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| Here's a look at today's VC briefing. - 🏛️ Andreessen Horowitz is lobbying to deregulate AI and crypto
- 🇪🇺 Iceland and Romania were the only two European nations to defy the VC funding dip
- 🚧 Sale of SVB's VC arm hits roadblock
Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Andreessen Horowitz's co-founder, Ben Horowitz, published a blog post announcing the firm's intent to start lobbying the U.S. government and support candidates in a bid to deregulate the AI and crypto industry. Horowitz wrote, "If a candidate supports an optimistic technology-enabled future, we are for them. If they want to choke off important technologies, we are against them." More: - Horowitz claims this is the first time the firm has started political lobbying directly, as he believes that any misguided regulatory policy could severely hamper America's global technology leadership.
- Having favorable legislation would benefit a16z, as it has several AI and crypto startups across its portfolio.
Zoom out: - A16z's lobbying announcement comes as the U.S. government is working on national AI regulations.
- The European Union already announced a comprehensive set of laws to govern the use of AI earlier last month.
- There is a rising discussion about whether or not AI should be regulated.
- A16z's other co-founder, Marc Andreessen, believes "Any deceleration of AI will cost lives. Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder," per the Techno-Optimist Manifesto published earlier this year.
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| 2 | | Iceland and Romania were the only two European countries to register an increase in VC funding from 2022 and defy the funding slump, per Pitchbook. 
What the numbers say: VC funding increased by 6.7% YoY in Iceland and by 4.6% in Romania. On the other hand, Russia and the Czech Republic saw the worst declines in the region, with VC funding falling by 94.5% and 81.7%, respectively. The U.K. still raked in the region's largest share of the financing, bagging €17.2B ($18.8B) out of the €53.4B ($58.7B) deployed in Europe and Israel this year. U.K. witnessed a VC funding dip of 49.6%, slightly higher than the 48.9% slump seen across Europe. Relevance: VC funding in Switzerland and Germany declined by 40.1% and 47.1%, respectively. Germany remained the largest VC ecosystem within DACH nations, bagging €6.7B ($7.3B) in funding this year. French startups have raised €8.5B ($9.3B) this year. However, funding declined by 38.1% in France. In comparison, fellow Benelux nations Belgium and Luxembourg registered declines of 58.9% and 80.2%, respectively. | | | |
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| 3 | | A group of creditors, including Pacific Investment Management Co. and Davidson Kempner Capital Management, are gearing up to take over Silicon Valley Bank's venture capital arm, SVB Capital. The takeover news comes after SVB dismissed bids placed by two bidders for being too low. SVB's advisor, Centerview Partners, reckons the VC arm could fetch between $250M and $500M. More: - Anthony Scaramucci's SkyBridge Capital and Atlas Merchant Capital comprised one group vying for SVB Capital, with San Francisco private equity firm Vector Capital being the other.
- If new bidders don't show up, the credits could be the front-runners to take over the business.
- SVB Capital has nearly $10B worth of assets under management.
Zoom out: - SVB's creditors had formed a group anticipating a potential bankruptcy filing and hired PJT Partners to help them with the transaction.
- SVB filed for bankruptcy shortly afterward and started selling off its assets through the Chapter 11 process.
- In July, the firm sold off its investment banking arm, SVB Securities, for $100M.
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| 4 | | Bay Area-based VC firm Accel secured $650M in capital commitments towards its 16th early-stage fund. The size of the latest fund is the same as its predecessor from 2021. More: - Accel, known for backing Bumble, Etsy, and Slack, is one of the few funds to have witnessed large windfalls this year after exiting its most promising startups: Klaviyo, which went public at a $7.5B valuation in September, and cloud-based payments company Pismo, which Visa acquired for $1B in July.
- Accel had a 2.8% stake in Klaviyo after leading its $200M Series C round at a $4.15B post-money valuation in 2020.
- The firm co-led a $108M Series B round in Pismo in 2021.
- Accel closed its late-stage fund, Accel Leaders IV, at $4B in 2022 and its sixth growth fund at $1.75B in 2021.
Zoom out: - Accel's 16th fund is one of the largest U.S. venture funds to close Q4 2023 amidst the challenging fundraising environment.
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| 5 | | Sydney, Australia-based VC firm OneVentures exited its stake in HR platform Employment Hero with a 13x return on its investments. The firm received a return of AU$116.2M ($78.2M) on its AU$8.8M ($5.9M) investment from its Growth Fund II. More: - The firm sold off its initial stake worth AU$50M ($33.6M) to Insight Partners in 2021.
- It later liquidated AU$68M ($45.8M) worth of stakes through a secondary transaction.
- "Direct secondaries into large growth rounds and continuation vehicles provide exit mechanisms for venture capital managers and we have capitalized on this," said OneVentures managing director Dr. Michelle Deaker.
- The Australian HR and payroll platform Employment Hero secured AU$263M ($167M) in Series F funding in October at a valuation of AU$2.13B ($1.37B).
- The valuation represented a 75% hike compared to its previous AU$1.25B ($791M) valuation from its Series E round from last year.
- OneVentures invested another AU$16M ($10.7M) in the round through its 1V Growth Fund V.
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| 6 | | Today's Funding: Biotech - Small molecule drug discovery and development biotech startup Totus Medicines closed its Series B funding round at $66M. DCVC Bio led the round with additional support from North Pond Ventures, Camford Capital, and the Regents of the University of Minnesota.
Fintech - Saudi Arabian buy-now-pay-later solutions fintech startup Tamara cemented its unicorn status with a $340M equity funding round provided by Saudi sovereign wealth fund Sanabil and SNB Capital. The fundraising comes just a month after it availed a debt facility from Goldman Sachs.
- Waste management payments software platform CurbWaste secured $10M in Series A funding led by Flourish Ventures, with additional support from TTV Capital, Mucker Capital, and B Capital.
Healthcare - Four-dimensional cardiac imaging and navigation platform maker LUMA Vision raised $22M in Series A3 funding. Existing investors EQT Lifesciences, ABV Uni Fund, and imec.xpand led the round.
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- Investment firm Cyber.Fund relaunched with $100M funding from early Ethereum investors Konstantin Lomashuk and Vasiliy Shapovalov. The firm will use the proceeds to invest in new startups in blockchain, AI, and robotics and provide additional funding for current portfolio companies.
- The European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme 2024 will invest €50M ($54.65M) in startups to help them scale the production of alternative proteins.
- British athlete-led VC firm The Players Fund added female athletes Jessica Ennis-Hill, Eni Aluko, Allyson Felix, Nikita Parris, and Danielle Carter as new partners.
- CSAA Insurance Group's VC arm, Avanta Ventures, is reportedly shutting down, sources informed Coverager. The firm last raised a $225M fund in 2022 to invest in early-stage startups in insurtech, mobility, fintech, cybersecurity, and smart home sectors.
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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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