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| Here’s your daily VC briefing: - 🌎 Global VC investment in Q1 2024 dropped to the lowest level in five years
- 🚀 Cybersecurity VC funding surged by 69% QoQ in Q1 2024
- 💰 Andreessen Horowitz secured $7.2B towards five funds
Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Global venture capital (VC) investment fell to its lowest level in nearly five years, dropping from $83.8B in Q4 2023 to $75.9B in Q1 2024, per KPMG Private Enterprise's Venture Pulse report. The number of VC deals also decreased from 9,458 to 7,520 over the same period. Rising geopolitical tensions, a drought in exits, and a pullback in investment at later deal stages contributed to the decline. More: - Despite the overall downturn, the cleantech and AI sectors attracted strong investment, accounting for eight of the top ten deals globally in Q1 2024.
- The U.S. accounted for $38.2B of the total VC funding invested globally, while Europe and Asia-Pacific region bagged $17.9B and $18.9B, respectively.
- The most notable funding rounds to close in the recent quarter were H2 Green Steel's $5.2B and Anthropic's $4B funding rounds.
- Two Chinese startups, namely IM Motors and YueZhiAnMian, raised rounds worth more than $1B.
- Global exit activity remained muted, with deal value declining from $49.8B in Q4 2023 to $30.7B in Q1 2024.
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| 2 | | Cybersecurity startups saw a resurgence in funding in Q1 2024, raising nearly $2.7B from 154 deals, according to Crunchbase data. 
What the numbers say: This marked a 69% increase from the previous quarter and the highest quarterly total since Q1 2023, which closed at $2.9B. The rebound was driven by a return of big rounds, with three deals exceeding the $200M mark and nine closing at $100M or more. Relevance: Notable rounds to close in the quarter include Quantinuum's $300M fundraising, NinjaOne's $231.5M Series C, and Axonius' $200M Series E extension rounds. Nozomi Networks bagged $100M in Series E funding, while Claroty raised $100M in strategic debt and One Peak secured $100M in Series D funding. The resilience of cybersecurity startups in securing funding in a challenging market suggests a positive outlook for the sector. | | | |
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| 3 | | Prominent VC firm Andreessen Horowitz announced a successful fundraising haul of $7.2B across five distinct funds. $3.75B, representing more than half of the new capital, will be allocated to the firm's growth fund, which supports later-stage companies on the cusp of going public or capital-intensive businesses requiring substantial investments. Additionally, $1.25B is earmarked for infrastructure investments, including artificial intelligence initiatives, and $1B will be allocated to AI app investments. Andreessen Horowitz's gaming fund and American Dynamism fund will each receive $600M. More: - According to sources, the firm is raising a separate fund for crypto and biotechnology investments.
- The new funds crossed the initial target of $6.9B, showing the firm's resilience amidst fundraising headwinds faced by several other VC firms.
- Last year, global fundraising slumped to one-third of the record-setting $555B raised in 2021.
- So far this year, global VCs have raised funds worth $30.4B, putting the sector on track to set the lowest total since 2015.
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| 4 | | Evolution Equity Partners has secured $1.1B in capital commitments towards its third fund. The Evolution Technology Fund III will back cybersecurity and AI startups. Initial check sizes will range from $20M to $150M. In addition to North American startups, the firm will also invest in Europe and Israel. More: - The NYC-based growth investment firm expects to invest in 30 startups with the new fund, of which it has already backed 15.
- 75% of the fund is earmarked for early-growth stage companies, 15% for later-growth stage startups, and the remaining 10% for early-stage firms.
- The fund was oversubscribed, with participation from existing and new endowments, sovereign investors, insurance companies, foundations, fund-of-funds, family offices, and angel investors.
- The new fund brings the firm's assets under management to $2B.
- Evolution Equity Partners has backed 60 startups to date, the most notable of which are Arctic Wolf, Talon Cyber Security, Snyk, Aqua Security, SecurityScorecard, and Carbon Black.
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| 5 | | Global venture capital firm SOSV closed its SOSV V fund at $306M, making it its largest fund to date. The fund will focus on investing in early-stage companies driving decarbonization and re-industrialization, including sectors such as renewable energy, biomanufacturing, and rare mineral processing. More: - 70% of the capital will be invested in climate tech startups and 25% in healthtech.
- The firm has set aside 5% of the capital for its most opportunistic bets.
- SOSV typically writes initial pre-seed checks ranging from $250,000 to $300,000.
- Per Bloomberg, the firm typically invests in about 200 startups annually, but has lowered the count to 80 considering the current economic climate.
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| 6 | | Today's Funding: B2B - Online B2B startup ProcMart bagged $30M in Series B funding led by Fundamentum Partnership and Edelweiss Discovery Fund. Paramark Ventures, Sixth Sense Ventures, and IndiaMART participated in the round.
Fintech - German embedded solutions fintech startup finmid secured €23M ($24.7M) in Series A funding at a post-money valuation of €100M ($107M). Blossom Capital and Earlybird VC participated in the funding round.
- SIX Group led a $21M Series A funding round into Bridgwise, a startup that uses AI to provide investment research for global securities. Group 11 and L4 Venture Builder participated in the round.
E-commerce - Chinese e-commerce delivery startup Uni Express closed its Series C funding round at $50M. DCM led the round with additional support from Fosun RZ Venture Management, Vision Plus Capital, and Lanchi Ventures.
Healthcare Proptech - Kode Labs, a startup that automates systems in commercial buildings, raised a $30M Series B funding round, led by Maverix Private Equity. Other investors participating in the round include I Squared Capital and Telus Ventures.
Semiconductor - AI chip startup Rivos secured $250M in fresh funding from Matrix Capital Management, Intel Capital, and MediaTek Inc.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Hims provides access to a range of hair loss treatments suited for your routine. Unlimited access to medical providers and complete care through the app.*
- Microsoft-backed cloud and data security startup Rubrik Inc. plans to raise as much as $713M from its upcoming IPO listing. The firm is offering 23M shares, priced between $28 and $31 each. The share pricing at the top of the range gives Rubrik a valuation of $5.4B.
- French AI startup Mistral AI is reportedly in talks with investors to raise fresh funding at a valuation of $5B, per The Information.
- Bay Bridge Ventures plans to raise a new $200M fund, per SEC filing documents seen by TechCrunch.
- HR tech startup Rippling is raising $200M in Series F funding at a post-money valuation of $13.4B, per TechCrunch. The firm is also facilitating a $670M secondary transaction for existing investors looking to dilute their shares. Rippling was valued at $11.25B a year ago when it raised a $500M Series E round.
- Maven Ventures closed its fourth fund at $60M, falling short of its initial target of $100M, per Venture Capital Journal.
- Israeli VC firm Symbol promoted Racheli Kogan to the partner role. She will work alongside Symbol's founder Yuval Ariav.
- Pattern released a 30-page insights report for beauty brands selling on Amazon.*
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 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Karan Chafekar | |
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