Investments in Canadian startups in the first quarter reached the second-highest amount on record, totaling $3.5B (CA$4.5B). The information, communications, and technology sector garnered over 70% of the total venture capital, according to a Bloomberg report. However, the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association anticipate the funding pace to decrease, citing the current market conditions and the drop in the stock market. More: - The stock market's downturn, decreasing company valuations, rising inflation, soaring interest rates, and geopolitical concerns have contributed to dwindling investor interest in the current market.
- The CVCA association noted that “Venture capital activity in 2022 will likely see a delayed reaction to the slowdown experienced on public markets.”
- Exit opportunities for venture firms have also reduced, with the quarter ending with only 12 exits and no initial public offerings.
- According to a second study, the CVCA reported a record 42 private equity exits in the first quarter, however none via IPO.
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Nik Storonksy, the co-founder of Revolut, is set to launch a new venture capital firm named Quantum Light Capital. The company expects to raise $200M in capital, with Storonksy expected to invest along with other investors. The venture fund will leverage artificial intelligence to identify potential opportunities and grow startups. Quantum Light is building its own proprietary quantitative decision-making engine called Aleph. More: - Quantum will focus its investments on Series B and Series C funding rounds.
- Storonksy is known for co-founding Revolut — a British fintech startup providing mobile banking, card payment, money transfer, and foreign exchange services — along with Vladyslav Yatsenko.
- Revolut’s valuation crossed $33B in July last year, with the company amassing over $1.8B in venture capital to date.
- Storonsky’s Revolut stake is estimated to be worth $7.1B.
- However, Storonksy has found the VC fundraising experience “pretty frustrating” and started a new venture capital firm to bring technological advancements to the industry.
- Storonsky is himself an angel investor with notable portfolio investments including Swedish fintech startup Tink and French digital health company Alan.
- Visa acquired Tink for $2.1B in June 2021.
- Alan raised $193M in May at a $2.8B valuation.
Zoom out: - Many venture capital funds use similar AI technologies to identify new investment opportunities.
- Notable peers include Social Capital, EQT Ventures, and Blossom Capital.
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German venture capital firm Earlybird closed its oversubscribed seventh fund with ~$370M (€350M) in commitments. The Western European early-stage startup fund reached its hard cap. Enterprise software, fintech, deep tech, and sustainability firms will be the focus of the Earlybird Digital West fund VII investments. More: - Aleph Alpha, Deed, Finmid, Hive Technologies, HiveMQ, Marvel Fusion, MAYD, Remberg, Sikoia, and ThingsTHINKING are among the new and current portfolio firms that Earlybird Digital West has invested in with this new fund.
- In total, 17 investments have been made from the new fund.
- Since its founding in 1997, the firm has backed several unicorn startups, namely N26, UiPath, Aiven, and OneFootball, amongst others.
- German retail bank N26 recently secured $900M in funding.
- The new fund will be managed by its Digital West investment team.
- A few years ago, Earlybird split into Earlybird West and East.
- The East division was responsible for Central Europe and Turkey-based startup’s investment.
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New York-based Unit, a banking services provider for businesses, achieved a $1.2B valuation with the latest equity financing. The $100M Series C funding round was led by Insight Partners. The company's current valuation is 4.7 times greater than its previous valuation of $255M and 67 times its projected revenue of $18M this year. More: - Unit develops software that enables businesses to provide financial services such as payments, loans, and credit cards.
- Since its launch in 2019, the company has amassed over 140 clients, issued 430,000 cards, grew customers to 330,000, and crossed annualized transaction volumes of $2.6B.
- Notable clients include companies like AngelList, Roofstock, Invoice2Go, Forage, and Mos.
- Partnered banking institutions include Piermont Bank, Blue Ridge Bank, and Choice Bank.
- The company intends to use the incoming funds to hire more workforce and accelerate product development.
- Itai Damti, co-founder and CEO of Unit, believes the company's balance sheet has been reinforced with the new funding with enough capital to continue the company’s growth through 2032.
- The funding round saw participation from Accel, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Flourish Ventures, Moving Capital, and Stepstone.
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California-based database startup Imply Data Inc. cemented its unicorn status with a $100M Series D fundraise, valuing the firm at $1.1B. Thoma Bravo led the funding round. New investor OMERS Growth Equity participated in the funding along with existing investors Bessemer Venture Funds, Andreessen Horowitz, and Khosla Ventures. More: - To date, Imply has raised $215M in financing.
- Incoming funds will be used to accelerate product development and increase its workforce.
- Imply was founded by creators of real-time analytics database Apache Druid and has customers including Salesforce, Atlassian, Reddit, and Intercontinental Exchange.
- Imply’s database helps developers build scalable analytic applications using real-time live data.
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Storyblok, an Austria-based content management system (CMS) platform, raised $47M in financing. The Series B funding round was led by Mubadala Capital and HV Capital. Proceeds from the funding will facilitate product development and expansion into the U.S., Europe, and the APAC region. More: - Prior to the current financing, the company had secured $11M in funding, with its last fundraise being an $8.5M Mubadala-led Series A investment in Feb. 2021.
- Over 74,000 companies have leveraged Storyblok’s platform, collectively building over 120,000 projects.
- Notable clients include Netflix, Adidas, T-Mobile, and Deliveroo, amongst others.
- 3VC and firstminute capital participated in the funding round.
- The Storyblok platform provides a simple CMS solution for non-technical users, such as marketers.
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- Cybersecurity focussed venture capital firm Ballistic Ventures announced its inaugural fund with a targeted close of $300M. The fund has already invested in Concentric AI, Nudge Security, Pangea, and Veza with proceeds from the new fund.
- Good Growth Capital, a majority-women and minority-led venture funding firm, concluded its third oversubscribed fund with $100M in capital. The fund will invest in early-stage startups, through pre-seed to Series B stages, working in the fields of biomedical, health sciences, greentech, data science, and material sciences.
- Warehouse and logistics robotics firm GreyOrange announced a new $110M growth financing round backed by Mithril Capital Management and BlackRock.
- Indian B2B fashion brand marketplace and supply chain platform Fashinza raised $100M in a Series B funding round led by Prosus Ventures and Westbridge. Accel, Elevation, ADQ, and others participated in the funding.
- Texas-based Infinitum Electric secured $80M in a Series D funding round led by Riverstone Holdings and Alliance Resource Partners. The firm manufacturers its patented air-core motors used in electric vehicles.
- Vivun, a pre-sales buyer experience software provider, raised $75M in a Series C funding round led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from Tiger Global, Menlo Ventures, Accel, and Unusual Ventures.
- AI-driven construction management platform Buildots secured $60M in Series C funding co-led by Viola Growth and O.G. Tech with participation from TLV Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Future Energy Ventures, and others.
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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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