 M13 team M13 closed its third consumer tech-focused fund at $400M. The fund was oversubscribed, with the Santa Monica-based firm initially expected to close the fund at $275M. With the backing of the new fund, M13 expects to receive a higher stake in invested companies. More: - The firm is seeking a 20% stake in companies against the 15% stake initially sought through previous funds.
- M13's current individual investments top at $15M.
- It has invested in 150 startups to date, 15 of which have reached "unicorn" status with over $1B in valuation each.
- M13 provided seed funding to seven of the unicorns in their portfolio.
- Notable investments include Snap, Bird, Daily Harvest, Matterport, and Ring. Amazon acquired the latter in 2018.
- M13's current fund size is double its second fund of $188M in 2019.
- It earlier raised $92M in 2015 for its first fund.
- The current funding increased M13's assets under management to $750M.
- M13 will continue to invest in consumer-focussed startups between early-stage to Series B investments in work, commerce, health, and money startups.
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 Jenova Chen, cofounder of Thatgamecompany Thatgamecompany, the game developer known for critically acclaimed titles such as Sky and Journey, received a $160M investment led by TPG and Sequoia. Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull joined the gaming company as a part of the terms of the investment. More: - The incoming funds will be utilized for game development, workforce expansion, and service improvements to their flagship game.
- The gaming developer's achievements include 160 million downloads for its award-winning game – Sky: Children of the Light.
Zoom out: - Per Crunchbase, the gaming startup industry has seen $1.46B worth of investment through mid-February this year.
- In 2021, investments in the sector totaled ~$12B, almost double the $6.5B from the same period a year ago.
- The U.K.-based Tripledot Studios' $116M Series B funding was led by 20VC at a valuation of $1.4B.
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Israel and New York-based AI-powered transcription platform Verbit acquired Take Note for an undisclosed sum. The U.K.-based company's acquisition will enable Verbit to expand its presence in the transcription, captioning, and note-taking service to over 2,500 customers. More: - Verbit last received $250M in Series E funding in Nov. 2021 at a $2B valuation.
- Prior to that, it raised $157M during its Series D round.
- Verbit's recent string of acquisitions include:
- Captioning service platform VITAC for $50M.
- Automatic Sync Technologies, an education and government sector transcription company, for an undisclosed sum.
- Take Note's U.K. office will serve as a customer support node for customers based in Europe.
- The company's 28 employees will join Verbit's 470 global employee base.
Zoom out:
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 Gecko TOKA 4 robot Gecko Robotics received $73.3M Series C funding led by XN. Founders Fund, XYZ, Drive Capital, and Snowpoint Ventures participated in the funding. Investors Mark Cuban, Joe Lonsdale, and Gokul Rajaram also joined. More: - The company was valued at $533M after the recent funding.
- Gecko last raised $40M Series B funding in late Dec. 2019, led by Drive Capital.
- The company’s robots are used to identify damage to the infrastructure for power generation, heavy manufacturing, and the oil and gas sector.
- The company’s robots keep humans away from potentially dangerous and inaccessible areas, especially in pipelines, boilers, tanks, ship hulls, and more.
- The software then converts the data captured into a visual thickness map, giving the users a visual representation of the structural audit of the infrastructure.
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Microsoft outlined its plans to support over 10,000 startups in Africa over the next five years. The multinational technology company is lining up a potential $500M investment along with other VC firms. Microsoft is already in talks with Banque Misr, Global Venture Capital, and Get Funded Capital. More: - Microsoft will support various startups in the African continent through accelerators and incubators.
- Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office (ATO) will drive the initiative.
- The initiative will also provide access to its global Founders Hub, which will allow the startups to co-sell to Microsoft’s customer base.
- Via the partnerships, Microsoft will provide access to technology, markets, funds, and skilling.
Zoom out:
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Canada-based general-purpose robot maker Sanctuary Cognitive Systems received $58.5M (CAD 75.5M) Series A funding. Bell, Evok Innovations, Export Development Canada, Magna, SE Health, Verizon Ventures, and Workday Ventures participated in the funding. More: - The incoming funds will fuel operations expansion and product development.
- Sanctuary’s aim is to make robots with human-like intelligence, with a target to deploy the technology for outer space exploration and settlement.
- Chris Hadfield and Anousheh Ansari join the advisory board as part of the investment.
- Evok participated in one of the two seed rounds in Sanctuary.
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- San Francisco-based Forerunner Ventures closed its Fund VI at $1B. With the latest fund, the firm will continue its strategy of investing in early-stage startups. Forerunner's portfolio consists of 149 companies, including significant startups like Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, and Hims & Hers.
- Atlas Ventures closed its 13th fund focusing on biotech startups at $450M. Atlas invests in firms at an early stage and helps them scale their operations. Its portfolio spans 50 investments in biotech companies. Since 2015, Atlas has raised over $2B.
- Insight Partners led a $60M Series B in Reforge, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, True Ventures, NextView Ventures, TCV, Long Journey Ventures, and others. Reforge provides a platform for knowledge exchange between sector experts and professionals.
- Novartis Venture Fund led a $41.20M (£30.75M) Series B into the U.K.-based Epsilogen. The biotech startup has pioneered a cancer treatment antibody and will use the proceeds from the recent funding to make a proof-of-concept for its lead drug candidate and accelerate the progress of development.
- RareBreed Ventures started soliciting investments from investors toward its second fund, with a target of $75M. It last closed a $10M fund in January.
- NFT startup Rarify closed a $10M Series A at a $100M valuation. The funding was led by Pantera Capital.
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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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