 PitchBook reports that the average exit value for a European startup jumped to just above $550M (€489.3M) in 2021. That figure is three times higher than it was in 2020, and almost twice as much as the continent’s previous record from 2018. More: - Meanwhile, the total unicorn herd in Europe (and Israel) reached 128 after adding 78 last year, representing 88.2% YoY growth.
- A total of 123 deals with an aggregate value of $37.2B (€32.8B) were completed in 2021, roughly four times larger than the $9.2B (€8.1B) of unicorn deal value in 2020.
- Their cumulative post-money valuation grew to $373.9B (€329.7B) in 2021.
- VC deals with nontraditional investor participation reached a record $89.9B (€79.3B) in 2021, representing a 131.2% YoY increase. The median late-stage deal size swelled by 80.9% YoY to $11.34M (€10M).
- That helped bump the median late-stage valuation by 61.1% YoY to reach $19.3M (€18M) in 2021. Late-stage VC deal sizes also grew to a median of $6.1M (€5.4M), 75.4% larger than in 2020.
- The U.K. and Northern Ireland saw their median late-stage valuation balloon to $17M (€15).
- The median late-stage funding round grew 43.7% YoY in the France & Benelux region, 104.0% YoY in the Nordics, and 133.2% YoY in the DACH region.
| |
Voltron Data has raised a total of $110M spread over a Seed and Series A round. That breaks down to $22M Seed and $88M Series A. The Seed round was led by BlackRock and Walden Catalyst, while Walden went at it alone for the Series A funding. More: - Voltron offers a data and analytics standardization platform via Apache Arrow, the co-founder of which is also part of the founding team at Voltron.
- Apache Arrow offers a data-centric open-source app-building platform. It has seen 42 million downloads per month.
- Voltron's value proposition is to ease access to the platform for customers who are not able or willing to manage an open-source app.
- The company has 100 employees and is actively hiring, with a focus on building a diverse team.
- BlackRock, Anthos Capital, Battery Ventures, Coatue, GV, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nepenthe Capital, Redline, and The Factory also participated in the Series A round.
- Lightspeed, GV, and The Factory also contributed to the Seed round.
| |
 A message from KINTONE Project Management Pitfalls & How To Avoid Them If you’re a project manager or team leader, you’re probably familiar with some of these challenges: - Setting clear, measurable objectives
- Effectively tracking a project’s progress
- Dealing with task accountability
- Tackling inefficient team communication
- Navigating budget and scope creep
Watch our 30-minute webinar, Project Management Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them to learn about the most common factors that cause projects to fail, and what you can do to pivot them back to safety. Watch Now
| |
Sequoia will raise a new sub-fund dedicated exclusively to crypto investments with $500M to $600M in capital commitments. The firm, viewed as a trend-setter, reported that 20% of its deals over the past year were for crypto startups. More: - The new fund will focus on liquid crypto (token) investments. Sequoia partner Alfred Lin noted that the impetus for a crypto-specific fund is the ability to manage tokens differently, which involves staking, voting rights, and governance.
- The news comes as the firm begins to lay out the specifics of its new open-ended fund, which it announced last year and is the first of its kind in the VC world.
- In addition to its crypto arm, the main fund is divided into an Ecosystem Fund with $900M-$950M.
- This will operate as a fund of funds to back Sequoia scouts, funds formed by Sequoia alums, and also other third-party efforts.
- The final component is the Expansion Fund with $3.2B to $3.5B. It will effectively be what the firm previously called its Global Growth funds.
- With a focus on Europe and the U.S., it will likely begin deploying capital late this year.
The wider lens: - Sequoia’s innovation in fund structuring is a response to changes in the amount of time it takes startups to exit, as well as its desire to be able to hold on to stakes after a portfolio company has entered public markets.
- While unorthodox, 95% of its LPs were eventually able to sign off on the new strategy.
| |
Indian fintech Pine Labs has raised $150M in a mix of primary and secondary funding from Alpha Wave Global at a $5B valuation. The fresh capital comes as the digital payments and financial service provider is prepping for an IPO. More: - While the exact distribution is not known, documents indicate that the first tranche of the primary fund was ~$75M.
- Sources say that the secondary deal was valued between $50M and $75M.
- According to reports in December, Pine Labs was in the final stages to raise at least $100M from Falcon Edge (now Alpha Wave) at a valuation of $5B to $5.5B.
- The overall round size was expected to close between $100M-$200M.
- Pine labs recently acquired Singapore-based loyalty payments startup Fave. The company had plans to offer unified payments interface (UPI)-based payments to consumers.
The wider lens: - Pine Labs has been around since 1998 and is just now seeking the public market.
- It could face a tough market.
- Competitor Paytm, which recently inked a deal with Twitter for a payment interface, is still reeling from a botched IPO last November, despite being the largest payments operator in India.
| |
 A message from WEGIFT Digital incentives that deliver the business outcomes you need Breakthrough the noise, acquire new users, and close more deals with the market-leading digital gifting platform. Whether you are on the frontline driving customer acquisition or one of the heros supporting growth, generate new business and save lots of time. You can instantly send digital gift cards using our simple and powerful API, or you can just log in and send any reward from over 1,200 brands - including Amazon, Starbucks, and Target - at the press of a button. Digital gift cards are a proven way to increase new customer acquisition, retain customers, or incentivize users in referral campaigns, typically increasing conversion rates by more than 25%. It’s quick and cost-effective. WeGift can help you: - Improve conversion rates
- Reduce your CPA
- Save significant time
Companies all over the world use WeGift to drive growth, from signature start-ups like Seated and Fluz to established brands like Samsung, Vodafone and Energy Earth. Click the button below to see how WeGift works. Get a demo 
| |
 Today’s Funding 💸 Biotech/Health - MindMaze (Lausanne, Switzerland), digital neuro-therapeutics solutions: $105M led by Concord Health Partners, AlbaCore Capital Group, Hambro Perks.
- Nalu Medical (Carlsbad, Calif.), minimally invasive solutions for chronic neuropathic pain: $104M led by MVM Partners, Gilde Healthcare, participation from Pura Vida Investments, Aperture Venture Partners, et al.
Consumer - DealShare (Indian), social commerce: $45M E from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
- Clix (Los Angeles, Calif.), free multi-platform streaming: $10M A from undisclosed sources.
- Wild Cosmetics (London, U.K.), design-led personal care products: $5M led by JamJar Investments, participation from Creator Collective Capital, Slingshot Ventures, et al.
Data/Analytics - Arcion (San Mateo, Calif.), cloud-native data mobility platform provider: $13M A led by Bessemer Venture Partners, participation from Databricks.
- Actual (U.S.), SimCity-like platform designed to render data in a manageable interface: $5M Seed from Buckley Ventures, Hyper, Wndrco, Sequoia Scout, Signalfire Scout, Craft Scout.
Deeptech - Classiq (Tel Aviv, Israel), quantum software development: $33M from Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, Phoenix, Spike Ventures, Samsung NEXT, Lip-Bu Tan, Harvey Jones, Wing VC, et al.
DevOps - Kubecost (San Francisco, Calif.), open source tools for monitoring, managing, and optimizing Kubernetes: $25M A led by Coatue Management, participation from First Round Capital, Afore Capital.
Enterprise - Exodigo (Tel Aviv, Israel), subsurface mapping solution: $29M led by Zeev Ventures, 10D Ventures, participation from SquarePeg Capital, JIBE Ventures.
- Sparrow (San Francisco, Calif.), employee well-being platform: $20M A led by WndrCo, participation from Authentic Ventures, South Park Commons.
- Talespin (Los Angeles, Calif.), workforce talent development and skills mobility: $20M C led by SEEK Investments, Allomer Capital, participation from Pearson Ventures, Accenture Ventures, et al.
- Anvyl (New York, N.Y.), platform for supplier relationship management from order to delivery provider: $15M B led by B Capital, participation from AlleyCorp, Company Ventures, et al.
Fintech - Fenbeitong (Beijing, China), corporate spend platform: $140M C+ led by DST Global, participation from Hillhouse, Ribbit, Stau, Glade Brook, Bit Rock, D1 Capital Partners, WhaleRock, et al.
- Found (San Francisco, Calif.), full-stack financial services for self-employed workers: $60M A led by Founders Fund.
- Ageras Group (Copenhagen, Denmark), business-focused financial services software and accounting marketplace: $34M from Centripetal Capital, Saeid Esmaeilzadeh, et al.
- Nous (London, U.K.), free personalized reports explaining how price rises will affect household costs: $9M Seed led by Mosaic Ventures.
Industrial - Akhan (Gurnee, Ill.), lab-grown electronics-grade diamond materials: $20M from undisclosed sources.
Transportation - Coast (New York, N.Y.), vehicle fuel control and fleet spending platform: $27.5M A led by Accel, Insight Partners, participation from Avid Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, BoxGroup, et al.
- RideCo (Waterloo, Canada), on-demand public transit platform: $20M A led by Eclipse Ventures.
Did you enjoy reading about all of today's funding in one place? The funding roundup is only available to free users on Mondays and Fridays. Upgrade to Inside VC Premium for either $10/month, or $100 billed annually, to receive the full list in every issue! For a limited time, we are offering a 14-day free trial. Click here to sign up! | | | |
QUICK HITS *This is a sponsored post.
| |
UPCOMING EVENTS - February 22 - The Future of Tax & Accounting for Crypto, DeFi, & NFTs is here. Are you ready? (Register Here) *
- February 22 - Venturing in VC - Episode #7 with Roy Bahat (Bloomberg Beta) (Register Here)
- February 23 - Need to Know NoCoder: Derya Sousa (Kianda Technologies) (Register Here)
- February 24 - Alternative Investments (Register Here)
- February 24 - Conversational AI in eCommerce with Flipkart (Register Here) *
- February 28 - Inside Investment DAOs with Global Coin Research (Register Here)
- March 10 - NoCode's Impact on the Gig Economy (Register Here)
- March 23 - Need to Know NoCoder: Nichole Bestman (Bubble) (Register Here)
- March 31 - How To Build In Web 3.0 (Register Here)
- April 07 - Blockchain and the Law (Register Here)
- April 14 - Shopping In The Metaverse (Register Here)
*This is a sponsored post.
| |
 |  | 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 | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
Kintone’s customizable platform lets you manage your data, workflows and communication in one place. | |
Acquire and engage customers at scale using eGift Cards from 800+ global brands with WeGift. | |
Comments
Post a Comment