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
FinTech: Fundbox Hires Former Goldman Sachs Investment Banker as CFO
Fundbox, the fintech startup that finances SMEs, is planning a potential IPO. Fundbox has appointed Marten Abrahamsen as its CFO effective this January. Abrahamsen was previously a partner at The Chernin Group LLC, a Los-Angeles-based investment firm. Before that, he managed Coatue Management LLC’s investments in Grab Holdings Inc. and Jet.com Inc., an online retailer. He also worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs
Venture Capital: Northwestern Mutual’s VC Arm Makes Maiden Investment In a Female Founded Startup
Northwestern’s VC arm joined a $3.5 million funding round for U-Nest Inc., a California-based financial services mobile app.
U-Nest was founded by Ksenia Yudina, CFA, MBA. The U-Nest app facilitates saving for college and other educational expenses. It helps parents and families to find the right 529 college savings plan.
Venture Capital: New, Boston-Based VC Firm to Target Insurtech and Fintech
Boston-based Brewer Lane Ventures is a newly minted venture capital firm that launched January 9. Brewer Lane is founded by John Kim, who was previously President and Chief Investment Officer of New York Life Insurance Company. The firm will focus on investing in the rapidly growing insurtech (insurance+tech) and fintech (finance+tech) industries. Within these industries, it will target early-stage companies looking for Series A and B rounds of funding.
Venture Capital: Goodyear Launches New Venture Fund at CES 2020
Goodyear, one of the world’s largest tire companies, plans to advance the future of mobility with a $100 million venture capital fund. The company announced the fund, dubbed Goodyear Ventures, at Las Vegas, where it was participating in the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show.
CrunchBase: VC Deal Volume in 2019 Doesn’t Quite Match 2018
CrunchBase says that between 2010 and 2019, roughly $1.5 trillion spilled into VC deals. The bulk of that figure came from an acceleration of deal-making over the last few years, the report says. The report states that deals came in at $322 billion in 2018, with a huge uptick in late-stage investment. CrunchBase expects that 2019 VC deal-making will total $294.8 billion, which would be the second-largest figure on record.
Fintech: Bond Bot Creator Katana Labs, Incubated at ING, is Spun Off
ING announced Tuesday the spin-off of Katana Labs – an in-house start-up nurtured at its ING Lab incubator.
ING Ventures, the venture capital arm of ING, will invest £ 1.5 million along with other investors in a £ 3 million funding round that will take the startup forward in its life as an independent fintech. ING Ventures is a € 300 million venture fund that makes minority investments in early-stage companies having a strategic relevance to ING.
Digital Assets: The Insight Partners-Armis Deal Will Mint Millionaires by the Dozen
Venture Capital and private equity firm Insight Partners said Monday that it would acquire Israeli cybersecurity startup Armis at a valuation of $1.1 billion, said The Jerusalem Post.
Though Insight did not disclose the sale price, it will pay it in cash. Alphabet’s private equity arm, CapitalG, will participate for $100 million, while certain existing stockholders will rollover holdings.
The transaction is the biggest acquisition so far of an Israeli cybersecurity firm.
Venture Capital: AI+Fintech+SaaS Startup HighRadius Achieves Unicorn Status
AI+Fintech+SaaS Startup HighRadius Achieves Unicorn Status. HighRadius is a Fintech enterprise Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that leverages Artificial Intelligence-based autonomous systems to help companies automate their Accounts Receivable and Treasury processes. It raised $125 million in a Series B growth funding round led by ICONIQ Capital. Existing investors Susquehanna Growth Equity and Citi Ventures also participated.
Venture Capital: Singapore VC Fund Scoops Up $250 Million
Founded in March 2018, EV Growth is a joint venture between East Ventures, SMDV, and Yahoo Japan Capital. The fund announced Monday the raising of an additional US$ 50 million in its first fund.
The fresh raising brings the VC fund’s subscription to its hard cap size of US$ 250 million.
Venture Capital: Octopus Sells Stake in Zynstra for £100 Million
Octopus Ventures, a VC firm based in London, has sold its stake in virtualization tech firm Zynstra. Reports state that the deal was worth £100 million and the buyer is NCR.
Venture Capital Firms Look for ClassPass to Hit $1 Billion Valuation
ClassPass could hit a $1 billion valuation, according to Reuters. A new report reveals that the fitness subscription app aims to raise another $285 million.
Venture Capital: Electric Vehicle Maker Rivian’s Monster Funding Round
Rivian just raised $1.3 billion from top-notch investors.
The humongous new raise, led by T Rowe Price, added $1.3 billion to Rivian’s coffers. It included existing investors Ford Motor and Amazon.com. BlackRock Inc also invested in the round, according to Fortune.
This raising follows on previous funding this year of $1.55 billion from Amazon ($700 million), Ford ($500 million), and Cox Automotive ($350 million).
FinTech: ZestMoney, the Loan Startup for India’s Credit-challenged, Raises $20 Million
ZestMoney, the Loan Startup for India’s Credit-challenged, Raises $20 Million from Goldman Sachs and others
Venture Capital: Despite Negative Publicity, VC is Alive and Well
Despite the negative publicity surrounding it in recent months, venture capital is quite well, thank you.
There was doom-and-gloom all around in the venture capital industry after the failed WeWork IPO and the fund-raising travails of Softbank’s second Vision Fund. But under the hood, VC is humming along rather nicely, says Dan Primack at Axios.
Artificial Intelligence: Gecko Robotics Scoops up $ 40 Million in Series B Funding
Gecko Robotics Scoops up $ 40 Million in Series B Funding. Gecko will use the money to develop industrial inspection robots.
Investors that plugged into Gecko Robotics’ $ 40 million series B funding included marquee names such as Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Y Combinator, and Next47. Also opening up their wallets were Mark Cuban, SoftBank senior managing partner Deep Nishar, and Gusto CEO Josh Reeves. Drive Capital led the raise.
Top-Flight Investors Back VC Firm Emphasising Diversity
A slew of high-profile investors backed Ada Ventures with $34 million. Ada Ventures will use the money to venture-finance UK-based tech entrepreneurs from under-represented groups.
Ada Ventures’ backers included TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and later stage investment firm Atomico. Also investing were British Business Bank (the cornerstone investor), US-based Blue Sky Capital, Dubai-based Rasmala, and Silicon Valley law firm Wilson Sonsini.
Venture Capital: Proteus Digital Health the Latest Startup Struggling to Raise Cash
Proteus Digital Health is reportedly seeking a financial lifeline after it failed to extend a $100 million financing round.
VC Giant Sequoia Capital Raises $3.4 Billion for U.S. and China Investments
Venture capital giant Sequoia Capital has raised $3.4 billion for two new investment funds. The first fund will invest in late-stage companies in the United States. The second will invest in Chinese growth and venture investments, according to Form 4 filings with the SEC.
Sequoia’s $3.4B Fund Raise: US-China Politics Take a Back Seat to Opportunity
Sequoia Capital has raised about $1 billion for late-stage U.S. investments and approximately $2.4 billion for venture and growth deals in China.
Sequoia Capital has usually taken the path less travelled when it comes to China. And been handsomely rewarded in the process.
Troubles in Start-Up Land? Postmates Shuts Mexico City Office; Lays Off Workers
Postmates’ actions in Mexico City do not sit well with its $ 225 million fund raise in September. Postmates Shuts Mexico City Office; Lays Off Workers
According to a report in the New York Times, Postmates is shutting down its Mexico operations to focus on the US market.
Embroker Releases 2019 State of Venture Capital Report for U.S. Startups
Embroker, a provider of insurance to venture-backed startups, has published “A Look Into VC Funding in 2019.” Its new report analyzes the venture capital (VC) middle market and successful startups under $1 billion.
Venture Capital Firm MiddleGame Raises $165 Million for Funding Fintechs
MiddleGame Ventures, which focuses on financial services innovation at early-stage fintech startups, closed its $165 million Fund I MGV fund. The fund will invest in startups transforming financial services from “analog to digital, and from centralized to decentralized.” It willl back B2B and B2B2C fintech startups.
Activist Investors Pressure Palantir on Human Rights
Palantir Technologies, a tech analytics company, faces new pressure from a group of activist investors. The Investor Alliance for Human Rights has raised concerns about the firm’s contracts with government agencies like the U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE). It also accused the company of aiding the Trump administration.
Airbnb Lost $100 Million the Second Quarter
Airbnb is losing money ahead of its public offering. During the second quarter of 2018, Airbnb earned a $10 million profit. A year later, it lost $100 million before interest and taxes for Q2 2019.