10 Companies with funding you want to be tracking: October 2023

At this time of year, businesses are starting to look ahead to the dreaded end of the calendar year, which brings a number of unique challenges for sales teams globally.

From lack of budget to office closures over the festive period, annual leave and national holidays, not to mention the increase of coughs, colds, and flu-like symptoms keeping those key decision-makers out of the office, this fourth quarter can be a challenge.

So, it’s not all doom and gloom. If you know where to look, there’s still a wealth of opportunity ripe for the taking. With that in mind, here at Selligence we’ve decided to give you an early Christmas present: a list of our top ten recently funded companies you’ll want to be getting in touch with which are sure to help boost your Q4 pipeline.

Selligence’s top ten companies with funding:

Databricks

Databricks , a leading AI-enhanced data analytics company, has just secured (September 2023) a significant funding boost of over $500 million in a Series I funding round. The round of investment was led by T. Rowe Price Associates and included support from a new strategic investor in AI leader Nvidia, propelling Databricks’ valuation to an impressive $43 billion.

This valuation marks a notable increase from the company’s previous value of $38 billion, which was achieved after a $1.6 billion Series H funding round led by Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global in 2021.

The participation of tech giant Nvidia in this round also adds to Databricks’ momentum. Nvidia has shown an active interest in investing in AI startups, underlining the significance of Databricks in the AI and data analytics sector. Nvidia has also recently invested in California-based startup Enfabrica, as well as taking part in a sizeable investment in Runway earlier this summer.

Looking beyond the staggering funding figure (and its valuation), Databricks has also achieved some impressive milestones. The company revealed that in the second quarter, which ended July 31st 2023, its revenue run rate exceeded the $1.5 billion mark.

Alongside a host of partnerships, and acquiring MosaicML, Databricks’ global customer base has also grown substantially - the company now boasts over 10,000 customers worldwide.

Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics , a biotech company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has recently secured $210 million in funding, signifying its commitment to further growth and innovation.

The round was led by new investor GV, alongside existing investors SR One and Atlas Venture. Nimbus has stated that the funding will be used to progress clinical development of NDI-101150, an HPK1 inhibitor, for solid tumour patients, as well as to support the advancement of various preclinical initiatives.

In early 2023, Nimbus hit another milestone through the transaction of selling an experimental psoriasis drug to Takeda, potentially valued at a staggering $6 billion and one of the most valuable buyouts of an unapproved drug in industry history. The deal saw Takeda buy Nimbus' oral allosteric TYK2 inhibitor NDI-034858, which is still being evaluated for the treatment of several autoimmune diseases.

Anthropic

Anthropic , an artificial intelligence company, has demonstrated impressive fundraising success since its inception in 2021. The San Francisco-based company has just secured a whopping investment deal with Amazon: the e-commerce and cloud giant has committed to invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic.

With an initial injection of $1.25 billion, Amazon has also just acquired a minority stake in Anthropic, with the potential for an additional $2.75 billion in funding, according to Reuters. As part of the agreement, Anthropic will also leverage Amazon Web Services data centres, as well as AWS Trainium and Inferentia chips to further the development, training, and deployment of its AI models.

To date, Anthropic’s journey has been an impressive one. Co-founded in 2021 by former OpenAI VP of Research Dario Amodei, and his sister Daniela Amodei, former VP of Safety and Policy at OpenAI, Anthropic initially set out to conduct research for the greater public good, with a focus on enhancing AI's reliability and transparency.

With a surprising (but exciting) $124 million in Series A funding already raised to support its launch, the company hit the ground running in its first year of business. Not even a year on, the company also managed to secure an additional $580 million in funding, exceeding all expectations of its growth trajectory.

Generate Biomedicines

Generate:Biomedicines , a biotech company headquartered in Sommerville, Massachusetts, has recently secured a substantial funding injection of $273 million in a Series C funding round.

The company, known for its innovative generative AI platform that accelerates drug discovery, has not disclosed a lead investor, but has mentioned one of its new investors is NVentures, the venture capital arm of tech giant Nvidia.

In the last 12 months alone, Generate Biomedicines has been busy building on its foundations for new growth with several strategic events. Back in December of 2022, the company named Dimitris Agrafiotis as Chief Digital Officer, appointed to lead multidisciplinary teams including technology, data science, automation, and digital transformation.

His appointment came as the company looked to support its rapid growth, with further team growth following in the subsequent months. Since then, the company has entered into a strategic partnership with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre, focusing on the collaborative exploration and development of protein therapeutics targeting up to five oncology targets in advanced cancers, including small-cell and non-small-cell lung cancer.

Stenn Technologies

Stenn , headquartered in London, secured earlier this year a significant funding boost of $200 million from Crayhill Capital Management to support Stenn’s digital trade finance solutions, as the company focuses on increasing its support for international SMEs across the 70+ countries it services.

While Stenn has been fairly coy about its intended use of the fresh capital, CFO and CIO Chris Rigby has alluded to further scaling for the company: “We look forward to utilizing this capital and Stenn’s technology and risk management expertise to provide SMEs around the world with growth solutions.”

Established in 2015, Stenn Technologies now boasts a team of over 200 professionals and is working towards its goal of addressing the pressing cash flow challenges that hinder SMEs worldwide from achieving their full growth potential. Stenn’s most recent funding round positions the company for substantial expansion and innovation in the international SME trade finance sector.

In fact, the company’s growth has been so impressive, that in March of this year, it was recognised in the FT1000 list as one of Europe’s fastest-growing businesses for the second year running. Not only that, but in June, Stenn was also recognised at Global Trade Review’s 2023 Awards in the tightly contested Deal of The Year category.

Zenobe Energy

The London-based Zenobē has spent the last couple of years in a state of constant growth. In early 2022, the company announced a debt financing round of ￡241 million which set the company on its impressive trajectory.

Just a few months later and the company had secured more investment, this time in the shape of a $32.7 million injection from New Zealand Green Investment Finance, and then in early 2023, another debt financing round was announced, putting another ￡235 million in Zenobe’s pot. The investment, led by UK-based NatWest Group, places Zenobe Energy in line for serious growth and further innovation.

Focusing on revolutionising the way grid operators and businesses harness power, Zenobe is working on ways to help reduce costs and improve reliability, while also promoting environmental benefits.

If the funding to date wasn’t sign enough, the promotion of Olivia Tonks to the role of Director of People & Talent in September 2023 makes it clear the company is lining up its ducks ready for a new serge of growth. And with the news that the company was awarded the title of Developer of the Year at the inaugural Energy Storage Awards this month, getting the ball rolling and building momentum isn’t something we can see Zenobe struggling with.

Momenta Finance

London-based company Momenta Finance , formerly known as Merchant Money, secured in February 2023, ￡115 million in funding from Barclays Bank and new partner Quilam Capital. The new financing helps position Momenta Finance for significant expansion and innovation in flexible business finance for the UK SME market.

The company, founded in 2013, currently employs a team of over 30 professionals and is poised to harness this new capital injection to continue fuelling its growth and offer enhanced financial solutions to its clients. Its strategy focuses on offering a comprehensive array of lending options, including unsecured and secured business finance, bridging loans, and business cash advances.

Under its new brand promise of "Realising Potential," Momenta Finance maintains a focus on providing clarity, transparency, and financial confidence to introducers and their clients. Salespeople should take this opportunity to connect with Momenta Finance as the company's successful funding round signifies an influx of resources that can facilitate its expansion and the development of innovative financial solutions. As Momenta Finance emerges under a new name, it also demonstrates a commitment to adapting and evolving to better serve businesses.

Metropolis

Metropolis Technologies , a Los Angeles-based parking startup, has recently secured a staggering $1.7 billion in debt and equity funding led by Eldridge and 3L Capital, setting the stage for significant growth. There was also participation from BDT & MSD Partners’ affiliated credit funds, Vista Credit Partners, Temasek, Slow Ventures, and Assembly Ventures.

The funding includes $1.05 billion from a successful Series C offering and an additional $650 million in debt financing. The company will use the funds to pay roughly $1.5 billion to acquire logistics firm SP Plus, the largest M&A deal by a VC-backed company this year, surpassing even Databricks' acquisition of language models training startup MosaicML for $1.3 billion in June.

And it’s not just Selligence that thinks this is one hot ticket. In 2022, before even the eyewatering funding raise and acquisition just announced, CRN named Metropolis Technologies as one of its ‘Top 10 Hottest AI Startups’. At that point, the company was building on an already impressive Series B funding round that saw it secure $167 million.

Metropolis had reported then, that between Series A and Series B rounds, it had seen a 28-fold growth in users and that the company was also already operational in over 60 cities. With a growth trajectory like that, it’s safe to say there’s only more big things ahead for Metropolis now.

Peregrine Energy

Peregrine Energy Solutions, LLC , a clean-energy platform based in Boulder, Colorado, announced in August 2023 a significant funding milestone in which the company secured $700 million in a diverse funding round encompassing credit, equity, and debt financing.

This substantial funding, in partnership with funds managed by AB CarVal, has been earmarked to support Peregrine Energy's ambitious energy projects, which include a variety of initiatives including standalone battery, solar and wind technologies. This funding will allow Peregrine to bring its project portfolio to provide grid stability, renewables integration and structured energy solutions. It will also allow the firm to capture market arbitrage opportunities and continue expanding into new areas for growth.

Despite being one of the youngest companies on this list, founded just last year in 2022, Peregrine Energy is already on the path to greatness. Born of a joint venture between Peregrine Energy Management and the asset management firm Castlelake, Peregrine Energy has a wealth of industry experience behind them, not to mention the support of a global alternative investment manager with approximately $20 billion of assets. This funding marks its first external investment, positioning Peregrine Energy for rapid growth and innovation in the clean energy space.

Beta Bionics

Beta Bionics , an Irvine, California-based healthcare company, announced in August the close of a $100 million Series D funding round. The round was co-led by new investors Sands Capital and Omega Funds with an additional new investor, Marshall Wace, also participating.

The company’s current focus is on addressing the issues presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Diabetes Statistics Report for 2022, which estimates that there are currently 37.3 million cases of diabetes diagnosed in the US. With a growing need for solutions, Beta Bionics is poised to make a significant impact in this market.

Beta Bionics’ flagship product, the iLet Bionic Pancreas, an autonomous insulin delivery system, is set to benefit from this new equity capital, with the funds being used to expand access to the iLet Bionic Pancreas across the United States, while also allowing the company to further develop and test its bi-hormonal bionic pancreas. With the company’s focus fixed on a growing global issue, Beta Bionics has positioned itself for secured and sustainable growth.