The U.K. government has called on the local venture capital industry to submit proposals for new avenues to raise funding, a regulatory move that could potentially allow regional pension funds to participate in the funding. Unlike the U.S., Canada, and Australia, where pension funds have backed several startups and, in turn, passed on the profits to pensioners, the U.K. pension funds have faced legislative barriers and seem risk-averse to backing startups. Despite garnering a record-breaking $32.9B in VC investment in 2021, the U.K. Government is acutely aware of the need for more capital, now more so than ever, as the nation pins its hopes on becoming a global center of innovation in the post-Brexit period. More: - In order to curb the cost incurred by pensioners, the U.K. Government had introduced a 0.75% annual management cap fee in 2015, a move that Amadeus Capital Partners' co-founder and CEO Anne Glover believes restricted pension funds from investing in VC.
- Her proposal involves eliminating the management cost cap on carried interest.
- Glover further believes that pension funds need to have a growth mindset while investing in venture capital and advises looking past the interim volatility to focus on the end goals.
- Saul Klein, a founding partner at London-based LocalGlobe, believes that pension funds need to first "significantly upskill" their asset allocations and train individuals in "allocating assets broadly within the innovation economy."
- Canadian OMERS Ventures, a venture arm of OMERS pension fund with currently $121B of assets under management, serves as an ideal blueprint for diversified investments.
- Global managing partner Damien Steel notes that "when you get to a certain size, any properly diversified portfolio should have an allocation to venture capital. Any healthy, balanced portfolio should have some small allocation whether that's 1-3% of total assets."
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Homeownership financing platform Knock closed its previously announced funding round with $220M in capital. The funding round includes a $70M equity tranche and $150M in debt financing. Knock will use the incoming proceeds to supplement the company’s growth and scale its operations. More: - Foundry Group led the funding round with participation from Greycroft, First American Financial, RRE Ventures, Company Ventures, Second Century Ventures, and the National Association of Realtors.
- Director M Night Shyamalan and The Agency co-founder Mauricio Umansky participated in the funding.
- Since its founding in 2015, the New York-based company has raised $900M in equity and debt funding to date.
- Over a year ago, the company planned to debut on the public market with a $2B valuation.
- The company expected to raise $400M from the public offering.
- However, Knock shelved its plans considering the market volatility.
- In March this year, the company reduced its workforce by 46%, despite reporting triple-digit growth in revenue and gross profit and expanding operations to 70 national markets.
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 A message from AXONIUS On July 14, 2021, the world welcomed a newborn. Named Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM), Gartner announced its arrival in the Hype Cycle for Network Security 2021. New acronyms and repackaged tools aimed at IT and security professionals pop up every year, though. So what makes CAASM different? What’s driving its adoption? And how can we expect it to impact cybersecurity initiatives? We’re here to answer these important questions and help you navigate the new world of CAASM. Download “From Asset Management to Asset Intelligence: Crossing the CAASM” now to learn: - The history behind CAASM
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Ecuadorian payments infrastructure facilitator Kushki's valuation soared past the unicorn threshold with its $100M Series B extension funding round. The recent valuation of $1.5B gave the firm the distinction of becoming Ecuador's first unicorn startup. The extension financing brings the total secured under the Series B funding round to $186M after initially closing the first tranche at $86M at a $600M post-money valuation in June 2021. More: - Existing investors, including Kaszek Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, SoftBank Latin America Fund, DILA Capital, and others, doubled down on the extension financing.
- Kushki reported 200% revenue growth last year, with its latest 2022 quarter registering 100% YoY growth.
- The startup, which already operates in Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Chile, will use the incoming funds to further develop its payment infrastructure to cater to the entire Latin American region, which is estimated to be worth $175B by 2025.
- Plans are in place to commence operations in Brazil and Central America soon.
- Kushki reports processing over $30B in transactions per year, averaging about 75,000 transactions every second.
- Its preceding Series A round closed with $8M in capital provided by Dila Capital, Magma Partners, Kaszek Ventures, and Clocktower Ventures.
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Visual merchandising SaaS platform nfinite raised $100M in Series B financing. The company provides CGI 3D visualization tools for retail and e-commerce companies. Last year, nfinite announced a tenfold increase in annual recurring income, boosted by the addition of three of the top five worldwide retailers as clients. Insight Partners led the current fundraising, bringing its total funds raised to date to $130M. More: - The funding round saw participation from U.S. Venture Partners, the lead investor from its previous $15M Series A funding round in February earlier this year.
- Nfinite aims to be the focal part of the booming e-commerce industry, which is forecasted to grow 50% to reach $7.4T in sales over the next four years.
- The French startup intends to use the proceeds to increase the size of its sales and marketing teams, build out its 3D marketplace, and scale its business across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
- The U.S. currently accounts for 80% of the company’s revenue.
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Swiss biotechnology company ImmunOs Therapeutics secured $74M in financing from its Series B funding round. The clinical-stage biotech company is developing therapeutics to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases using its HLA-based platform. Samsara BioCapital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Gimv led the fundraiser. More: - Other participants in the funding round include Mission BioCapital, GL Capital, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, Fiscus Financial, Pfizer Ventures, BioMed Partners, and Schroder Adveq.
- ImmunOs intends to use the fresh funding to advance its lead program through Phase-2 clinical trial stages and other oncology and autoimmune disease programs towards clinical development.
- With a view to advancing its clinical trials in the U.S. and expanding its international reach, the company recently established a U.S.-based subsidiary.
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Brazilian enterprise messaging automation and chatbot platform Take Blip received a $70M Series B capital infusion led by Warburg Pincus. The company offers automated business communication tools to over 3,000 clients across healthcare, retail, consumer goods, fintech, and logistics sectors, most notably including Coca-Cola, Nestle, Nextel, and Truckpad, amongst others. More: - Take Blip aims to advance product development, support strategic acquisitions, and drive customer acquisition with the incoming funds.
- The funding round brings the total funds secured by the company to date to $170M, with its previous fundraise coming in the form of a $100M Series A led by Warburg Pincus.
- The company added 50,000 users to its platform this year, taking the total to 240,000 users and driving $100M in annual recurring revenue in the recent quarter.
- It has over 1,300 employees.
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- The dip in venture funding, valuations, and IPO debuts have provided venture-backed startups an opportunity to acquire other startups at a lower cost. A TechCrunch report notes that such deals are getting more frequent, as this year, 663 startups were scooped up this year, almost half of 2021’s total of 1,283.
- Tencent Holdings’ portfolio fleet management company G7 Connect is set to merge with Alibaba-backed E6. G7, valued at $2.2B prior to the merger, is expected to go public via the Hong Kong stock exchange later this year. The combined entity will take on G7’s name but will continue to operate independently.
- Hammoq, an AI-powered goods returns and resale process automation platform for resellers, liquidators, and retail businesses, raised $24M in equity and debt financing led by Sierra Ventures and with participation from Origin Ventures.
- San Francisco-based last-mile delivery management software platform Onfleet secured Series B capital worth $23M. Kayne Partners led the funding round along with backing from Savant Growth.
- Crypto tax and accounting platform Ledgible received $20M in funding via an EJF Silvergate Ventures Fund-led Series A fundraiser. Thomson Reuters Ventures, TTV Capital, Fenbushi US, Commerce Ventures, and others supported the Atlanta-based company’s funding round.
- Accomplice, Argon, Founder Collective, and REV led a $7M Series A funding round into Washington-based no-code data science and big data analytics platform Gigasheet.
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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. | |
CAASM is on the rise - but what exactly does it mean? Read this ebook to find out why it’s relevant. Read Now. | |
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