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: Octopus Energy Clinches Japanese Investment And Supply Deal
Octopus Energy has a mission: to disrupt the energy industry in Britain which “is ruled by a handful of complacent dinosaurs peddling fossil fuels, pricing trickery, and poor customer service.” Supplying green energy sourced from renewable sources, the startup is already adding 30,000 customers a month and supplies energy to 1.5 million homes in the UK. Expanding its international footprint, Octopus will soon enter Japan in collaboration with Tokyo Gas, the largest gas utility in Japan.
Venture Capital: Logistics-on-demand Startup Lalamove Nabs $515M
Lalamove, the logistics major which offers services around the globe, announced Tuesday its Series E round raise of $515 million. Sequoia Capital China led the round which received participation from existing investors including Hillhouse Capital and Shunwei Capital.
Venture Capital: OneTrust, The Privacy And Compliance Platform Raises $300M
OneTrust is a fast-growing provider of privacy, security, and compliance software. The startup, which was launched in 2016, announced Monday its raise of $300 million in a Series C funding round that valued it at $5.1 billion. TCV led the round, with existing investors such as Insight Partners and Coatue also chipping in.
Venture Capital: Brazilian Lender Creditas Raises $255M To Fuel Expansion
Brazilian fintech and lender Creditas announced Friday fundraising of $ 255 million led by impact investor LGT Lightstone. This fifth Series E round valued the start-up at $ 1.75 billion, more than double the valuation of $750 million it secured last year in a D round.
Venture Capital: Verily, Alphabet’s Life Sciences Subsidiary, Raises $700M
Verily, an Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) subsidiary, focuses on life sciences and healthcare. It announced Thursday a $ 700 million funding raised from its existing investors. These included parent company Alphabet, Silver Lake, Temasek, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and others.
Digital Assets: Paxos Raises $142 Million in Series C Funding
Paxos, the blockchain infrastructure and financial technology firm that partners Revolut and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) for cryptocurrencies, has raised $142 million in a Series C round.
Declaration Partners, an investment adviser to the family office of $230 billion private equity giant Carlyle Group’s co-founder David Rubenstein, led Paxos’ round. Mithril Capital, PayPal Ventures, RIT Capital Partners plc, Ken Moelis, Alua Capital, Senator Investment Group and others also participated.
Venture Capital: ABN AMRO Boosts Venture Arm’s Firepower By €50M
ABN AMRO has bolstered the cash arsenal of ABN AMRO Ventures, its venture arm, with an additional fund infusion of € 50 million. Last November, the bank topped up capital at the fund by € 50 million, taking it to € 100 million.
Venture Capital: Hydrogen-Electric Aviation Startup ZeroAvia Gets $21.4M From Amazon, Shell
California-based ZeroAvia, a startup developing hydrogen-electric aviation solutions, announced Wednesday its raise of $21.4 million. The company will use the money to advance its program for the development of zero-emission commercial aircraft. The aviation industry is a major user of fossil fuels and the source of emissions. ZeroAvia’s powertrain uses hydrogen, which produces water when burned.
Venture Capital: Blade, The Short-Hop Uber-Of-The-Skies, To Go Public Via SPAC
Blade Urban Air Mobility, the helicopter company known for short-haul trips from airports to city centers, is going public by merging with Experience Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: EXPC), a public entity affiliated with KSL Capital Partners. The short hop to listing will make Blade the only publicly traded global urban mobility company.
Venture Capital: Prudential-Backed PruVen Capital Launches Maiden $300M Fund
PruVen Capital, a multistage venture firm backed by Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU), has launched its first fund. The $300 million capital of the fund is targeted at tech startups in insurtech, fintech, healthtech, real estate tech, and enterprise IT verticals. The fund will also invest in horizontal enterprise tech enablers such as data/ML, cloud, DevOps, security, automation, and digital CX.
Artificial Intelligence: Spot Changes Hands Again; Hyundai Acquires Boston Dynamics
Hyundai Motor Group (KRX: 005380) announced Friday its deal to buy out a controlling interest of 80% of robotics specialist Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group (TYO: 9984). Boston Dynamics makes Spot, that unnerving robotic dog (pictured above) with surprising capabilities. SoftBank will continue to hold a 20% interest in the company, which has been valued at $1.1 billion for this transaction. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Venture Capital: The Story Of Sequoia’s Insane Returns On Airbnb
Do the math on this. Venture capital firm Sequoia paid $585,000 for 58 million shares in Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) in 2009, equivalent to about 1 cent per share. Airbnb listed yesterday, and its shares closed their first day of trading at $144.71. Sequoia’s initial investment of about half a million became worth $8.4 billion in slightly over a decade. Is it any surprise that probably the adjective used most often to describe Sequoia is ‘storied?’
Venture Capital: Swedish eSports And Gaming Company MTG Acquires Hutch Games For Potentially $375M
Modern Times Group, a Swedish company active in esports and gaming entertainment, announced the acquisition of London based mobile games developer Hutch Games for $ 375 million. Of this amount, $ 275 million is payable upfront and the rest will come from earnout payments. Top Hutch games such as Rebel Racing, F1 Manager, and Top Drives will now come under MTG’s umbrella.
Venture Capital: Ada Ventures Closes $50M Fund For Early-Stage, ‘Overlooked’ Founders
UK-based Ada Ventures is a VC with a difference. It looks out for founders and markets missed by the mainstream of venture finance. (Read: Bold ideas and courageous founders that see something from an entirely different perspective – whoever and wherever they may be.) Ada just announced that it had closed a $50 million fund.
Venture Capital: Dragos Scores $110M For Cybersecurity Of Industrial Control Systems And Operational Technology
Dragos secures industrial control systems and operational technology (ICS/OT), the command network and systems devices that monitor modern industrial processes against hackers having ulterior commercial and political motives. The startup announced today that investors representing some of the world’s largest corporations had funded its Series C $110 million round.
Venture Capital: TechVenture Fund Highland Europe Raises €700M For Fund IV
Highland Europe, the venture investment firm that was spun off from the U.S.-based Highland Capital Partners in 2012, has raised €700 million ($851 million) for its fourth and largest fund in record time.
Venture Capital: Space Perspective Scores $7M For Its Sub-Orbital Balloon Junkets
Space Perspective is a startup planning to offer high-altitude (read: “edge of space”) trips in Spaceship Neptune, a pressurized capsule suspended from a balloon. It announced Wednesday its raise of $7 million as a seed round led by Prime Movers Lab and Base Ventures.
Venture Capital: Mega-Rounds In Events, E-Commerce, And Self-Driving
Startups across diverse businesses nabbed solid funding immediately after the Thanksgiving weekend. With the Presidential election a distant speck in the rearview mirror, the venture capital industry appears to have got down to business in right earnest, rising COVID numbers notwithstanding. Mega-rounds of $100M+ are par for the course, it seems.
Venture Capital: Voi, Swedish Maker Of E-Scooters, Closes On $160M Funding
Voi Technology’s haul of $160 million is a mix of debt and equity in a Series C round led by The Raine Group, with participation by existing investors such as VNV Global, Balderton, and Creandum. Top entrepreneurs and executives from Amazon, Delivery Hero, iZettle, Klarna, Kry/Livi, Nordic Ninja, and Zillow also participated in this latest funding round.
Venture Capital: A Fund From Curio Wellness For Diverse Entrepreneurs Seeking Franchises
Curio Wellness, a cGMP certified medical cannabis and wellness company, announced today the formation of a $30 million investment fund to provide start-up capital for upto 50 minority entrepreneurs.
Venture Capital: Chinese Edtech EEO Scores $265M Series C Round
At last count in August, Empower Education Online (EEO)’s ClassIn had 60,000 schools and institutional clients from 35 countries and regions across the globe. It services about 20 million individuals from 150 countries each month. The edtech giant raised $265 million in a Series C round of financing led by Hillhouse Capital’s venture capital unit GL Ventures.
FinTech: Hippo Insurance Gets $350M Funding From Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance
Hippo, the home insurance unicorn, announced Tuesday an investment of $350 million from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited, a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc. In July, Hippo raised $150 million in a Series E round worth $150 million that valued it at $1.5 billion, post-money.
Venture Capital: Astanor Ventures Launches $325M Fund For Impact Investing in Agtech
Based in Luxembourg, Astanor Ventures combines capital, technology, and sector expertise to invest in businesses that build regenerative, scalable, and nourishing food solutions. Using this philosophy, Astanor has invested in more than 20 startups. It is now raising $325 million to invest in food and agriculture technology companies across Europe and North America.
Venture Capital: Toast Valued At $8B In Secondary Share Offering By Employees
Toast, which makes software for restaurants, has rebounded from the pandemic like a phoenix. Consider this: In February, shortly before the pandemic, the start-up raised $ 400 million at a valuation of $ 4.9 billion. After the virus, in April, Toast faced up to the economic devastation and cut its workforce by 50% through layoffs and furloughs. It also was forced to cut executive pay, freeze hiring, and halt bonuses. However, the startup’s software for takeout orders enabled in-house dining restaurants to pivot to the alternative mode of service. Result: business is good again.