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| Hey Insiders, Today's newsletter covers: - CrowdStrike's acquisition of Bionic.ai
- Dip in Web3 funding continues in Q3
- Blockchain Capital's $580M funds
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike announced it is acquiring application security posture management startup Bionic.ai. The deal was initially rumored to be valued between $200M and $300M at the start of this year. However, sources informed TechCrunch that CrowdStrike will ultimately be paying $350M for the firm. More: - Bionic had less than $10M in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and had raised about $82M in total funding from investors, including Insight Partners and Battery Ventures.
- The firm last raised a $65M Series B round in March 2022.
- CrowdStrike saw a 37% growth in earnings and reported an ARR of $2.93B in its last quarterly update.
- The firm has a market capital of just below $40B.
- CrowdStrike will merge Bionic's technology with its security posture management product, Falcon.
Zoom out: - CrowdStrike last acquired Reposify in September 2022.
Q: Is this the right time for companies to scoop up startups at discounted valuations? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | Web3 startups have raised $0.9B in total VC funding in the current quarter to date, putting it on track to become the lowest quarterly total on record since 2019. 
What the numbers say: The current figure represents a 75% drop compared to Q3 2022, which saw $3.6B invested through over 500 deals, per Crunchbase. VC funding in Q3 is unlikely to match Q2 2023's tally of $1.9B from 364 deals. The current quarter has seen only two mega funding rounds of over $100M, raised by crypto custody firm BitGo and Web3 security firm Zyber 365. What happened: The dip in funding can be primarily attributed to the collapse of several crypto firms last year and regulatory headwinds. Meanwhile, investors also turned their focus to AI startups. | | | |
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| 3 | | Crypto-focused VC firm Blockchain Capital raised two funds worth $580M to back decentralized finance, centralized finance, centralized infrastructure, decentralized infrastructure, gaming, and consumer startups in the blockchain sector. $380M of the capital is allocated to the $380M early-stage Fund VI, with the remaining $200M set aside for the Opportunity Fund to make follow-on investments in startups. More: - Limited partners contributing to the Fund VI include Visa, PayPal, and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
- Blockchain Capital's portfolio includes WorldCoin, crypto exchange Kraken, and NFT marketplace OpenSea.
- General partner Kinjal Shah believes that there are investment opportunities still to be found within the sector due to its potential to be used in financial products or real estate contracts.
- Blockchain Capital's fifth early-stage fund closed at $300M in June 2021.
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| 4 | | Marketing automation startup Klaviyo increased the proposed share price range for its upcoming IPO debut on Tuesday to $27 to $29 per share. The earlier range was between $25 and $27. The new prices give the firm a fully diluted valuation of nearly $9B. More: - Klaviyo is selling 19.2 million shares at its IPO debut and stands to make $557M from the listing if it successfully sells shares at the top end of the spectrum.
- Per Reuters, the firm's shares are already oversubscribed by nearly 20 times.
- BlackRock and AllianceBernstein will likely purchase up to $100M worth of shares each.
- Klaviyo had raised a $320M Series D round in 2021 at a post-money valuation of $9.5B, per TechCrunch.
Zoom out: - Klaviyo is following in the footsteps of Instacart, which raised its IPO range yesterday after the successful listing of British chip design firm Arm last week.
- SoftBank didn't increase the prices of Arm's shares at its listing after bankers advised that it was better to leave a margin considering that the IPO market was shuttered for a long time.
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| 5 | | Belgium-based impact investor Astanor Ventures closed its second fund at €360M ($385M). The firm intends to back startups working on improving efficiency in the food and agricultural sectors. Additionally, Astanor will back startups working on addressing biodiversity and water challenges. More: - Astanor has backed more than 40 startups to date, including autonomous electric tractor maker Monarch Tractor, seaweed-packaging startup Notpla, and alternative protein products maker MicroHarvest.
- One portfolio startup raised a down round at a 70% lower valuation earlier this year.
- Three portfolio startups lost their unicorn status.
- Co-founder and managing partner Eric Archambeau advised startups to have a cash runway of two years, four times more than conventional advice of six months.
- Astanor's first fund closed at $325M in 2020.
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| 6 | | Today's Funding: AI - Enterprise-focused AI startup Pryon Inc. bagged $100M in Series B funding. Nearly 80% of the funding came through the U.S. Innovation Technology Fund, a fund backed by billionaire Thomas Tull. Aperture Venture Capital, BootstrapLabs, and Breyer Capital provided the remaining sum.
Biotech - Robotic-assisted surgery system maker Virtual Incision Corporation extended its previous $46M Series C round with an additional $30M funding led by existing backers Bluestem Capital, Endeavour Vision, Baird Capital, cultivate(MD) Capital Funds, and PrarieGold Venture Partners.
Cybersecurity - Cloud network security startup Cato Networks increased its valuation to over $3B after its latest capital infusion of $238M led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The firm was valued at $2.5B at its last funding round in 2021.
- AI application security startup HiddenLayer secured $50M in Series A funding led by M12 and Moore Strategic Ventures, with additional participation from Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, Capital One Ventures, and Ten Eleven Ventures.
HR - Human resources firm HiBob raised $100M in Series D funding led by Farallon Capital Management at a $2.66B valuation, higher than its $2.45B valuation from last year. Alpha Wave Capital and existing investors invested an additional $50M.
Software - Procurement platform maker Levelpath raised $44.5M in fresh funding, including $14.5M in seed funding and $30M in Series A funding. Benchmark led the seed round, while Redpoint Ventures led the Series A funding.
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- Portuguese real estate data firm Casafari acquired location intelligence firm Targomo for an undisclosed sum.
- Life science and technology-focused VC firm Pappas Ventures hired Nick Pappas as its new managing partner.
- Age1, a new venture fund that aims to back life sciences startups focused on longevity, raised a debut fund of $35M.
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INSIDE VENTURE CAPITAL LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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 | Amplitude customers saw 217% ROI in The Total Economic Impact™ of Amplitude. | |
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