Sourcery → Larry Ellison

Glean, Forterra, Viome, Nirvana, Smartcat, Aembit, Bounti, Mindtrip; Avalara/Hopscotch, Confluent/Warpstream, Mercury/Teal

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Musings

Macro

• Is a Fintech Comeback Brewing?...A Slow August for Investors...Zuckerberg Regrets His Regrets, Plus, OpenAI's new 'reasoning' models [Newcomer]

• Larry Ellison on the Race for AI + Oracle Keynote

DeepTech

• Video: SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts perform historic 1st private spacewalk in orbit [Space.com]

• Boom: Supersonic speeds for everyday travel with Blake Scholl [TWIS]

All-in Summit 2024 Interviews

Check out all of them here

• Peter Thiel on state of AI & the US economy, innovation stagnation in US, higher education bubble, who will win AI, & geopolitics (US v China)

• Travis Kalanick on Cloud Kitchens, his operating playbook, Uber strategy, “war time CEO,” future of Uber

• Marc Benioff on Shinya Yamanaka's research, AI’s impact on enterprise software & the cloud, AI agents (PS Marc is nuts, quite entertaining, & sports large blue air force ones.. all while consistently hijacking the conversation from David Sacks.. haha)

• Megyn Kelly on free speech, independence in media, & politics

More

• The Covid Pandemic Left an Extra 13M Americans Single [Bloomberg]

• How John Hu Scaled Stan to $30M in ARR Within Two Years While Building in Public [Forerunner]

• The Friendship Paradox | We all want more time with our friends, but we’re spending more time alone [The Atlantic]

Top Interviews

• Zamp's Series A: $14M in 15 Months | Fastest Growing FinTech + Multi-Billion-Dollar Opportunity

• John Coogan, EIR Founders Fund, Founder of Lucy & Soylent | Can Nicotine Increase IQ?

• The Quiet Revolution in DNA Sequencing | Nucleus Genomics on IQ Controversy, Science, & The Business Behind Genomics

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

Relevant deals include the 70+ deals across stages below. I've categorized the deals below into seven categories, Fintech, Care, Enterprise / Consumer, HardTech, Sustainability, Acquisition/PE, and Fund Announcements, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds.

Highlighted VC Deals include: 

Glean, Forterra, Viome, Nirvana, Smartcat, Aembit, Bounti, Mindtrip, Unlock, Polly, Drip Capital, Reonic

Acquisitions & PE

Avalara/Hopscotch, Confluent/Warpstream, Mercury/Teal

Funds

Atomico, Fika Ventures

Final Numbers

Data center emissions projected to 2023 + US IPO proceeds

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VC Deals 

Fintech:

- Finally, a Miami-based bookkeeping software provider, raised $50m in Series B funding from PeakSpan Capital. It also secured a $150m credit facility from Encina.

- Unlock Technologies, a Tempe, Ariz.-based financial solutions provider for homeowners, raised $30 million in Series B funding. D2 Asset Management led the round and was joined by Saluda Grade, Second Century Ventures, and REACH.

- Polly, a San Francisco, Calif.-based mortgage capital markets technology company and product and pricing engine developer, raised $25 million in funding. 8VC led the round and was joined by existing investors Menlo Ventures, Meritech, Khosla Ventures, and Fifth Wall.

- Drip Capital, a Palo Alto, Calif., working capital startup, raised $23m in equity funding from GMO Payment Gateway and Sumitomo Mitsui Bank. It also secured $90m in debt led by the International Finance Corp. and East West Bank

- Every, a San Francisco, Calif.-based finance and HR platform for founders, raised $22.5 million in Series A funding. Redpoint Ventures led the round and was joined by Y Combinator, Okta Ventures, Base10 Partners, and Formus Capital.

- Datricks, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI-powered automated risk mining solution for financial teams, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Team8 led the round and was joined by SAP and existing investor Jerusalem Venture Partners.

- AltScore, a Mexico City, Mexico-based lending infrastructure APIs provider, raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. Haymaker Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Kamay Ventures, BuenTrip Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, and others.

- Brico, a San Francisco, Calif.-based SaaS financial licensing platform for financial institutions and fintechs, raised $8.1 million in seed funding. Pear VC led the round and was joined by Flourish Ventures, Cambrian Ventures, and Restive Ventures.

- Cashmere, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based AI-powered client acquisition platform for wealth management firms, raised $3.6 million in seed funding. Canapi Ventures led the round and was joined by Benchstrength, Plug and Play, The House Fund, Courtyard Ventures, and angel investors.

- Agree, a SF-based agreements fintech, raised $3m in pre-seed funding. Better Tomorrow Ventures led, and was joined by 8-Bit Capital, Everywhere Ventures, Expedite Ventures, Firsthand Alliance, Hustle Fund, NEA, Singh Capital Partners, and Trust Fund

-  Ammalgam, a Singapore-based decentralized lending exchange, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Lightspeed Faction and Framework Ventures led the round and were joined by Robot Ventures, Bodhi Ventures, NGC Ventures, angel investors, and others.

- NetNow, a Toronto, Canada-based trade credit application management platform, raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding. Ripple Ventures led the round and was joined by Centre Street Partners, Antler, Motivate Venture Capital, and Day One Ventures.

Care:

- Candid Therapeutics, a San Diego, Calif.-based immunological disease treatment biotech company, raised $370 million in funding. Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Fairmount, TCGX, and venBio Partners led the round and were joined by Foresite Capital, Third Rock Ventures, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and others.

- Habitat Health, a SF-based provider of home care support for older adults, raised more than $50m from Town Hall Ventures, NEA, and Kaiser Permanente.

- Candid Health, a San Francisco, Calif.-based revenue cycle automation platform for healthcare providers, raised $29 million in Series B funding. 8VC led the round and was joined by existing investors First Round Capital, BoxGroup, and Y Combinator.

- Viome, a Bellevue, Wash.-based preventative personalized healthcare company, raised $25 million in Series D funding from Khosla Ventures, Bold Capital WRG Ventures, Marc Benioff, and others.

- Nirvana, a New York City-based automated healthcare benefit verification platform, raised $24.2 million in Series A funding. Northzone led the round and was joined by Inspired Capital, Eniac Ventures, and Surface Ventures.

- PathPresenter, a Montville, N.J.-based image sharing platform for pathology, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding. AVANT BIO led the round and was joined by Barco NV and Modi Ventures.

- CardiaTec, a Cambridge, England-based cardiovascular-focused techbio company, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. Montage Ventures led the round and was joined by Continuum Health Ventures, Dr. Maximilien Levesque, Naheed Kurji, and existing investors Laidlaw Ventures and APEX Ventures. 

- ZipBio, a Seattle, Wash.-based generative AI platform for gene and protein compression, raised $4 million in seed funding. NFX led the round and was joined by MoreVC.

- Bariendo, a San Francisco-based weight management platform, raised $3.8 million in seed funding. SeaX Ventures led the round and was joined by others.

Enterprise/Consumer:

- Glean, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based work AI platform, raised $260 million in Series E funding at a $4.6B valuation. Altimeter and DST Global led the round and were joined by Craft Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and existing investors Coatue, General Catalyst, ICONIQ Growth, and others.

- Strider Technologies, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based strategic intelligence provider, raised $55 million in Series C funding. Pelion Venture Partners led the round and was joined by AXA Venture Partners and existing investors Valor Equity Partners, DataTribe, and Cyfr Capital.

- Smartcat, a Wilmington, Del.-based language AI platform, raised $43 million in Series C funding from Left Lane Capital.

- webAI, an Austin, Texas-based AI development platform, raised $43 million in Series A funding from Forerunner Ventures, Mike Abbott, David Beirne, and David Shuman.

- Spare, a Vancouver, Canada-based mobility operations software provider, raised $42 million CAD ($30.9 million) in Series B funding. Inovia Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors Kensington Capital and Nicola Wealth.

- AttoTude, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based interconnect technology developer for AI and hyperscale data center applications, raised $29 million in Series A funding from Sutter Hill Ventures, Canaan Partners, and Wing Venture Capital.

- Aembit, a Silver Spring, Md.-based non-human identity and access management company, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Acrew Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors Ballistic Ventures, Ten Eleven Ventures, Okta Ventures, and CrowdStrike Falcon Fund.

- Connectly, a San Francisco, Calif.-based conversational AI platform, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Alibaba led the round and was joined by Unusual Ventures, Volpe Capital, RX Ventures, and others.

- Mintlify, a San Francisco, Calif.-based developer content platform for public-facing documentation, raised $18.5 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by existing investors Bain Capital Ventures, Y Combinator, and others.

- Bounti, a San Jose, Calif.-based autonomous AI products developer, raised $16 million in seed funding. Google Ventures led the round and was joined by Floodgate, Bloomberg Beta, Haystack, and MS&AD.

- P0 Security, a San Francisco, Calif.-based cloud security platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding. SYN Ventures led the round and was joined by Zscaler and existing investor Lightspeed Venture Partners.

- appCD, a San Francisco, Calif.-based generative infrastructure from code company, raised $12.3 million in seed funding. Thomvest Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors WestWave Capital, FireBolt, and Secure Octane.

- Landbase, a San Francisco, Calif.-based agentic AI go-to-market platform, raised $12.5 million in seed funding. A*, 8VC, and First Minute Capital led the round and were joined by Inovia Capital, Picus, and General Catalyst.

- Mindtrip, a San Francisco, Calif.-based AI-powered travel platform, raised $12 million in funding from Forerunner Ventures and existing investor Costanoa.

- Metabase Q, a San Francisco, Calif.-based cybersecurity management company, raised $11 million in a Series A extension. SYN Ventures led the round and was joined by John Watters.

- Operant AI, a San Francisco, Calif.-based runtime AI application protection platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding. SineWave Ventures and Felicis led the round and were joined by Alumni Ventures, Massive, Calm Ventures, Gaingels, angels, and others.

- Protege, a New York City-based AI training data platform, raised $10 million in seed funding. CRV led the round and was joined by SV Angel, Liquid 2 Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, and others.

- Pin AI, an SF-based AI infrastructure startup, raised $10m in pre-seed funding co-led by Hack VC and a16z

- DELLI, a London, England-based independent food and drink platform, raised $6 million in a seed extension from Balderton and HV Capital.

- Element Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based cyber security platform, raised $5 million in funding from Q Fund VC, Eddy Shalev, Danny Yamin, and Kobi Rosengarten.

- MOTHER Games, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based art and media company for gaming, raised $5 million in funding. Shine and Lerer Hippeau led the round and were joined by BoxGroup.

- Realm.Security, a Boston, Mass.-based security fabric cybersecurity company, raised $5 million in seed funding from Accomplice and Glasswing Ventures.

- Campfire, a San Francisco, Calif.-based generative AI platform for AI-native life simulation games, raised $4 million in seed funding from Y Combinator, FundersClub, Immad Akhund, and others.

- Cavela, a San Francisco, Calif.-based automated product sourcing AI platform for e-commerce companies, raised $2 million in funding. XYZ Venture Capital led the round and was joined by Propel Ventures and Go Global Ventures. 

HardTech:

- Forterra, a Clarksburg, Md.-based self-driving technology company, raised $75 million in Series B funding. Moore Strategic Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, and Hedosophia Venture Capital led the round and were joined by Standard Investments and existing investors Crescent Cove Advisors, Enlightenment Capital, and Four More Capital.

- Qualifyze, a Frankfurt, Germany-based supply chain risk management for the life sciences industry, raised $54 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by existing investors HV Capital, HarbourVest Partners, H14 and Cherry Ventures.

- Quantum Source, a Ness Ziona, Israel-based photonic quantum computer technology company, raised $50 million in Series A funding. Eclipse led the round and was joined by Standard Industries, Level VC, Canon Equity, and existing investors Pitango First, Grove Ventures, 10D, and Dell Technologies Capital.

- Darkhive, a San Antonio, Texas-based defense tech developer of a situational awareness system, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Ten Eleven Ventures led the round and was joined by Crosslink Capital, RTX Ventures, and Stellar Ventures.

- aifleet, an Austin, Texas-based tech-driven trucking company, raised $16.6 million in Series B funding. Tom Williams led the round and was joined by Volvo Group Venture Capital, Obvious Ventures, Ibex Investors, and others.

- Reshape Automation, a San Francisco, Calif.-based automation platform for manufacturer and warehouse operators, raised $5 million in seed funding. Ironspring Ventures led the round and was joined by Haystack, Supply Chain Ventures, Remus Capital, Expansion VC, and existing investors Schematic Ventures and Bee Partners.

- Optimotive, a Windsor, Canada-based AI-driven robotics developer for outdoor construction automation, raised $2 million in seed funding. Version One Ventures led the round and was joined by Garage Capital and Newlab.

Sustainability:

- Reonic, an Augsburg, Germany-based climate tech SaaS company, raised €13m ($14.4 million) in Series A funding. Northzone led the round and was joined by existing investors Point Nine and Puzzle Ventures.

- Elum Energy, a Paris, France-based energy management solutions provider for renewable energy systems, raised $13 million in Series B funding. Energize Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors Alter Equity and Cota Capital.

- Demex, a Washington, D.C.-based parametric climate and weather reinsurance solution company, raised $10.3 million in Series A funding. Congruent Ventures led the round and was joined by Moxxie Ventures, MetaProp, and existing investor Blue Bear Capital.

- Circe, a Boston, Mass.-based carbon-negative manufacturing company, raised $5 million in seed funding from ReGen Ventures, Undeterred Capital, Ponderosa Ventures, and others.

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Acquisitions & PE:

- Brookfield Asset Management agreed to invest up to $1.1 billion into Infinium, a Sacramento, California-based company focused on converting carbon dioxide into sustainable aviation fuel.

- Avalara, a portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners, acquired Hopscotch, a B2B payments startup that had raised over $10m from firms like Noemis Ventures, Stellation Capital, and Shine Capital.

- Confluent (Nasdaq: CFLT) acquired WarpStream, a Chicago-based streaming data startup that recently raised $20m in Series A funding co-led by Greylock and Amplify Partners.

-  Mercury, an SF fintech valued by VCs at $1.6b, acquired Teal, an accounting products startup seeded by Torch Capital and Citi Ventures