AI-powered email security platform Abnormal Security secured $210M in financing led by Insight Partners. The San Francisco-based company’s valuation rose to $4B at the Series C funding round. The company’s AI-driven platform helps thwart social engineering and email attacks. More: - Greylock Partners and Menlo Ventures were the other participants in the funding.
- Over 5% of Fortune 1000 companies leverage Abnormals’s email protection, including notable companies like Xerox, Urban OUtfitters, Royal Caribbean International, and Auto Club Group-AAA.
- To date, the company has secured $284M in total venture funding.
- Incoming funds will help accelerate R&D and expand across Europe, Asia, and Japan.
- The company reported a three-fold increase in annual recurring revenue and doubled its workforce in 2021.
Zoom out: - FBI’s Internet Crime Report notes that business email compromises resulted in $2.4B worth of losses in 2021.
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Energy usage and pricing data aggregator platform Arcadia secured $200M in funding to accelerate product development and expand its data coverage. J.P.Morgan Asset Management led the Series E funding round. The Washington D.C.-based company was valued at $1.45B at the recent fundraise. More: - Arcadia raised $170M in total funding prior to the current round, with its last fundraise being a $100M Series D funding round eight months ago.
- CEO Kiran Bhatraju informed Axios that the current financing round might be its last before it moves ahead with a public offering.
- The funding round saw participation from Tiger Global Management, Triangle Peak Partners, Camber Creek, Wellington Management, Drawdown Fund, and others.
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San Francisco- and Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm YL Ventures announced its fifth fund with $400M in financing. The fund will back Israeli founder-led early-stage companies. With the fresh fund, the company’s total capital under management topped $800M. More: - YL Ventures is hoping to lead investments in 10 startups across the span of the next few years, with a part of the fund reserved for follow-on financing.
- The company reported a net IRR of 110% from its third fund launched in 2017.
- The $130M fund from the YLV III financing vehicle was invested in seven companies.
- Prominent portfolio companies include Israeli cybersecurity companies Axonius and Orca Security, both of which have received unicorn status.
- The company’s successful exit deals include Twistlock, Medigate, Hexadite, and FireLayers.
- Palo Alto Networks acquired the former, with Microsoft acquiring Hexadite.
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Atlanta-based cloud supply chain platform Stord raised $120M in additional Series D funding. The extra funds bring the total Series D financing to $210M. Franklin Templeton led the fundraiser. The company intends to use the incoming money to further develop its logistics and technology and hire employees in the technology division. More: - The company provides a unified platform to manage freight, warehousing, packaging, and last-mile delivery.
- Stord cemented its unicorn status with a $1.3B valuation.
- To date, the company has secured over $325M in financing.
- Existing investors Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, BOND, Susa Ventures, Dynamo Ventures, Lux Capital, and Salesforce Ventures were joined by new investors Sozo Ventures, Strike Capital, and 137 Ventures in the funding.
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- It might be more attainable for employees to exercise their shares
- Having the company transparently share this with employees garners trust and means employees can make more informed decisions regarding their employee stock options
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Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin received $150M in pre-Series B financing. The Jump Crypto-led financing round gave the Seychelles-based company a $10B valuation. The funding round saw participation from Circle Ventures, IDG Capital, and Matrix Partners. More: - CoinMarketCap data indicates KuCoin is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency exchange.
- Its platform facilitates trade in over 700 digital assets.
- The firm reportedly provides services across 207 countries to over 18 million users.
- Incoming funds will enable the company to expand its Web3 offerings with crypto wallets, DeFi, GameFi, and non-fungible tokens.
- The crypto platform launched its own venture capital arm with a $100M commitment in April to back Web3 startups.
- KuCoin last secured $20M in a Series A funding round in Nov. 2018 at a $100M valuation.
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Digital asset trading infrastructure provider Talos closed a Series B funding with $105M in capital. The funding round values the firm at $1.25B. General Atlantic led the financing with participation from BNY Mellon, Citi, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Matrix Capital Management, and others. More: - Talos intends to use the incoming funds to scale its platform, expand into APAC and Europe, and grow its product lines.
- The company grew its team by 400% in the last year.
- Andreessen Horowitz, PayPal Ventures, Fidelity Investments, and other existing investors also backed the funding.
- The New York-headquartered company has secured a total of $145M in capital to date.
- Its last fundraising came in the form of a $40M Andreessen Horowitz-led Series A in May 2021.
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Quick Hits: - From 5x to 10x, VC growth stage revenue multiples have doubled in the past year, according to the 2022 Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Report.*
- Norwegian e-ink note-taking tablet maker reMarkable has raised an undisclosed sum at a $1B valuation. The company has sold over 1 million devices since 2017 and reported $31M in profits with $300M of revenue in 2021.
- Dragonfly Capital announced the final closing of its third crypto-focused venture fund with $650M in commitments from several limited partners, including KKR, Tiger Global, Sequoia China, and others. The oversubscribed fund exceeded its initial target of $250M. Notable portfolio companies include NEAR Protocol, Dune Analytics, Bybit, Matter Labs, and Avalanche, amongst others.
- Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company MOMA Therapeutics closed a $150M Series B financing led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, with participation from Pavilion Capital, Invus, Nextech Invest, and others. The company has a proprietary drug discovery platform helping them in developing next-generation precision medicines.
- Canadian digital manufacturing automation platform Vention secured $95M in Series C financing led by Georgian. Fidelity Investment Canada ULC, White Star Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and Bolt Ventures participated in the funding.
- Sirion Labs, a contract automation and management platform, raised $85M in Series D financing led by Partners Group with participation from Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.
- Pittsburgh-based data automation and optimization platform OtterTune raised $12M in Series A financing led by Intel Capital and Race Capital. Accel participated in the funding.
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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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