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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Climate and fintech company Agreena has raised €46 million in its Series B round of funding. Led by Germany’s HV Capital, the round also included new investors such as AENU and Anthemis, as well as existing shareholders such as Gullspång Re:food, Kinnevik, and Denmark’s Export and Investment fund.
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More Stories on Venture Capital
Artificial Intelligence: Atomic AI Closes $35M Series ‘A’ For RNA Drug Discovery
Atomic AI, a biotechnology company, has developed a proprietary, AI-driven ‘Platform for AI-driven RNA Structure Exploration’ (PARSE). PARSE is a 3D RNA structure discovery engine that can vastly improve RNA structure prediction and develop a new generation of RNA-targeting medicines to tackle diseases that were previously untreatable. The company came out of stealth with a $35 million Series A round led by Playground Global, with participation from 8VC, Factory HQ, Greylock, NotBoring, AME Cloud Ventures, and renowned angel investors including GitHub ex-CEO Nat Friedman, Doug Mohr, Curai CEO Neal Khosla, and UC Berkeley professor and Arc Institute Co-founder Patrick Hsu.
Venture Capital: After Accounting Lapses At GoMechanic, Sequoia India May Implement Special Audits
Sequoia Capital’s regional arm in South and Southeast Asia is considering special audits for several investments in the region following allegations of financial irregularities at companies such as Zilingo Pte and GoMechanic. This was reported by Bloomberg, which quoted unnamed, confidential sources.
Venture Capital: Decarbonized Cement Startup Sublime Systems Nabs $40M
Sublime Systems, a developer of technology for decarbonized cement production, announced the closure of a $40 million Series A funding round led by Lowercarbon Capital and featuring participation from existing investors like The Engine and Energy Impact Partners. Siam Cement Group, the largest cement producer in Southeast Asia, is also joining as a strategic investor.
Venture Capital: Space Debris Remover ClearSpace Lands €26.7m Series A
Switzerland-based startup ClearSpace is working on technology for space debris removal and has recently raised €26.7m in a Series A round to accelerate the launch of the world’s first-ever space mission to remove a moving, non-cooperative object from orbit.
Venture Capital: Sequoia Capital Launches $195M Seed Venture Fund
Sequoia Capital, the storied venture capital firm, has announced a new $195 million seed fund and plans to run three batches of its accelerator program, Arc, in 2023, up from two in the previous year. Despite fewer companies starting up, Sequoia believes that now is a good time to invest in seed stage companies, as they are more insulated from the effects of the public market, which is passing through a period of tumult.
Venture Capital: CalPERS Will Fund $1B To Promote Diversity In Alternative Fund Managers’ Investments
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), a pension fund with assets worth $457 billion, has announced that it is committing $1 billion to support diverse and underrepresented private market investors through asset managers TPG and GCM Grosvenor.
Venture Capital: Impel, A Digital Platform For Car Buyers, Nabs $104M
Impel, a New York-based digital engagement startup, has secured $104 million in a growth investment led by Silversmith Capital Partners and additional investment from Wavecrest Growth Partners.
Venture Capital: Monogram Health Lands $375M Funding Round For Specialized At-Home Renal Care
Monogram Health, a company that provides in-home care and benefit management services for patients living with chronic conditions, has closed a $375 million funding round.
Venture Capital: Oxbotica, Maker Of Software For Universal Autonomy, Lands $140M
The round brings Oxbotica’s cumulative funding till date to approximately US$225 million.
Digital Assets: Abu Dhabi’s Venom Foundation Ties With Iceberg Capital For $1B Blockchain And Web3 Venture Fund
Abu Dhabi’s Venom Foundation has announced the launch of Venom Ventures Fund, a $1 billion venture fund targeting startups in blockchain and web3 dApps and protocols. However, it will favor ventures that are focused on long-term trends including payments, asset management and banking services, as well as GameFi.
Artificial Intelligence: Microsoft Mulling $10B Investment in ChatGPT Creator OpenAI
OpenAI launched ChatGPT on November 30, and the program went viral soon thereafter. Sources having knowledge of the matter have revealed to Bloomberg that Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) is negotiating to invest as much as $10 billion in OpenAI, the startup that created the wildly popular AI bot named ChatGPT. The sources also disclosed that…
Venture Capital: Cyber Security Firm Netskope Raises $401M From Top Notch Investors
Security firm Netskope announced an oversubscribed round of $401 million that saw participation from Morgan Stanley Tactical Value, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments)
Venture Capital: Tennis Star Serena Williams Leads $12M Round In Juno Medical
Juno Medical operates a tech-enabled healthcare model designed to meet the everyday healthcare needs of “the 99%”, focusing on revitalizing neighborhoods alongside delivery of a beautiful environment, transparent pricing, and exceptional care. The company last month raised a $12 million Series A co-led by Julian Eison, Managing Partner at NEXT VENTURES, and Serena Williams, Managing Partner at Serena Ventures.
Venture Capital: Energy-As-A-Service Provider Redaptive Raised $200M
Redaptive offers energy-efficiency upgrades as a service to commercial buildings including fully-funded, end-to-end sustainability solutions that save money, build resiliency and meet ESG goals. The company raised about $200 million from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Certain existing investors, including Linse Capital and CBRE, will also be participating in the investment. Redaptive is expecting to announce a second close in early 2023.
Venture Capital: Solar Power Producer Silicon Ranch Amidst $600M Raise
Silicon Ranch, one of the largest independent solar power producers in the US, announced a $600 million equity fundraising out of which it closed on $375 million in December 2022. The company is a fully integrated provider of customized renewable energy, carbon, and battery storage solutions for partners across North America.
Venture Capital: ChatGPT Creator OpenAI May Value At $29B In Share Sale
In a Thursday report the Wall Street Journal revealed that OpenAI, the creator of the highly successful ChatGBT AI bot, was in talks to sell existing shares amounting $300 million to VC firms Thrive Capital and Founders Fund. The transaction (known as a tender offer) would value OpenAI at around $29 billion, WSJ said, with the sellers being existing shareholders including employees.
Venture Capital: Security And Compliance Platform Drata Raises $200M Series C
ICONIQ Growth and GGV Capital led a $200 million Series C round in Drata, a continuous security and compliance automation platform, at a valuation of $2 billion. Other investors included Alkeon Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, S Ventures (SentinelOne), Silicon Valley CISO Investments (SVCI), and FOG Ventures (Operators Guild). Strategic individuals participating in the round included Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn), Frank Slootman (Snowflake), Jennifer Tejada (PagerDuty), Amit Agarwal (Datadog), Olivier Pomel (Datadog), and Jonathan Rubinstein (Amazon), joining Satya Nadella (Microsoft).
Venture Capital: Getir Buys Gorillas For $1.2B
In a sign of the consolidation sweeping across the rapid delivery sector, Istanbul-based online grocery start-up Getir has acquired German competitor Gorillas in a deal valuing the latter at $1.2 billion. Both participants in the deal managed to weather the tech meltdown that decimated valuations at many smaller grocery apps and led to their closure. Combined, the group is valued at $10 billion.
Venture Capital: Swedish Electric Self-Driving Truck Start-up Einride Lands $500M
Einride, the Swedish electric self-driving truck start-up, announced a raise of $500 million comprising an equity-based $200 million Series C portion from investors including Northzone, EQT Ventures, Temasek, Swedish pension fund AMF, Polar Structure and Norrsken VC. A debt funding of $300 million was led by Barclays Europe.
Venture Capital: Troubled Indian On-Line Education Startup Byju’s Wants To Restructure $1.2B Loan
Byju’s, the storied Indian educational startup that last scored a valuation of $22 billion, is seeking to renegotiate the terms of its $1.2 billion dollar loan amidst a surge in interest rates and steep losses in its business.
Venture Capital: Defense Startup Anduril Mops Up Giant $1.48B Funding
California-based defense and security startup Anduril raised a $1.48 billion Series E led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, 8VC, Lux Capital, Thrive Capital, DFJ Growth, Elad Gil, Lachy Groom, Human Capital, Marlinspike, WCM Investment Management, MVP Ventures, Lightspeed Venture and US Innovative Technology Fund.
Artificial Intelligence: Bionaut Labs Raises $43.2M For Its Micro Robots That Swim Inside The Human Body
Bionaut Labs is developing micro-scale, magnetically guided robots that deliver biologics or small molecule therapies locally to targeted disease areas to help patients suffering from severe brain disorders. The company raised a $43.2 million Series B round led by Khosla Ventures, bringing the company’s total financing raised to date to $63.2 million. New investors Deep Insight, OurCrowd, PSPRS, Sixty Degree Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, GISEV Family Ventures, What if Ventures, Tintah Grace and Gaingels participated alongside existing investors Upfront Ventures, BOLD Capital Partners, Revolution VC, and Compound.
Venture Capital: Frore, Which Makes Cooling Chips For Consumer Devices, Raises $100M
Frore Systems is a developer of innovative thermal technology for consumer devices. The company’s active cooling chips, AirJet® Mini and AirJet® Pro, are integrated into devices to remove heat silently, delivering 2X improvement in device processor performance. AirJet’s compact size and unique capability enables faster, quieter, thinner, lighter and dust-proof devices. Frore has emerged from stealth, wrapping up a $100 million round from investors including Mayfield, Addition, Clear Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures.
Venture Capital: Daycations Platform ResortPass Lands $26M Series B Including From Gwyneth Paltrow
Ever considered a daycation (day+vacation) at your nearest luxury hotel, spending hours enjoying facilities at the property such as the pool, spa, fitness center, and more, without breaking the bank? It’s possible with ResortPass, which makes it possible to enjoy these ‘experiences’ right there in your neighbourhood, at hotels including Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, W Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Fairmont, and Westin. ResortPass announced a Series B raise of $26 million.