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: ABB’s Venture Arm Invests In Wind Turbines Analytics Provider WindESCo
ABB has entered into a strategic partnership with WindESCo, a clean energy start-up, to enhance its presence in the wind energy sector. In this venture, ABB Motion has acquired a minority stake in WindESCo through its venture capital unit, ABB Technology Ventures (ATV). WindESCo, a US-based company, specializes in analytics software designed to improve the performance and reliability of wind turbines.
Venture Capital: UK-Based Pet Food Startup Butternut Box Lands $351M Funding
Butternut Box, the UK-based fresh dog food company, has successfully secured a £280 million investment in its latest funding round. This funding comes from General Atlantic, a prominent global growth equity firm, as well as existing investor L Catterton, a consumer-focused investment firm. The goal of this investment is to expand Butternut Box’s presence in Europe and continue its mission of providing fresh, delicious, and healthy meals to dogs worldwide. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2023, pending regulatory approvals.
FinTech: Swiss Asset Securitization Fintech GenTwo Raises $15M
GenTwo, a Swiss B2B Fintech platform specializing in securitization of bankable and non-bankable assets, has secured a USD 15 million Series A funding round led by Point72 Ventures from the US. Following this investment, Pete Casella, Senior Partner and Co-Head of Fintech investments at Point72 Ventures, joins GenTwo’s board of directors.
Venture Capital: Eutelsat Ties Up With Karista For Spacetech VC Opportunities
Karista and Eutelsat Communications (EPA: ETL) have formed a strategic partnership, with Eutelsat becoming a subscriber to Karista’s Spacetech fund. This partnership enhances Karista’s capacity to capitalize on the growing scope of opportunities building in the space industry. For Eutelsat, it solidifies its close ties with innovative startups and contributes to the development of a dynamic space ecosystem, particularly in France and Europe.
Venture Capital: Growth Warrior Capital Launches Elevo, An AI-Powered Pitch Deck Generator
Growth Warrior Capital is introducing Elevo, an innovative AI-powered pitch deck generator designed to assist founders in the complex world of venture capital. Promise Phelon, the firm’s managing partner (pictured), conceptualized this tool to streamline the process of identifying promising startups that could transform various industries.
Venture Capital: Israeli Generative AI Startup AI21 Labs Rakes In $155M Series C Funding
AI21 Labs, a prominent AI and large language models (LLMs) leader, has secured $155 million in Series C funding to accelerate the expansion of its accurate text-based generative AI services for enterprises. Noteworthy investors, including Walden Catalyst, Pitango, SCB10X, b2venture, Samsung Next, Prof. Amnon Shashua, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), have participated in this funding round.
Venture Capital: Space Robotics Startup GITAI Loads Up On $15M Funding
Space robotics startup GITAI, comprised of GITAI USA Inc. and GITAI Japan Inc., has successfully raised an additional $15 million in funding for its Series B Extension round. This funding is in addition to the $30 million announced earlier this year, bringing the total for the Series B Extension round to $45 million.
Venture Capital: SpyCloud Lands $110M For Its Identity Protection Platform
SpyCloud, a leading provider of identity threat protection, has secured a $110 million growth round of funding led by Riverwood Capital. The company specializes in automating the safeguarding of digital identities against sophisticated cyber threats. SpyCloud’s innovative approach involves utilizing a proprietary engine to collect and analyze data from the criminal underground. This data is then used to automate the remediation of exposed authentication and identity information. The funding will be instrumental in driving global expansion, particularly in the realms of enterprise and consumer protection, investigations, and authentication bypass prevention.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Startup Hugging Face Lands $235M From Top Tech Companies
New York-based AI startup Hugging Face has secured a significant investment of $235 million in a funding round, driving its valuation to $4.5 billion. Notable contributions came from major tech players such as Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Salesforce (NASDAQ: CRM), AMD (NASDAQ: AMD), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), IBM (NYSE: IBM), and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM). The company’s focus is on creating tools for AI developers to openly share and test their work, akin to GitHub’s role in the programming realm.
Venture Capital: Rapport Therapeutics Raises $150 Million For Precision Neuromedicines
Rapport Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on precision neuromedicines, has successfully raised $150 million in a Series B funding round. The funding will support ongoing clinical programs targeting seizure and psychiatric disorders, as well as the advancement of their precision neuromedicine discovery platform. The investment was led by Cormorant Asset Management and included participation from various notable investors.
Venture Capital: BlackRock Amongst Investors Funding NorthVolt With $1.2B
Northvolt, while producing its first battery systems at its facility in Poland (Northvolt Dwa), has secured $1.2 billion through a convertible note to support its expansion plans in Europe and North America. This funding is an extension of a previous $1.1 billion convertible note signed in 2022. The financing includes investments from environmentally focused funds in compliance with the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. Major investors in this round include Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), BlackRock, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), and OMERS.
Venture Capital: Spend Management Platform Ramp Lands $300M Funding Round
Ramp, a finance automation platform, has secured $300 million in Series D funding to drive its expansion into new sectors. The funding comes after the company achieved a 6x growth in purchase volume since its last funding round, highlighting the increasing demand for its software that enhances financial efficiency for businesses.
Venture Capital: Genesis Therapeutics Closes $200M Round To Expand AI-Powered Drug Discovery
Genesis Therapeutics, an AI drug discovery company, has secured a $200 million Series B funding round to advance its AI-powered drug development pipeline into clinical testing. Founded in 2019 as a spinoff from Stanford University, Genesis focuses on utilizing its deep learning platform called GEMS to design small-molecule drug compounds and predict their interactions with the body, particularly with flexible or challenging proteins.
Venture Capital: UK-Based PropTech Kamma Raises $4.6M For Decarbonizing Real Estate
UK property data and analytics company, Kamma, has secured a £3.6 million ($4.6 million) investment led by the Clean Growth Fund to further develop its property data engine. The engine utilizes advanced geospatial technology to gather and process property data, enabling the formulation of efficient strategies for achieving Net Zero in the UK property sector, encompassing both residential and commercial properties.
Venture Capital: Axiom Space Raises $350M For Its Commercial Space Station
Houston-based space company Axiom Space has successfully concluded its Series-C funding round, raising $350 million. This latest investment brings the company’s total funds raised to over $505 million, in addition to securing customer contracts exceeding $2.2 billion. The funding round was primarily led by Aljazira Capital and Boryung Co., Ltd., with participation from various venture capital funds and strategic brand partners.
Venture Capital: Alternative Meat Startup ENOUGH Lands €40M
Scottish startup ENOUGH, a mycoprotein producer, has secured €40 million ($43.5 million) in equity funding to expand its plant-based chicken, mince, and dairy offerings for supermarkets and fast-food chains. ENOUGH utilizes mycoprotein, derived from fungus, as a vegan protein source, intending to sell it to businesses for incorporation into their own meat products including plant-based chicken, mince and dairy. It counts Unilever and Marks & Spencer amongst its partners in food technology.
Venture Capital: Jiangsu Guoqiang Singsun Energy Technology Lands $137.4 Million in Series A+ Funding
Jiangsu Guoqiang Singsun Energy Technology, a specialized Chinese company focused on advanced tracking technology for intelligent solar plant applications, has raised 1 billion yuan ($137.4 million) in a recent funding round.
FinTech: UK Establishes New £1B Fund To Maintain Fintech Lead And Provide Growth Capital To UK Startups
The UK has launched a £1 billion fintech investment fund, supported by companies including Mastercard (NYSE: MA), Barclays (LON: BARC), Natwest Group (NYSE: NWG), Peel Hunt (LON: PEEL), and the London Stock Exchange Group (LON: LSEG). The Fintech Growth Fund aims to provide capital to growth-stage financial technology companies that struggle to reach scale and pursue public listings.
Venture Capital: Chevron And Equinor-Backed Sapphire Technologies Raises $10M For Gas Turboexpanders
Sapphire Technologies, a company specializing in energy recovery systems for hydrogen and natural gas applications, has successfully raised $10 million in a Series B funding round. The primary investors in this round are Energy Capital Ventures, along with participation from Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC), Chevron Technology Ventures, Equinor Ventures, and Cooper and Company.
Venture Capital: Advanced Ionics Raises $12.5M In bp-Led Series A Round
Advanced Ionics, a company pioneering innovative hydrogen electrolyzers for green hydrogen production, has successfully concluded a $12.5 million Series A financing round, with prominent support from bp ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (TYO: 7011), and GVP Climate.
Venture Capital: EDAC Labs Raises $3M Seed For Direct Air Capture Of CO2
EDAC Labs, an innovator in electrochemistry, has secured $3 million in seed funding to expand its distinctive carbon removal technology. The funding round was spearheaded by the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, renowned for investing in early-stage climate-related innovations, and supported by notable angel investors.
Venture Capital: Elon Musk’s Neuralink Raises $280M Round Led By Founders Fund
Elon Musk’s biotech startup Neuralink has secured $280 million in a Series D fundraising round, with Founders Fund leading the investment. Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based VC firm established by Peter Thiel, who previously was one of the founders of PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL).
Artificial Intelligence: Korea’s SK Telecom Joins Hands With Anthropic On LLM, Invests $100M
South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom (KRX: 017670) (SKT) has invested an additional $100 million in AI safety and research firm Anthropic, building on a previous investment by SKT’s venture capital arm. The companies have formed a partnership to develop a multilingual large language model (LLM) tailored for the telecommunications industry.
FinTech: Africa-Focused, Mobility Financier Moove Raises $78M
African-founded mobility fintech, Moove, has secured a substantial investment to further its mission of revolutionizing financial services for mobility gig workers. The company has raised a total of $76 million in new funding, comprising $28 million in equity from both existing and new investors, $10 million in venture debt from funds managed by BlackRock, and an undisclosed $38 million raised over the past year.