Activity By # Of Completed Deals Sustains: Monster Rounds in Cybersecurity, Transportation, BioTech - And Smaller Early-Round Checks

(Want to submit a deal??Click here)

(See this in a friend's feed and want it delivered to your Inbox??Click here to subscribe)

As AI was still dominating the general news cycle this week, VCs spread their bets across a multitude of sectors.

Let's unpack what commanded their attention ahead of the long weekend.

John

??Featured Deals*??

??Konvoy Ventures, a Denver, CO-based firm investing in the frontier of gaming, participated in the $15 million financing round in?Mino Games, a Montreal, QC-based mobile game development studio and publisher, led by?Standard Crypto. Other participants in the round included Boost VC, Collab Currency and Earl Grey Capital. (More in VentureBeat)

* Featured Deals are sponsored by startups or their investors - reach out if you’d like to learn moree

?? M&A ??

??Napster, a Seattle, WA-based music streaming company, acquired?Mint Songs, an Arlington, VA-based startup enabling artists to build Web3 communities with NFTs that had raised $4.5 million from investors including?Freestyle Capital?and?Castle Island Ventures. (More in VentureBeat)

??Kochava, a Sandpoint, ID-based real-time data solutions company for omni-channel attribution and measurement, acquired?Machine Advertising, a London, U.K.-based App marketing technology company that had raised a Seed round of financing from?Lyall Ventures. (More in VentureBeat)

?? Sourcing Ideas ??

(Companies that had raises reported ~1 year ago, on or around Feb 19, 2022)

??DiaMonTech, a Berlin, Germany-based non-invasive glucose testing startup, raised $5 million from?Samsung Ventures,?Unorthodox Ventures?and?Golden Light. (More in MassDevice)

??Beem, a London, U.K.-based AR live-streaming startup, raised $4 million in a Seed funding round from?5Lion,?Ascension Ventures,?GrouportVentures?and?Inertia Ventures. (More in TechCrunch)

??MindFi, a Singapore-based mental health app designed as an employee benefit, raised $2 million in Seed funding from?M Venture Partners?and?Global Founders Capital. (More in TechCrunch)

?? VC Deals ??

??eDRV, a San Francisco, CA-based API-first electric vehicle (EV) charging management solution, closed a Seed funding round with participation from?Automotive Ventures,?NP-Hard?and?Connect Ventures. (More in VC News Daily)

??Million on Mars, a gaming company based in Austin, TX and solely focused on the Martian Metaverse, raised $3.5 million in a round of financing led by?Great South Gate?and?Widus Partners. (More in VentureBeat)

??Dronamics, a London, UK-based company building a cargo drone airline, raised $40 million in pre-Series A funding from?Founders Factory,?Speedinvest,?Eleven Capital?and?Strategic Development Fund (SDF). (More in TechCrunch)

??Telltale, a Malibu, CA-based narrative game development studio and publisher, secured $8 million in a Series A round of funding led by?Hiro Capital, with participation from Skybound Entertainment. (More in Games Industry Biz)

??Axion Ray, a San Francisco, CA-based AI platform for engineering program & quality management, raised a $7.5 million Seed round led by?Amplo?and co-led by?Inspired Capital, with participation from Boeing, Tinicum Venture Partners and individual investors. (More in VC News Daily)

???Zylo, an Indianapolis, IN-based SaaS organization, optimization and orchestration platform, secured an additional $5 million in Series C funding from?MassMutual Ventures. (More in VC News Daily)

??Stuf, a New York, NY-based tech-enabled self storage startup, closed an $11 million Series A financing round led by?Altos Ventures?and?Allegion Ventures, with participation from existing investors Wilshire Lane Capital and Harlem Capital. (More in VC News Daily)

??R-Zero, a Salt Lake City, UT-based biosafety technology company focused on making indoor spaces safer, healthier and more productive, closed a $105 million Series C round of financing from?BMO Financial Group,?Qualcomm Ventures?and?Upfront Ventures, with participation from existing investors DBL Partners, World Innovation Lab, Mayo Clinic, Bedrock Capital and SOSV. (More in VC News Daily)

??Puzzle, a real-time accounting software for start-ups, raised a $15 million Series A round of financing led by?General Catalyst, with participation from >100 industry angels, bringing the total raised to $20 million. (More in TechCrunch)

??SandboxAQ, a Silicon Valley, CA-based Alphabet spinoff harnessing the exponential power of AI + Quantum Technology (AQ), raised a $500 million round of financing from?Breyer Capital,?First Light Capital Group,?T. Rowe Price Associates,?Guggenheim Investments,?Time Ventures,?Section 32,?Parkway Venture Capital?and other funds and investors. (More in Reuters)

??Juniper Square, a San Francisco, CA-based company building partnership enablement solutions for GPs and LPs, raised a $133 million growth capital round led by?Owl Rock, bringing the total funding raised to $241 million. (More in GlobeNewswire)

??Taurus, a Geneva, Switzerland-based digital asset tokenization platform, raised $65 million in a Series B financing round led by?Credit Suisse, with participation from Deutsche Bank, Pictet Group and Arab Bank Switzerland, as well as Investis. (More in PYMNTS)

??Orb Labs, a New York, NY-based blockchain interoperability startup, raised a $4.5 million Seed round led by?Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Shima Capital, 6th Man Ventures, Aves Lair, Newman Capital, Modular Capital and SevenX Ventures. (More in BusinessWire)

??Ironblocks, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based blockchain security platform, raised $7 million in a funding round co-led by?Collider Ventures?and?Disruptive AI, with participation from Samsung Next, Quantstamp and ParaFi. (More in CoinDesk)

??Nefta, a London, U.K.-based Web3 gaming and entertainment startup, raised $5 million in a Seed round led by?Play Ventures Future Fund, with participation from existing investor Picus Capital, as well as SevenX Ventures, Sfermion, MZ and Polygon Ventures. (More in Tech.EU)

??Vexi, a Mexico City, Mexico-based neobank with a credit card focus, raised $8 million in a Series A round of funding led by?Magma Partners, with participation from previous investors Alpha4Ventures, Noa Capital and Pomona Impact, as well as new backers Redwood Ventures and Rebalance Capital. (More in TechCrunch)

??Stelo Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based web3 security company, raised $6 million in a Seed round led by?Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). (More in TechCrunch)

??Zerocater, a San Francisco, CA-based corporate catering and cafeteria solutions company, raised $15 million in a Series C financing round led by?Cleveland Avenue, with participation from Remus Capital. (More in TechCrunch)

???VivaCity, a London, U.K.-based transport data and safety company, raised $8.5 million at a $42 million valuation in a round of financing led by?EnBW New Ventures (ENV),?Foresight Group?and?Gresham House Ventures. (More in TechCrunch)

?? ??Brigad, a Paris, France-based app that connects self-employed professionals and businesses in hospitality and healthcare, raised $30 million in a funding round led by?Balderton Capital, with participation from Wendel Group, Serena Capital and Square Capital, as well as >$5 million in debt. (More in TechCrunch)

??Kanarys, a Dallas, TX-based company providing enterprise tools for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) challenges, raised $5 million in a Series A financing round led by?Seyen Capital, with participation from Portfolia Rising America, Rackhouse Venture Capital, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, StartFast Ventures, TechNexus Venture Collaborative and Tech Square Ventures, bringing total capital raised to date to $10.5 million. (More in VC News Daily)

??Bento, a Zurich, Switzerland-based link-in-bio tool, raised $1.6 million in a pre-Seed funding round led by?Sequoia Capital, with participation from NextBlue and Gaingels. (Link-In-TechCrunch)

???Deepwatch, a Tampa, FL-based managed detection and response (MDR) company, closed a $180 million round of equity investments and strategic financing from?Springcoast Partners,?Splunk Ventures?and?Vista Equity Partners. (More in Crunchbase News)

??Spiffy, a Durham, NC-based on-demand car care startup, raised $30 million in a Series B investment round extension led by?Edison Partners, with participation from Bull City Venture Partners and IDEA Fund Partners. (More in AccessWire)

??Codagenix Inc., a Farmingdale, NY-based clinical-stage synthetic biology company, completed a $25 million Series B extension financing, with participation from a new investor,?Serum Institute of India. (More in VC News Daily)

?Smartrr, a New York, NY-based company that creates subscription technology for DTC brands in the Shopify ecosystem, raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by?Canvas Ventures, with participation from Seed round leads Expa and Nyca, bringing Smartrr's total fundraising to $17 million. (More in VC News Daily)

??ModernFi, a New York, NY-based tech-enabled marketplace that allows banks to exchange deposits on demand, raised $4.5 million in a Seed funding round led by?Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from individual investors. (More in TechCrunch)

??Apkudo, a Baltimore, MD-based startup developing a platform to help manage, sell and test connected devices, raised $37.5 million at a ~$300 million post-money valuation, in a Series C funding round co-led by?Closed Loop Partners’ Leadership Fund?and?Piper Sandler Merchant Banking, with participation from MissionOG, Harbert Growth, Grotech Ventures, Lavrock Ventures and Point Field Partners, bringing total raised to $75 million. (More in TechCrunch)

??Alongside, a crypto index-focused platform, closed an $11 million Seed financing round led by?Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Franklin Templeton Investments, Village Global and Not Boring Capital, as well as from angel investors. (More in TechCrunch)

??Superplastic, a Burlington, VT-based startup that creates and develops ‘synthetic’ influencers, raised $20 million in a round of financing led by?Amazon’s Alexa Fund. (More in TechCrunch)

??Descope, a Los Altos, CA-based no-code, drag-and-drop authentication, user management and authorization platform, raised $53 million in a Seed funding round led by?Lightspeed Venture Partners?and?GGV Capital, with participation from Unusual Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Cerca Partners, Tech Aviv, J Ventures and Silicon Valley CISO Investments. (More in VentureBeat)

??Oligo Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup that focuses on runtime application security and observability to detect and prevent open source vulnerabilities, raised a total of $28 million in Seed and Series A funding from?Lightspeed Venture Partners,?Ballistic Ventures?and?TLV Partners, with participation from Cyber Club London (CCL), Kmehin Ventures and OperAngels. (More in TechCrunch)

??Smile Identity, a Lagos, Nigeria-based provider of identity verification, user onboarding and real-time digital KYC solutions in Africa, raised $20 million in a Series B funding round co-led by?Costanoa Ventures?and?Norrsken22, with participation from existing investors ValueStream Ventures, Intercept Ventures, Latitude, Future Africa and 500 Fintech, as well as new backers Commerce Ventures, Courtside Ventures and Two Culture Capital. (More in TechCrunch)

?Checkerspot, an Alameda, CA-based biotechnology company that designs materials for outdoor recreational products at a molecular level, closed a $55 million Series C financing round led by?ArrowMark Partners, with participation from Cox Enterprises and other new and existing investors. (More in VC News Daily)

??Natural Cycles, a Stockholm, Sweden-based women's health company, raised $7 million in a funding round led by?Samsung Ventures, with participation from Heartcore Capital, Headline, Bonnier Ventures and EQT Ventures. (More in Forbes)

??OpenEyes, a New York, NY-based InsurTech company serving commercial automotive fleets, raised $18 million in a Series A funding round led by?Insight Partners?and?Pitango First, with participation from MoreVC, which led the Seed round alongside Pitango First, bringing total amount raised to date to $23 million. (More in VC News Daily)

??Ottometric, a Waltham, MA-based startup solving the validation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), secured $4.9 million in its Seed funding round led by?Rally Ventures, with participation from leading mobility funds including Goodyear Ventures, Proeza Ventures, Automotive Ventures, Trucks VC, Reinforced Ventures and Investor Collaborative. (More in VC News Daily)

??NanoGraf Corporation, a Chicago, IL-based materials company for high energy density lithium-ion batteries, closed a $65 million Series B financing round co-led by?Volta Energy Technologies?and?CC Industries, with participation from Emerald Technology Ventures, GIC, Material Impact, Hyde Park Angels and Evergreen Climate Innovations. (More in GlobeNewswire)

??Stakeholder Labs, a Los Angeles, CA-based enterprise software company helping businesses measure and increase retail investor engagement, raised $4.2 million in a Seed funding round led by?Seven Seven Six, with participation from Greycroft, Elefund, Caffeinated Capital, Plug and Play Tech Center, Witz Ventures, 1Flourish Capital and FinSight Ventures. (More in Business Wire)

??Betty, a New York, NY-based real-money online gambling business aimed at diverse audiences, raised $5 million in a funding round led by?Karlani Capital, with participation from CEAS Investments, Courtside Ventures, Gaingels, OCA Ventures, Subversive Capital and 305 Ventures. (More in VentureBeat)

??Monad Labs, the decentralized startup behind the Monad blockchain, raised $19 million in a Seed funding round led by?Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Placeholder Capital, Lemniscap, Shima Capital and Finality Capital, as well as a number of angel investors. (More in TechCrunch)

??Curacel, a Lagos, Nigeria-based company that provides insurance infrastructure for emerging markets, raised $3 million in a Seed funding round from investors including?Tencent, Blue Point Capital Partners, Pioneer Fund, Olive Tree Capital, Y Combinator, AAF Management and Elefund. (More in TechCrunch)

??Terraa, a Casablanca, Morocco-based B2B tech-enabled food distribution platform, has raised $1.5 million in a pre-Seed funding round led by?FoodLabs, with participation from UM6P Ventures, Outlierz Ventures, Musha Ventures and DFS Lab. (More in TechCrunch)

??Aspire, a Singapore-based neobank building a financial operating system for SMEs, raised a $100 million Series C round of financing led by?Lightspeed?and?Sequoia Capital SEA, with participation from PayPal, Tencent, LGT Capital Partners and returning investors. (More in TechCrunch)

??Fondo, a San Francisco, CA-based maker of tax prep and accounting software for startups, raised $1.2 million in pre-Seed funding from?Y Combinator, Liquid2 Ventures, Transmedia Capital and GMO Venture Partners, as well as $1.8 million in debt from?Capchase. (More in FinSMEs)

??InsuranceDekho, a Gurugram, India-based online insurance marketplace, raised $150 million in a Series A funding round co-led by?Goldman Sachs Asset Management?and?TVS Capital; the round, which valued the company in the $475 - $500 million range according to sources, included some debt. (More in TechCrunch)

??Hexagon Bio, a Menlo Park, CA-based biopharmaceutical company mining microbial genomes to discover new medicines for patients, raised a $77.3 million Series B financing round with participation from?The Column Group, Two Sigma Ventures, 8VC and Nextech, as well as additional new investors like Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments). (More in VC News Daily)

??Cerevance, a Boston, MA-based clinical-stage drug discovery and development company focused on novel therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) diseases, announced an expansion of its Series B funding round with an additional close of $51 million, with participation from?Takeda,?GV?and individual investors, bringing total Series B financing to $116 million. (More in Boston Business Journal)

??Quino Energy, a Palo Alto, CA-based startup commercializing water-based organic flow battery technology, closed an additional $1.25 million of funding to augment its recent Series Seed raise of $3.3 million led by?ANRI, bringing the total raised in the investment round to $4.55 million. (More in VC News Daily)

??Caldera, a San Francisco, CA-based no-code web3 infrastructure platform, raised $9 million from two financing rounds led by?Sequoia?and?Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Neo, 1kx and Ethereal Ventures. (More in TechCrunch)

??Via, a New York, NY-based on-demand shuttle service and transit tech company, raised $110 million, from a combination of new and existing investors in a round of financing led by?83North, with participation from Exor N.V., Pitango, Janus Henderson, CF Private Equity, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures, Riverpark Ventures and ION Crossover Partners, bringing the company’s total funding to around $1 billion. (More in TechCrunch)

??Newgen Gaming, a Gurgaon, India-based gaming company, raised $1 million in a financing round led by?NCore Games. (More in VentureBeat)

??BuuPass, a Nairobi, Kenya-based company advancing mobility sector digitization in Africa, raised a $1.3 million pre-Seed funding round from the?Founders Factory Africa, FrontEnd Ventures, Adaverse, Gullit, Five35, Renew Capital, Changecom, XA Network, Ajim Capital, Artha Ventures, Daba Finance, Google Black Founders Fund and several angel investors. (More in TechCrunch)

??Zeekr, a Hangzhou, China-based luxury electric vehicle brand of Geely, raised $750 million in its Series A funding round from?Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL),?Yuexiu Industrial Fund,?Tongshang Fund?and Xin’an Intelligent Manufacturing Fund, at a post-money valuation of $13 billion. (More in TechCrunch)

That is all for the past week. Enjoy Presidents' Day, and we will be back with this week's deals next Monday.

John

John Gannon //?VC Careers?//?VC Deals

??2022 Venture5 Media, LLC?// * Legal Disclaimer