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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Matrix Partners India, a venture capital firm focused on investments in India, has announced the closure of its latest fund, securing over $550 million in commitments. This new fund from Matrix Partners is their largest dedicated to India so far.
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More Stories on Venture Capital
Digital Assets: Abu Dhabi’s Venom Foundation Ties With Iceberg Capital For $1B Blockchain And Web3 Venture Fund
Abu Dhabi’s Venom Foundation has announced the launch of Venom Ventures Fund, a $1 billion venture fund targeting startups in blockchain and web3 dApps and protocols. However, it will favor ventures that are focused on long-term trends including payments, asset management and banking services, as well as GameFi.
Artificial Intelligence: Microsoft Mulling $10B Investment in ChatGPT Creator OpenAI
OpenAI launched ChatGPT on November 30, and the program went viral soon thereafter. Sources having knowledge of the matter have revealed to Bloomberg that Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) is negotiating to invest as much as $10 billion in OpenAI, the startup that created the wildly popular AI bot named ChatGPT. The sources also disclosed that…
Venture Capital: Cyber Security Firm Netskope Raises $401M From Top Notch Investors
Security firm Netskope announced an oversubscribed round of $401 million that saw participation from Morgan Stanley Tactical Value, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments)
Venture Capital: Tennis Star Serena Williams Leads $12M Round In Juno Medical
Juno Medical operates a tech-enabled healthcare model designed to meet the everyday healthcare needs of “the 99%”, focusing on revitalizing neighborhoods alongside delivery of a beautiful environment, transparent pricing, and exceptional care. The company last month raised a $12 million Series A co-led by Julian Eison, Managing Partner at NEXT VENTURES, and Serena Williams, Managing Partner at Serena Ventures.
Venture Capital: Energy-As-A-Service Provider Redaptive Raised $200M
Redaptive offers energy-efficiency upgrades as a service to commercial buildings including fully-funded, end-to-end sustainability solutions that save money, build resiliency and meet ESG goals. The company raised about $200 million from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Certain existing investors, including Linse Capital and CBRE, will also be participating in the investment. Redaptive is expecting to announce a second close in early 2023.
Venture Capital: Solar Power Producer Silicon Ranch Amidst $600M Raise
Silicon Ranch, one of the largest independent solar power producers in the US, announced a $600 million equity fundraising out of which it closed on $375 million in December 2022. The company is a fully integrated provider of customized renewable energy, carbon, and battery storage solutions for partners across North America.
Venture Capital: ChatGPT Creator OpenAI May Value At $29B In Share Sale
In a Thursday report the Wall Street Journal revealed that OpenAI, the creator of the highly successful ChatGBT AI bot, was in talks to sell existing shares amounting $300 million to VC firms Thrive Capital and Founders Fund. The transaction (known as a tender offer) would value OpenAI at around $29 billion, WSJ said, with the sellers being existing shareholders including employees.
Venture Capital: Security And Compliance Platform Drata Raises $200M Series C
ICONIQ Growth and GGV Capital led a $200 million Series C round in Drata, a continuous security and compliance automation platform, at a valuation of $2 billion. Other investors included Alkeon Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, S Ventures (SentinelOne), Silicon Valley CISO Investments (SVCI), and FOG Ventures (Operators Guild). Strategic individuals participating in the round included Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn), Frank Slootman (Snowflake), Jennifer Tejada (PagerDuty), Amit Agarwal (Datadog), Olivier Pomel (Datadog), and Jonathan Rubinstein (Amazon), joining Satya Nadella (Microsoft).
Venture Capital: Getir Buys Gorillas For $1.2B
In a sign of the consolidation sweeping across the rapid delivery sector, Istanbul-based online grocery start-up Getir has acquired German competitor Gorillas in a deal valuing the latter at $1.2 billion. Both participants in the deal managed to weather the tech meltdown that decimated valuations at many smaller grocery apps and led to their closure. Combined, the group is valued at $10 billion.
Venture Capital: Swedish Electric Self-Driving Truck Start-up Einride Lands $500M
Einride, the Swedish electric self-driving truck start-up, announced a raise of $500 million comprising an equity-based $200 million Series C portion from investors including Northzone, EQT Ventures, Temasek, Swedish pension fund AMF, Polar Structure and Norrsken VC. A debt funding of $300 million was led by Barclays Europe.
Venture Capital: Troubled Indian On-Line Education Startup Byju’s Wants To Restructure $1.2B Loan
Byju’s, the storied Indian educational startup that last scored a valuation of $22 billion, is seeking to renegotiate the terms of its $1.2 billion dollar loan amidst a surge in interest rates and steep losses in its business.
Venture Capital: Defense Startup Anduril Mops Up Giant $1.48B Funding
California-based defense and security startup Anduril raised a $1.48 billion Series E led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, 8VC, Lux Capital, Thrive Capital, DFJ Growth, Elad Gil, Lachy Groom, Human Capital, Marlinspike, WCM Investment Management, MVP Ventures, Lightspeed Venture and US Innovative Technology Fund.
Artificial Intelligence: Bionaut Labs Raises $43.2M For Its Micro Robots That Swim Inside The Human Body
Bionaut Labs is developing micro-scale, magnetically guided robots that deliver biologics or small molecule therapies locally to targeted disease areas to help patients suffering from severe brain disorders. The company raised a $43.2 million Series B round led by Khosla Ventures, bringing the company’s total financing raised to date to $63.2 million. New investors Deep Insight, OurCrowd, PSPRS, Sixty Degree Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, GISEV Family Ventures, What if Ventures, Tintah Grace and Gaingels participated alongside existing investors Upfront Ventures, BOLD Capital Partners, Revolution VC, and Compound.
Venture Capital: Frore, Which Makes Cooling Chips For Consumer Devices, Raises $100M
Frore Systems is a developer of innovative thermal technology for consumer devices. The company’s active cooling chips, AirJet® Mini and AirJet® Pro, are integrated into devices to remove heat silently, delivering 2X improvement in device processor performance. AirJet’s compact size and unique capability enables faster, quieter, thinner, lighter and dust-proof devices. Frore has emerged from stealth, wrapping up a $100 million round from investors including Mayfield, Addition, Clear Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures.
Venture Capital: Daycations Platform ResortPass Lands $26M Series B Including From Gwyneth Paltrow
Ever considered a daycation (day+vacation) at your nearest luxury hotel, spending hours enjoying facilities at the property such as the pool, spa, fitness center, and more, without breaking the bank? It’s possible with ResortPass, which makes it possible to enjoy these ‘experiences’ right there in your neighbourhood, at hotels including Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, W Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Fairmont, and Westin. ResortPass announced a Series B raise of $26 million.
Artificial Intelligence: Global Specialty Chemicals Major Nouryon Invests In AGEYE Technologies
AGEYE Technologies aims to help indoor farms become sustainable and scalable through significant reductions in operational costs by using AI, IoT sensors, and its automation platform. The platform monitors every connected vertical farm or greenhouse 24/7, 365 – and uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to turn these visual inputs into growth development insights and autonomous actions, improving harvest predictability and profitability. Dutch speciality chemicals producer Nouryon has announced a collaboration with, and an investment, in AGEYE.
Artificial Intelligence/VC: AI-Enabled Business Automation Company AAICO Raises $42M
London-based The Applied AI Company (AAICO), which applies its proprietary AI platform to transform legacy business models, announced its raise of US$42 million from investors including G42, A.R.M Holding, Plug and Play Investment Group as well as distinguished families in Europe and the MENA region.
Venture Capital: Astera Labs Lands $150M At $3.15B Valuation
Astera Labs announced a $150 million Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management and Research that valued the company at $3.15 billion. Other existing investors, including Atreides Management, Intel Capital, and Sutter Hill Ventures also participated in the round. Astera also said it had expanded both its board of directors as well as its product lineup.
Venture Capital: At Home Healthcare Provider DispatchHealth Lands $330M Funding
DispatchHealth, the Denver-based in-home care provider has raised $330 million as it addresses the rapidly growing demand for at home care and works on a proprietary platform called the Last Mile Health Care Technology Platform. The platform aims to help with care delivery via logistics, clinical support and coordination with other parties in its ecosystem.
Venture Capital: Schneider’s SE Ventures Launches EUR 500M Fund II
Menlo Park, California-based SE Ventures, which is the VC arm of Schneider Electric (EPA: SU), announced today a 500-million-euro fund-II to accelerate climate and industrial technology start-ups within the firm’s overall target sectors of electrification, digitization, and decarbonisation.
Artificial Intelligence: UK Startup Carbon Re Uses AI To Decarbonize The Biggest GHG Emitters
London-based Carbon Re uses AI to cut emissions at the most energy-intensive industries, for example, glass, cement, and steel. Its technology can develop a ‘digital twin’ of an individual plant by analysing the sensor data gathered on a minute-by-minute basis by Distributed Control Systems. In a cement plant, this creates a high-resolution digital model that captures the properties of a given kiln (the thermodynamics, and the physical processes of clinker production). AI agents can therefore learn these processes in a simulation, so to speak, and then act in real time to maximize the plant efficiency.
Venture Capital: V.C. Arm Of Agricultural Cooperatives Invests In Agtech Startup Sabanto
“The labor shortage in ag retail is a very real problem,” said GROWMARK Director of Innovation Heather Thompson. “Autonomy presents an exciting solution but adopting autonomous equipment creates a new set of challenges for traditional operations. By partnering with Sabanto, GROWMARK and our FS cooperatives have the advanced opportunity to test and learn the impacts of this cutting-edge technology.”
Artificial Intelligence: AI-Based Robotic Waste Recycler AMP Raises $91M
AMP Robotics Corp has announced a $91 million Series C round led by Congruent Ventures and Wellington Management as well as new and existing investors including Blue Earth Capital, Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP), Tao Capital Partners, XN, Sequoia Capital, GV, Range Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners. The funds will be used for AMP’s international expansion as well as to scale up its operations. The company intends to enhance manufacturing capacity to support a fleet of approximately 275 robots around the world and advance its ongoing development of AI-enabled automation applications for recycling.
Venture Capital/AI: OpenAI Launches Converge, An Accelerator For AI Startups
In May last year OpenAI launched its $100 million Open AI Startup Fund to provide support to early-stage startups in fields where artificial intelligence (AI) can have a transformative effect—like health care, climate change, and education. On Wednesday, the Fund launched Converge, an accelerator program for founders building transformative companies powered by AI.