got a PPP loan) from Aspect Ventures, Susa Ventures, Flight Ventures, First Round Capital, NextView Ventures, Chicago Ventures, Great Oaks VC, Founder Collective, Slack Fund, Landis Capital and Vast Ventures. http://axios.link/OL2H

- Swiggy, an Indian food delivery company valued by VCs at $10.7b, will pay $200m to buy Indian restaurant app Dineout. http://axios.link/Wjar

- ESW agreed to acquire Scalefast, a Los Angeles-based e-commerce platform. The deal is reported to be valued at $300 million.

- Soylent, the LA-based maker of plant-based protein drinks and other meal replacement products, is seeking a buyer, per Bloomberg. The company raised over $70m in VC funding, most recently at a $430m valuation in 2017, from firms like GV, Tao Capital Partners, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. http://axios.link/xwfi

- AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) said it plans acquire or invest in more companies that are outside of its core theater business. http://axios.link/fGpv

- Duke Realty (NYSE: DRE) said its board doesn’t support a proposed $24b, all-stock takeover offer from Prologis (NYSE: PLD), but added that it’s open to continued conversations.

- Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) shareholders voted to re-elect all 13 of the department store's nominees, beating out activist investor Macellum's slate. http://axios.link/pONP

- DigitalBridge Group agreed to buy Las Vegas-based data center operator Switch (NYSE: SWCH) for $11b (including debt), or $34.25 per share (15% premium to trading before initial media reports). http://axios.link/kcHy

- MakerBot is merging with fellow 3D printing company Ultimaker, backed by NPM Capital and current MakerBot owner Stratasys (Nasdaq: SSYS). http://axios.link/1FVL

- SK Capital Partners agreed to buy Valtris, an Independence, Ohio-based maker of specialty polymer additives and specialty chemicals, from H.I.G. Capital. www.valtris.com

- Summit Carbon Solutions, developer of a massive carbon capture and storage project in the U.S. Midwest, secured $410m from TPG Rise Climate and SK E&S. http://axios.link/mTaA

- Checkout.com, a London-based online payments platform valued by VCs at $40b, bought Ubble, a French remote identity verification startup that had raised around $15m from firms like Partech and Breega. http://axios.link/LYg4

- Nexi (Milan: NEXI) acquired Orderbird, a German provider of POS products for restaurants, for what TechCrunch reports was between €130 million and €140m. Orderbird had raised over $50m from firms like Concardis, Metro, Digital+ Partners and LeadX Capital Partners. http://axios.link/9jGC

- Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (Nasdaq: CSSE) agreed to buy antiquated video rental company Redbox (Nasdaq: RDBX) in an all-stock transaction valued at around $375m (including debt assumption). http://axios.link/wMJE

. . .

IPOs:

- Instacart, a San Francisco-based grocery delivery service, last valued at $45B by VCs confidentially filed for an IPO. Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and D1 Capital Partners back the company.

. . . 

SPACs:

- Grindr, a West Hollywood, Calif.-based dating app focused on the LGBTQ+ community, agreed to go public via a merger with Tiga Acquistion Corp., a SPAC, per Bloomberg. A deal values the company at $2.1 billion, including debt.

- Getaround, an SF-based P2P carsharing marketplace, agreed to go public at an implied $1.2b equity value via InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: APVA). Getaround has raised over $800m from backers like PeopleFund, Braemar Energy Ventures, Reinvent Capital and SoftBank. http://axios.link/rgcd

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Funds:

- Flow, a Vancouver-based Web3 platform for games, apps and digital assets, raised $725 million for an ecosystem fund from investors including a16z, Coatue, Greenfield One, Liberty City Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and more. 

- Unusual Ventures, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, raised $485 million for a third fund focused on seed stage software companies across infrastructure, SaaS, fintech, and consumer applications industries. 

- Archetype is nearing a $150m final close for its second crypto VC fund. http://axios.link/jdIt

- NextGen Growth Partners of Chicago raised more than $100m for its second fund. www.nextgengp.com

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Want some hope? Here’s a slide from SoftBank's ambitious quarterly presentation (As of May 2022):

Screen shot: SoftBank FY2021 earnings presentation

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.