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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Mercury Fund, the premier early-stage venture firm with a focus on non-coastal tech hubs, has successfully closed its largest fund to date, Mercury Fund V, with a total capital commitment of $160 million. This achievement exceeded the initial target of $150 million, showcasing the strong support from both existing and new investors, which include university endowments, foundations, and family offices primarily based in the central U.S. region.
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More Stories on Venture Capital
Venture Capital: ‘Home-Sharing-By-The-Hour’ Startup Globe Runs Afoul of SF Authorities
Emmanuel Bamfo and Erix Xu are founders of Globe, a startup that puts users looking for a day break in the city in touch with owners of empty homes. The USP of Globe is that users can book a break by the hour. However, San Francisco city authorities have taken a dim view of Globe’s activities.
Venture Capital: Apeel Sciences Scores $250M Funding to Combat Food Waste
Apeel Sciences scores $250M funding to combat food waste. The company has pioneered a high technology solution to reduce food waste. It created an edible spray-on coating made from plant materials that can be applied to perishable food such as avocados, lemons, and limes to double or triple their life.
Artificial Intelligence: Daphne Koller Raises $143M For Insitro, Her AI-Bio Startup
Daphne Koller raises $143M for Insitro, her AI-Bio startup. Insitro combines cutting-edge biopharma with machine learning.
Venture Capital: The U.S. IPO Drought May be About to End
As this is being written, the Dow is up nearly 600 points and the S&P 500 is above the psychological 3,000 mark. The markets are up as investors cheer the reopening of the economy and look forward to a vaccine that could mark an end to the suffering from the virus. Favorable and positive sentiments in the capital markets augur well for new capital issues, of which there are quite a few in the pipeline. These had been put on a forced hold amidst the market plunge and lockdowns from the coronavirus outbreak.
FinTech: Swiss Banking Giant UBS Homes in on Fintech Investing
Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG (NYSE: UBS) is planning to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in upstart fintechs through a proposed corporate venture capital fund. According to a Bloomberg report, the bank is seeking to jump-start its digitization by investing in high tech startups that are threatening banking incumbents.
Venture Capital: Beijing-based start-up Missfresh May Soon Nab $500M
The Covid-19 has boosted the fortunes of online grocery delivery start-up Missfresh. Locked-in families have stepped up their demand for groceries and fresh foods to be delivered at home amidst shelter-in-place restrictions. The online grocery sector, somewhat of an also-ran in the burgeoning e-commerce space, has now come into its own. According to a Bloomberg report, fundraising of $500 million by Missfresh is imminent.
Venture Capital: Brex, the Credit Card Provider for Startups, Raises $150M
Brex, the fintech which sells credit cards to startups, eCommerce companies, and life sciences companies, raised $150 million from Lone Pine Capital and a group of existing investors led by DST.
Venture Capital: British Startup Offers Travel Jaunts on the Never-Never
British fintech startup Fly No Pay Later’s innovative and quite literally “grab your bags and go” product allows travelers to pay for their trip over up to 12 months. Once travel restrictions ease, travelers eyeing mouth-watering flight and hotel offers, therefore, have no excuse. Unsurprisingly, Fly Now Pay Later found investors out there who were willing to bet $43 million on its product for the virus-battered, given-up-for-dead travel industry.
Venture Capital: COVID Forces Indian Food Delivery Apps Swiggy and Zomato To Slash Workforce
Swiggy, an Indian startup that delivers food, groceries and operates a courier-like service, has just issued pink slips to 1,100 employees. In a blog to employees, Swiggy cited a “severely impacted” core food delivery business and disclosed intentions to jettison non-core and volatile businesses in the ensuing 18 months. Meanwhile, the food-delivery app Zomato laid-off 13% of its employees, or 520 positions, according to a media report. It cited the large number of restaurants that have shut down, with more to come.
Venture Capital: BlackRock Leads $190M Series D Round in Contentsquare
Contentsquare has raised $190 million in a Series D round led by BlackRock (NYSE: BLK). The startup previously raised $60 million in a Series C in January 2019. Cumulatively, it has raised $310 million since its formation in 2012.
Venture Capital: Clearbanc Founder on the Funding Slowdown at Startups
Michele Romanow, the co-founder and president of venture capitalist firm Clearbanc, says VCs are in “triage mode.”
Triage: “Decide the order of treatment of patients of casualties.” That’s a comment on the grim funding conditions that start-ups face in the current environment. Venture capitalists are “thinking about triage mode, and how to save certain companies within their portfolio,” said Romanow. She was speaking in an interview with “On the Move.”
Venture Capital: Jack Ma Calls it Quits at SoftBank after 13 years
After 13 years, Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA) will be relinquishing his position on the SoftBank board at his own request. Ma retired from Alibaba last year.
Private Equity: Vista Equity Partners Invests in Reliance Jio Platforms
A holdover from last week. But technology-focused private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has invested in Reliance Jio Platforms, India’s low-cost telecommunication company.
Vista is investing $1.5 billion for a 2.32% stake in Reliance Jio Platforms. Fellow tech-centric private equity firm Silver Lake and Facebook (FB) have also made significant investments in the company recently.
Venture Capital: The Indian VC Industry Deployed a Record $10B in 2019 (Report)
2019 was a banner year for the Indian VC industry, says the IVCA-Bain India Venture Capital Report. Investors deployed a record-breaking $10 billion, up 55% from 2018, with deal volume surging 30%. The average deal size rose by 20% in 2019. Further, average deal ticket sizes surged across all stages of investment.
Fintech: Swedish Loan Refinancier, Anyfin, Raises $30M Series B
Anyfin is a fintech that refinances consumers’ loans and is regulated by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. It refinances consumer credit loans up to 200 000 kr, such as unsecured debt, payments, credit cards, installments or other credits. However, mortgages are not included. The firm raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by EQT Ventures.
Venture Capital: Slice, Which Helps Pizzerias Go Online, Raises $43M
Independent but brick-and-mortar pizzerias, whose business has been hit by COVID-19, can get help from Slice. Slice is an ordering and marketing tech platform for pizzerias. It helps local pizza shops to be discovered by consumers looking to order pizzas through the home delivery or self-pickup modes. KKR led a $43 million Series C funding round with participation from existing early investors, including GGV Capital.
Venture Capital: Sequoia Leads $14.5M Round in Wealth Advisory Tool Provider Vise
Samir Vasavada and Runik Mehrotra founded Vise in 2016 intending to empower financial advisors with an AI-powered platform. The Vise platform now serves financial advisors by helping design personalized portfolios for clients, managing portfolios, and providing up to date status information. Vise raised $14.5 million in a Sequoia-led Series A funding. Reportedly, clients onboard the platform account for nearly $800 million in assets under management.
Venture Capital: Last Mile Logistics Provider DispatchTrack Nabs $144M
DispatchTrack, which solves last-mile logistical challenges for its customers, from complex routing to real-time ETAs, has raised its first ‘investment’ of $144 million led by Spectrum Equity. DispatchTrack’s platform addresses the last-mile problems faced by merchants, delivery service providers, and consumers across various industries. The platform enables smooth and seamless deliveries in the new era of Amazon-like, at-home service.
Venture Capital: Despite COVID, Judo Raises $250M, Turns Unicorn
Judo Bank, an Australian bank has a mission to make it easier for Australian SME businesses to get funding starting from $250,000. The bank offers business loans, line of credit, equipment loans and finance lease. It announced Thursday its third equity funding round of $250 million at a post-money valuation of well over $1 billion. Judo did not release details of its latest valuation.
Venture Capital: Uber Leads $170M Funding Round No 8 in Lime Electric Scooters
The pandemic has unleashed turmoil in urban transportation, and it’s showing up in deal-making. Lime, the electric scooter sharing service that was laid low due to lockdowns and social distancing, has managed to snag $170 million in its eighth round of funding. Uber (NYSE: UBER) led the round. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Alphabet’s VC arm GV, and Bain Capital, among others, also participated.
Venture Capital: Angel Investment in Michigan Rose 41% in 2019 to $73.7M
The 2019 Annual Research Report from the Michigan Angel Community is out. The report showed that angel investing in the high-tech sector in 2019 was in fine fettle. Both the number of angel investors and the amount they invested during the year grew impressively in percentage terms.
Venture Capital: ApplyBoard, an Edtech Startup, is Canada’s Newly Minted Unicorn
ApplyBoard is an online platform that assists international students from around the world with their applications to study abroad. It’s a SaaS-enabled recruitment platform that was recognized in 2019 by Deloitte as Canada’s fastest-growing tech company.
ApplyBoard scored a phenomenal 12,525% GAAP revenue growth between 2015 and 2018.
On Tuesday it announced the closure of its series C funding round worth C$100 million (US$75 million).
Venture Capital: Ninja Van Scores $279M in Series D Funding as the Pandemic Boosts Ecommerce
Singapore-based parcel delivery startup Ninja Van raised $279 million from top-notch investors as the coronavirus epidemic triggered a huge surge in online transactions from people forced to stay at home. The funding round was led by existing investor Europe’s GeoPost with two sovereign wealth funds. Other investors included Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital, ride-hailing firm Grab, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Golden Gate Ventures Growth Fund.
Venture Capital: Meat Substitutes Make Their Mark Amidst the COVID Crisis
Welcome to foodtech, another sector whose fortunes have turned amidst the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Within foodtech, plant-based proteins are stepping in as meat substitutes to meet the shortfall in meat supply due to the closure of large meat processing plants across the U.S.