VC Deals (Week of September 23 - 29)

Sourcing Ideas

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

Sophia Xing?announced a new position this week as the?Founder?of a?Stealth Startup?in the?AI companions?space. Sophia has a decade of experience including?ML Research, Quantitative Investment Strategies?at?Goldman Sachs?and?led product?at various startups from?Series A through Series C. Sophia holds a?BA in Computer Science & Economics?from?Princeton?and an?MBA?from?MIT.

???Farther, a New York, NY-based?wealth management startup,?raised?$31 million late last September?at a $131 million valuation in a?Series B?funding round led by?Lightspeed, with participation from?Bessemer Venture Partners,?Cota Capital,?Khosla Ventures?and others.

Max Rye?announced a new position this week as the?Founder?of a?Stealth AI Startup. Max has?over two decades of experience, including?prior founder?experience as the co-founder and CSO/CTO of a?venture-backed startup. Max also attended the?University of California, Davis?to study?computer science?and?MIT?to study?biotechnology.

????Arc, a San Francisco, CA-based?electric boat maker, raised?$70 million?late last September?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Eclipse, with participation from?Andreessen Horowitz,?Lowercarbon Capital?and?Abstract Ventures.

M&A

???Commvault, a data protection and management software company, announced it will acquire?Clumio, a data backup and recovery provider. The amount was undisclosed.

???Visa,?a San Francisco, CA-based?global payments technology company, acquired?FeatureSpace, an AI-driven fraud detection startup, for approximately?$935.06 million?to enhance its financial crime prevention capabilities.

???RevenueCat,?a San Francisco, CA-based?subscription management platform, acquired a "spicy" audiobooks app?Dipsea?to test new subscription-based features. The amount is undisclosed.

VC Deals

???Kestra,?a Paris, France-based?data orchestration platform, raised?$8 million?in a funding round led by?Alven?with participation from existing investors?Isai?and?Axeleo. The funds will be used to further develop its open-source orchestration platform.

???Route 92 Medical,?a San Mateo, CA-based?stroke device company, raised?$50 million?to expand its global presence. The funding round was led by?Novo Holdings, with participation from?U.S. Venture Partners,?Norwest Venture Partners, and others.

???Rebelstork,?a New York, NY-based?baby gear recommerce marketplace, raised?$18 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Maveron Ventures, with participation from?Serena Ventures,?Marcy Venture Partners, and?Golden Ventures.

???Jump,?a Paris, France-based?platform providing benefits for French freelancers, raised?€11 million ($12.2 million)?in funding led by?Breega.

??David Energy,?a New York, NY-based?gridtech company, secured?$23 million?in funding led by?Cathay Innovation, with participation from?Union Square Ventures,?Keyframe Capital, and others.

????arqu,?a San Francisco, CA-based?tech-enabled wholesale insurance brokerage, raised?$10 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Crosslink Capital, with participation from?Intact Venture,?Lightspeed Venture Partners, and others.

???Pyka,?an Alameda, CA-based?electric aviation technology company, raised?$40 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Obvious Ventures, with participation from?Piva Capital,?Prelude Ventures, and others.

???Schematic,?a Boulder, CO-based?startup focused on transforming pricing and packaging strategies for B2B SaaS companies, raised?$4.8 million?in seed funding. The investors were undisclosed.

???MetOx International,?a Houston, TX-based?developer of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wire, secured an additional?$25 million?in a?Series B Extension?funding round led by?Centaurus Capital?and?New System Ventures (NSV).

???VerImmune,?a Bethesda, MD-based?biotechnology company focused on viral immunotherapy, raised?$4.5 million?in the first closing of its Pre-Series A funding round led by?Beiley Biofund, with participation from?Proxima Ventures,?Mana Ventures, and others.

???Phacet,?a Paris, France-based?AI startup, raised?$4.4 million?in seed funding to develop AI tools for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across eCommerce, industry, and finance. The investors were undisclosed.

????Torq,?an Israel-based?security automation platform provider, raised?$70 million?in new funding to boost expansion and integrate AI features. The round was led by?Evolution Equity Partners.

???Knownwell,?a Virginia-based?AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) startup, raised?$4 million?in seed funding led by?Sovereign’s Capital, with participation from?Studio.vc.

???InDebted,?a Sydney, Australia-based?debt collection fintech, raised?$41 million?in a?Series C?funding round led by?Carthona, with participation from?Reinventure,?Perennial, and others.

???LiveFlow,?a New York, NY-based?finance and accounting automation platform, raised?$13.5 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Valar Ventures.

???Eion,?an Oakland, CA-based?environmental technology company, raised?$3 million?in a?Series A extension?funding round led by?Growmark, with participation from?AgFunder,?Ridgeline, and others.

???Nurix AI,?a Bengaluru, India-based?developer of custom AI agents for enterprise customers, raised?$27.5 million?in a seed-Series A funding round co-led by?General Catalyst?and?Accel?with participation from?Merkai Labs.

???Dandelion Energy,?an Arlington, VA-based?home geothermal company, raised?$40 million?in a?Series C?funding round led by?GV, with participation from?Collaborative Fund,?LenX, and others.

???Moxie,?a San Francisco, CA-based?platform helping nurses launch medspas, raised?$10 million?in a?preemptive Series B?funding round led by?Lachy Groom?with participation from?SignalFire.

???UJET,?a San Francisco, CA-based?AI-powered cloud contact center startup, raised?$76 million?in a?Series D?funding round led by?Sapphire Ventures?with participation from?KeyBank,?Ion Pacific, and others.

???Desia,?a New York, NY-based?AI startup focused on productivity, automation, and analytics for investment professionals, raised?$3.3 million?in pre-seed funding led by?Dig Ventures.

???La Solive,?a Paris, France-based?energy renovation training provider, raised?€4 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Partech, with participation from?Brighteye Ventures.

???Quantum Systems,?a Munich, Germany-based?drone technology company, raised?€100 million?in a?Series B?funding round backed by?Peter Thiel, with participation from?Notion Capital?and?Porsche Automobil Holding SE.

???Vsim,?a San Francisco, CA-based?robotics simulation tech company founded by Nvidia alums, raised?$21.5 million?in funding led by?EQT Ventures.

???GEOX,?a Tel Aviv, Israel-based?startup focused on analyzing real estate risk from climate-related disasters, raised?$19 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Flashpoint Venture Capital, with participation from?Suretech Partnership,?Ariel Maislos, and?Noam Lanir.

???Tamnoon,?a New York, NY-based?cloud security remediation startup, raised?$12 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Bright Pixel Capital, with participation from?Blu Ventures,?Mindset Ventures, and others.

???Whatfix,?a Bengaluru, India-based?digital adoption platform, raised?$125 million?in a?Series E?funding round led by?Warburg Pincus, with participation from?SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.

???Enzymit,?a Tel Aviv, Israel-based?biotech startup, raised?$10 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Grove Ventures?and?Khosla Ventures, with participation from?First Star Ventures?and?Sapir Venture Partners.

???Raycast,?a London, UK-based?productivity app for Mac, raised?$30 million?in funding led by?Atomico, with participation from?Accel,?Coatue, and others.

????Supabase,?a San Francisco, CA-based?Postgres-centric developer platform, raised?$80 million?in a?Series C?funding round led by?Peak XV?and?Craft Ventures.

???Bluebricks,?a Tel Aviv, Israel-based?startup disrupting cloud infrastructure management, raised?$4.5 million?in?seed?funding led by?Flint Capital, with participation from?Glilot Capital Partners,?Fresh Fund, and others.

???Wrapbook,?a New York, NY-based?platform simplifying production finance and payroll for the entertainment industry, raised?$20 million?in a?series B extension round?led by?Bessemer Venture Partners.

???Longshot Space,?a California-based?startup developing a kinetic launch system, raised over?$5 million?in new funding from the?U.S. Air Force’s TACFI?program.

???Helaina,?a New York, NY-based?biotechnology company transforming nutrition, raised?$45 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Avidity Partners?with participation from?Spark Capital,?Ingeborg Investments,?and others.

????DefectDojo,?an Austin, TX-based?application security platform, raised?$7 million?in funding led by?Iolar Ventures?and?Aspenwood Ventures.

???Zing Health,?a Chicago, IL-based?Medicare Advantage insurer, raised?$140 million?in funding led by?Health 2047 Capital Partners, with participation from?CRG,?First Trust Capital Partners, and others.

???Qure.ai,?a New York, NY-based?healthcare AI innovator, raised?$65 million?in a?Series D?funding round led by?Lightspeed?and?360One Asset, with participation from?Merck Global Health Innovation Fund,?Kae Capital, and others.

???Eradivir,?a West Lafayette, IN-based?preclinical biotech company, raised?$10.25 million?in a?Series A?funding round to advance its antiviral therapeutics. The investors were undisclosed.

???SEEN,?a New York, NY-based?haircare brand developed by Harvard-trained dermatologist Dr. Iris Rubin, raised?$9 million?in a?Series A?funding round. The investors were undisclosed.

???Dinii,?a Tokyo, Japan-based?cloud-based restaurant management platform, raised?$45 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Bessemer Venture Partners?and?Hillhouse Investment Management, with participation from?Eclectic?and?Flight Deck Capital.

???Family.cards,?a Munich, Germany-based?startup creating TV-connected digital cards for seniors, raised?€1.2 million?in funding led by?Brandenburg Kapital?and?OHA Osnabruck Healthcare 7 Ventures, with participation from?Antler?and?Birdhouse.

???Prepared,?a New York, NY-based?emergency services technology company, raised?$27 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Andreessen Horowitz.

???Distance Technologies,?a Palo Alto, CA-based?company developing glasses-free mixed reality technology for enterprises, raised?$11.2 million?in a funding round led by?GV, with participation from?FOV Ventures?and?Maki.vc.

??Ensemble,?a New York, NY-based?AI company, raised?$3.3 million?in funding led by?Salesforce Ventures, with participation from?M13,?Motivate, and?Amplo.

???EVA,?a Nashville, TN-based?entertainment booking platform, raised?$2 million?in funding led by?John Williamson, with participation from?Josh Kaplan,?Scott Kitun, and other investors.

???DeepOpinion,?an Innsbruck, Austria-based?AI automation company, raised?€11 million ($12.2 million)?in a?Series A?funding round co-led by?Red River West?and?Alpha Intelligence Capital?with participation from?Lunar Ventures, and?Stride VC.

???AmpUp,?a Santa Clara, CA-based?electric vehicle (EV) charging platform, raised?$15 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?Touchdown Ventures, with participation from?Autotech Ventures,?MUUS Climate Partners, and others.

???Mews,?an Amsterdam, Netherlands-based?hospitality cloud platform, raised?$100 million?in financing from?Vista Credit Partners.

???Mendaera,?a San Mateo, CA-based?healthcare technology company, raised?$73 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Threshold Ventures, with participation from?Lux Capital,?PFM Health Sciences, and?Fred Moll.

???Bot Auto,?a Houston, TX-based?autonomous vehicle technology company, raised?$20 million?in an oversubscribed Pre-Series A funding round led by?Brightway Future Venture, with participation from?Cherubic Venture,?EnvisionX Venture, and others.

???Zenlytic,?a Boston, MA-based?self-serve business intelligence platform, raised?$9 million?in a?Series A?funding round led by?M13?with participation from?Bain Capital Ventures,?Primary Ventures,?Company Ventures, and others.

???Observe Inc.,?a San Mateo, CA-based?AI-powered observability tool, raised?$145 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Evolution Equity Partners?and?Madrona Ventures.

???Apron,?a London, UK-based?fintech platform, raised?$30 million?in a?Series B?funding round led by?Zinal Growth?with participation from?Bessemer Venture Partners,?Tony Fadell, and others.

???Micropep Technologies,?a Raleigh, NC-based?agtech company specializing in plant growth regulation, raised an additional?$11 million?in its?Series B?funding round led by?Corteva Inc.

?If you’re in the path of Hurricane Helene,

Hope you and your loved ones are safe.

John Gannon and the team at Venture5 Media