A group of billionaires is investing $175M to acquire a 3.3% stake in Josh Kushner's venture firm Thrive Capital. The investment values the firm at $5.3B, up from its previous valuation of $3.6B in 2021. More: - Josh Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, founded the firm in 2009.
- The New York-based firm had over $15B worth of assets under management last year.
- The venture firm last closed a $3B Thrive Capital Partners Fund VIII in February 2022.
- Thrive's portfolio includes stakes in Oscar Health, Compass, Affirm Holdings, Unity Software, Hims & Hers Health, and SKIMS.
- The new investment into the firm was given by billionaires Mukesh Ambani, Paulo Lemann, Xavier Niel, Henry Kravis, and Robert Iger, having a combined net worth of over $123B.
| |
ChatGPT and DALL-E creator OpenAI is set to receive a multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment from existing backer Microsoft. The deal's exact value was kept confidential. However, Semafor reported earlier this month that Microsoft was planning to invest $10B into the firm. OpenAI intends to use the proceeds to further develop its AI products and support independent research. More: - The news comes following Microsoft's announcement last week confirming the general availability of its Azure OpenAI Service, which will give its customers access to GPT 3.5, Codex, and DALL-E tools.
- Microsoft previously invested $1B into the AI startup in 2019.
- Microsoft's current investment will reportedly remain capped, per TechCrunch.
Zoom out: - Earlier this month, OpenAI was looking to sell shares to venture capital firms Thrive Capital and Founders Fund through a tender offer at a $29B valuation.
- OpenAI's previous tender offer in 2021 valued the firm at $14B.
| |
 A message from ATHLETIC BREWING Giving dry a try this January? Keep the good times going! Enjoy 50% off your first month when you join the Athletic Club. You’ll get our award-winning brews delivered monthly, while also enjoying members-only perks like early access to brews and merch. Athletic Brewing is: - Great tasting with thousands of 5-star reviews, brewed in the USA
- Non-alcoholic (less than 0.5% ABV)
- Vegan-Friendly
- Low Calorie
With the Athletic Club, we even make it easier than ever to try our brews – from releasing crave-worthy styles on the “reg” to offering free delivery 24/7. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice being at your best to enjoy great brews. Get 50% Off Now
| |
Boutique investment bank Lazard is building a team and has hired six specialist bankers to establish its venture and growth investing practice in the U.S. The venture division will target technology- and healthcare-focused startups. The move will help the firm grow beyond M&A advisory, although it comes against a venture funding slowdown backdrop. More: - Lazard's CEO of financial advisory business, Peter Orszag, said, "This is part of an overall strategy, which is to make sure that Lazard is not just the mega-cap, buy-side M&A work but has a variety of different verticals, including a significant private capital effort."
- Christopher Britton and Amy Cozamanis are co-leading the new practice as managing directors.
- Per the Financial Times, Lazard has already established a 25-member team based in Los Angeles and Austin.
Zoom out: - The firm started its European venture practice in 2015.
- The bank's venture and growth unit raised $3B last year to back tech companies.
| |
Canadian startups secured $10.3B in venture capital throughout 2022, the second-highest year on record after 2021's record-setting total of $13B. The venture funding market in the nation showed signs of resilience after increasing slightly to $1.9B in Q4 2022 from $1.6B in Q3. More: - Overall, 1,080 deals were completed in 2022, down from 1,361 in 2021.
- Corporate venture funding saw a 15% drop from $5.9B in 2021 to $5B in 2022.
- Exit opportunities trailed below 2021's figures but remained above the number of exits seen in all the past years.
- In total, there were 104 exits in the year with a cumulative value of $8B.
- The KPMG report expects fintech, biotech, cleantech, cybersecurity, machine learning, and artificial intelligence startups to receive strong investor interest in 2023.
| |
 A message from LAIKA How Laika Can Help Your Company Become SOC 2 Compliant Your business needs SOC 2. But building compliance from scratch is complicated, time-consuming, and the cost can be crippling. Laika has you covered. Uncomplicate SOC 2 with our guide for growth-minded founders. In the guide by Laika you’ll learn: - What is SOC 2 compliance and why it matters for your startup
- How to close more deals faster by becoming SOC 2 compliant
- How to prepare for SOC 2 compliance
- What to expect in terms of time and cost
- What to do after the report is in
What makes Laika the authority on SOC 2? They’re the only compliance automation solution that was built by compliance experts. Learn how to turn compliance from a pain point into a secret edge over your competitors. Download Here 
| |
African startups secured $1.55B worth of debt funding in 2022, double the $0.7B secured in 2021, according to Partech Partners. Africa was also the only region in the world to defy the global venture funding pullback trend — which saw VC deployment drop by 35% worldwide — by nabbing 8% more VC funding in 2022, ending the year with $6.5B. African startups may have secured additional debt funding in anticipation of the global venture funding slowdown and challenging environment for future equity fundraising. More: - Fintech and clean technology startups, such as Moove.Africa and D.Light, were able to secure the majority of the debt funding.
- 40% of the total debt funding deployed in the region was secured by Kenya.
- The number of active debt lenders in the region is growing by 2.5% YoY to satisfy the rising demand for debt capital.
- In 2021, African startups could raise $5.3B in equity funding.
- 36% of the total equity funding in 2022 was raised by Nigerian startups.
| |
Web3 and blockchain development platform QuickNode closed its Series B round at $60M, bringing the total raised to date to $105M. The fundraiser valued the firm at $800M. Incoming funds will be targeted toward fueling the firm's expansion and adoption by increasing the team size, growing the product portfolio, and venturing into new regions. More: - 10T Fund led the recent funding with participation from Tiger Global, Seven Seven Six Ventures, and QED Investors.
- Fifteen months ago, the firm raised $35M through its Series A round.
- The firm reported a 300% revenue growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2022.
- The firm provides a blockchain and token API that supports 16 blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and others.
- QuickNode claims that it handles 200 billion API requests monthly.
- Notable customers of the firm include Twitter, Adobe, Coinbase, OpenSea, and Dune Analytics.
| |
Quick Hits: - Employee training is crucial, but building a scalable program for it is complex work. Use this checklist to take yours to the next level.*
- Healthcare and life sciences startups in Indiana nabbed $619.8M in venture funding last year, 43% more than its previous record of $433M from 2021.
- Forward Networks raised $50M in Series D funding led by MSD Partners. Section 32, Omega Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Andreessen Horowitz participated in the funding.
- Reimbursement and spend management platform PayEm secured $20M in Series A equity funding and $200M in debt funding from Voila Credit, Mitsubishi Financial Group, Collaborative Fund, and NFX.
- British early-stage investor Founders Factory partnered with Italian telecom firm Fastweb to establish a venture studio and accelerator in Italy. The new initiative aims to back 30 digital businesses over the next five years.
- German customer journey software startup Zenloop entered insolvency after its €500,000 (~$543,900) bridge loan fell through. Crunchbase data shows that the firm raised €10.9M ($11.8M) in venture funding through seed and Series A rounds to date.
- Revolutionary Talent is the Future of HR. Are you ready to tackle your goals for 2023?*
*This is sponsored content.
| |
Upcoming Events: - January 24 - Inside Startups Coffee Break (Register Here)
- January 25 - Quantum Miami '23 (Register Here)
- January 26 - Growth Experimentation Workshop: From Strategy to Process by GrowthHackers.com (Register Here)
- January 29 - Inside Interview with Lacework - 4 Common Attack Paths in Cloud Security (Register Here)
- January 30 - Inside Coffee Break (Register Here)
- April 18 - Human Resources Summit'23 (Register Here)
| |
 |  | 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 and 1972 Fords. | |
| |
Laika is a unified compliance platform that automates workflows for audits, infosec monitoring, and vendor due diligence in a single, collaborative space. | |
Comments
Post a Comment