Deal Volume Cools Slightly, M&A Slowdown

DEAL OF THE WEEK: LEAF

?? Leaf, a NYC-based unified farm data API and farm data processing platform, raised $11.3 million in a Series A fundraising round, led by Spero Ventures with participation from existing investors.

A last-minute term sheet, a rapid-fire evaluation and board seat gauged by a blog on API's.

No, all three of those things did not walk into a bar together...

But they were the realities of Bailey Stockdale, co-founder and CEO of how Leaf's most recent round came together.

In an interview with Venture5 Media, Bailey shared how he was evaluating multiple term sheets and how Spero - his eventual investors - came in last minute to swoop the deal away.

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR LINK

???Zeitview,?a Los Angeles, CA-based?company providing automated inspection solutions, acquired all of the assets of?Clearsight, a company specializing in transmission, distribution, and substation inspections with integrated AI and analytics. The amount of the deal was undisclosed.

SOURCING IDEAS

Companies that raised ~1 year ago, or recently announced stealth moves.

???Lula, a?Miami, FL-based?insurance infrastructure startup, raised?$35.5 million?in a?Series B?round?early last August,?co-led by?NextView Ventures?and?Khosla Ventures, with participation from?Founders Fund,?Nextera Energy?and a number of individual investors.

???Dana Love?recently announced a new position as?co-founder?and?CTO?at a Stealth Startup in the?Autonomous AI Agents?space. Dana has over?three decades of experience?in the space, including prior experience as a?founder, CTO and a CEO. Dana holds a?doctorate in economics?from the?University of Glasgow, and an?MBA?from?Harvard Business School.

???Neon, a?San Francisco, CA-based multi-cloud Serverless Postgres provider, raised?$46 million?in a?Series B?funding round?early last August,?led by?Menlo Ventures, with participation from existing investors?Founders Fund,?General Catalyst,?GGV Capital,?Khosla Ventures,?Snowflake Ventures?and?Databricks.

M&A

???Canva,?a global graphic design platform based in Sydney, Australia, acquired?Leonardo.ai, a generative AI content and research startup. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

???ClickHouse,?a real-time data warehouse startup, acquired?PeerDB?to expand its Postgres support. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

???Fiverr, a global online marketplace for freelance services, acquired?AutoDS, a Denver, CO-based provider of a subscription-based end-to-end solution for dropshippers. The amount of the deal was undisclosed.

VC DEALS

???Rows, a?Berlin-based?AI spreadsheet software company raised?$10 million?in a fundraising round led by?Cherry, with participation from?Accel,?Lakestar,?Armilar,?Shilling,?and?Indico.

???Sybill,?a Palo Alto, CA-based?AI assistant for sales reps, raised?$11 million?in a?Series A?fundraising round led by?Greycroft.

??Batbox,?a Dallas, TX-based baseball entertainment concept, raised?$7.3 million?in a?Series A?funding round from?Emerging Fund?and?MG Partners.

???Heeyo,?a Palo Alto, CA-based AI educational kids app, raised?$3.5 million?in a?seed?round led by?OpenAI Startup Fund?with participation from?Alexa Fund,?Pear VC, and others.

???Mezo,?a permissionless Bitcoin Economic Layer, raised?$7.5 million?in?strategic funding?led by?Ledger Cathay Fund?with participation from?ArkStream,?Aquarius Fund,?Flowdesk,?GSR,?Origin Protocol, and?Mantle’s EcoFund.

????DataDome,?a company combating bot-driven cyberattacks, raised?$42 million?in a?Series C?funding round led by?InfraVia Capital?with participation from existing investors.

????Astranis,?a San Francisco, CA-based geostationary satellite maker, raised?$200 million?in a?Series D?funding round led by?a16z?and?BAM Elevate?with participation from?BlackRock,?Fidelity, and?Baillie Gifford.

????RetiSpec,?a Toronto, Canada-based innovator in AI-driven eye diagnostics for brain health, raised?$10 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?iGan Partners?with participation from?Eli Lilly and Company,?Topcon Healthcare, Inc.,?Gentex Corporation,?Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Diagnostics Accelerator,?Verge HealthTech Fund, and?University of Minnesota’s Discovery Capital.

???Payt,?a Groningen, The Netherlands-based provider of an accounts receivable SaaS platform, raised?€55 million?in funding from?Partech.

???Altana,?a NYC-based provider of a value chain management system, raised?$200 million?in a?Series C?funding round led by?US Innovative Technology Fund?with participation from?March Capital,?Generation Investment Management,?Salesforce Ventures,?Friends and Family Capital, and other existing investors.

???osapiens,?a Mannheim, Germany-based ESG platform and provider of compliance and sustainability reporting solutions, raised?$120 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Goldman Sachs Alternatives.

???Rillet,?a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of an automation-first ERP for high-growth companies, raised?$13.5 million?in funding led by?First Round Capital?and?Creandum, with participation from individual investors including?Chad Byers (Susa Ventures),?Kevin Hartz (founder of Eventbrite and Xoom), and others.

???bunch,?a Berlin, Germany-based fintech company enabling funds and private investors to manage investment entities, raised?$15.5 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?FinTech Collective?with participation from?Cherry Ventures,?Motive Ventures,?Broadhaven Ventures,?TinyVC, and angel investors.

???ZeroTier,?an Irvine, CA-based network security startup, raised?$13.5 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Battery Ventures?with participation from?Bonfire Ventures,?Anorak Ventures,?Grand Enterprises B.V.,?Airbridge Equity Partners, and?First In Ventures.

???Trio Mobil,?a Philadelphia, PA-based provider of AI and IoT solutions for workplace safety and efficiency, raised?$26.5 million?in growth financing led by?NewSpring Growth?with participation from existing investors?212?and?TIBAS Ventures.

???Axle Automation,?a San Francisco, CA-based provider of AI-powered solutions for compliance teams, raised?$2.5 million?in seed funding led by?Diagram Ventures?with participation from?Mistral Ventures,?Uphonest Capital,?StreamingFast, and other strategic angels.

???Spear Bio,?a Woburn, MA-based biotechnology company, raised?$45 million?in a?Series A?financing round co-led by?Foresite Capital?and?Bio-Techne Corporation?with participation from?Maverick Ventures,?Yonjin Capital, and?CDH Investments.

???Oats Overnight,?a Tempe, AZ-based high-protein oatmeal brand, raised?$35 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Enlightened Hospitality Investments (EHI)?with participation from?Sonoma Brands Capital,?Impatient Ventures,?Singh Capital Partners,?Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners, and?BFG Partners.

???Wed Society,?an Oklahoma City, OK-based wedding industry franchise, raised?$5.775 million?in a?Series A?funding round. The backers were not disclosed.

???Aveni,?a Scottish FinTech company, raised?$14 million?in a?Series A?funding round to bring AI to the financial services field. The backers were not disclosed.

???unspun,?an Oakland, CA-based 3D weaving technology company, raised?$32 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?DCVC?with participation from?Lowercarbon Capital,?E12,?Decathlon, and?SOSV.

???Dotplay,?a web-based mobile game technology platform, raised?$1 million?in?pre-seed funding?round led by?Transcend Fund.

???YouSUI,?an all-in-one platform on the Sui Network, secured?$1 million?in strategic investment from?FZF Ventures?and?Layer-OTC.

???AeroShield Materials,?a Waltham, MA-based MIT spinout developing technology for energy efficiency, raised?$5 million?in additional funding from?Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, with participation from?MassVentures?and?MassMutual Ventures.

???Zoe,?a London, UK-based microbiome-focused nutrition company, raised?$15 million?in a funding round led by?Coefficient Capital.

???Cartona,?an Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform, raised?$8.1 million?in a funding round led by?Algebra Ventures, with participation from?Silicon Badia, SANAD Fund for MSME, Camel Ventures, and GlobalCorp.

???Stairpay,?a London, UK-based platform simplifying shared home ownership, raised?￡750K?in?pre-seed funding?led by?Fuel Ventures?with participation from?Heartfelt Ventures?and prominent angel investors.

???Powder,?a Los Altos, CA-based fintech startup providing AI agents for precise document analysis, raised?$5 million?in?seed funding?from?YCombinator, with participation from?General Catalyst,?Funder’s Club,?Elefund,?Litquidity Ventures,?Script Capital,?Jon Xu, and?Bryant Chou.

???Perceptive,?a Boston-based dental AI startup, raised?$30 million?in funding round led by?Pacific Dental Services, with participation from?YCombinoator?and?Mark Zuckerberg’s dad.

????Monto,?a Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI connector for any ERP, raised?$9 million?in?seed funding?led by?Scale Venture Partners?with participation from?Verissimo Ventures,?F2 Venture Capital,?Firsthand Alliance, and?Room40 Ventures.

???Gradient AI,?a Boston, MA-based enterprise software provider of AI solutions in the insurance industry, raised?$56.1 million?in a?Series C?funding round led by?Centana Growth Partners?with participation from?MassMutual Ventures,?Sandbox Insurtech Ventures, and?Forte Ventures.

???Axiad,?a Santa Clara, CA-based identity-first enabler of the zero-trust enterprise, raised?$25 million?in equity funding from?Invictus Growth Partners.

???Faye,?a Richmond, VA-based travel tech startup, raised?$31 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Portage?with participation from?Lumir Ventures,?F2 Venture Capital,?Viola Ventures, and?Munich Re Ventures.

???Flo Health,?a London, UK-based fertility-focused period-tracking app, raised?$200 million?in a?Series C?funding round led by?General Atlantic?at a valuation over $1 billion.

???Lineaje,?a Saratoga, CA-based leader in continuous software supply chain security management, raised?$20 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Prosperity7 Ventures, with participation from?Neotribe,?Hitachi Ventures,?Tenable Ventures,?Carahsoft,?Wipro Ventures,?Secure Octane Investments,?J-Ventures,?Alumni Ventures, and executives from Zscaler, CrowdStrike, and Trellix.

???DecoverAI,?a Washington, DC-based legal technology company, raised?$2 million?in?seed funding?led by?Leo Capital, with participation from existing investors..

???Intelmatix,?a deep tech B2B startup enabling AI for decision-making in the MENA region, raised?$20 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Shorooq Partners, with participation from?Olayan Financing Company, Rua Growth Fund, Saudi Technology Ventures, Saudi Venture Capital Company, Sultan Holdings and Zain Ventures.

???Perchwell,?a NYC-based provider of a modern data and workflow platform for residential real estate, raised?$25 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Lux Capital?with participation from?Starwood Capital Group,?Flex Capital, and others.

???Raad Labs,?a NYC-based blockchain climate tech company, raised?$2.25 million?in funding led by?CoinFund?with participation from?Tribe,?EV3, and?Protagonist.

???iotaSciences,?an Oxford, UK-based?leader in single-cell biology handling solutions, raised an equity funding round of?undisclosed amount?backed by?Oxford Science Enterprises?and the?Oxford Innovation EIS Growth Fund.

???Airna,?a Cambridge, MA-based?biotech company advancing RNA editing therapeutics, raised?$60 million?in a?Series A?financing round led by?Forbion?with participation from?Ono Venture Investment,?Alexandria Venture Investments, and other investors.

???Sybill,?a Palo Alto, CA-based?AI assistant for sales reps, raised?$11 million?in a?Series A?fundraising round led by?Greycroft.

???WorkJam,?a Montreal, Canada-based?digital frontline workplace, received?$20 million?in funding from?Export Development Canada (EDC).

???Checkly,?a Berlin, Germany-based?provider of synthetic monitoring solutions, raised?$20 million?in a?Series B?fundraising round led by?Balderton Capital?with participation from?Accel,?CRV, and?Paul H. Müller.

???Endari,?a San Francisco, CA-based?cybersecurity company, raised?$4 million?in?Seed?funding. The investors were undisclosed.

???Applied Carbon,?a Houston, TX-based?company designing automated biochar production machines, raised?$21.5 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?TO VC?with participation from?Congruent Ventures,?Grantham Foundation,?Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, and others.

???Spring Health,?a NYC-based?global mental health solution for employers and health plans, raised?$100 million?in a?Series E?fundraising round led by?Generation Investment Management?with participation from?Kinnevik,?William K Warren Foundation,?RRE, and?Northzone.

???Icebreaker,?a NYC-based?open professional network, raised?$5 million?in a?Seed?fundraising round led by?CoinFund?with participation from?Accomplice,?Anagram, and?Legion Capital.

????Not Diamond,?a San Francisco, CA-based?company providing intelligent routing of AI queries, raised?$2.3 million?in funding led by?defy.vc?with participation from leading AI scientists, engineers, and executives.

???FleetPulse,?a Chicago, IL-based?innovator in trailer telematics, received an additional funding round of?undisclosed amount?backed by?NFI Ventures?and?Ironspring Ventures.

??TS Conductor,?a Huntington Beach, CA-based?manufacturer of advanced electric power lines, received?$60 million?in a growth investment round led by?Wellington Management.

???Ema,?a San Francisco, CA-based?generative AI company creating the universal employee of the future, added?$36 million?to its?Series A?funding round, bringing the total to?$50 million. The round was led by?Accel?and?Section 32?with participation from?Prosus Ventures,?Sozo Ventures,?Hitachi Ventures, and others.

???Thumbtack,?a San Francisco, CA-based?home improvement app, received?$70 million?in new debt financing from?Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)?and?Hercules Capital?to improve its services.

???FranShares,?a Chicago, IL-based?platform for franchise investing, raised?$4.1 million?in a?Seed?fundraising round led by?Chicago Ventures.

???Rhombus,?a Sacramento, CA-based?leader in cloud-managed physical security, raised?$45 million?in a?Series C?fundraising round led by?NightDragon?with participation from?Bluestone Equity Partners,?Caden Capital,?Cota Capital, and more.

???Gigpro,?a Charleston, SC-based?on-demand labor marketplace for the hospitality industry, raised?$16 million?in a?Series A?fundraising round led by?Foundry?with participation from?Stage 1 Ventures,?Stage 2 Capital, and?Detroit Venture Partners.

???Matereal,?a Denver, CO-based?plastic replacements technology company, raised?$4.5 million?in a?Seed?fundraising round led by?Collaborative Fund?with participation from?Better Ventures,?Alante Capital,?One Small Planet, Climate Capital, Sandy Spring Climate Partners, Pachamama Ventures?and?PDS Ventures.

???Graphyte,?a Pine Bluff, AR-based?leader in the durable carbon removal industry, raised?$30 million?in a?Series A?fundraising round co-led by?Prelude Ventures?and?Carbon Direct Capital?with participation from?Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV)?and?Overture.

???Lovetovisit,?a Cardiff, Wales, UK-based?travel platform helping people find and book local attractions, raised?￡3.2 million?in funding led by?Venrex?and?Redrice Ventures?with participation from?Active Partners,?Velocity Partners, and?angels.

???Onepak,?a Boston, MA-based?digital supply chain and reverse logistics platform, raised?$20 million?from?Nuveen.

???Tezi,?a Menlo Park, CA-based?autonomous AI recruiter, raised?$9 million?in a?Seed?funding round led by?8VC?and?Audacious Ventures?with participation from?Liquid 2,?Afore,?Prime Set, and?South Park Commons, along with angel investors including the founding CEOs of?Instacart?and?Thumbtack.

??Axle Energy,?a London, UK-based?energy flexibility platform, raised?$9 million?in a?Seed?funding round led by?Accel?with participation from?Picus Capital,?Eka Ventures, and other investors.

???Myne,?a Berlin, Germany-based?managed co-ownership provider for premium vacation homes, raised?€40 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Limestone Capital?with participation from?Motive Ventures?and?Scope Hanson.

???Healx,?a Cambridge, U.K.-based?AI-enabled drug discovery platform for rare diseases, raised?$47 million?in a?Series C?funding round co-led by?Atomico?and?R42.

???Streamkap,?a San Francisco, CA-based?real-time data exchange platform, raised?$3.3 million?in?Seed and Pre-Seed?funding led by?InReach Ventures?with participation from?TEN13,?Haatch Ventures, and?Begin Capital.

???Naturaz,?a Philadelphia, PA-based?clean health and beauty company specializing in vegan hair care products, raised?$1 million?in?growth funding?with key investment from the?Philadelphia Community Impact Fund, with participation from?Bucks County IDA?and?other investors.

???Athena Security,?an Austin, TX-based?leader in concealed weapons detection system software, raised?$10 million?in a?Seed?funding round led by its founders,?Lisa Falzone?and?Chris Ciabarra.

???Outpace Bio,?a Seattle, WA-based?cell therapy company using AI-powered protein design, raised?$144 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?RA Capital Management?with participation from?Qatar Investment Authority?and others.

???When,?a Chicago, IL-based?AI-powered offboarding solution, raised?$4.6 million?in a?Seed?funding round led by?B Capital?with participation from?TTV Capital,?Joyance Partners,?Alumni Ventures,?Network Ventures, and?Enfield Capital.

???Sora Fuel,?a Cambridge, MA-based?startup producing sustainable aviation fuel, raised?$6 million?in a?Seed?funding round led by?Engie Ventures?with participation from?Wireframe Ventures.

???Protect AI,?a Seattle, WA-based?AI and ML security company, raised?$60 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Evolution Equity Partners?with participation from?01 Advisors,?StepStone Group,?Samsung, and existing investors?Acrew Capital,?boldstart ventures,?Knollwood Capital,?Pelion Ventures, and?Salesforce Ventures.

???Knowde,?a San Jose, CA-based?startup, raised?$60 million?in a?Series C?funding round at a reduced valuation led by?Blue Cloud Ventures?and?Point72 Private Investments, with participation from?Sequoia.

???PortfolioPilot.com,?a San Francisco, CA-based?AI-driven financial advisory platform, raised?$2 million?in a?Seed?funding round backed by?Morado Ventures, with participation from?NEA Angel Fund,?Unpopular Ventures, and prominent Silicon Valley angel investors.

???Mintify,?a Uniondale, NY-based?builder of an NFT order book, raised?$3.4 million?in funding backed by?ARCA, with participation from?Cumberland,?Psalion,?Master Ventures,?Zeneca,?GM Capital, and?Spencer VC.

???Hedra,?an AI video platform, raised?$10 million?in a?Seed?funding round backed by?Index Ventures,?A16Z Speedrun, and?Abstract.

????GovWell,?a New York, NY-based?provider of a govtech software platform, raised?$4.5 million?in a?Seed?fundraising round led by?Work-Bench?with participation from?Bienville Capital.

???2weeks, a?New Orleans, LA-based?experimental game developer, raised?$1.25 million?in a fundraising round led by?A16z Speedrun.

???ReviR Therapeutics,?a Brisbane, CA-based AI-enabled biotech company, raised?$30 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Lapam Capital?with participation from?CDH Investments,?5Y Capital,?Yael Capital, and?XtalPi.

????Helpt,?an Irvine, CA-based technical and customer service solution provider, raised?$850K?in seed funding from?Dealbrook Holdings II.

????Bee AI,?a wearable AI assistant startup, raised?$7 million?in a funding round led by?Exor.

???Synthetica Pioneering,?a Shenzhen, China-based biotech startup specializing in synthetic biology, closed an undiclosed?Series A?funding round led by?Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund?and?Temasek?with participation from?Lenovo Capital,?Fosun Health Capital, and?ATLATL Summer Fund.

???Pinetree Therapeutics,?a Cambridge, MA-based biotechnology company advancing targeted protein degraders, raised?$17 million?in a?Series A?funding round co-led by?STIC Investments?and?DSC Investment.

???Layer2 Financial,?a Toronto, Canada-based?regulated payments infrastructure transforming cross-border payments, raised?$10.7 million?in a?Series A?fundraising round led by?Galaxy Ventures?with participation from?Accomplice.

???Watermelon Ecosystem,?a Dubai, UAE-based?tech startup innovating the F&B industry, raised?$4 million?in a?Series A?funding round.

???Clix Capital,?a New Delhi, India-based?nonbank financial company (NBFC), raised?INR 220 Cr?in equity funding led by?Apollo Global Management, with participation from?Pramod Bhasin, and?Anil Chawla.

???Credo AI,?a Palo Alto, CA-based global leader in AI governance software, raised?$21 million?in funding led by?CrimsoNox Capital,?Mozilla Ventures, and?FPV Ventures,?with participation from?Sands Capital, Decibel VC, Booz Allen Hamilton, and AI Fund.

???OpusFlow,?a Deventer, Netherlands-based all-in-one ERP solution for sustainable installers, raised?€1.7 million?in funding from?Peak.

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