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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DataRobot announced today its raise of $300 million in a Series G round led by existing investors Altimeter Capital and Tiger Global and joined by new investors Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), Franklin Templeton, ServiceNow Ventures, and Sutter Hill Ventures. The financing came simultaneously with news of DataRobot’s acquisition of the machine learning operations (MLOps) platform, Algorithmia.
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More Stories on Venture Capital
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.
Venture Capital: Amazon And Fidelity Among Investors Backing BETA’s Electric Vertical Aircraft With $368M
BETA Technologies, which has secured multiple partnerships and order commitments for its EVAs, announced today its close of a Series A round of $368 million led by Fidelity. Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund also participated, as did other new and existing investors. The round valued BETA at $1.4 billion, classifying it in the rarefied class of “unicorn” startups that boast of a valuation of $1 billion or more. Our brother
Venture Capital: A Consortium Led By Rolls-Royce Is Building Mini Nuclear Plants
A consortium led by Rolls-Royce (LON: RR) has plans to develop mini nuclear power plants that can each power a million homes and cost £2billion. The UK Small Modular Reactor project got off the ground in 2015 and is targeting to place the first of the 470 MW mini nuke plants in service by 2030.
Venture Capital: Making VC More Inclusive – Google To Invest $40M In Black-Led Startups
Jeremiah Gordon is General Counsel at CapitalG, Alphabet’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) independent growth fund which has $3 billion under management. He also leads an Alphabet-wide team focused on investing in Black-led VC funds, startups, and organizations supporting Black entrepreneurs. In a blog published Thursday, Gordon revealed that Google will invest an additional $40 million in Black-led startups and investment firms by the end of the year.
Venture Capital: Vinted, The Marketplace For Previously Owned Clothing, Raises $303M
Vinted, a European startup that runs a marketplace for used clothing and home goods, announced its raise of $303 million at a valuation of $4.5 billion, post-money. That valuation is substantially up from $1 billion when Vinted raised money end-2019.
FinTech: Brazilian Payments Network CloudWalk Reels In $190M Series B Funding
CloudWalk, the Brazilian payments processor, announced Tuesday its Series B funding of $190 million. The round brought up the firm’s aggregate capital raised to $206 million. Coatue led the round, with participation from DST Global and existing investors such as FIS, The Hive Brazil, and Valor Capital.
Venture Capital: Mubadala Invested $29B In 2020
Pandemic or not, famed sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company kept a stream of investments flowing into technology, life sciences, consumer goods, and other growth sectors during 2020. In fact, as a strategy, the fund stepped up its investment to $29 billion from $18.5 billion in 2019.
Venture Capital: Indonesian Super App Nabs $300M From Telkomsel
Telkomsel, Indonesia’s largest telecom operator, has written yet another check, this time for $300 million, in favor of ride-hailing firm and super app Gojek. Gojek is one app for ordering food, commuting, digital payments, shopping, hyper-local delivery, getting a massage, and two dozen services. It is Indonesia’s first and fastest-growing unicorn building an on-demand business across Southeast Asia.
Venture Capital: Swedish Self-Driving And Electric Truck Maker Einride Scores $110M Funding
Einride, the Swedish developer and provider of electric and autonomous freight mobility technology, announced Thursday it had raised $110 million Series B funding from existing investors EQT Ventures, Plum Alley Investments, Norrsken VC, Ericsson, and NordicNinja VC; new investors Temasek, Soros Fund Management LLC, Northzone, Maersk Growth and Build Capital also participated in the round.
Venture Capital: Subscription Platform ReCharge Scores $277M Round
ReCharge, a provider of subscription management software for e-commerce applications, announced today that it received $277 million in growth capital from Summit Partners, ICONIQ Growth, and Bain Capital Ventures. The company achieved a valuation of $2.1 billion in the first funding since its launch seven years ago.
Venture Capital: Emergence Capital, Which Backed Zoom, Raises $950M For Two New Funds
Venture capital firm Emergence Capital announced it has raised two new funds: Emergence Capital Partners (ECP) VI and Emergence Capital Opportunity I. While ECP VI will invest its haul of $575 million in early-stage B2B tech companies, the Opportunity Fund, which raised $375 million, will primarily make follow-on investments in later-stage startups already backed by Emergence.
Venture Capital: Autonomous Welder Path Robotics Nabs $56M
Path Robotics announced its raise of $56 million in a Series B round led by Addition and with participation by returning investors Drive Capital, Basis Set, and Lemnos Lab. The company creates manufacturing robots that autonomously scan, position, and weld the customer’s parts without the need for skilled welders or robot programmers.
Venture Capital: Paxos Receives $2.4B Valuation With $300M Series D Funding
Paxos, which operates a regulated blockchain infrastructure platform, announced Thursday its close of a $300 million Series D round of funding led by Oak HC/FT. Returning investors Declaration Partners, PayPal Ventures, Mithril Capital, Senator Investment Group, Liberty City Ventures, WestCap, and others also participated.
Artificial Intelligence: OpenSpace, Which Monitors Job Sites, Raises $55M
OpenSpace builds virtual time machines for construction sites that monitor and record job progress. The startup which uses AI, computer vision, video, and photographs to drive its software, has raised $55 million in a Series C round led by Alkeon. New investors included PSP Partners, Asia-focused real-estate tech investors GreenPoint Partners, and Hong Kong-based New World Development.
Venture Capital: Pactum, A Provider Of Negotiation-As-A-Service (NaaS), Raises $11M
Pactum, a startup with Estonian origins that is now headquartered in California, operates an AI platform designed to automate contract negotiations for big companies such as Walmart (NYSE: WMT). It announced Tuesday its raise of $11 million (approx €9.1 million) in its Series A round of funding.
FinTech: Greenlight Financial Raises $260M At $2.3B Valuation
Greenlight announced today its close of $260 million in Series D funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. Existing investors TTV Capital, Canapi Ventures, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, BOND, Fin VC, Goodwater Capital, as well as new investors Wellington Management, Owl Ventures, and LionTree Partners also participated.