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
FinTech: Stripe Shareholders Sold $1B Shares Last Month (WSJ); Company Launches ID Tool
Major investors last month snapped up $1 billion worth of shares from existing shareholders in Stripe in a tender offer that received as much as $4 billion in bids according to the WSJ.
Venture Capital: Abu Dhabi Sovereign Fund ADQ To Invest $500 Million In India’s Flipkart (Bloomberg)
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ may invest as much as $ 500 million in Walmart-backed (NYSE: WMT) Indian e-commerce site Flipkart, according to Bloomberg. The investment could value Flipkart between $ 35 billion and $ 40 billion according to sources knowledgeable of the matter.
Venture Capital: UAL Floats United Airlines Ventures For Innovation In Travel And Sustainability
United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) announced its new corporate venture fund, United Airlines Ventures, on Thursday. The fund’s brief is to invest in emerging companies that could reinvent travel and aviation while engaging with startups that advance sustainability. These innovative companies and their technologies would help UAL meet its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 – without relying on traditional carbon offsets.
FinTech: Mexican Payments Platform Clip Raises $250M, Turns Unicorn
Clip, a Mexican digital payments and commerce platform founded in 2012, announced June 10, its raise of $250 million in a round led by the SoftBank Latin America Fund and Viking Global Investors LP. The round valued Clip at approximately $2 billion.
Venture Capital: Swedish “Green” Battery Maker Northvolt Raises $2.75B
Northvolt AB, the Swedish battery developer and manufacturer said Wednesday that it closed a $ 2.75 billion private placement co-led by new investors AP funds 1-4, via the co-owned company, 4 to 1 Investments, and OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, alongside existing investors Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Volkswagen Group (ETR: VOW3). Northvolt will use the funds to expand its battery capacity and boost its R&D efforts.
Venture Capital: Oversubscribed RET Ventures Fund II Closes With $165M For “Rent Tech”
RET Ventures announced Tuesday the final close of its second fund, RET Ventures Fund II, at $165 million. The fund received “extremely strong” interest and exceeded its initial target of $130 million. The investors in the fund were a group of real estate “strategic” investors focused on real estate technology for rental properties.
Venture Capital: Relativity Space Raises $650M Series E For Its ‘Terran R’ 3D-Printed Rocket
Relativity Space, which builds large-scale 3D printers and 3D-printed a complete rocket, announced today its Series E equity funding of $650 million led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC. Other investors included Baillie Gifford, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Centricus, Coatue, K5 Global, Soroban Capital, Tiger Global, Tribe Capital, XN, Brad Buss, Mark Cuban, Jared Leto, and Spencer Rascoff.
FinTech: Buffett’s Berkshire Invests $500M In Brazilian Digital Bank Nubank’s $750M Extension Round
Brazilian digital bank Nubank, the largest fintech in Brazil and one of the biggest in the world, on Friday closed a $750 million funding round that included an investment of $500 million by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A).
Venture Capital: Trulioo, The Canadian Identity Verification Startup Scores $394M
Trulioo, a Canadian startup offering online ID verification services globally, announced its close of a $394 million series D round of funding at a $1.75 billion valuation. TCV led the funding round, recognizing that the pandemic had boosted the need for global identity verification given the explosion in e-commerce transactions and digital payments.
Venture Capital: New Fund News
Three venture funds that will spike your interest. Three venture funds that will spike your interest. Founder-backed FirstMinute, Toyota Venture in a new avatar, and asset-based financier Architect.
Venture Capital: Space Debris And Satellite Tracker LeoLabs Nabs $65M
LeoLabs Inc seeks to secure safe and sustainable operations in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) ecosystem by mapping the orbits of spacecraft, satellites and space debris. It’s a daunting task, because there are thousands of satellites, teams of astronauts, and tons of debris in the space surrounding the earth. This floating stuff moves at high speeds and has colossal destructive energy.
Venture Capital: YieldStreet, Which Brings Private Investing To Retail, Raises $100M
Yieldstreet’s mission is to reinvent an industry by providing investors access to investments previously available to the top 1%. Mom and pop investors can now access opportunities that were typically off-limits. Yieldstreet announced Wednesday its raise of $100 million via a Series C funding round.
Venture Capital: Australian Agritech Focused VC Firm Closes $35M Fund
Tenacious Ventures is a dedicated agrifood tech VC firm investing in Australian seed and Series A agrifood tech startups. It announced Monday the successful closure of its first fund, Tenacious Ventures Fund I, raising $35 million.
Venture Capital: New VC Funds – FM Capital ($150M); Darryl Finkton Jr ($200M); Base10 Partners ($250M)
FM Capital raised a new $150 million fund focusing on the automotive and transportation sectors. Darry Finkton Jr. closed on a $200 million fund that will back founders from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds. Base10 Partners will route half profits from late-stage investing of a $250 million fund to create student scholarships and support university endowments at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
FinTech: Klarna Suffers Severe Technical Issue; On Track For New Funding
Klarna, the Swedish fintech famous for its Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) offering, suffered a major technical issue with its app on Thursday morning. Several users complained that when they attempted to log into their accounts, they entered other customers’ accounts.
Venture Capital: Black Founders Focused Collab Capital Raises $50M
Justin Dawkins, Jewel Burks Solomon, and Barry Givens founded Collab Capital in 2018 to solve the problem of capital access for Black entrepreneurs. Collab began raising its first fund in 2019 and after 18 months, the firm announced Wednesday that it had closed its Collab Capital Fund I with $50 million in the bag to invest in Black-founded startups.
Venture Capital: Bowery, The Largest Vertical Farming Company In The U.S., Raises $300M
Bowery Farming, the largest vertical farming company in the U.S., announced its Series C raise of $300 million at a valuation of $2.3 billion. Led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, the round saw follow-on investment from existing investors GV (formerly Google Ventures), General Catalyst, GGV Capital, Temasek, and Groupe Artémis (Pinault-owned). New investors included Amplo and Gaingels, a fund representing the LGBTQ community and allies.
Venture Capital: Digital Health Platform Noom Raises $540M Round Led By Silver Lake
In a January interview, Saeju Jeong, co-founder and CEO of Noom, said that there is a new, COVID-triggered trend of people seeking to lead a healthier lifestyle that includes the mind and body both. That figures, because during Covid-19, in 2020, Noom doubled its 2019 revenues of $200 million. And today, it announced a monster, $540 million Series F round led by Silver Lake.
Venture Capital: Aurora Solar Scores $250M Series D
Aurora Solar announced today its $250 million Series C funding round led by Coatue, with follow-on participation from existing investors ICONIQ Capital, Energize Ventures, and Fifth Wall. Aurora adds the software edge to solar projects, attempting to shave off thousands of dollars from the cost of the average solar project by providing remote assistance to solar outfits.
Venture Capital: German Stock Trading App Trade Republic Scores $900M Raise
Germany’s cutprice, mobile-based stock trading app Trade Republic, which is said to have copied Robinhood’s business model, made European history by raising $900 million in a Series C round. American venture capital firm Sequoia led the round, with additional backing from new investors TCV and Thrive Capital. Existing shareholders including Accel, Founders Fund and Creandum also participated.
FinTech: Blockchain Fintech Figure Tech Scores $200M Round
Figure Technologies, a blockchain-based fintech startup, closed a $200 million Series D round at a valuation of $3.2 billion. The round was co-led by 10T Holdings and Morgan Creek Digital. New and existing investors including DCM, Digital Currency Group, HCM Capital, Ribbit Capital, RPM Ventures, the partners at DST Global, and others also participated.
Venture Capital: Workrise Scores $300M Series E Round
Workrise, formerly known as RigUp, announced today its $300 million Series E round led by Baillie Gifford. Existing investors including Founders Fund, Bedrock Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Moore Strategic Ventures, 137 Ventures, and Brookfield Growth Partners participated, with Franklin Templeton joining as a new investor.
FinTech: Chicago Welcomes Its Newest Unicorn In Amount, Which Raised $100M
Chicago-based Amount, a fintech that spun out of digital consumer lending company Avant in 2020, announced Tuesday its Series D round raise of $100 million at a valuation of $1 billion. Amount thus earned its horn as Chicago’s latest unicorn.
Venture Capital: Back Market, Which Refurbishes Devices, Nabs $335M
Back Market, a French startup that exhorts customers to “Screw New,” sells used but fully functional consumer electronic devices on its platform. Buyers get lower prices and help save the environment from electronic waste. The startup raised $335 million in a Series D round that valued it at $3.2 billion.