Swedish firm EQT Ventures has closed a $1.1B fund to invest in EU, U.S., and U.K. startups. The firm has invested in nine unicorns, including Wolt, Small Giant Games, and Instabox. More: - Since being founded in 2018, the firm has had 18 exits and has seen nine out of its 100 portfolio companies reach unicorn valuation.
- EQT Ventures has already deployed funds from this round and invested in 13 startups.
- The firms' typical investment check ranges from $1M to 50M, two-thirds of which are meant to be deployed in Europe and the rest in the U.S. and U.K.
- EQT Ventures will focus on startups that are working in verticals such as climate, transportation, and software tools for freelancers.
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Positive Group has raised a $110M funding round to boost the growth of its email and SMS marketing tools. In addition to the round, the company has also acquired Marketing 1BY1, a data platform company. More: - Positive Group builds email and SMS-based marketing tools and software solutions that automate enterprise workflows. It also offers other advanced marketing solutions feature such as live chat and chatbot support.
- The company claims it has over 25,000 customers and expects this year's revenue to surpass $30M.
- Positive Group targets SMEs but also provides services for large enterprises.
- Marketing 1BY1 offers a solution that allows clients to centralize, analyze, and animate data. The platform aims to enable its users to create a customized CRM solution that caters to their specific requirements.
- Both Positive Group and Marketing 1BY1 are based in France.
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Beekeeper has raised a $50M Series C funding round to improve the connection between frontline employees and employers by offering an all-in-one messaging and scheduling platform. Beekeeper works with clients such as Hilton and Cargill. More: - Beekeeper's platform enables companies to send text messages, have voice and video calls, add chatbots, send shift schedules, upload documents, have data analytics, etc.
- The company states the pandemic boosted its growth because businesses are now focusing on how to improve their entire workflow and make it more efficient, which revolves entirely around digitization.
- In addition to Hilton and Cargill, Beekeeper works with 1,000+ companies, including Concord Hotels, Wanzek Construction, Life Time Inc., Wells Enterprises, etc.
- EGSB, Kreos Capital, Energize, Thayer, SwissCanto, Keen Ventures, Alpana, and Verve Capital participated in the round.
- The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
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Laika has raised a $50M Series C funding round to help companies comply with security regulations. The company claims its active user base has grown 1,000% YoY. More: - Laika aims to make regulation compliance for tech companies simple by offering an automated platform that checks for irregularities in compliance but also offers auditing, pen testing, and advice.
- The company says 87% of its clients choose the paid subscription plan that includes the abovementioned IT audits.
- Laika claims that, on average, its customers achieve 60% faster SOC 2 audits and complete audits in weeks, much faster than the industry standard.
- Laika has grown its staff by 50% so far in 2022, a factor that has helped the company reach more users than ever before, according to the company.
- This Series C round was led by Fin Capital with participation from Centana Growth Partners, J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners, Canapi, and ThirdPrime.
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Today's funding 💵 SaaS - Mytraffic (France), provides a location analytics platform for shopping centers, retailers, and other locations: $30M B led by AXA Venture Partners.
- Exotanium (New York), provides a cloud resource optimization and management platform: $12M A led by Cambium Capital and Celesta Capital.
Hardware -
Infinitum (Texas), produces sustainable air core motor: $30M Growth led by Riverstone Holdings Latin America, Alliance Resource Partners, Caterpillar Venture Capital, and Cottonwood Technology Fund. Crypto/Web3 - Fordefi (New York), an MPC wallet and a security platform for Defi: $18M Seed led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Electric Capital, Alameda Research, Jump Crypto, Castle Island, Pantera Capital, Illuminate Financial, PayPal Alumni Fund, Nima Capital, Digital Currency Group, Defiance Capital and StarkWare.
Gaming Robotics - MOV.AI (Israel), provides a robotic engine platform for autonomous mobile robots: $8.2M Growth led by Bowe Group.
Health tech - Agamon Health (Israel), a digital health startup that aims to increase patient follow-up checked: $5M Growth led by eHealth Ventures.
- Wesper (New York), offers an FDA-approved platform to bring the full cycle of sleep therapy to homes: $7.5M A led by Ceros Capital Markets.
Biotech -
actnano (Massachusetts), a nanotechnology company working on connectors, antennas, LEDs, etc.: $8M Growth led by Liquidity Group, with participation from BMW i Ventures, Porsche Ventures, and Henkel. Beauty/Wellness - Peace Out Skincare (California), provides skincare products that aim to remove patches, acne, and dark spots: $20M Growth led by 5th Century Partners.
Fintech Cybersecurity -
Veriti (Israel), a security platform that aims to protect key infrastructure: $18.5M Growth led by Insight Partners, NFX, and AMITI.
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Quick Hits: - Looking to upgrade your expense management software AND planning a flight in the near future? Demo Divvy by Nov. 10 and get a $250 Delta Airlines gift card.*
- Octopus Ventures led an $8.6M round for Apheris, a platform for creating collaborative data ecosystems.
- Nammu21 (New York), an integrated platform that deconstructs loan documents into digital data, raised a $5M Series A led by XBTO Humla Ventures with participation from CoinShares, Circle Ventures, Citi, and Galaxy.
- Yeti Capital and The Artisan Group led a $3.5M Seed investment round for home-delivery food service company Proper Good.
- Independent retail media platform Zitcha raised $2.9M in a Seed funding round led by OIF Ventures.
- U.K.-based startup Evo, a platform to digitize property repairs, maintenance, and compliance services, raised $883,000 from GroVentive.
*This is sponsored content.
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Upcoming events at Inside: - November 09 - Synthetic data for more efficient, robust and ethical model development - Live AMA with Yashar Behzadi (CEO and Founder of Synthesis AI)* (Register Here)
- November 29 - Learn about concrete 3D printed houses: how it works, market snapshot and investment opportunity. (Register Here) *
- January 31 - Growth Summit'23 (Register Here)
*This is a sponsored listing.
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 |  | Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. |   | | 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 and 1972 Fords. | |
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