 The U.S. generated almost half of the total of $143.9B in VC backing for startups last quarter, reports CB Insights. That figure was down 19% QoQ from the $177.9B in Q4’21, constituting the largest percentage fall since Q3’12. More: - The total funding was still up 7% YoY and made Q1’22 the fourth-largest quarter on record.
- Of the 113 new unicorns birthed last quarter, the U.S. and Europe accounted for 67 and 20, respectively, making up the majority.
- While funding dipped, valuations continued to grow: The median valuation increased by 2.6x compared with the previous quarter.
- That was buoyed by early- and mid-stage companies reaching median valuations of $34M and $343M, respectively.
- However, the median late-stage valuation fell to $1,05B, scarcely above the $1B mark that it reached in 2021.
- That appears to be related to a 30% decline in mega-rounds, which funneled a total of $73.6B to late-stage companies.
- That figure made up just over 50% of all funding, down from 59% in Q4’21.
- Between IPOs and SPACs, the exit activity on the public market fell 45% QoQ. M&A was flat, with 2,983 deals in total.
- The U.S. provided 40% of all exits, followed by Europe with 34%.
- Asia produced more IPOs than any other region, with a total of 91.
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Jüsto, a Mexico City-based online grocer, raised $152M Series B to pursue the $600B online grocery market in Latin America. The round was led by General Atlantic and included existing investors Tarsadia Capital, Citius, Arago Capital, Foundation Capital, and Quiet Capital. More: - The 2019-founded company has now raised over $250M to date, with its previous $65M Series A funding round coming just over a year ago in Feb. 2021.
- Its business model was tailor-made for the pandemic. Revenues grew 16x throughout 2020.
- CEO Ricardo Weder noted that the market for online grocery is expanding rapidly in LatAm: While it previously stood at 1% of grocery purchases, it has reached 3% and is reportedly growing aggressively.
- In its home market of Mexico, the company has grown five times in the last year and can boast of a 99.4% fulfillment.
- It recently expanded to Peru and São Paulo, Brazil. Between all of its markets, it claims 100,000 users, a figure it expects to grow to over a million by year’s end.
A little context: - The online grocery industry in the U.S. is poised to grow to $187.7B by 2024, up from $95.8B in 2020.
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- The global value of art expected to grow by 53% by 2026
- Blue-chip art prices outpaced the S&P 500 by 164% from 1995-2021
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 After peaking in Q4’21 with 104 new mergers, SPAC activity collapsed last quarter with only 66 completed deals, reports CB Insights. That marked the end of a bull market dating back to Q3’20 when SPAC hype began. The fall can be explained by looking at SPACs’ performance: One index tracking their movements fell 37% last year. More: - The fast slide comes in tangent with a fast decline in new SPAC filings.
- In the most recent quarter, only 65 new SPACs were launched with a total value of $8.6B.
- That is a slip from 179 deals valued together at $30B in the previous quarter and well below the over 300 new vehicles launched with an aggregate value of over $82B a year earlier.
- While some remain bullish on SPACs, an increasing redemption rate (by which investors pull out their money before a deal is completed) has put many would-be participants on edge.
- In the first two months of 2022, the average redemption rate for a SPAC merger reached 80%, meaning four out of five investors abandoned the vehicle.
- That is up from about 50% in 2021 and just 20% in 2020.
- With this level of skittishness pervasive among institutional investors, it is no wonder that the SPAC market has cooled.
- The top 75 investment managers reportedly held almost 70% of all SPAC securities as of late 2020.
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Improbable, a video game startup pivoting toward the metaverse, raised $150M led by existing backers Andreessen Horowitz and SoftBank. Founded in 2012, the London-based startup began by offering software to support large-scale online multiplayer games. More: - Starting with a wave of funding in 2017, the company raised $550M and pushed its valuation to about $2B.
- The latest funding is specifically geared toward Improbable’s new project called M², which is a blockchain-enabled system allowing separate virtual worlds to connect with one another.
- That entity was valued at $1B and is distinct from Improbable itself.
- The transition started as Improbable encountered repeated setbacks, including the failure of multiple games using its tech and high turnover among its top leaders.
- It claims that a deep pivot in its R&D and tech stack will allow it to combine its previous efforts to increase player amounts with a platform blurring the boundaries between different games.
- The idea will use NFTs to link to virtual objects like toys or outfits in these digital spaces.
- Beyond a16z and SoftBank, Digital Currency Group, Ethereal Ventures, and CMT participated in the round.
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 A message from ADOBE COMMERCE Strong in digital commerce and a Leader in the Magic Quadrant. In the 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Digital Commerce, Adobe was named a Leader among 17 vendors. Gartner® evaluates digital commerce vendors on their “completeness of vision” and “ability to execute.” Find out why Adobe was named a Leader for Digital Commerce among 17 vendors in the Q3 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant report. Strengths - Global reach: Adobe has the most diverse geographic presence of all the vendors evaluated in this Magic Quadrant. It also has the largest number of service partners spread across all major markets, making it easier for organizations to find partners in their local markets.
- Out-of-the-box functionality: Adobe has comprehensive OOTB functionality that can fulfill requirements from basic to medium levels of complexity. It supports multiple user roles, multistores, catalog management, marketplace integration, promotions and discounts, language, and currencies, all with good granular control. It has a native CMS (Page Builder) and a Progressive Web Apps (PWA) studio with reference storefront.
- Admin UI: Adobe has a modern and intuitive UI that can be configured based on user role. It supports multiple import mechanisms for product data, and can integrate with multiple sources and analytics tools, making it easy for admins to focus on outcomes.
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 Today’s Funding 💸 Adtech/Martech - TAPPP (New York, N.Y.), marketing company enabling customer engagement and retention: $10M B led by Accomplice, Verance Capital, participation from Stephen Pagliuca, Peter Tomozawa, ADvantage, Permit Ventures, Oakvale Capital.
Biotech/Health - Eleanor Health (Waltham, Mass.), addiction and mental health provider delivering: $50M C led by General Catalyst, participation from Warburg Pincus, Town Hall Ventures, et al.
- Rona Therapeutics (Shanghai, China), RNA therapeutics: $33M A from Lilly Asia Ventures, CMB International, Platanus, Fontus Capital, Lanting Capital.
- Eon (Denver, Colo.), incidental findings and screening patient management: $16M led by Integrity Growth Partners, participation from UCHealth’s CARE Innovation Center, CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, 25m Health.
- Doceree (Parsippany, N.J.), global network of physician-only platforms for programmatic messaging: $10M A led by Eight Roads Ventures, participation from F-Prime Capital, Alkemi Growth Capital.
Blockchain - Coin Metrics (Boston, Mass.), crypto financial intelligence: $35M C led by Acrew Capital, BNY Mellon, participation from Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Investments, Highland Capital Partners, et al.
Consumer - Groups360 (Nashville, Tenn.), platform for booking group travel: $35M led by Zigg Capital, participation from Blackstone Innovations Investments, Fir Tree Partners.
- The Parentic (Singapore), D2C parenting company: $22M led by East Ventures, participation from Central Retail Corporation, WHG Holdings.
Creator - SamCart (Austin, Texas), provider of an e-commerce platform built for creators: $82M B led by Eldridge, participation from TTV Capital, Fin VC, George Kaiser Foundation, eGateway Capital.
- Instoried (Bengaluru, India), web platform to help people craft empathetic and effective written content: $10M A led by Pritt Investment Partners, 9 Unicorns, participation from Mumbai Angels, SOSV, Venture Catalysts Angel Fund.
Energy - e-Zinc (Toronto, Canada), zinc-air battery: $25M A led by Anzu Partners, participation from BDC Capital, Toyota Ventures, Eni Next, Energy Foundry.
Enterprise - Lilt (San Francisco, Calif.), AI-powered business translation software: $55M C led by Four Rivers, participation from Sorenson Capital, CLEAR Ventures, Wipro Ventures.
- OpenPhone (San Francisco, Calif.), modern phone system for business: $40M B led by Tiger Global, participation from Craft Ventures, Slow Ventures, Garage Capital, Worklife Ventures, et al.
- Kumo (San Francisco, Calif.), SaaS AI platform for the modern data stack that allows businesses to make smart predictions: $18.5M A led by Sequoia Capital, participation from A Capital, SV Angel, Ron Conway, Igor Perisic, et al.
Fintech - Ellevest (New York, N.Y.), financial company focused on women: $53M B led by BMO Family Office, Contour Venture Partners, participation from Halogen Ventures, Cleo Capital, Stardust Equity, The Venture Collective, Envestnet, et al.
Foodtech - Better Origin (Cambridge, U.K.), platform to turn food waste into animal feed: $16M A led by Balderton Capital.
Insurtech - Sigo Seguros (Austin, Texas), insurtech startup focused on serving Latinx and immigrant communities: $5.4M Seed led by Listen Ventures, Chingona Ventures, participation from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, ERA’s Remarkable Ventures, Kern Venture Group, et al.
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Quick Hits - Early-stage Indian investor Elevation Capital raised $670M for its eighth vehicle. The fund is almost twice as large as its $400M predecessor, which was closed in Oct. 2020.
- LionBird, a digital health investment outside, raised a third VC fund with $85M to distribute between 15-18 U.S.- or Israel-based startups.
- Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce company with backing from Walmart, has upped its IPO range to boost its target valuation to $60B-$70B. The company also delayed any possible listing until 2023 due to market conditions.
- Airbyte, an open-source data integration platform, bought Grouparoo, an open-source enterprise data sync platform for warehouses and cloud-based tools, for an undisclosed sum.
- NetApp has bought open-source database provider Instaclustr for an undisclosed sum to build out its cloud data management offerings.
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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. | |
Did you know contemporary art outpaced the S&P 500 by 164% from 1995-2021? Now you do. Get access | |
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