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: E-Commerce Specialist VTEX Snags $225M At $1.7B Valuation
Riding a pandemic-induced surge in its business, ecommerce platform VTEX achieved unicorn status with a $225 million Series D round. The round comes within less than a year of its previous, Softbank-led $140 million round last November.
Venture Capital: SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 Leads $319M Funding In XtalPi
American-Chinese biotech XtalPi, an AI-based drug discovery company, is known for its Intelligent Digital Drug Discovery and Development (ID4) platform. The platform uses quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and high-performance cloud computing algorithms for predictions in drug discovery and development.
FinTech: Blank Check Company Raises $230M In SPAC IPO
Fintech Acquisition Corp. IV (NASDAQ: FTIVU) began trading on the Nasdaq from September 25 after completing its IPO. It issued 23,000,000 units at $10.00 per unit, including 3,000,000 units issued under the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
Venture Capital: Mosa Meat’s Slaughter-Free Hamburger
Alternative meat startup Mosa Meat, which harvests beef directly from cow cells, rather than raising and slaughtering a whole animal, announced its Series B fundraising of $ 55 million. The amount was a first closing – part of a larger series B funding round.
Led by Luxembourg-based Blue Horizon Ventures, the round was joined by Bell Food Group, M Ventures, and others.
Venture Capital: GGV Capital Raising $2B Warchest For Three New Funds
GGV Capital, a leading U.S. based venture capital firm, is raising $2 billion for three funds that will invest in tech startups and growth companies in the U.S. and China.
Venture Capital: Greenlight Financial’s Series C Earns It $215M And Unicorn Badge
Greenlight’s mission to help kids save and spend smart with its debit cards received a $215 million boost Thursday via its Series C funding. Led by Canapi Ventures and TTV Capital, the round also received participation from new investors BOND, DST Global, Goodwater Capital, and Fin VC. Greenlight also welcomed aboard Relay Ventures as its first institutional investor.
Venture Capital: Sneaker-Focused, Online Platform Goat Grabs $100M
Goat Group, which specializes in selling sneakers on its Goat.com online marketplace, announced Wednesday its raise of $100 million in a Series E funding round from D1 Capital Partners. The round valued Goat at $1.75 billion. The startup, therefore, turned unicorn, having previously been valued at $550 million. Goat Group operates the GOAT, Flight Club, and alias brands.
Venture Capital: Robinhood, The ‘Go-To’ Trading App For Millennials, Snags $660M
According to an exclusive report today by Reuters, Robinhood Markets Inc. the trading app so popular with millennials, raised $660 million in its latest Series G funding round. Robinhood previously announced its Series G funding with a $200 million investment by D1 Capital Partners. A company spokeswoman told Reuters Tuesday that the round was expanded to $660 million at a valuation of $11.7 billion.
Artificial Intelligence: FuzeDrive, The First-Ever AI-Enabled SSD
Enmotus Inc. focuses on innovations in PC storage using its patented Artificial Intelligent algorithms. It announced Tuesday the launch of FuzeDrive, the first-ever AI-powered Solid State Drive (SSD). FuzeDrive blends high endurance static SLC (Single Level Cell technology) with QLC (Quadruple Level Cell technology) on the same M.2 board.
Venture Capital: Playco Wins Unicorn Status At Series A
Playco pulled off a unicorn valuation with the company still on the drawing board. It raised $100 million in a Series A round led by technology investor Josh Buckley and Sequoia Capital Global Entities. Will Smith’s investment firm Dreamers VC, venture firms Sozo Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, the Makers Fund, the Angel Fund, and Digital Garage also participated.
Venture Capital: Mobile-Based Banker Chime Raises $485 Million At $14.5B Valuation
According to an exclusive report Friday by CNBC, Chime, the branchless bank that delivers its services through mobile phones, has achieved a valuation of $ 14.5 billion in its latest funding round. Chime raised a monster $ 485 million in its Series F round, and its valuation has now leapfrogged past the $ 11.2 billion sticker garnered by fee-free trading app Robinhood.
Venture Capital: Tonal, The Smart Home Gym Startup, Taps $110M
Tonal, a startup that makes compact, AI-powered, wall-mounted home fitness equipment, announced Thursday its raise of $110 million. Returning investors L Catterton, Sapphire Sport, Shasta Ventures, Mayfield, Evolution Media, and THVC, participated in the round along with new investors Delta-v Capital, the Amazon Alexa Fund, and Mousse Partners.
Venture Capital: Indoor Fitness App Maker Zwift Snags $450M
Zwift, which blends serious indoor workouts with the fun of virtual events and video games on its online “connected-fitness” platform for runners and cyclists, raised a humongous $450 million.
Artificial Intelligence: Brightseed, Which Uses AI To Explore Phytonutrients, Taps $27M
Brightseed, a biosciences and AI company based in the U.S., achieved fame with its discovery of a phytonutrient – a substance that plants produce to support their growth and defend against pathogens or predators. However, inside the human body, these compounds display anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective and neuroprotective abilities.
Venture Capital: Airtable Raises $185M At A $2.5B Valuation
Airtable, whose products deliver the power of a database with the familiarity of a spreadsheet, has raised $185 million. The funding brings the startup’s total fundraising to over $350 million. Thrive Capital led the current Series D round which also saw participation by existing investors including Benchmark and Coatue Management.
FinTech: Klarna Gains More BNPL Muscle With $650M Mega Round
A team of marquee investors, led by Silver Lake, invested $650 million in Klarna, the payments and shopping service known for its “buy-now-pay-later” (BNPL) offering. Klarna now ranks as the biggest fintech unicorn in Europe, and fourth globally, after the round valued it at $10.65 billion.
Venture Capital: Nvidia To Acquire Arm Holdings From SoftBank In $40B Deal
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has agreed to acquire Arm Limited from SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO: 9984) and the SoftBank Vision Fund in a $40 billion transaction.
Venture Capital: Forums For Diversity and Inclusion, On Both Sides Of The Pond
“Access All” is a new, virtual, pitching event for founders from under-represented groups such as blacks, Asians, and other minorities. It is an initiative from a group of U.K.-based VCs to counter the inequities in the venture funding system as visible from a bias in favor of privileged and “more equal” founders, and against certain ethnicities.
Venture Capital: Iron Ox Wraps Up A $20M Series B For Robotic Cultivation
Iron Ox pioneered autonomous and robotic farming when it launched its first farm in 2018. Using a combination of machine learning, robotics, and plant sciences, the company addresses issues such as food security and the cultivation of fresh, more consistent production. It announced Wednesday the closing of its Series B funding round worth $ 20 million.
Venture Capital: VCs Close $715M In Funds For B2Bs In Europe/Japan/US
It’s a measure of the interest in business-to-business (B2B) that two VC firms raised an aggregate of $715 million in funds dedicated to such startups in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. Dawn Capital, a large European venture capital fund dedicated to B2B software, today announced the closing of its fund Dawn IV at the hard cap of €333 million ($ 400 million). Meanwhile, DNX Ventures mopped up $ 315 million for its third flagship fund for early-stage B2B startups in Japan and the United States.
FinTech: BNPL Biggie Klarna Could Value At $10B In Last Fundraise Before IPO
According to a Reuters Exclusive, Klarna, the Swedish fintech and unicorn, is talking with investors to raise as much as $ 500 million at a valuation of $ 10 billion. During its previous fundraise in August 2019, Klarna raised $ 460 million at a post-money valuation of $ 5.5 billion. Reuters’ sources said the money would be raised from both existing and new investors. An announcement is likely within days, they said.
Digital Assets: Diginex, Parent Of Equos Crypto Exchange, Raises $20M
Diginex Limited, the owner of digital assets exchange Equos, announced Tuesday its raise of more than $ 20 million through the private placement of a convertible note. Launched on July 30, Equos is an institutional-grade exchange that caters to both individuals and institutions.
Venture Capital: Indian Online Learning Startup BYJU’S Raises $500M Amid Red-Hot VC Interest in Edtech
BYJU’S, the Indian educational technology company operated by Think and Learn Private Limited, raised $ 500 million in fresh funding led by private equity giant Silver Lake. About a week ago, BYJU’S raised $ 122 million from DST Global. The current funding is the fifth tranche in its Series F round.
Venture Capital: VW And Bill Gates-backed QuantumScape To Go Public Through SPAC
QuantumScape partners with Volkswagen (ETR: VOW3) on the development of advanced solid-state batteries for electric vehicles. In a $700 million deal announced Thursday, QuantumScape will merge with blank-check company Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp (NYSE: KCAC) and thereby get its shares listed on the NYSE.