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| Hey Insiders, Happy Friday! Cheers to another issue of Inside VC. Here are the highlights: - Saudi Arabia's ongoing investments in U.S.-based companies.
- Zepto emerged as India's first 2023 unicorn.
- HSBC is expanding its venture offerings.
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Robel
p/Robel-Kelkile | |
| 1 | | Instant grocery delivery startup Zepto raised $200M in its Series E funding round. StepStone Group led the round with additional venture participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Goodwater Capital. More: - Achieving a valuation of $1.4B, Zepto is now the first Indian unicorn of the year.
- The company works heavily on supply chain execution and operational discipline processes over 300,000 daily orders across seven Indian cities.
- The startup is targeting an IPO readiness within 12 to 15 months.
- Zepto's success contrasts India's startup funding slowdown, with only $5.46B raised in 2023, down 68% from the previous year.
- The investment comes amid a period where most instant delivery startups worldwide, including Gopuff, Jokr, Getir, Gorillas, Instacart, and others, have experienced substantial reductions in their operations and sharp declines in private valuations.
- In 2021 and 2022, 65 Indian startups achieved unicorn status.
Q: Will 2023 surpass 2022 in terms of the number of unicorns? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | HSBC has extended its venture debt services to early-stage startups through its U.S. innovation banking division. The bank will now support companies from Series A funding onward. More: - HSBC aims to provide support, including operating business assistance, international expansion, and leveraging its ecosystem to connect corporate clients with potential early-stage targets.
- The bank has been serving late-stage and mature companies since 2019, and this move reflects its commitment to supporting startups at various stages of growth.
- To create the banking unit, HSBC hired 42 bankers from the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) to strengthen its innovation banking efforts.
Why it matters: - The expansion of services comes when venture capital activity has slowed due to market uncertainty and monetary tightening.
- While Series A financing marks a significant initial round of external funding that startups can secure, more is needed to guarantee their survival and profitability.
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| 3 | | Washington-based startup Irreverent Labs has raised a new round of funding led by Samsung Next. While the financing remains undisclosed due to Samsung's policy, Irreverent Labs' AI technology allows users to craft videos through its text-to-image-to-audio feature. More: - The startup has previously raised $45M in funding, initially known for its blockchain-based robot fighting game that showcased its machine learning capabilities.
- Irreverent Labs' video generator tool will launch later this year to the public.
- Initially, the product will target frequent short-form content creators on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, but the company anticipates its technology will eventually empower traditional video production skills.
Why it matters: - The rise of generative AI for content creation witnessed companies racing to introduce AI-powered tools, including chatbots, text-to-image generators, and video creators.
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What the numbers say: Saudi Arabian investment activity extends beyond energy and sports into U.S.-based startups, with sovereign wealth funds, corporate venture arms, and other entities leading or co-leading an increasing number of funding rounds. Crunchbase data showed a steady growth in the involvement of Saudi Arabia-based firms in funding deals since 2019, even during 2022, when the global venture market began to slow down. What happened: The number of funding rounds they participated in rose from nine in 2019 to 23 in 2021, peaking at 32 in 2022, a nearly 40% increase. The move reflects Saudi sovereign wealth funds' growing interest and engagement to get a piece of the dynamic U.S. startup ecosystem. | | | |
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| 5 | | Web3 venture fund Vessel Capital has unveiled itself with $55M in assets under management for investments in infrastructure and applications. Founded by Mirza Uddin, Eric Chen, and Anthony Anzalone, the fund operates as an "evergreen" fund, More: - The Web3-focused venture fund, which emerged from stealth, intends to deploy its resources over five years.
- Vessel aims to work closely with founders, supporting their scaling journey.
- During its stealth phase, Vessel invested in several companies, including Injective, Burnt, and Omni.
- The move comes in a period of significant contraction in the crypto market, which has seen reduced activity following the heightened hype and awareness witnessed in 2020 and 2021.
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| 6 | | Healthcare-focused venture firm Questa Capital Management has successfully raised $397M for its Questa Capital III fund. The venture growth equity fund has raised over $1B across its fund. More: - The funding commitments have come from various well-established investors, including endowments, foundations, family offices, pension plans, fund-of-funds, and consultants.
- The firm's portfolio features companies across the health sector, from in-home care providers to Smart stethoscopes, including DispatchHealth, Cortica, Eko, and Bicycle Health.
- The raised capital will be deployed into 10 to 14 early-stage companies operating within healthcare services, medical devices, and technology sectors.
- Questa Capital aims to maintain its unique approach of blending growth equity with venture capital.
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- Hugging Face achieved a valuation of $4B following a funding round led by Salesforce Ventures.
- Vietnam internet company VNG aims to raise $150M by listing in the United States.
- Wellness startup Gympass strengthened its position with fresh funding, getting a valuation of $2.4B.
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INSIDE VENTURE CAPITAL LEADERBOARD (30 DAYS) |
 | Writer | | Born and raised in the Bay Area, Robel is passionate about all things tech, venture, and financial education. He has previously served both universities and state governments in their engagement strategy and tracking legislation. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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