Morpheus Ventures announced the closing of its Fund II with over $200M in commitments. The fund will invest in high potential early-stage startups across fintech, insurtech, proptech, robotics/automation, and other allied disruptive technologies. More: - Morpheus claims to be the largest early-stage investing VC fund in Los Angeles.
- The recent funds increased Morpheus’ total committed capital to over $300M.
- The oversubscribed Fund II has been backed by investors from across North America, Australia, and Asia.
- Its Fund I has backed several Seed and Series A investments into notable companies like SafetyCulture, HouseCanary, Bestow, Sidecar Health, and others.
- Morpheus is known to back investments into data analytics, machine learning, robotics, transportation, and SaaS startups.
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Starburst was valued at $3.35B at its recent $250M Series D funding led by Alkeon Capital. The round also saw participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital, B Capital Group, Index Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures. More: - The incoming funds will be used for market expansion, product development, and the hiring of talent.
- Starburst provides data analytics solutions to worldwide firms such as Upwork, Marks & Spencer, Condé Nast, and others.
- The company’s proprietary tool Trino, a Presto-based SQL query engine, can carry out complex analytics from data stored on disparate sources.
- It was last valued at $1.2B during its $100M Series C funding last year, led by Andreessen Horowitz.
- The company has since launched Starburst Galaxy, a multi-cloud SaaS analytics tool.
- The latest funding round brings the company's total to $414M.
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KKR & Co. is interested in investing in Animoca Brands' current funding round, which has already accumulated $359M so far. Soros Fund Management and Winklevoss Capital have already invested in the round announced in January. Animoca is expected to close the round at $500M. More: - Animoca was valued at $5B prior to the funding round, double the amount just three months prior.
- Company executives are targeting another funding round at a $10B valuation before the year's end.
- It was last valued at $2.2B during its $65M fundraise last October.
- Hong Kong-based Animoca offers blockchain-based games and has also invested in 150 blockchain projects, including Dapper Labs, OpeaSea, and Polygon.
- KKR was part of a $350M investment into Anchorage Digital at a $3B valuation.
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OceanSound Partners closed its inaugural fund with $780M of total capital commitments. The fund saw an extensive response and closed above its initial target of $550M. OceanSounds currently has over $1.15B worth of assets under management. More: - OceanSound invests in companies that leverage technological advancements aimed at government or enterprise applications.
- It normally invests between $75M-$300M in each of its companies, although it requires a controlling stake in organizations.
- The firm has invested in five organizations, which themselves have taken over nine other firms.
- The current fund saw participation from asset management firms, insurance companies, pension plans, family offices, and others.
- The firm is led by Joe Benavides with support from partners Ted Coons, Jeff Kelly, and Ariel Garcia.
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 A message from SEEDINVEST Fuel your company’s growth engine with SeedInvest Whether your startup is in SaaS, consumer goods, e-commerce, or just about any other sector you could name, equity crowdfunding can help take your business to the next level. More than 250 companies have been funded through SeedInvest, and yours can too. Here’s what you need to know: - Equity crowdfunding and VC are not mutually exclusive
Companies that raised through SeedInvest went on to raise additional funds from big-name VCs like Greycroft, Menlo Ventures, Tiger Global, and more. - Your fundraise can draw attention in several ways
Launching a raise on SeedInvest has been a big attention-getter for many companies, boosting sales, signups, and media coverage. - You can raise millions of dollars
Startups are raising real money from real people through SeedInvest; the average fundraise was over $3 million in 2020. Find out more at inside.seedinvest.com and start your application, or refer a founder who’s building something big.
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Cryptocurrency mining infrastructure company Compute North raised $385M in equity and debt funding. Series C equity funding worth $85M was led by Mercuria and Generate Capital, while the $300M debt was provided by Generate Capital. The funding saw participation from National Grid Partners. More: - The incoming funds will be used to establish new Tier 0 data centers in the U.S.
- The company aims to open new facilities in Nebraska, North Carolina, and Texas.
- The company expects to finalize the land purchase for one such facility in Greenville, N.C., by April or May this year.
- Compute North’s proprietary Tier 0 data centers offer sustainable and cost-effective computing solutions for blockchain, cryptocurrency mining, and other distributed computing companies.
- The firm’s total capacity in July 2021 was at 100 megawatts, with the company’s five under-construction facilities expected to increase its capacity to 1.2 gigawatts.
- Dave Perrill, founder, and CEO of Compute North, anticipates the under-construction facilities to be operational by the end of the second quarter of 2022.
- Although Compute North’s total funding to date is unknown, it had last raised $25M in equity and debt financing in early 2021.
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Ventus Therapeutics, Inc. closed a $140M Series C financing co-led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and RA Capital Management. The funding saw participation from Qatar Investment Authority, Andreessen Horowitz, BVF Partners L.P., Casdin Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Alexandria Venture Investments, GV, and Versant Ventures. More: - As part of this deal, SoftBank Investment Adviser John Cassidy will join the Ventus Board of Directors.
- The incoming funds will be used to scale its proprietary ReSOLVE platform, automate processes, strengthen machine learning, and expand its virtual library.
- Part of the funds will also be used to advance its lead drug programs and fund research.
- Ventus is a Massachusetts and Québec, Canada-based company.
- The biopharmaceutical company utilizes computational tools to develop drug molecules with an initial focus on immunology, inflammation, and neurology.
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- Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Seismic Therapeutic, Inc. raised $101M in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company develops immunology drugs by leveraging advanced machine learning technology. The incoming funds will be used to fund two lead drug programs.
- Census raised $60M Series B at a $630M valuation led by Tiger Global, with participation from Insight Partners, Sequoia, and Andreessen Horowitz. The platform collates data from various sources and presents it to non-technical staff.
- Cortical Ventures announced its inaugural fund of $50M for investments in AI startups. The firm has already made pre-seed investments into hOS and NeoCybernetica, along with co-leading funding into SeMI Technologies.
- NewSpring led a $32M Series B investment into employee lifecycle management platform Enboarder. The incoming funds will help double the workforce and fund infrastructure investments.
- Distribution grid real-time data monitoring and analysis firm Utilidata secured a $26.75M investment led by Moore’s Strategic Ventures (MSV), with participation from Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, NVIDIA, Keyframe Capital, Braemar Energy Ventures, and MUUS Asset Management.
- Seoul-based VC firm, Envisioning Partners, closed its impact fund at $64M. The oversubscribed Envisioning Climate Solutions (ECS) Fund will lead investments into startups aimed at combating climate change. The firm has $140M of assets under management.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | | | 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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