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| Here's a look at today's VC briefing. - 📉 Exit value of U.S. VC-backed startups dipped to the lowest levels in a decade in 2023
- 🔻 VC funding for quantum computing startups declines despite significant tailwinds for the industry
- 🔬 Mirae Asset Financial Group launches U.S. biotech VC division
We have also rounded up the top late-stage funding rounds of this week. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | The exit value of U.S.-based VC-backed startups hit a decade-low value of $61.5B in 2023, per Fortune. There were also fewer exits recorded than in the past nine years. The lack of exit options through IPO and M&A transactions has prolonged the VC funding dip. More: - Due to the prevailing challenging fundraising environment, the number of funding deals has reduced, check sizes have grown smaller, and startups are resorting to layoffs to sustain their business.
- Valuation mismatches between founders and investors are contributing to the decline in deals.
- The current situation makes it difficult to ascertain whether valuations have bottomed out.
- The number of mega funding rounds of more than $100M declined from 843 in 2021 to 269 in 2023.
- Startups with at least one female founder raised $44.4B in VC funding in 2023, matching last year's tally.
- The surge is commendable, given that the number of rounds for startups co-founded by women decreased from 4,458 in 2022 to 3,266 in 2023.
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| 2 | | VCs deployed $415.3M in late-stage and beyond global startups this week between Jan. 13 and Jan. 19, per Crunchbase data. Biotech startups raked in 27% of the funding this week. Gaming, healthcare, and food & beverage startups nabbed 26%, 17%, and 12% of the financing, respectively. 
Here are the top five largest rounds announced this week: - Scottish game development studio Build a Rocket Boy secured $110M in Series D funding led by RedBird Capital Partners. NetEase Games, Galaxy Interactive, Endeavor, Alignment Growth, Woodline Partners, and GTAM Partners participated in the round.
- Timeline, a consumer health company developing solutions for aging and longevity, raised $66M in Series D funding led by L'Oréal Group VC division BOLD.
- Indian cloud kitchen startup Wow Momo Foods secured $42M in Series D funding from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, The Indian Angel Network, Lighthouse Funds, and Oaks Asset Management. The firm intends to use the capital to grow its brand, strengthen the distribution of its FMCG arm, and support R&D.
- Flexible laboratory infrastructure and resourcing solutions provider SmartLabs raised a Series C round of $48M. ArrowMark Partners, Winslow Capital Management, and Conversion Venture Capital joined the funding round.
- Sectoral Asset Management led a $40M Series C round into Noctrix Health. New investors Angelini Ventures, ResMed, and Asahi Kasei Corp. participated in the round along with existing backers OrbiMed and Treo Ventures.
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| 3 | | Investors' interest in quantum computing platforms is growing due to its potential to increase the speed and power of AI models in the future. As a result, VC deal count reached a record-high of 92 in 2023. Despite the heightened VC activity, overall funding for the sector dropped to $1B in 2023, down from $1.5B in the previous year. More: - Quantum computing's ability to process information at faster speeds holds the promise to bring tremendous breakthroughs in the fields of biotech, chemistry, and logistics.
- This week, quantum computing startup Quantinuum raised a $300M funding round led by JP Morgan Chase at a $5.3B valuation.
- Right now, the most active investors in the space include government, sovereign wealth funds, and corporations rather than VCs.
- However, that could change as investors "sitting on the sidelines are realizing that this technology is starting to mature," per Quantinuum's early investor 2xN's co-founder and partner Niels Nielsen.
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| 4 | | General Catalyst has initiated talks to acquire Indian early-stage VC firm Venture Highway, sources informed Moneycontrol. The talks are still in the preliminary stages. The move should help General Catalyst expand its presence in the South Asian startup market. More: - General Catalyst, which has about $25B worth of assets under management, already has about a dozen Indian startups in its portfolio, including fintech app CRED, used car marketplace Spinny, and healthtech firm Orange Health.
- The acquisition is part of General Catalyst's broader ambition of investing $500M in Indian startups over the next three to four years.
- Venture Highway closed its second fund at $78.6M in Jan. 2020 and has backed Meesho, ShareChat, and Moglix since then.
- It typically invests $3M in startups.
Zoom out: - Last October, General Catalyst expanded in Europe by merging with La Famiglia.
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| 5 | | South Korean financial giant Mirae Asset Financial Group launched its U.S.-based biotech-focused VC division. The Mirae Asset Capital Life Science firm secured $50M in capital commitments toward its first fund, which will be used to back up to eight U.S.-based life science startups over the next two to three years. The debut fund, which also received backing from Mirae's other investors, is a proof of concept to test the potential for investment and returns in the sector. More: - If the approach is successful, Mirae will raise a larger second fund and open it up to outside investors.
- Dr. Naveen Krishnan, who joined Mirae Asset last September, is tasked with leading the new venture.
- Krishnan was previously the senior director of venture investment at Leaps by Bayer, the VC arm of life sciences firm Bayer.
- Mirae Asset Financial has backed a few U.S.-based biotech startups in the past, including Dewpoint Therapeutics and ROME Therapeutics.
- However, it missed out on many deals, which prompted the firm to establish its division in the U.S.
- The new venture has already inked its first deal by leading a $75M Series C round into an undisclosed cancer drug developer.
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| 6 | | Today's Funding: Biotech - Tr1X, a biotech startup developing cures for immune and inflammatory diseases, emerged from stealth mode with a $75M Series A funding led by The Column Group. NEVA SGR and Alexandria Ventures participated in the round.
Cloud computing - Cloud spend management platform Vertice raked in $25M in Series B funding led by 83North and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Cybersecurity - Autonomous identity security solutions provider Oleria bagged $33.1M in Series A funding led by Evolution Equity Partners with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Tapestry VC, and Zscaler.
Fintech - On-demand pay company DailyPay raised $175M in fresh funding, which includes a $100M credit facility provided by Citi and $75M in equity financing led by Carrick Capital Partners. The firm received a $1.75B pre-money valuation during the round.
- Digital Onboarding, a SaaS platform that helps banks and credit unions engage with their customers, raised $58M in growth funding from Volition Capital.
Travel - Travel tech startup Myrealtrip's valuation tripled at its latest $56.7M Series F funding round co-led by existing investors BlueRun Ventures Korea and IIM Investment. Korelya Capital, Vanderbilt University's endowment fund, Altos Ventures, Partech Ventures, Smilegate, and SV Investment participated in the round.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Enhance multichannel personalization efforts to build customer loyalty. Learn to master true personalization with the help of AI.*
- News aggregation and content platform Reddit is gearing up to go public as early as this March, sources informed Reuters.
- Thomas Jefferson University's executive vice president and Jefferson Health's chief innovation officer, Rose Ritts, is set to join VC firm Black Venture Capital Consortium.
- Early-stage climate technology investor Blue Vision Capital hired Vladimir Savic as managing partner. Savic is the former leader at Cibus and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
- Inception Capital, an early-stage VC firm focused on Web3, raised $30M for its inaugural fund of funds. The firm intends to back five emerging investment managers and funds annually in the crypto space. It has already invested in funds launched by Syncracy Capital, Escape Velocity, Alliance, OrangeDAO, and Everyrealm.
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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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