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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Revaia, Europe’s largest female-founded venture capital firm, has successfully raised €150 million ($160 million) for its second fund, Revaia Growth II. The funding was secured from sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and institutional investors across Europe, with support from existing partners like Bpifrance and new backers such as mutual insurer Carac and the European Investment Fund.
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More Stories on Venture Capital
Venture Capital: Brazilian Meat Substitute Startup Future Farm Raises $58M
Future Farm, a Brazilian startup that makes plant-based protein having the taste and texture of real meat, has raised $58 million in a Series C funding round co-led by BTG and Rage Capital. Existing investors also participated, including Monashees, Go4It Capital, Turim MFO and Enfini Ventures, along with new investor XP Inc.
Venture Capital: ClearFlame, Which Enables Low Carbon Fuels In Diesel Engines, Raises $17M
Geneva, Ill.,-based ClearFlame Engine Technologies announced last week its $17 million Series A funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures with participation from Mercuria, John Deere and Clean Energy Ventures. ClearFlame has developed engine technology to enable low-carbon and carbon-negative fuels to be integrated into existing diesel engine platforms, offering a more sustainable and cost-effective solution than diesel fuel.
Venture Capital: Low-Profile Digital Currency Group, Which Owns Grayscale, Valued At $10B
Digital Currency Group (DGC), a low-profile, cryptoasset-focused holding company that owns some prize digital businesses, has been valued at $10 billion in a secondary sale of shares. The transaction was led by SoftBank and saw participation by big name investors such as Google’s venture capital arm CapitalG, Ribbit Capital and others.
Venture Capital: Plant-Based Meats Producer Impossible Foods To Raise $500M
Impossible Foods, which makes climate-friendly meats from plants that are nutritious and as good to taste as the real thing, is in discussions for a $500 million raise at a potential valuation of $7 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Venture Capital: “Digital Musculosketal Clinic” Hinge Health Raises $400M Series E
Hinge Health, which relieves back and joint pain through its virtual “Digital Musculoskeletal Clinic,” announced today its raise of $400 million in a Series E round that valued it at $6.2 billion. That valuation is double that of the $3 billion valuation in January’s D round, and about 15 times that of the $420 million valuation in Series C in February 2020. (
Venture Capital: Clinical Trials Platform Medable Lands $304M Funding
Medable Inc, a cloud-based platform that facilitates rapid, decentralized clinical trials, announced its $304 million Series D raise at a valuation of $2.1 billion. The round was co-led by new investors Blackstone Growth and Tiger Global and existing investor GSR Ventures and included follow-on investment from existing investors Sapphire Ventures and WTI.
Venture Capital: Search Engine Ecosia Floats €350M ‘World Fund’ For Climate Tech Ventures
World Fund, a new climate tech venture capital fund intitiated by search engine Ecosia, announced the launch of a €350 million ($405 million) fund that will invest in climate tech startups targeting decarbonization in sectors such as energy, transport, food and agriculture, manufacturing and buildings. (EU-Startups)
Venture Capital: Blackrock CEO Larry Fink Expects Climate Tech To Nurture The Next 1,000 Unicorns
Speaking at the Middle East Green Initiative Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Larry Fink, the CEO and Chairman of Blackrock (NYSE: BLK), said he expected the next 1,000 unicorns (startups valued over $1 billion) to emerge from climate tech areas such as green hydrogen, green agriculture, green steel, and green cement.
Venture Capital: Civil Rights Watchdog NAACP Buys Stake In Hello Alice To Help Build Black Wealth
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced last week its acquisition of a stake in Hello Alice, an online platform that helps business with resources to launch and grow, and focuses on underrepresented entrepreneurs. Two white women, Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore, founded venture-backed Hello Alice. NAACP’s investment will advance the startup’s goal to achieve economic equality for Black communities.
FinTech: BNPL For Businesses Provider Billie Scores $100M Series C Funding
Billie, a fintech targeting its BNPL offering at the B2B market, announced today its $100 million Series C raise led by Dawn Capital, and joined by Klarna and Tencent, alongside existing investors Creandum, Speedinvest, Picus and GFC. At $640 million, the startup succeeded in quadrupling its valuation over a previous Series B round that raised $35 million in 2019.
FinTech: Brex Wins ‘Decacorn’ Badge, Scores $300M Raise
Anonymous sources have confirmed to TechCrunch that fintech Brex has signed off on a term sheet for a $300 million fundraise led by Greenoaks and joined by existing investors. The sources said San Francisco-based Brex was valued at $12.3 billion after investors were impressed with its business momentum given that the fintech is expected to double its turnover this year.
Digital Assets: Crypto Exchange FTX Rakes In $420M At $25B Valuation
29-year old billionaire founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is a majority owner of FTX. Just three months after closing a record $900 million Series B round, FTX, the Bahamas-headquartered crypto exchange announced its $420 million Series B-1 raise at a valuation of $25 billion. That valuation is up from $18 billion in July. In Thursday’s…
Artificial Intelligence: Rossum, The Document AI Company, Raises $100M
Rossum offers an end-to-end AI document processing solution that combines its cognitive data capture platform with a full suite of integration capabilities to automate document-based communications between diverse businesses. The startup announced this week its $100 million Series A raise from General Catalyst with participation by existing investors including LocalGlobe, Seedcamp, Miton and Elad Gil.
FinTech: Wells Fargo Invests $10M In Cloud Payments Provider Volante
Volante Capital, a provider of cloud payment services and financial messaging, announced Wednesday an investment of $10 million by Wells Fargo Strategic Capital. Wells Fargo joins Wavecrest Growth Partners, BNY Mellon, Citi Ventures, PostePay and Visa Inc, the investors in Volante’s previous $35 million round held in August 2020.
Venture Capital: Flock Freight, Which Uses AI To Pool Shipments, Nabs $215M
Flock Freight uses AI algorithms to optimize shipments, routes and vehicles. Its FlockDirect cloud-based product guarantees shippers shared space on a truckload by combining multiple shipments that are moving along the same route into one shared truckload. The system bypasses the inefficient Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) hub and spoke system. The company raised $215 million in a Series D that valued it at $1.3 billion and was led by existing investor Soft Bank Vision Fund 2.
Venture Capital: News From All Over
UP.Partners, a transportation-focused venture firm backed by investors including Alaska Air Group, ARK Invest Founder and CEO Cathie Wood, and Toyota subsidiary Woven Capital, announced its close of the inaugural $230 million early stage venture capital fund.
FinTech: German Fintech And Banking Challenger N26 Raises $900M At $9B Valuation
N26 GmbH, the German fintech that is challenging banks on their turf, announced Monday a raise of over $900 million in a round led by Third Point Ventures and Coatue Management, with participation by Dragoneer Investment Group as well as existing N26 investors. N26 said the “record-breaking” round valued it at more than $9 billion, placing it within the top 20 global fintechs, and the most valuable one in Germany.
Venture Capital: Delivery Hero Takes $235M Chunk Of Gorillas’ $1B Funding Round
Delivery Hero now owns about 8% of Gorillas. Delivery Hero (ETR: DHER), which is headquartered in Berlin, Germany and offers its local delivery services in over 50 countries around the globe, announced today its investment of US$235 million in the Berlin-based on-demand delivery start-up Gorillas Technologies via the latter’s series C funding round. Delivery Hero…
Venture Capital: Remote Hiring Platform Deel Nets $425M Series D
Remote and international hiring startup Deel has raised $425 million in a Series D round led by Coatue with participation from Altimeter Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, and other investors.
Venture Capital: TPG Rise Climate And ADQ To Invest $1B In Indian Group Tatas’ EV Unit
Tata Motors (NSE: TATAMOTORS), the automobile company of the Tatas, the Indian salt-to-airlines business conglomerate, will receive an investment of approximately $1 billion from TPG’s Rise Climate Fund and Abu Dhabi state holding company ADQ in a new EV entity. Tata Motors will invest over $2 billion in the unit.
Venture Capital: Crypto Lending Platform Celsius Network Raises $400M
The transaction values the company at more than $3 billion. Celsius Network, the platform founded by Alex Mashinsky for borrowing and lending crypto, announced its raise of $400 million led by WestCap, a growth equity firm, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), the Canadian pension fund. (CISION PRNewswire) The investors were undeterred…
Digital Assets: Binance Smart Chain Launches $1B Growth Fund For Blockchain Development And Adoption
The fund will invest in the development of an ecosystem for the Binance Smart Chain. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange and creator of the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), has announced a $1 billion growth fund to boost adoption of BSC for decentralized applications, or dApps. Describing it as one of the best blockchains for…
Venture Capital: SpaceX Achieves “Centicorn” Valuation In Secondary Share Sale
Existing investors in Elon Musk’s space start up SpaceX have agreed to sell up to $755 million in stock at $560 a share, according to CNBC, which quoted multiple people familiar with the deal. The secondary share sale, a transaction in which the company does not receive any capital, valued SpaceX at $100.3 billion and capped the amount of saleable shares at $755 million.
FinTech: Yieldstreet Offers Venture Capital Opportunities To Retail Investors
Digital alternative investment platform Yieldstreet announced Thursday the launch of its new venture capital focused platform that allows retail investors exposure to private companies and start-ups that are disrupting existing sectors of creating entirely new ones. The move reflects the increasing demand for alternative investments to be made available easily to retail investors. Returns on venture capital in 2020 were more than 50% and have averaged 32% over the past 25 calendar years.