Katie Haun is targeting a total of $900M in capital commitments to be distributed over two crypto-focused investment funds for her new crypto investment firm. According to sources for the Financial Times, $300M will be placed in a fund making early-stage bets in cryptocurrency startups. The remaining $600M will be invested in larger companies and digital tokens. More: - Andreessen Horowitz, where Haun co-chaired a $2.2B crypto investment vehicle, contributed $50M as an anchor investor.
- Haun will collaborate with Andreessen Horowitz on projects in the web3 space, and will assist in investing the rest of the $2.2B fund.
- Early indications of high demand reportedly convinced Haun to up her targets from previously lower figures.
- Haun's firm, called by her initials "KRH," will be one of the largest first-time funds in VC history. All new U.S.-based VC funds raised a total of $41.3B last year.
- KRH already participated in $300M funding round into OpenSea, which valued the NFT marketplace $13.3B.
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The femtech segment is significantly undervalued, writes Andrew Gershfeld of Flint Capital. Globally, femtech companies raised $1.2B last year, of which $750M went to U.S.-based startups. As the market matures, it is important for investors to understand that it is not a winner-take-all segment. More: - Femtech does not consist solely of pregnancy planning companies. Rather, it responds to a wide array of biological needs specific to the female body and to the necessities of family planning.
- Pregnancy and parenthood did account for the largest share of VC funding for femtech in the past five years. There are new trends emerging; the leading segments last year in the U.S. were:
- Primary and preventive care ($668M);
- Pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood ($316M);
- Fertility support ($220M).
- The femtech market is forecasted to grow to $60B by 2027.
- According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 80% of healthcare decisions are made by women.
- They spend $1,000-$3,000 annually to address the symptoms of polycystosis, endometriosis, autoimmune diseases, and hormonal disorders.
- Almost half (45%) of women suffer from those chronic conditions, yet only 4% of global medical research specifically targets women’s bodies.
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Khosla Ventures’ $550M Opportunity Fund is the latest in a trend of former early-stage outfits expanding into later rounds. Firms including Kaszek, Version One, Heartcore Capital, Chapter One, Costanoa Ventures, and Sapphire Ventures have announced such funds in the last year. More: - The new fund comes on the heels of a $1.4B flagship fund, the firm’s seventh and largest early-stage vehicle. The outfit, managed by Samir Kaul, now has AUM of $2B.
- Kaul claims that the decision to delve into later-stage investing came from pressure from LPs and portfolio CEOs to put in more money and lead late-stage rounds.
- Khosla’s previous bets that have already received money from the fund include Impossible Foods, Faire, Checkr, OpenTrons, and Vectra AI.
- The firm invests broadly across sectors. According to Crunchbase data, it has 133 exits to its name, including Zenefits, GitLab, Okta, and Rocket Lab.
The Other Side of the Coin: - While Khosla is now investing at later stages, many late-stage firms are eyeing early-stage companies as competition for the best deals continues ratcheting up.
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Dunzo, a hyperlocal delivery startup hailing from Bengaluru, clinched a $200M investment from Reliance Retail. The funding comes as part of a $240M funding round, which also saw participation from existing investors Lightbox, Lightrock, 3L Capital, and Alteria Capital. More: - The $200M bought Reliance a 25.8% stake in Dunzo, which was valued at $775M.
- Dunzo operates a platform similar to Gopuff's or Gorillas'. It offers delivery of goods, including groceries, pet supplies, prepared food, and medicine, in 15 to 20 minutes. It partners with local stores and allows users to ship their own items around the city.
- Without disclosing figures, it claims 20% week-on-week growth.
- Its model allows it to offer an e-commerce option for the small shops, which are the source of the vast majority of Indian retail purchases. Only 3% of purchases in the country are made online.
- Reliance Retail is run by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani. It is the country's single largest retail provider and saw $22B in revenue in 2020.
- Its subsidiaries include Reliance Jio, the telecom operator that pulled in massive investments from Facebook, Google, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, and others.
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 Today's Funding 💸 AI/ML - ReadyWorks (New York, N.Y.), AI-based risk reduction for IT infrastructure transformation: $8M A led by Credit Suisse Asset Management's NEXT Investors.
Biotech/Health - Eikon Therapeutics (Hayward, Calif.), platform allowing a view into the "nanorealm" of cells: $518M B led by T. Rowe Price Associates, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, EcoR1 Capital, UC Investments, et al.
- Ambagon (San Francisco, Calif.), platform to unlock intrinsically disordered protein targets: $85M A led by Nextech Invest, participation from RA Capital Management, Droia Ventures, Inkef Capital, et al.
- ONK Therapeutics (Galway, Ireland), NK cell therapy platform: $21.5M A led by Acorn Bioventures, ALSHC, participation from Cormorant Asset Management.
- VeriSIM (San Francisco, Calif.), AI-based de-risker for breakthrough drug development: $15M A led by Morpheus Ventures, participation from Debiopharm Innovation Fund, Colorcon Ventures, et al.
Blockchain - Goldfinch (San Francisco, Calif.), decentralized lending protocol for organizations that do not already own crypto: $25M led by Andreessen Horowitz, participation from Coinbase Ventures, SV Angel, Blocktower, Bill Ackman, and Heli-cap.
Consumer - Angel Studios (Provo, Utah), streaming platform for crowdfunded shows: $47M led by Gigafund, Uncorrelated Ventures, participation from Alta Ventures, Kickstart Fund.
- Little Otter (San Francisco, Calif.), digital mental health platform: $22M A led by CRV, participation from Torch Capital, Vast Ventures, Hinsdale, Boxgroup, Able, Carrie Penner Walton, G9, Springbank Collective.
Cybersecurity - iProov (London, U.K.), online biometric face authentication: $70M led by Sumeru Equity Partners.
Enterprise - Zuddl (San Francisco, Calif.), virtual events platform: $13.35M A led by Alpha Wave, Qualcomm Ventures, participation from GrowX Ventures, Waveform Ventures.
- JABU (Nigeria), B2B e-commerce platform: $3.2M from Afore Capital, Y Combinator, FJ Labs, Quiet Capital, Kli Capital, Pareto Capital, et al.
Fintech - Rupifi (India), BNPL platform: $25M led by Tiger Global, Bessemer Venture Partners.
- Timo (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), digital bank: $20M led by Square Peg, participation from Jungle Ventures, Granite Oak, FinAccel, Phoenix Holdings, et al.
- Symbridge (Greenwich, Conn.), digital asset exchange built specifically for future-minded traders: $9M from Traxys North America.
Transportation - Avelo Airlines (Houston, Texas), intranational airline: $42M B led by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value.
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Quick Hits - In a list of the most likely 2022 tech IPO candidates, The Information named Stripe, Chime, Revolut, FTX, Kraken, Instacart, Gopuff, Flexport, and others.
- Grove Ventures raised a third $185M fund to invest in early-stage Israeli startups and in the so-called Deep Future — the infrastructure for the next technological leap.
- IBM is once again looking for a buyer for its Watson Health program. The company reportedly thinks $1B would be fair, even given that Watson Health cost $4B to develop through a series of acquisitions.
- Canadian supply chain sustainability management platform Asset Compliance raised $350M at a $1B valuation to build out its platform helping manufacturers determine where they are sourcing their raw materials.
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 |  | Inside VC's writer/curator Stephen currently lives in Berlin and is pursuing a Master's degree in philosophy. He otherwise spends his time trying his hand at recipes from India and Southeast Asia, escaping it all at the kickboxing gym, and offending aural sensibilities with his band. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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