 SoftBank will reportedly put the Vision Fund in charge of its Latin America investment unit, reversing course from plans to spin it off. The decision comes after two of the fund’s managing directors, Shu Nyatta and Paulo Passoni, left to start their own late-stage fund in the region. More: - The LatAM fund will now report to Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Misra, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- The division's compensation structure will also be revised to remove profit-sharing commitments.
- According to PitchBook, SoftBank’s LatAm unit has backed only nine companies so far in 2022, compared to 48 companies throughout all of 2021.
- The fund is now on its second iteration and has an endowment of $3B.
- According to a source, SoftBank will invest an additional $2B in the region.
- SoftBank’s initial $8B LatAm fund was launched in 2019 under the direction of Marcelo Claure, who departed after a compensation dispute.
The wider lens: - SoftBank’s pullback is tied to a slowdown in venture funding in Latin America this year.
- Venture-backed companies have raised $3.3B so far in 2022, well behind last year's pace, which ended up totaling $16.3B.
- Still, the year’s investment total will certainly surpass the $4.5B deployed in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
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Mumbai-based VideoVerse, which provides an AI-based video editing SaaS platform, raised $46.8M Series B. The funds came from lead investors A91 Partners, Alpha Wave Global, and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, with additional support from Innoven Capital, Pacific Western Bank, and Stride Ventures. More: - The latest injection brought VideoVerse’s total funding to date up to just under $60M.
- Previously known as Toch.ai, six-year-old VideoVerse offers automatic meta-tagging for images, video, and text, which can then be converted into micro-content video assets for marketing purposes.
- Its flagship product Magnifi provides real-time video highlighting for sports, entertainment, and news feeds.
- Its other offerings include one-click simultaneous live streaming across multiple social media accounts and a studio editor enabling users to create video content on the go.
- Though it did not report on revenue figures, the company claims to have scanned 12.9 million hours of video and helped save companies an estimated 1.2 billion hours of processing time.
- VideoVerse further claims that its products have reduced editing time by 95% and cut manpower by nearly 50% while boosting engagement by a factor of two to three.
The wider lens: - The IMARC Group predicts that the global digital video content market will reach just over $391.1B by 2027, up from $151.4B last year, representing a compound annual growth rate of over 13%.
- The average person watches 2.5 hours of online video a day, which has driven expectations of digital ad spending to grow by nearly 50% over the next four years, topping $300B in the U.S.
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Construct Capital, a VC firm founded by former Uber exec Rachel Holt and ex-NEA partner Dayna Grayson, announced a new $225M fund. Focusing on manufacturing, supply chain, and industrial startups, Construct also raised a $75M fund for follow-on investments. More: - The firm was founded in 2019 and began by targeting Seed and Series A rounds, a strategy that Holt and Grayson will continue to pursue moving forward.
- While it will target logistics companies, Holt and Grayson have decided to stay away from the hot instant-delivery sector.
- Construct wants stakes in companies that will not bleed cash indefinitely, which instant-delivery companies have not shown themselves capable of avoiding.
- Its first fund totaled $140M and was deployed to companies including Copia Automation, a developer of tools for industrial automation engineers, and Telegraph System, which develops tech for the freight rail industry.
- Several of its bets have been on companies founded by Uber alumni through Holt’s connection to the ride-hailing giant.
- Though some of its portfolio companies, such as next-day delivery platform Veho, have become unicorns, none of them have made it to a large exit.
- Whether this will affect future LPs' interest in Construct has yet to be seen. For the time being, Holt and Grayson have had no problem securing capital commitments.
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BlockApps, a provider of an Ethereum-based enterprise blockchain, raised $41M, led by Liberty City Ventures. The round also saw participation from Morgan Creek Digital, Eidetic Ventures, and Givic and brought BlockApps’ funding to date up to $50M. The company did not disclose a valuation. More: - Previous investors include ConsenSys, Bloccelerate, Fitz Gate Ventures, Arab Angels, Kenetic Capita, and PropelX.
- Launched in 2015, BlockApps focuses on developing applications using its proprietary blockchain-as-a-service platform, STRATO.
- CEO Kieren James-Lubin noted that the company’s mission is to expand the "boring" side of blockchain, which does not focus on high-profile trading platforms.
- It will instead focus on bringing real assets such as land, titles, and receivables onto STRATO via the expansion of its partner program.
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 Today’s Funding 💸 Biotech/Health - Carlsmed (Carlsbad, Calif.), spine surgery platform: $30M B led by Capital Group, participation from U.S. Venture Partners, The Vertical Group, Cove Fund, et al.
- Free Market Health (Pittsburgh, Pa.), health marketplace: $13.5M A led by Alta Partners, participation from Highmark Ventures, 653 Investment Partners.
- BioFlyte (Albuquerque, N.M.), biodefense and microbial identification: $6.1M A led by Cottonwood Technology Fund, participation from Anzu Partners.
Consumer - Air Company (New York, N.Y.), carbon neutral vodka, perfume, and hand sanitizer: ...
Want to read 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 - Development team buried with technical debt? Clear their burden using low-code on AWS.*
- SVB Financial Group has launched a Fellows Program for Black, Latinx, and women professionals in venture capital.
- Mainsail Partners, hailing from San Francisco, raised a fresh $915M growth equity fund. It has also transferred half of its team to Austin.
- Framework Ventures closed its third fund at $400M to invest in the early-stage DeFi, Web3, and blockchain gaming space.
- KuCoin, a crypto trading platform, launched a $100M creators fund through its venture arm and its NFT Marketplace-Windvane.
- Tokio Marine, an insurance corporation, launched a $42M early-stage corporate VC fund called the Tokio Marine Future Fund.
- Plug and Play launched its first fund with $25.5M to place bets on companies within the end-to-end supply chain.
- The right metrics make a difference. Read our fact sheet and learn what you should be measuring to prove marketing impact.*
*This is a sponsored post.
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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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