Sourcery (9/19-9/23)
Robots ~ Pie Insurance, Opto Investments, Sardine, Messari, Scratch Financial, Immunefi, Noble, Federato, Loctax, Ply, Zócalo Health, Nodal, Metre, Therabody, Swiftly, SpinLaunch, Theorycraft
Ex Machina
This weekend I rewatched the 2014 sci-fi/thriller Ex Machina, one of my favorite movies primarily due to:
1.) the architectural wonder of the secluded contemporary home,
2.) some people told me I look like Alicia Vikander (slight upgrade from Arya Stark?), and
3.) a very twisted, romantic, futuristic application of training search engine data into AI/ML… for robots. Which just hits differently in 2022.
We’ve evolved marginally in the last 10 years and tech has found numerous ways to apply and train data across natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition, virtual agents, decision management, computer vision, deep learning platforms, robotic process automation (RPA), biometrics, text analysis, content creation and so on.
Some 2022 sci-fi headliners: Elon created a real-life Ava for thousands of humanoid robots, OpenAI’s GPT-3 API, its newly launched Dall-E and Whisper. However, there still are some bumps to work out, like my Siri still can’t answer what time the sun will set on October 16th, and having to walk around the block to find the pickup for Uber Eats’ autonomous vehicle food delivery.
Read, Watch, Listen:
What Does the Post Crash VC Market Look Like? Mark Suster, Both Sides of the Table
Google Photos Co-Founder David Lieb on how to build INCREDIBLE Products, Harry Stebbings 20VC
Deep dive into building exceptional products, the team around the products, and the right metrics to measure/track growth
Will the Venture Capital ‘Dry Powder’ Disappear? Jon Sakoda, Decibel
Cartoon Avatars EP 34: Interview w/ Oculus+Anduril Founder Palmer Luckey & Jon Sakoda Predicts Record VC Investments, Logan Bartlett, Redpoint
Decibel’s Jon Sakoda makes an appearance to talk about his prediction of record VC investments (linked above) and the revival of startup funding in the coming years.
Palmer Luckey discusses founding Oculus VR, the controversy that got him fired from Facebook, and having to fight lies in the media. Plus his current success with Anduril and what the job of a CEO really entails.
Charts referenced in Cartoon Avatars pod below:
. . .
Last Week (9/19-9/23):
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 Pie Insurance, Opto Investments, Sardine, Messari, Scratch Financial, Immunefi, Noble, Federato, Loctax, Ply, Zócalo Health, Nodal, Metre, Therabody, Swiftly, SpinLaunch, Theorycraft, 4M Analytics, Sievo, Knoetic, OpenStore, GlossGenius, SecurityPal, Gigs, Codi, Fondue, Murf AI, Dame, Sloomoo, Spot, Block Party, Innovafeed, Pano AI, Future; Kahoot!, Robin, Eataly; Rumble
Numbers on VC Capital Overhang at the bottom.
Deals
Sources: TS, Pro Rata, FinSMEs, Pitchbook, StrictlyVC
Fintech:
- Pie Insurance, a Washington, D.C.-based workers' compensation insurance provider to small businesses, raised $315 million in Series D funding. Centerbridge Partners and Allianz X co-led the round and were joined by investors including White Mountains Insurance Group, Gallatin Point Capital, Greycroft, Acrew Capital, and others.
- Opto Investments, a New York-based solution for private market access for independent investment advisors, raised $145 million in Series A funding. Tiger Global led the round and was joined by investors including 8VC, MSD Capital, Clocktower Ventures, FinVC, HOF Capital, and others.
- AccessFintech, an Israeli trading data and workflow collaboration startup for capital markets, raised $60m in Series C funding, as first reported by Axios Pro. WestCap led, and was joined by BNY Mellon, Bank of America, Dawn Capital, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Citi Group. https://axios.link/3UxWUnx
- Sardine, a San Francisco-based fraud prevention and compliance infrastructure company, raised $51.5 million in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz's Growth Fund led the round and was joined by investors including Sound Ventures and Activant Capital.
- Messari, a provider of crypto market intelligence products, raised $35m in Series B funding. Brevan Howard Digital led, and was joined by Morgan Creek Digital, Samsung Next, FTX Ventures and insiders Point72 Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Uncork Capital, Underscore VC, Galaxy and Coinbase Ventures. https://axios.link/3DIpyfI
- Monese, a London-based digital banking and remittance startup, raised $35m from HSBC. https://axios.link/3LsITmM
- Scratch Financial, a Pasadena, Calif.-based patient financing solution, raised $35 million in Series C funding. Norwest Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Alumni Ventures, Companion Fund, Struck Capital, SWS Venture Capital, TTV Capital, and others.
- Immunefi, a web3 bug bounty startup, raised $24m in Series A funding. Framework Ventures led, and was joined by Samsung Next, Electric Capital, and Polygon Ventures. www.immunefi.com
- Ledgy, a Zurich-based cap table management software provider, raised $22m in Series B funding. NEA led, and was joined by Sequoia Capital, Speedinvest, btov and Visionaries Club. https://axios.link/3SeoynG
- Noble, a Tel Aviv-based credit-based products and services platform developer, raised $18 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Cross River Digital Ventures, Y-Combinator, Flexport Fund, TLV Partners, Operator Partners, Verissimo Ventures, Interplay Ventures, Plug and Play, and the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
- Federato, a San Francisco-based RiskOps platform for the insurance industry, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Emergence Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Caffeinated Capital, Pear, and others.
- Brightflow AI, an SF-based maker of cash flow analysis software for small businesses, raised $15m in Series A funding led by Haymaker Ventures. It also secured $100m in debt financing from 180 Group.
- Inclined, a Beaverton, Ore.-based life insurance refinancing startup, raised $15m in Series A funding. Hudson Structured Ventures led, and was joined by Anthemis Group. https://axios.link/3LGshIy
- Higlobe, a Palo Alto-based international payment transfers solution, raised $14 million in funding led by Battery Ventures.
- Loctax, a London-based collaborative tax governance platform, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Index Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Cavalry Ventures, Seedcamp, and other angels.
- Carats & Cake, a New York-based financial operating system for the events industry, raised $10.6m in Series A funding. 1Sharpe Ventures led and was joined by Founders Fund, Acrew Capital, Moore Specialty Credit, Correlation Ventures, GMO VenturePartners, Argosy Capital and SilverCircle. www.caratsandcake.com
- Nibiru, a crypto derivatives protocol, raised $7.5m in seed funding from Tribe Capital, Republic Crypto and Kraken. Tribe’s Arjun Sethi is a company co-founder. https://axios.link/3LAlpwc
- CNote, an Oakland-based investment platform, raised $7.25 million in Series A funding. American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact led the round and was joined by investors including Astia Fund, BankTech Ventures, Commerce Ventures, H/L Ventures, CityRock Venture Partners, and others.
- Skip, a crypto miner extractable value startup, raised $6.5m from Bain Capital Crypto, Jump Crypto, Galaxy Digital and Robot Ventures. https://axios.link/3fbs3g2
- Heru, a Mexican tax filing automation startup, raised $6m in seed funding led by Gradient Ventures, as first reported by Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3xAgntM
- Sparrow, a New York-based financial search engine for student loans, raised $5.83 million in seed funding. Sozo Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Good Friends VC, SHAKTI, Dash Fund, Ripple executive chairman Chris Larsen, and Stash CFO Adriel Lares.
- Satschel, a web3 compliance startup, raised $5.2m in seed funding led by Brand Foundry Ventures. https://axios.link/3qQU1AC
- Allocations, a Miami-based private markets platform, raised $5 million in funding. Flex Capital, Genesis Accel, Digital Horizon, Whatif Ventures, Garage Syndicate, W5 Group, and other angels invested in the round.
- Bitgreen, a New York-based climate-investment blockchain platform, raised $5 million in funding through the crowdfunding platform Republic.
- Headquarters, a Singapore-based financial management platform for Web3 teams, raised $5 million in pre-seed funding co-led by Crypto.com Capital, Forge Ventures, and MassMutual Ventures.
- Lynk, a Vancouver-based credit card processing fee reduction platform, raised $3 million in seed funding. Samsung Next, Plug and Play, Tribe Capital, Simplex Trading, N49P, and others invested in the round.
- Sintra, a San Francisco-based NFT investment app, raised a $2m in seed funding. Lemniscap led and was joined by FTX Ventures, Chorus One Ventures, CMCC Global, Big Brain Holdings and Two Ape VC. www.sintra.com
- Ply, a New York-based provider of financing and payment tools for HVAC businesses, raised $1.7m, Axios has learned. Cleo Capital led, and was joined by Secocha Ventures, Pidilite Ventures and Think+ Ventures. www.getply.com
. . .
Care:
- CURE Group, a Berlin-based health care on-demand app, raised €15 million ($14.95 million) in Series A funding. Breega led the round and was joined by investors including Abstract Ventures, J12 Ventures, and PiLabs.
- Lyfegen, a Basel, Switzerland and Newark, N.J.-based value-based health care software analytics company, raised $8 million in Series A funding. aMoon led the round and was joined by investors including APEX Ventures and others.
- Zócalo Health, a Seattle-based health care service provider focused on Latino communities, raised $5 million in seed funding. Animo Capital, Virtue VC, and Vamos Ventures co-led the round and were joined by investors including Necessary Ventures, Able Partners, and others.
- Boundless Rider, a Boston-based insurtech for riders of motorcycles, e-bikes, ATVs, and snowmobiles, raised $4.75 million in seed funding. American Family Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including The Cross Country Group, SiriusPoint, and Belmont Capital.
- Nodal, a "Bumble for surrogacy," raised $4.7m, as first reported by Axios Pro. Amplo led, and was joined by Great Oaks VC, Interplace VC, Scott Belsky and Chelsea Hirschhorn. https://axios.link/3UvfJaI
- Tuned, a New York-based hearing health company, raised $2.5 million in seed funding co-led by Idealab NY and Elements Health Ventures.
- Surge, a San Francisco-based treatment company for patients undergoing surgery, raised $2.6 million million in pre-seed funding co-led by HCVC and Boutique Venture Partners.
- Metre, an Oakland-based metabolic health platform, raised $1 million in pre-seed funding led by Michael Adams, John Broderick, and other angels.
. . .
Enterprise & Consumer:
- Therabody, the Los Angeles-based Theragun maker, raised $165 million in funding led by North Castle Partners.
- Swiftly, a Seattle-based delivery platform for retailers, raised $100 million in Series C funding led by BRV Capital Management.
- SpinLaunch, a Long Beach, Calif.-based developer of a catapult-style space launch system, raised $71m in Series B equity and debt funding. ATW Partners led, and was joined by Kleiner Perkins. https://axios.link/3xIwGoo
- Deep Instinct, a New York-based deep learning cybersecurity company, raised $62.5 million in funding. BlackRock led the round and was joined by investors including Chrysalis Investments, Millennium, and Unbound.
- Theorycraft, a remote-based gaming studio, raised $50 million in Series B funding. Makers Fund led the round and was joined by investors including NEA and a16z.
- 4M Analytics, an Austin-based subsurface infrastructure mapping company, raised $45 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners and ITI Venture Capital Partners co-led the round and were joined by investors including Viola Ventures and F2 Venture Capital.
- Sievo, a Helsinki-based procurement analytics SaaS provider, raised $44 million in funding from Susquehanna Growth Equity.
- Knoetic, a New York-based people analytics software platform, raised $36 million in Series B funding. EQT Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Menlo Ventures and Accel.
- OpenStore, a Miami-based startup that acquires Shopify businesses and gives entrepreneurs liquidity, raised $32 million in funding. Lux Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Atomic, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, and Khosla Ventures.
- GlossGenius, a New York-based business solution for the beauty and wellness industry, is announcing $25M in Series B funding co-led by Imaginary Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Left Lane Capital.
- SecurityPal, a San Francisco-based security reviews platform, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Craft Ventures led the round and was joined by angels including Andreessen Horowitz’s Martin Casado; Okta executive vice chairman, co-founder, and COO Frederic Kerrest; Asana COO Anne Raimondi; Incredible Health CEO Iman Abuzeid; and investor Dev Nag.
- DoorLoop, a Miami-based rental property management software company, raised $20 million in Series A funding from Alpine Software Group.
- Zartico, a Salt Lake City-based data intelligence, analytics, and visualizations company for the tourism industry, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Arthur Ventures led the round and was joined by Peterson Partners.
- Gigs, a Berlin-based wireless subscription provider for phones and wearables, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Gradient Ventures, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, YC Continuity fund, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo, and other angels invested in the round.
- Hyperlane, a secure infrastructure platform developer for interchain applications, raised $18.5 million in seed funding. Variant led the round and was joined by investors including Galaxy Ventures, Coinfund, Circle, Figment, Blockdaemon, Kraken, and NFX.
- Superb AI, a San Mateo, Calif.-based training data platform, raised $16 million in Series B funding. Korea Development Bank and Premier Partners co-led the round and were joined by investors including Duke University, KT Investment, and Halla Group.
- Codi, a San Francisco-based office management and workplace leasing solutions company, raised $16 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
- TrovaTrip, a Portland-based travel planning and booking platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Madrona led the round and was joined by investors including PSL Ventures, Oregon Venture Fund, Elevate Capital, and Portland Seed Fund.
- Fondue, a New York and Tel Aviv-based e-commerce incentive platform, raised $10.5 million in seed funding. Quiet Capital and Hanaco Ventures co-led the round and were joined by investors including Infinity Ventures, Ground Up Ventures, Sugar Capital, Starting Line, R Squared Ventures, Gaingels, Verismo Ventures, Samsung Next, and JAM Fund.
- Murf AI, a Salt Lake City-based synthetic speech technology startup, raised $10m in Series A funding. Matrix Partners led, and was joined by insider Elevation Partners. https://axios.link/3qVhPDl
- The Muse, a New York-based job search and career development platform, raised $8 million in funding led by MBM Capital.
- RKVST, a Santa Clara, Calif. and Cambridge, U.K.-based digital supply chain operations platform, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding. Ridgeline, Acadia Woods, Cyber Mentor Fund, and Long Run Capital invested in the round.
- Respond.io, a Kuala Lumpur-based conversational commerce platform, raised $7 million in funding. Headline led the round and was joined by investors including AltaIR Capital, Smart Partnership Capital, Sterling Oak Group, and Calendula Ventures.
- Dame Products, a maker of vibrators and other sexual wellness products, raised $7m in Series A funding. Amboy Street Ventures led, and was joined by Listen Ventures, Flybridge, Echo and Forest Road Co. https://axios.link/3BvefVr
- OneLayer, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based enterprise security provider for private LTE and 5G networks, raised $6.5 million in funding from Koch Disruptive Technologies.
- Sloomoo, a New York-based slime playground operator, raised $5.8 million in Series A funding. Nicole Shanahan led the round and was joined by Raptor Group and others.
- Spot, a Seattle-based metaverse communications platform, raised $5.5m in seed funding. Freestyle led, and was joined by Liquid 2 Ventures, Community Access Fund and Founder's Co-Op. www.spotvirtual.com
- Block Party, a startup fighting online harassment, raised $4.8m in seed funding. Stellation Capital led, and was joined by Impellent Ventures, Fuel Capital, Goodwater Capital and Hyphen Capital. https://axios.link/3R17kJa
- [untitled], a New York-based music creation and collaboration platform, raised $4.6 million in seed funding. General Catalyst, Looking Glass Capital, Shine Capital, Not Boring Capital, and other angels.
- Andgo Systems, a Saskatoon, Canada-based workflow automation solutions provider for absence onboarding, shift filling, and vacation mapping, raised $5.6 Million CAD ($4.22 million) in Series A funding. First Ascent Ventures and Waterline Ventures co-led the round.
- Humankind, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based digital concierge and conversational commerce platform for e-commerce brands, raised $4.2 million in seed funding co-led by High Alpha Capital and Strand Equity.
- Boddle Learning, a Tulsa, Okla.-based gaming educational company, raised $3 million in seed funding. Alpine Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including KCRiseFund, Atento Capital, Lightship Capital, Cortado Ventures, Rise of the Rest, and others.
. . .
Sustainability:
- Innovafeed, a Paris-based insect producer for animal and plant nutrition, raised $212 million in Series D funding. Qatar Investment Authority led the round and was joined by investors including Creadev and Temasek.
- Pano AI, San Francisco-based wildfire detection and management platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Initialized Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Congruent Ventures, Convective Capital, DCVC, January Ventures, and Quiet Capital.
- InnerPlant, a Davis, Calif.-based company that uses plant physiology to make global farming more efficient and sustainable, raised $16 million in Series A funding. John Deere led the round and was joined by investors including MS&AD Ventures, Bee Partners, UpWest, and TAU Ventures.
- Future, a startup that provides companies with cash incentives for lowering their carbon footprints, raised $5.3m in seed funding led by Accomplice, as first reported by Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3UlPX8O
Acquisitions & PE:
- General Atlantic acquired a 15% stake in Kahoot!, an Oslo-based learning and engagement platform, from SoftBank. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Atlassian Ventures acquired a minority stake in Robin, a Boston-based hybrid workplace platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Walgreens agreed to acquire the remaining 30% stake in Shields Health Solutions, a Stoughton, Mass.-based pharmacy integration and care services provider, from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe for $1.37 billion.
- Investindustrial acquired a majority stake in Eataly, a provider of Italian food products and restaurant concepts. No terms were disclosed, but the WSJ reported the deal is for a 52% stake valued at around €200m. www.eataly.net
. . .
IPOs:
Nothing to see here…
. . .
SPACs:
- Rumble, a YouTube rival backed by Peter Thiel and J.D. Vance's venture firm Narya, completed its merger with a SPAC affiliated with Cantor Fitzgerald at an implied $2.1b valuation. Its shares then closed up more than 39% on their first day of trading.
Yes, this is an exception to the SPAC trend. It's also validation of what Axios wrote in April about how Rumble would be a more successful SPAC merger than would Truth Social/DWAC.
Funds:
- HarbourVest Partners raised $3b for its 12th fund-of-funds, which also can make secondary and direct co-investments. www.harbourvest.com
- Northzone, a London, New York, and Stockholm, Sweden-based venture capital firm, raised €1 billion ($1 billion) for a fund focused on investing in startups from seed to IPO.
- Boost VC, a San Mateo, Calif.-based venture capital firm, raised $90 million for a fund focused on aerospace, energy, climate, robotics, crypto, biotech, and VR.
- Lerer Hippeau, a New York-based venture capital firm, raised $230 million across two funds. LH Seed VIII will focus on pre-seed and seed-stage companies, and LH Select IV will focus on companies from Series A to C.
- SentinelOne, a Mountain View, Calif.-based autonomous cybersecurity platform company, allocated $100 million for a fund focused on security and data companies.
- Ares Management, which just raised a sports-focused fund, is in talks to finance John Textor’s (ex-fuboTV) bid for French Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3BB31P2
VC Capital Overhang
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.