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| Hey Insiders, Today's newsletter covers: - VC funding for battery startups defies the dip
- SoftBank's slow investment pace
- Fuse's $250M fund to back PNW startups
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Battery startups globally have raised $9.2B in VC funding so far this year, per Crunchbase. The funding has already crossed last year's tally of $7.8B and is on track to cross 2021's record-setting high of $12B. The scenario is similar in the U.S., where battery startups have raised $2.1B this year and are on track to cross both 2021's and 2022's tally. More: - The battery sector is one of the exceptional sectors to defy the VC funding dip.
- Investors are heavily investing in battery tech to make battery production more sustainable, recycle existing batteries, scale up battery production for EVs, and improve grid storage for renewable energy.
- In the past month alone, three startups were able to raise mega funding rounds of over $1B.
- French low-carbon battery manufacturing startup Velkor raised $2.1B Series C, battery recycling startup Redwood Materials raised $1B Series D, and lithium-ion battery maker Northvolt secured $1.2B convertible note funding rounds.
Q: Will global battery tech startups be able to set a new VC funding record this year? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | SoftBank's Vision Fund has participated in only 13 deals so far this year, per Crunchbase. 
What the numbers say: SoftBank's VC investments pace is well off its pace from 2021, when it participated in 175 deals. So far this year, the firm has participated in deals worth $0.5B in Q1, $0.7B in Q2, and $0.6B in Q3. What happened: With the firm recently posting its first gain in six quarters, SoftBank's CEO Masayoshi Son vowed to shift the firm's investment strategy from "defense mode" to "offense mode" in a bid to capitalize on the AI boom. Relevance: SoftBank participated in AI-powered location mapping service Mapbox's $280M funding round last week. In July, it led a $65M Series E funding into Tractable, an AI-powered car and property damage appraisal platform. The firm was reportedly looking to invest "tens of billions in AI," including a potential investment in OpenAI. Where to see the impact: Due to the heightened interest in the AI sector, SoftBank may have to contend with higher-than-usual valuations of AI startups. An unnamed VC told Crunchbase news that one generative AI startup sought a 90x revenue multiple at its last funding round. SoftBank's current pace of investment suggests that it is taking a measured approach to its investment despite switching to "offense mode," which could indicate that it has learned something from its previous failed bets. | | | |
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| 3 | | Early-stage VC firm Fuse raised $250M capital for its new fund to back software and AI-powered startups in the Pacific Northwest region. Fund 2 will back between 30 to 35 startups, writing checks ranging from $1M to $10M. More: - The Bellevue, Washington-based firm intends to co-lead the funding rounds.
- Fuse invested in 24 startups from its debut $173M fund, which launched in 2020.
- Notable startups in its portfolio include autonomous robots maker Carbon Robotics and insurance brokerage automation startup Quandri.
- The firm will primarily back startups that are automating business processes or making "workers superhuman at their jobs."
Zoom out: - VC funding for startups in the Pacific Northwest slumped 80% from $1.2B in Q1 2022 to $246M in Q1 2023.
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| 4 | | Anzu Partners secured $200M in capital commitments at the close of its third fund. The fund will back early-stage breakthrough technology startups across clean technology, industrial innovation, and life sciences sectors. The firm has already invested $123.1M capital from the new fund in 12 startups. More: - The firm has backed three energy storage startups: AM Batteries, e-Zinc, and South 8 Technologies.
- Other companies backed by the new fund include Arduino, EnChargeAI, Codettea Bio, MedCrypt, and Opscura.
- Anzu's portfolio startups, including EnCharge AI, 6K, and South 8 Technologies, have secured over $117M in government funding and grants.
Zoom out: - The new fund pushes the firm's assets under management over the $1B mark.
- Anzu debuted with a $128M fund in 2016 and followed it up with a $190M fund in 2019.
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| 5 | | Wex Inc., a company that provides payment processing and information management services for the vehicle fleet industry, armed its newly launched VC division with $100M from its balance sheet to invest in startups in the commercial EV ecosystem. The firm intends to back startups from fleet electrification to EV charging solutions. More: - Wex Venture Capital will write checks between $1M and $5M in Series A and B-stage startups.
- The firm does not intend to be the lead investor but could potentially acquire the companies that are most promising.
- Wex has already invested in Chargetrip and ev.energy.
- The division will be led by David Klein, who is an investment recommender to Jay Dearborn and Carlos Carriedo.
Zoom out: - Wex has a market cap of $8B and reported $2.35B in revenue last year.
- 60% of the revenue, or $1.44B, came from the firm's fleet solutions division.
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| 6 | | Today's Funding: AI - AI semiconductor startup Kneron extended its Series B funding round with an additional $49M from Foxconn, Alltek, Horizon Ventures, Liteon Technology Corp, Adata, and Palpilot.
Biotech - Denmark-based atrial fibrillation biotech startup Acesion Pharma bagged €45M ($47.7M) in Series B funding co-led by Canaan and Alpha Wave.
Enterprise - Business finance and operation automation startup Series raised $25M in seed and Series A funding led by 776 and Basis Set Ventures. PearVC, Kleiner Perkins, Day One Ventures, Hustle Fund, Caffeinated Capital, and Wishoff Ventures participated in the round.
- Market intelligence, software, and advisory firm Pexapark secured $21M in fresh funding. Telstra Ventures led the Series C funding round with additional backing from Swisscom Ventures and A&G Energy Tech Transition Fund.
SpaceTech - Commercial space plane and low Earth orbit commercial habitation platform maker Sierra Space raised $290M in Series B funding at a valuation of $5.3B. Japanese bank MUFG, Kanematsu Corp., and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance co-led the funding round.
Transportation - Ayro, a French startup developing windsail solutions for cargo ships and yachts, raised €19.2M ($20.3M) in Series B funding led by Swen Capital Partners.
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- On-demand delivery app startup Line Man Wongnai is gearing up for an IPO debut in Thailand. The GIC-backed startup is looking to raise $300M from the public debut at a valuation of over $10B.
- Venture debt firm Trifecta Capital closed its third debt fund at $213M, higher than its initial target of $200M.
- Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC is reportedly leading a $40M Series C funding round into Indian B2B agriculture marketplace startup Vegrow at a pre-money valuation of $250M, sources informed TechCrunch.
- Pan-African VC firm P1 Ventures held the first close of its second fund at $25M.
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 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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 | Segment is an API-first analytics solution that empowers 15,000+ startups to scale their data infrastructure. | |
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