Venture Capital
It’s been 50 years since Venrock established itself to expose investors to venture capital opportunities. Today, the global venture capital industry tracks just south of $200 billion and continues to grow as new entrepreneurs, engineers, financiers, and thought leaders create the economy of tomorrow. The DailyAlts VC channel tracks the trends, opportunities, key thought leaders, and next-generation industries that will generate billions in returns.
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Geek+, a Beijing-based maker of robotics for storage, picking, and sorting in warehouses, as well as material handling robots and unmanned forklifts for manufacturing, announced a new, $100 million series E1 funding series which included investment by Intel Capital, Vertex Growth, and Qingyue Capital Investment. (CISION PR Newswire)
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More Stories on Venture Capital
FinTech: Klarna Raises $800M At Slashed Valuation To Pursue US Expansion
It’s a monster down round (one in which the startup is forced to accept a lower valuation than that in a previous round) for Klarna, showing how risk averse venture firms have become in an environment that punishes tech companies first and asks questions later. It is also a pointer to the slowing allure of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), a fintech product that is Klarna’s bread and butter line. The fintech’s latest round received investment from existing investors including Sequoia, the founders, Bestseller, Silver Lake and Commonwealth Bank of Australia. New investors included the Mubadala Investment Company and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Venture Capital/ESG: Blackstone Invests $400M In Carbon Platform Xpansiv
Blackstone announced that funds managed by Blackstone Energy Partners have invested $400 million in Xpansiv Limited, a market infrastructure platform for carbon and environmental commodities, as a strategic investment.
Venture Capital: Cyber Insurance Provider Coalition Lands $250M After Year Of Torrid Growth
Coalition, a provider of insurance against cyber risks, announced today it had closed a $250 million funding round in June. Allianz X, Valor Equity Partners, Kinetic Partners and other existing investors participated in the investment which valued Coalition at $5 billion.
Venture Capital: Fyto, Which Grows Unique Aquatic Plants For Dairy Feed, Raises $15M
Fyto, a sustainable foodtech startup headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, has developed hardware and software systems for the sustainable production of “superplants,” or highly nutritious aquatic plants that can be grown and harvested round the year. Fyto announced Thursday its $15 million Series A raise led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), with existing investors AgFunder, Refactor Capital, First Star Ventures, and Bolt also participating in the funding.
Venture Capital: BASF Invests In VC Climentum Capital To Develop CO2 Reducing Technology
BASF Venture Capital GmbH, the corporate venture arm of BASF (ETR: BAS), has invested in Climentum Capital’s first €150 million venture fund focusing on CO2 emission reductions. Other investors in the fund include Danish growth fund Vaekstfonden and Arbejdernes Landsbank, corporate investors, banks, industrial conglomerates as well as prominent family offices and successful tech entrepreneurs.
Venture Capital: Volvo’s Venture Arm Invests In Optibus, Which Optimizes Public Transportation
Volvo Group Venture Capital AB, the corporate venture arm of the Volvo Group (STO: VOLV-B), has invested an undisclosed amount in Optibus Ltd, a software platform for making transportation more efficient and sustainable. The investment is expected to accelerate the digitalization and electrification of the global public transportation sector, given that the Optibus platform is used in 1,000 cities in 26 countries globally.
Venture Capital: OppZo, Which Funds Small Businesses Having Government Contracts, Raises $260M
Fintech OppZo brings together investors and small businesses that need working capital loans for their government-facing businesses. Typically located in economically stressed areas of the country, these businesses represent an opportunity for investors to also earn a tax benefit by investing in such Opportunity Zones. OppZo raised $260 million in a round led by Arcadia Funds.
Venture Capital/ESG: Twelve Raises $130M For World’s First Carbon Transformation Platform
Twelve has raised a $130 million Series B round to scale up its carbon transformation technology that converts captured CO2 into products traditionally made from fossil fuels. The firm’s technology has already been demonstrated successfully in the commercial production of a line of CO2Made sunglasses with sustainable fashion brand PANGAIA and carbon-neutral sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), E-Jet.
Artificial Intelligence: Merck Launches Biotech Accelerator Focused On AI/ML Startups
Pharma giant Merck (NYSE: MRK) has launched the Merck Digital Sciences Studio (MDSS), a biotech accelerator that will back AI and ML-focused startups developing innovative technologies for drug discovery and development. The 10-month program has been designed in collaboration with the New Jersey Innovation Institute.
Venture Capital: Entrepreneur First Raises $158M From Crème de la Crème Of Tech, Including Stripe Founders
Entrepreneur First, the UK-based VC firm run like a startup, has raised a $158 million Series C round at a valuation of $560 million. Known for its unorthodox (but highly successful) approach to selecting founders to back, Entrepreneur First’s portfolio covering over 500 companies has already generated over $10 billion in value.
Venture Capital/ESG: Truist To Fund $120M For Black, Latinx And Women-Owned Businesses
Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC) alongwith Truist Foundation and Truist Charitable Fund, announced $120 million in assistance for small businesses, with a focus on Black, Latinx and women-owned businesses. Bill Rogers, Truist chairman and CEO, made the announcement at Truist’s Innovation and Technology Center in Charlotte, NC. He was joined by Lynette Bell, president of Truist Foundation, and Alethia Mendez, division president for Elevating Black Women Entrepreneurs at Grameen America.
Venture Capital: Fossil-Free Hydrogen Systems Company Electric Hydrogen Lands $198M
Electric Hydrogen is developing electrolyser technology for the production of hydrogen to ultimately replace fossil fuels at global heavy industry which accounts for 30% of global emissions. The startup, which is led by a team with experience at innovative clean energy companies like Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), announced a $198 million financing comprising Series B equity and venture debt.
Venture Capital/ESG: Brookfield Raises Mammoth $15B Fund Focused On The Climate Transition To Net Zero
Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) announced the final close of its $15 billion Brookfield Global Transition Fund, receiving investments from institutions and private wealth channels including public and private pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, financial institutions, and family offices. The fund saw solid demand significantly beyond its initial hard cap and the final fund size was oversubscribed. Brookfield itself is the largest investor in the Fund.
Artificial Intelligence: GM Buys Stake In UVeye For Its AI Vehicle Inspection Systems
In a move to incorporate AI into the somewhat tedious and error-prone manual vehicle inspections, GM (NYSE: GM) has taken a stake in UVeye, an Israeli startup creating vehicle inspection systems that incorporate proprietary algorithms, cloud architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning and sensor-fusion technologies.
Venture Capital/Digital: Despite Crypto Meltdown, Institutional Platform FalconX Doubles Valuation
Crypto prime brokerage FalconX announced a $150 million Series D round that put the firm’s value at $8 billion, more than twice what it was in August 2021 during Series C, and bringing up aggregate funding to over $430 million. The already profitable company plans to add 55 employees in the coming months, seemingly flying in the face of an industry trend that has recently seen layoffs at many major crypto players following a meltdown in digital asset prices.
Venture Capital: Nuclear Fusion Startup Zap Energy Achieves First Plasmas; Nabs $160M
Zap Energy , a Seattle-based startup aiming to achieve commercially viable nuclear fusion and fusion generated energy through a quicker and dramatically lower capital intensive approach, has raised a $160 million Series C round led by Lowercarbon Capital. New investors coming aboard included Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Shell Ventures, DCVC and Valor Equity Partners. Existing investors Addition, Energy Impact Partners and Chevron Technology Ventures also participated.
Venture Capital: Recent Fundraises By Venture Firms, Including Accel
This week, three interesting, and high value new fund raisings by venture capitalists. Of note is the new $4 billion global late-stage “leaders fund” from Accel.
Venture Capital: Sustainable Lettuce Grower Little Leaf Farms Scores $300M Round
Little Leaf Farms, which makes available lettuce that is locally and sustainably grown in a controlled environment, announced last week its raise of $300 million comprising both equity and debt. While TPG’s The Rise Fund led the equity round, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) provided the debt funding.
FinTech: Brex Dumps Thousands Of Small Business Customers In Rejig
Brex will now focus on venture-backed technology startups and larger companies. Brex, the Silicon Valley-based lender to small and medium sized businesses and startups, has announced a shift in its business priorities. It will now focus only on venture-backed technology startups and larger companies. Announced last week, the change puts tens of thousands of small…
DataStax Lands $115M For Multi-Cloud Database
DataStax announced a $115 million funding led by the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, with participation from RCM Private Markets fund advised by Rokos Capital Management (US) LP, Singapore-based global investor, EDB Investments Pte. Ltd. and DataStax’s existing investors including Crosslink Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, OnePrime Capital and other current investors. The company will use the money to further develop and expand its ‘Astra DB’ multi-cloud database and its ‘Astra Streaming’ streaming service.
Venture Capital: The New, £3m ‘Black Founders Fund’ From Google For Startups Will Back 40 European Entrepreneurs
Between 2009 and 2019, a mere 0.24% of VC funding went to Black founders in the UK. Last year, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) backed 30 Black-led startups with a £1.5m Black Founders Fund. These firms have already achieved an additional £65m in follow-on funding. Encouraged, Google has doubled this year’s fund to £3 million.
Venture Capital: Travertine Raises $3M To Remove Carbon Dioxide While Producing Sulphuric Acid
Travertine Technologies, a spin-off resulting from University of California research, has raised a seed round of $3 million to commercialize its process that captures and permanently sequesters ambient carbon dioxide while producing sulphuric acid. The round was led by jointly led by Grantham Environmental Trust and Clean Energy Ventures. The funds will allow Travertine to advance towards its objective for a pilot scale implementation of its process.
Venture Capital: Sequoia Raises $2.85B Venture Fund For India, SouthEast Asia
Sequoia (India & Southeast Asia) announced today the raise of $2.85 billion comprising $850 million for the firm’s first dedicated fund for the SEA region, and the rest for Indian venture and growth funds. The VC firm launched in India back in 2006 and has invested $6 billion in more than 400 firms across India and SEA.
Venture Capital: Indian Startup SolarSquare Raises $4M Including From Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon Capital
SolarSquare, a startup based in Mumbai, India, that aims to make clean energy affordable and accessible to homes across India, has raised a $4 million funding round led by Good Capital, with participation from US-based Lowercarbon Capital, Singapore-based Symphony Asia, and Nithin Kamath’s Rainmatter.