Venture capitalists are still betting on the crypto sector despite the current market conditions. According to data from PitchBook, VCs invested $17.5B in digital currency and blockchain startups in the first half of the year. These investments are on track to surpass last year’s record of $26.9B. Over $2T has been wiped out from the crypto market, with Bitcoin and Ethereum down more than 60% from their peaks in November. More: - In North America, VCs invested $11.4B in the crypto sector in the first half of the year compared to $15.6B invested in the entire year of 2021.
- Some of the biggest crypto deals in the U.S. this year include a $400M raise by the U.S. arm of crypto exchange FTX; a $450M raise by blockchain developer ConsenSys in March; and a $400M raise by stablecoin issuer Circle in April.
- In Europe, VCs invested $2.2B in crypto firms in H1.
- According to The Information, VCs are rethinking their investment strategies in the space.
- Blockchain startups with B2B models have appeared unaffected by the volatility in the crypto markets and are still raising $100M-plus rounds compared to their consumer-facing counterparts.
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Germany has approved a €30B ($30B) fund dubbed Future Fund to support homegrown technology-oriented startups. The German cabinet approved the fund on Wednesday as part of a larger strategy to make the country a more attractive location for startups and innovation. The government plans to partner with private investors and tap into €10B ($10B) of public money from the state-owned lender KfW. More: - Venture Capital investment has been increasing in Germany in recent years but is still behind some of its European counterparts.
- The government hopes the new fund will encourage more homegrown startups and growth companies to remain in the EU long term.
- Most of these companies are financed by U.S. investors, often incentivizing the most successful startups to relocate.
- Germany is also looking to lower barriers for foreigners seeking work in the country’s tech sector and increase the tax-exempt amount for employee stock options.
- Germany’s Startup Association applauded the strategy for highlighting the importance of startups to Germany’s long-term competitiveness but said it fell short on the issue of taxation.
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Venture capital firm Upfront Ventures received $650M worth of capital commitments from LPs. The funds are distributed across three funds, with $280M earmarked to invest in early-stage startups, $250M for growth-stage firms, and the remaining $175M toward its continuation fund. The Los Angeles-based reported that it had returned over $600M to its LPs since 2021, bringing its total returned sum since 2018 to more than $1B. More: - With the funds under its seventh early-stage fund, the firm aims to continue investing in 12-15 companies per year, with individual check sizes averaging $3M.
- For best-performing companies in its portfolio, it intends to write follow-on checks ranging from $10M to $15M from the growth fund.
- The fund will back startups across healthcare, biotech, defense technology, computer vision, agtech, fintech, enterprise software, and gaming infrastructure.
- Around 40% of the firm’s capital will be deployed in Los Angeles, with the remaining for other regions.
- Upfront’s existing portfolio companies include Apeel Sciences, Invoca, Goat, Clair, and Ÿnsect.
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Sustainable crop health solutions provider Enko received $70M in Series C funding led by Australian-headquartered agrochemical company Nufarm. The funding brought the firm’s total capital raised to date to $140M and increased the valuation of the firm to $320M. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which led Enko’s $45M Series B funding round in June 2020, joined the fundraising along with other investors. More: - Enko’s ENKOMPASS technology platform leverages machine learning and crop pests’ genomic sequencing data to develop targeted crop protection herbicide and pesticide products.
- Nufarm and Bayer, two major pesticide producers, use Enko’s products.
- The Mystic, Conn.-based firm intends to use the incoming proceeds to advance its product pipeline and expand the scope of its technology platform.
- The funds will also extend the firm’s runway to two years.
- Other investors in the fundraising include Anterra Capital, Eight Roads Ventures, Finistere Ventures, Novalis LifeSciences, Germin8 Ventures, Endeavor8, and Alumni Ventures Group, amongst others.
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Concept Ventures has launched a £50M ($60M) pre-seed fund backed by the U.K. government. The fund is the largest dedicated pre-seed fund in the U.K. It includes a $36M (£30M) commitment from the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) program, the U.K.’s economic development bank. More: - The ECF program aims to close the early-stage equity funding gap by providing finance and support to young and diverse, high-potential businesses at the pre-seed stage.
- Concept Ventures plans to invest in 60 startups over the next five years.
- Investment checks would range from $120,000 (£100,000) to $722,000 (£600,000).
- Concept Ventures was founded in 2018 and has invested in over 100 founders at the pre-seed stage.
- About 71% of their portfolio companies have graduated from pre-seed onward.
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British firm Onto secured $60M from its Series C funding round led by Legal & General. Onto provides an electric car subscription service in the U.K., which includes insurance, servicing, and free public charging. Incoming funds will enable the firm to expand its presence into Germany by 2023, with an aim to further expand into other European markets. More: - To date, the firm has secured over $330M in equity and debt financing.
- Onto raised $175M from its Alfven & Didrikson-led Series B round last July.
- The Series B lead investor participated in the current funding round along with other existing backers, including Accelerated Digital Ventures, Campden Hill, Cerebrum Tech Limited, and Jim O’Neill’s family office.
- Onto reported a 500% growth in its subscription customer base last year, despite being affected by semiconductor shortages.
- The firm’s Onto for Business subscription service launched in 2020 has seen over 100 corporate customers, which have secured 600 vehicles for their employees.
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- EV automaker Faraday Future is looking to raise $325M from investors as it grapples with supply chain issues and rising raw material costs. The firm has delayed the start of production of its FF 91 EV to Q3 or Q4. In the near future, it intends to raise $200M through a PIPE investment.
- BlackRock and Acies Investment led a $35M Series B funding round into fantasy sports platform Underdog. Existing investors Mark Cuban, Odell Beckham Jr, and The Chainsmokers participated in the funding, which values the firm at $485M.
- Small-molecule drug development biotech firm BridGene Biosciences Inc closed its Series B funding round with $38.5M in capital provided by Lapam Capital, Junson Capital, and Dyee Capital.
- Sovrn, a platform that helps publishers grow their businesses, raked in $36M in Series C equity funding. Foundry, Archer Venture Capital, Lexington Partners, Structural Capital, and Progress Ventures participated in the funding, along with others.
- Launch House, a community connecting entrepreneurs and creators, announced its inaugural early-stage Web3 fund called House Capital. The fund received $10M in capital commitments from LPs, including Andrew Chen and Sriram Krishnan, general partners at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z); and James Currier, general partner at NFX.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. | | | | 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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