| Here's a look at today's VC briefing. - 🇨🇳 Lawmakers accuse U.S. VC firms of backing Chinese military-linked firms
- 💰 Chinese VC firm MSA Capital to raise $1B fund to invest in the Middle East
- ⚓ Temasek anchored Seviora T3F Strategy fund
We have also rounded up the top late-stage funding rounds of this week. Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | The House of Representatives' select committee on China accused five U.S. VC firms of backing technology startups that supported China's military and facilitated human rights abuses, including genocide. The five VCs named in the report are Sequoia Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Walden International, GGV Capital, and GSR Ventures. The VC firms have invested $3B in Chinese startups, of which $1.9B went to AI firms and $1.2B to chip firms. More: - Qualcomm and GGV argue that their investments have been in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
- Meanwhile, Sequoia said that each of its divisions had autonomy over investment decisions.
- Last year, Sequoia split off its Chinese investment division into a new entity bearing the name HongShan.
- The committee highlights that the investments were not made illegally but were completed before the introduction of Biden's administration's sweeping regulations that curbed American investment in Chinese firms.
- About $180M of the funding went to Chinese startups that directly or indirectly supported China's Beijing's military.
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| 2 | | VCs deployed $552.4M in late-stage and beyond global startups this week between Feb. 3 and Feb. 9, per Crunchbase data. Cybersecurity startups raked in 42% of the funding this week. Healthcare, biotech, and AI startups nabbed 22%, 11%, and 9% of the financing, respectively. 
Here are the top five largest rounds announced this week: - Endpoint management, security, and monitoring startup NinjaOne touched a valuation of $1.9B after raising a $231.5M Series C round led by Iconiq Growth. The round was backed by Snowflake chairman and CEO Frank Slootman and Datadog Inc. president Amit Agarwal.
- Enterprise edge computing solutions provider Zededa doubled its valuation from $193M in 2022 to about $400M while raising a $72M funding round. Smith Point Capital led the round, joined by existing investors Lux Capital, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Porsche Ventures.
- Percutaneous heart pump maker Procyrion raised $57.7M in Series E funding led by Fannin Partners, with additional support from Bluebird Ventures.
- Clinical trial digital twin startup Unlearn raked in $50M in Series C funding led by Altimeter Capital. The round saw participation from Radical Ventures, Wittington Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Epic Ventures, and Necessary Venture Capital.
- Accounting startup Pennylane cemented its unicorn status with a €40M ($43M) funding round from existing backers Sequoia Capital and DST Global.
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| 3 | | Chinese VC firm MSA Capital plans to launch a fund worth $1B to invest in technology startups in the Middle East. The firm plans to launch the fund within a year and has started talking with investors. More: - Managing partner Ben Harburg said, "Our objective is to play at later stages and write bigger tickets in those pre-IPO rounds, then we can take them public."
- If successful in raising the targeted sum, MSA would become the largest Middle East-focussed VC firm.
- MSA has about $2.5B worth of assets under management.
- The firm is backed by the Jada Fund of Funds, a unit of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Saudi Venture Capital Investment.
- Both have previously backed at least one of MSA's three funds, collectively raising $555M.
- MSA invested in Saudi-based buy-now-pay-later fintech startup Tabby, Airbnb, and Uber Technologies.
Zoom out: - Saudi Arabian startups raked in $1.4B in VC funding in 2023, crossing UAE's tally for the first time.
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| 4 | | Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings Pte and Japan's Norinchukin Bank are the cornerstone investors of Seviora T3F Strategy fund, which aims to decarbonize food and agriculture industries. The fund has secured commitments worth $173M. The fund has already started investing from the fund and recently wrote a $17M check into Indian food essentials delivery startup Country Delight. More: - The fund is launched by Seviora Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek.
- Temasek has about $52B worth of assets under management.
- Norinchukin, which manages assets worth $670B, said in a statement, "We would like to contribute to finding solutions for society's challenges such as decarbonization, biodiversity, and productivity enhancement by teaming up with Temasek."
- Seviora will build a portfolio from opportunities identified by Temasek.
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| 5 | | Canadian investment firm Northleaf Capital Partners closed its first growth equity fund at $212M. The Northleaf Growth Fund was oversubscribed and closed above the initial target of $200M. The firm will invest in growth-stage North American technology and healthcare startups. In addition to direct co-investments, the fund is also looking to scoop up startup stakes through secondary transactions. More: - The new fund brings its total fund commitments to date to over $24B.
- It has raised $13B toward its global private equity and venture capital funds.
- At the start of last year, the firm closed its third secondaries fund and eighth private equity fund at $1.3B and $675M, respectively.
- Northleaf contributed to Active Impact's early-stage climate technology-focused Fund III in November 2023.
- Notable startups backed by the firm to date include BlueCat Networks, eSentire, Verafin, and Zymeworks.
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| 6 | | Today's Funding: AI - AI-powered text-to-video platform Colossyan raised $22M in fresh funding led by Lakestar. Launchub, Day One Capital, and Emerge Education participated in the funding round.
Biotech - Biotherapeutics startup Neurona Therapeutics bagged $120M in fresh funding led by Viking Global Investors and Cormorant Asset Management. The Column Group, LYFE Capital, Schroders Capital, Ysios Capital Partners, Euclidean Capital, Berkeley Frontier Fund, and others participated in the round.
- AI-enhanced pharmaceutical manufacturing startup Aizon closed its Series C funding round at $20M. NewVale Capital led the round, with additional support from Atlantic Bridge, Crosslink Capital, and Uncork Capital.
Fintech - Nasdaq Private Market, a liquidity solutions startup that spun out from Nasdaq, closed its Series B funding round at $62.4M. Nasdaq led the round, with additional support from Allen & Company, Citi, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, DRW Venture Capital, UBS, and Wells Fargo.
Healthcare - AI-powered MRI imaging and early cancer detection startup Ezra bagged $21M in fresh funding. Former Amazon One Medical CEO Amir Dan Rubin and FirstMark Capital co-led the round, joined by Allianz Life Ventures.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Invest in private credit deals with up to 20% APY and deal durations under 12 mos. Accredited investors can get started with just $500.*
- Bain Capital-backed biotech startup Kyverna Therapeutics Inc.'s stock prices surged by 59% in early trading. The startup raised $319M in funding from its IPO debut after pricing its shares at $22 apiece.
- General Atlantic is acquiring a minority interest in $50B asset manager Partners Capital from businesses linked to Lord Jacob Rothschild and Sir Ronald Cohen.
- Curriculum and assessment provider Savvas Learning acquired high-school dual-credit courses provider Outlier.org for an undisclosed sum.
- Early-stage Web3 investment maker Common Wealth is launching a free "earn-to-own" VC fund to open up access to VC funding to the masses.
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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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