Sourcery (8/9-8/13)
Carta, FalconX, TaxBit, Pave, Canopy, Trust, Cent, Reify Health, Cricket Health, Cadence, Verifiable, Spora, Elektra, Reddit, Fanatics, Talkdesk, LaunchDarkly, Gusto, Saturn, HopSkipDrive, Nitricity..
Last Week (8/9-8/13):
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 Carta, FalconX, TaxBit, People.ai, Cart.com, Pave, Canopy, Trust, Cent, Reify Health, Cricket Health, Cadence, Verifiable, Spora Health, Elektra Health, Eruditus, Reddit, Fanatics, Talkdesk, LaunchDarkly, Gusto, Chrono24, Saturn, Doxel, Agora, HopSkipDrive, Moove, Aforza, Graphite, Aalto, Statsig, Esper, Snipfeed, Commandbar, Felt, Contact, 80 Acres Farms, Nitricity, Fable Foods, Branch Energy; Swarm, Golden Nugget, Say Technologies, Bayes, The Minte, Mailchimp, Instacart, Ovia Health; Aspiration, Pony.ai
Final numbers on VC Exit by Value Type and VC Investments Hit Record High at the bottom.
Deals
Sources: TS, Pro Rata, FinSMEs, Pitchbook, StrictlyVC
Fintech:
- Carta, a San Francisco-based cap table and equity management platform, raised $500 million in Series G funding led by Silver Lake.
- FalconX, a San Mateo, Calif.-based cryptocurrency trading platform focused on institutional users, raised $210 million in Series C funding. Altimeter Capital, Sapphire Ventures, B Capital Group and Tiger Global Management led the round and were joined by investors including Mirae Asset and Amex Ventures.
- TaxBit, a Salt Lake City and Seattle-based provider of cryptocurrency tax and accounting software, raised $130 million in Series B funding. IVP and Insight Partners led the round and were joined by investors including Tiger Global, Paradigm, 9Yards Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, and Anthony Pompliano.
- Upgrade, a San Francisco-based fintech that offers affordable credit to consumers, raised $105 million in Series E funding. Koch Disruptive Technologies led the round and was joined by investors including BRV and Ventura Capital.
- People.ai, a Redwood City, Calif.-based revenue operations and intelligence using AI, raised $100 million in Series D funding. Akkadian Ventures’ Mike Dinsdale and Mubadala Capital’s Abdulla AlBanna co-led the round and were joined by investors including ICONIQ Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
- Cart.com, a Houston-based e-commerce software and services platform, raised $98 million in Series B funding. Oak HC/FT led the round and was joined by investors including PayPal Ventures, Clearco, G9 Ventures, Mercury Fund, Valedor Partners, and Arsenal Growth.
- FreshBooks, a Canada-based cloud accounting software startup, raised $80.8 million in Series E funding and $50 million in debt financing. Accomplice led the round and was joined by investors including J.P. Morgan, Gaingels, BMO, Manulife and Barclays.
- Jerry, a Palo Alto-based car insurance comparison site, raised $75 million in Series C funding. Goodwater Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Bow Capital, Kamerra, Highland Capital Partners, and Park West Asset Management.
- Pave, a San Francisco-based compensation platform for companies to manage wages, raised $46 million in Series B funding. YC Continuity led the round and was joined by investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners.
- Kroo, a London-based consumer banking startup focused on social spending, raised £17.7 million ($24.5 million) in Series A funding led by entrepreneur and Karlani Capital founder Rudy Karsan.
- Canopy, a loan management platform for fintechs, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Canaan Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Homebrew, Foundation, BoxGroup, and Commerce.
- Breeze, an Omaha, Neb.-based insurtech startup, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Link Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, M25, Fiat Ventures, and Invest Nebraska.
- Trust, a Los Angeles-based corporate card startup to help small businesses with marketing investments, raised $9 million in seed funding from Lerer Hippeau, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Upfront Ventures, and Upper90.
- Blue J, a Toronto-based provider of predictive analytics software for tax and employment law, raised $9 million in Series B funding. Generation Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Relay Ventures, Mistral Venture Partners, and LDV Partners.
- Horizen Labs, an Austin-based blockchain technology platform focused on developing secure and programmable blockchains, raised $7 million in seed funding. Kenetic Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Digital Currency Group, Liberty City, Sound Ventures, Deribit, Artist Capital, Deus, and LionTree.
- Liquality, a New York-based multi-chain browser extension wallet for cryptocurrencies, raised $7 million in funding. Hashed and Galaxy Digital led the round and were joined by investors including White Star Capital, Accomplice, Coinbase Ventures, and Alameda Research.
- Vesttoo, a Tel Aviv-based alternative reinsurance and risk management platform, raised $6 million in a Series A funding. Hanaco Ventures led the round.
- Cent, a San Francisco-based platform for NFT creators, raised $3 million. Investors included Galaxy Interactive, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mark Pincus, Reid Hoffman,will.i.am, and In/Visible Ventures.
. . .
Care:
- Reify Health, a Boston-based provider of software for optimizing clinical trials, raised $220 million in Series C funding. Coatue Management led the round and was joined by investors including ICONIQ Growth, Adams Street Partners, Sierra Ventures and Battery Ventures.
- Cricket Health, a San Francisco-based healthcare company focused on kidney disease, raised $83.5 million in Series B funding. Valtruis led the round and was joined by investors including Oak HC/FT, Cigna Ventures, K2 HealthVentures, and Blue Shield of California.
- Cadence, a New York City-based healthtech company, raised $41 million in funding. General Catalyst and Thrive Capital led the round.
- Verifiable, an Austin-based healthcare tech infrastructure company, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Jack and Sam Altman led the round and were joined by investors including Craft Ventures, Flexport’s Ryan Petersen, Rippling’s Parker Conrad, Front’s Mathilde Collin, Syapse’s Jonathan Hirsch, Todd Goldberg, Rahul Vohra, and Tiger Global.
- Spora Health, a San Francisco-based telemedicine startup focused on primary care for people of color, raised $3 million in a seed funding led by M13,Refactor Capital and MaC Venture Capital, with Human Ventures, Headwater Ventures, Techstars and Alicia Jackson also participating. http://axios.link/JZRt
- Elektra Health, a New York-based women's health tech startup focused on menopause, raised $3.75 million in seed funding led by Seven Seven Six and Flare Capital Partners, with City Light Capital, January Ventures, Human Ventures, The Fund, Community Fund and angel investors also participating. http://axios.link/y8kG
. . .
Future of Work:
- Eruditus, an Indian ed tech company for executives, raised $650 million in new financing led by Accel and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also participating. http://axios.link/SEfV
- Reddit, the San Francisco-based online bulletin board and forum, has raised $410 million in Series F funding at a valuation of more than $10 billion led by Fidelity, with existing investors also participating. It expects to raise up to $700 million. Reddit raised $250 million at a $6 billion valuation just six months ago.
- Fanatics, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based online sports merchandise retailer, raised $325 million in funding from investors including Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Roc Nation, Major League Baseball, SoftBank and Silver Lake, multiple outlets reported.
- OwnBackup, an Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based cloud-based data protection platform, raised $240 million in Series E funding. Alkeon Capital and B Capital Group co-led the round and were joined by investors including BlackRock Private Equity Partners, Tiger Global, Insight Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, and Vertex Ventures.
- Talkdesk, a San Francisco-based cloud customer service software provider, raised $230 million in Series D funding from investors including Whale Rock Capital Management, TI Platform Management, Alpha Square Group, Amity Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Top Tier Capital Partners, Viking Global Investors, and Willoughby Capital.
- LaunchDarkly, an Oakland-based maker of software development tools, raised $200 million in Series D funding led by Lead Edge Capital, with Top Tier Capital Partners, Insight Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Redpoint, Threshold, Uncork Capital and Bloomberg Beta also participating. http://axios.link/mxwJ
- Gusto, a San Francisco-based benefits, payroll, and HR software provider, raised $175 million in Series E funding led by T. Rowe Price.
- Chrono24, a Germany-based marketplace for luxury watches, raised over €100 million ($118 million) in Series C funding. General Atlantic led the round and was joined by investors including Aglaé Ventures, Insight Partners, and Sprints Capital.
- Helium, a San Francisco-based decentralized 5G wireless network, raised $111 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Ribbit Capital, 10T Holdings, Alameda Research and Multicoin Capital also participating. http://axios.link/8mBK
- Tulip Interfaces, a Somerville, Mass.-based company that helps frontline operations and workers improve productivity, raised $100 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Pitango Growth, TIME Ventures, DMG MORI, NEA, and Vertex Ventures US.
- Newlight Partners invested up to $100 million in Honest Networks, a New York-based internet service provider for residences and businesses in the Tri-state area. Fifth Wall Ventures also participated in the investment.
- Snorkel AI, a Palo Alto-based startup specializing in training machine learning systems, raised $85 million in funding. Addition and BlackRock led the round and were joined by investors including Greylock, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Lightspeed.
- Hologram, a Chicago-based cellular connectivity platform for companies to manage their IoT devices, raised $65 million in Series B funding. Tiger Global led the round and was joined by investors including Bullpen Capital, NextView Ventures, and Mucker Capital.
- Saturn, a NYC-based social platform, raised more than $44 million in funding from General Catalyst, Insight Partners, and Coatue, Bezos Expeditions, Marc Benioff, Dara Khosrowshahi, Dick Costolo and Adam Bain’s 01 Advisors and others. http://axios.link/gumI
- Doxel, a Redwood City, Calif.-based platform for companies to track construction site project progress, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Amplo.
- AviaGames, a Mountain View, Calif.-based mobile gaming company that matches players based on their skill levels, raised $40 million in funding. Investors included ACME Capital, Washington Harbour Partners and Powerhouse Capital, Makers Fund, and Galaxy Digital.
- Butternut Box, a U.K.-based fresh dog food delivery startup, raised £40 million ($55 million) in funding. L Catterton’s european fund led the round and was joined by investors including White Star Capital, Five Seasons Ventures and Passion Capital.
- Agora, a San Francisco-based commercial construction procurement company, raised $33 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global, with 8VC, Tishman Speyer, Jerry Yang, Michael Ovitz, DST, LeFrak, and Kevin Hartz also participating. http://axios.link/OikW
- Arevo, a Milpitas, Calif.-based 3D printing startup, raised $25 million in funding. Khosla Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Founders Fund, GGVC, Alabaster, and Defy.
- HopSkipDrive, a Los Angeles-based youth school transportation hire service, raised $25 million in Series C funding from Energy Impact Partners, Keyframe Capital, FirstMark Capital, and 1776 Ventures.
- WorkMotion, a Berlin-based HR platform to help manage employees abroad, raised $24 million in Series A funding from investors including Activant Capital and Xange.
- FireHydrant, a New York-based incident response and management platform, raised $23 million in Series B funding. Harmony Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Salesforce Ventures, Menlo Ventures and Work-Bench.
- Moove, an Africa-based mobility startup focused on flexible car rentals for drivers for companies like Uber, raised $23 million in Series A funding. Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital led the round and were joined by investors including DCM, Clocktower Technology Ventures, thelatest.ventures, LocalGlobe, Tekton, FJ Labs, Palm Drive Capital, Roka Works, KAAF Investments, Spartech Ventures, Class 5 Global, and Lendable co-founder Victoria van Lennep.
- Aforza, a London-based cloud and mobile app developer for consumer goods businesses, raised $22 million in Series A funding. DN Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Bonfire Ventures, Daher Capital, and Next47.
- Wonder Brands, a Mexico-based firm that acquires and partners with ecommerce companies that sell through MercadoLibre and Amazon, raised $20 million in seed funding. ALLVP and Mountain Nazca led the round and were joined by investors including CoVenture, Victory Park Capital GFC, QED, Korify Capital, and Endeavor Catalyst.
- Tetavi, an Israel-based startup focused on volumetric video and hologram technology for immersive media and gaming experiences, raised $20 million in funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by investors including OurCrowd and Nimble Ventures.
- Kronologic, an Austin, Texas-based maker of scheduling software, raised $20 million in seed funding led by Signal Peak Ventures, with Silverton Partners, Next Coast Ventures and Geekdom Fund also participating. www.kronologic.ai
- Car IQ, an Oakland, Calif.-based startup that allows fleet vehicles to autonomously make payments for gas and tolls, raised $15 million in Series B funding. Forté Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Ally Ventures, BlackBerry Limited, State Farm Ventures, TELUS Ventures, Alpana Ventures, Avanta Ventures, Citi Ventures, Quest Venture Partners, and Scrum Ventures.
- Graphite Solutions, a San Francisco-based platform that connects businesses with on-demand independent consultants, raised $15 million in funding. Valor Siren Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Communitas Capital Partners, Accomplice, Alumni Ventures Group and Cianna Capital.
- Aalto, a San Francisco-based home marketplace that connects buyers with sellers, raised $13 million Series A funding. Sequoia Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Background Capital, Defy Partners, and Maple VC.
- Motivo, a Palo Alto-based developer of AI-powered design solutions to speed up the time it takes to design chips and improve yields, raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. Intel Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Storm Ventures, Seraph Group, and Inventus Capital.
- Statsig, a Seattle-based A/B testing software startup, raised $10.4 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital, with Madrona Venture Group and others also participating. http://axios.link/phis
- Youreka Labs, a Baltimore-based mobile technology platform for upskilling and assisting frontline workers, raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. Boulder Ventures and Grotech Ventures co-led the round and were joined by investors including Salesforce Ventures.
- Esper, an Austin-based cloud-based software startup that helps governments manage public policymaking, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Cota Capital led the round and was joined by investors including 8VC, Gaingels, and Stand Together Ventures Lab.
-ByondXR, an Israel-based virtual retail shopping platform, raised $7 million in seed funding. Firstime and OurCrowd led the round and were joined by investors including HTC founder and former CEO Peter Chu.
- Snipfeed, a Paris and Los Angeles-based link-in-bio startup, raised a $5.5 million seed round from CRV, Abstract Ventures, Crossbeam, id8, Michael Ovitz, Michael Bosstick, Diaspora Ventures and others. http://axios.link/bV5k
- StatusPRO, a Miami-based sports technology and gaming company, raised a $5.2 million seed funding led by KB Partners and TitletownTech, with Greycroft, Verizon Ventures, Haslam Sports Group, 49ers Enterprises and SC Holdings also participating. www.status.pro
- CommandBar, a San Francisco-based web tool to make commands and searches in software easier, raised $4.8 million in seed funding. Thrive Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Y Combinator, BoxGroup and several angel investors.
- Felt, a Oakland-based collaborative mapping software company, has raised $4.5 million in funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, with Designer Fund, Allison Pickens, Akshay Kothari and others also participating. http://axios.link/NRJn
- Neuron7.ai, a San Jose, Calif.-based startup that provides that helps enterprise companies diagnose service issues and use data, raised $4.2 million in seed funding from investors including Nexus Venture Partners and Battery Ventures.
- Upscribe, a Los Angeles-based subscription software firm catering to direct-to-consumer ecommerce companies, raised $4 million in seed funding. Uncork Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Leaders Fund, The House Fund, and individual investors.
-Dovetail, an Australia-based software platform for companies’ customer research data, raised $5 million AUD ($3.7 million) in funding. Felicis Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Blackbird Ventures, Grok Ventures, and Culture Amp CEO Didier Elzinga.
- Anthill, a Chicago-based talent management platform for remote workers, raised $3 million in seed funding. Rethink Education led the round and was joined by investors including Origin Ventures, BBG Ventures, The Fund, and JFF (Jobs for the Future).
- Contact, a U.K. agency and marketplace for creatives, raised a $1.9 million seed funding led by Founders Fund, with LAUNCH, Sweet Capital, Rogue VC and others also participating. http://axios.link/6Axd
. . .
Sustainability:
- 80 Acres Farms, a Hamilton, Ohio-based vertical farming company focused on eco-friendly farming and pesticide-free produce, raised $160 million in Series B funding. General Atlantic led the round and was joined by investors including Siemens Financial Services, Blue Earth (formerly PG Impact Investments), Barclays and Taurus.
- Nitricity, a San Francisco-based renewable nitrogen fertilizer startup, raised $5 million in seed funding led by Energy Impact Partners, with Fine Structure Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital and MCJ Collective also participating. www.nitricity.co
- Fable Food, an Australia-based mushroom-based meat alternative startup, raised $6.5 million AUD (roughly $4.8 million) in seed funding. Blackbird Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Canva, Culture Amp, SafetyCulture, AgFunder, Aera VC, Better Bite Ventures, and Ban Choon Marketing.
- Branch Energy, a Houston-based startup that helps consumers lower their energy usage, raised $4.5 million in seed funding. Comcast Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Global Founders Capital and Inovia Capital.
Acquisitions & PE:
- SpaceX will acquire Swarm Technologies, a Palo Alto-based IoT satellite startup backed by investors including Social Capital and Craft Ventures. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
- DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) agreed to acquire Golden Nugget Online Gaming (NASDAQ: GNOG), a Houston-based online gambling company, for roughly $1.6 billion in stock.
- Equifax agreed to acquire Appriss Insights, a Louisville, Ky.-based risk and criminal justice intelligence provider and business unit of Appriss, from Appriss, which is backed by Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners, for $1.8 billion in cash.
- Topspin Consumer Partners invested in SportPet, a Waukesha, Wis.-based firm that makes and markets private label pet products. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
- Robinhood agreed to acquire Say Technologies, a New York-based communication platform for shareholders to manage their ownership rights, for $140 million in cash. Say is backed by investors including Point72 Ventures.
- DroneDeploy acquired Rocos, a New Zealand-based software company that manages and controls robot operations. Investors in Rocos include Icehouse Ventures. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
- Litera, backed by Hg, agreed to acquire Kira Systems, a Toronto-based software that reviews and analyzes contracts using machine learning, backed by Insight Partners. Insight Partners will invest in Litera as part of the deal.
- AT&T’s WarnerMedia is reportedly in talks to sell TMZ to Fox, The Information reported citing sources.
- Unity has reached an agreement to acquire Parsec, a New York-based remote desktop tool for developers and creatives, for $320 million in cash. http://axios.link/YIU0
- NortonLifeLock agreed to acquire and combine with Avast in a cash-and-stock deal that will be worth between $8.1 billion and $8.6 billion. http://axios.link/BRot
- Shutterfly, a Redwood City, Calif.-based digital retailer and manufacturing platform for personalized products, agreed to acquire Spoonflower for about $225 million. http://axios.link/TdsV
-Gemini acquired Guesser, a real-time predictions market platform. http://axios.link/MKgE
- Airtable acquired Bayes, a San Francisco-based data visualization tool for non-developers. Bayes is backed by investors including Amplify Partners and Y Combinator. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
- Spruce acquired The Minte, a Chicago-based housekeeping service catering to luxury apartments. The Minte is backed by investors including Second Century Ventures and Firebrand Ventures. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
- Mailchimp, an Atlanta-based email marketing software startup, is reportedly considering a sale that could value the company at over $10 billion, Bloomberg reported citing sources.
- Voya Financial has reportedly been considering possibly acquiring Alight, a Lincolnshire, Ill.-based HR and benefits manager, Bloomberg reported citing sources. Alight went public via a SPAC in July.
- Facebook may be required to sell Giphy, the New York-based GIF company it acquired last year, according to the U.K.'s antitrust regulator. http://axios.link/iL7T
-Instacart recently initiated talks to sell itself to DoorDash, per The Information, though no deal materialized. http://axios.link/NBGt
- Labcorp (NYSE: LH) acquired Ovia Health, a Boston-based digital health platform for family planning, pregnancy and parenting resources. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
. . .
IPOs:
- Turo Inc., a San Francisco-based car sharing marketplace, confidentially filed for an initial public offering, per Reuters. German auto company Daimler AG and GV back the firm.
- Nubank, a Brazilian digital bank, has hired investment bankers for an initial public offering in the U.S., according to Reuters. Berkshire Hathaway backs the firm.
- Oyo Hotels & Rooms, a budget hotel marketplace in India, has selected investment bankers for an IPO, according to Reuters.
. . .
SPACs:
- Aspiration, a Marina del Rey, Calif.-based financial services company focused on erasing the carbon footprint, is in talks to go public via a merger with InterPrivate III Financial Partners Inc., a SPAC led by the founder of asset management company Landmark Value Investments, Ahmed Fattouh, per Bloomberg. A deal would value the company at more than $2 billion.
- Pony.ai, a Fremont, Calif.-based autonomous driving vehicle company that operates in both the U.S. and China, has paused plans to go public via a SPAC merger over concerns of the Chinese regulatory crackdown, per Reuters. The firm is backed by Toyota Motor Corp.
Funds:
- Northwestern Mutual announced $100 million for its Impact Investing Fund, which will focus on Black and African American communities. http://axios.link/mKxj
- Coatue Management is raising an Asia-focused fund, per an SEC filing. The fund is targeting $1.5-2 billion to invest in both public and private tech companies in China and the rest of Asia, a source familiar with the pitch tells Axios. No comment from Coatue. www.coatue.com
-Sageview Capital, a Greenwich, Conn. and Palo Alto, Calif.-based tech growth equity firm, raised $710 million for its third flagship fund. www.sageviewcapital.com
- Lowercarbon Capital, a climate-focused venture vehicle from investor Chris Sacca, raised $800 million to invest in climate tech.
Final Numbers
Chart: PitchBook
U.S. VC investments hit a record high of $123.2 billion across 3,100 deals in the first half of 2021, per a Refinitiv Deals Intelligence report out Monday (see Refinitiv’s chart below). Funding rounds swelled in the first half, with the average round size hitting $40 million “for the first time in history,” per the report; while fundraising also notched historic records, with 472 funds raising $64.2 billion in the first half.
