 Funding for Latinx founders has stalled out as a percentage despite soaring raw numbers. Crunchbase data shows that the $6.8B raised by such founders in 2021 is only 2.1% of the total U.S. haul. More: - The percentage is only .4 percentage points higher than the 1.7% share from 2020, and .7 percentage points up from 2019’s 1.4%.
- After sitting at 1.8% of U.S. funding in 2017 and 2018, the funding share for Latinx founders actually dropped substantially in 2019.
- Editorial note: An explanation for this last figure could be the pandemic’s influence on funding in 2019. Latinx startups tend to be younger, and 2019 was the year that saw VCs shore up their most successful, i.e. older portfolio companies.
- While the raw funding jump from 2020 to 2021 bodes well for a select few companies, there was a worrying lack of change at the early stage.
- Early-stage funding for these founders only grew from $800M in 2018 to $1.3B in 2021.
- Pre-Seed/Seed/Angel funding moved even less: Latinx founders raised $185M in 2018 and only $205M in 2021.
- Latinx entrepreneurs have trouble securing any type of funding. They are about 60% less likely to be approved for a loan from a national bank.
- That is despite the fact that they make up about 50% of the net new business openings from 2007 to 2017, and often have better credit scores and faster-growing annual revenue than white-owned businesses.
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Blockdaemon, known for its blockchain infrastructure, raised $207M Series C at a $3.25B valuation. Sapphire and Tiger Global led the round, with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Boldstart Ventures, StepStone Group, Matrix Capital Management, Lerer Hippeau, and Galaxy Digital. More: - The new valuation is almost three times higher than the $1.3B Blockdaemon's Series B last September generated.
- The firm closed out 2021 with positive net income and added over 150 full-time employees, most of whom were engineers.
- Blockdaemon's tech provides the back-end for platforms including Infura and Alchemy, which undergird a wide swath of the crypto ecosystem.
- Beyond its tech, it also announced that it is spinning up a DeFi Fund to "make structured investments in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem."
- That decision follows in the recent footsteps of cryptocurrency exchange Crpyto.com, which expanded its venture arm with an additional $300M. The extra funds brought the Singapore-based company's maiden fund to a total of $500M.
- Crypto derivatives exchange FTX also announced the launch of a new $2B venture capital fund to invest across crypto and Web3.
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Marcelo Claure, a SoftBank exec from Bolivia, will leave the investment juggernaut. The departure comes after a falling out with Masayoshi Son, according to sources. Claure was the firm's COO and was widely seen as a possible successor to Son. More: - The falling out reportedly came after a pay negotiation went wrong. Claure's compensation demands had at one point included a 10-figure sum. A New York Times article from December put the number at $2B.
- His exit deal has not yet been made public but is expected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Another reported source of friction was Claure's efforts to increase the company's exposure to cryptocurrencies.
- Claure was largely responsible for turning around WeWork after the office-rental giant and financial sinkhole for SoftBank had to cancel its IPO and required a bailout.
- He also spearheaded SoftBank's $5B Latin America investment fund.
- French telecoms executive Michel Combes will take over Claure's duties overseeing SoftBank's Latin American funds, its Opportunity Fund, and several non-Japanese portfolio companies.
- The break will undoubtedly increase investor scrutiny of SoftBank's financial health.
- The firm's stock has dipped 50% since its peak last March, particularly as tech stocks, in general, have taken a beating.
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The Vision Fund II led a $130M Series B investment in fintech Esusu at a $1B valuation. The round makes Esusu one of the (now) seven Black-owned unicorns in the U.S. or elsewhere. Other participants included Jones Feliciano Family Office, Lauder Zinterhofer Family Office, Schusterman Foundation, SoftBank Opportunity Fund, Related Companies, and Wilshire Lane Capital. More: - With only a $500,000 crowdfunding and $10M Series A under its belt, Esusu has raised about $144M to date.
- Esusu offers a platform enabling rent reporting and data solutions for credit building. The company’s target base is immigrant and minority groups, who face greater difficulties building credit in the U.S.
- The company was co-founded by co-CEOs Nigerian-born American Abbey Wemimo and Indian American Samir Goel.
- Based in New York, Esusu works with 35% of the largest landlords on the National Multifamily Housing Council list.
- Its partners include Goldman Sachs, Related Companies, Starwood Capital Group, and Winn Residential.
- Renters pay $3,500 upfront plus $2 per unit monthly for Esusu to mitigate against initiating evictions, while renters pay $50 annually to report their rent payments.
- The firm reported 600% year-over-year growth and claims that over 2.5 million homes currently use its service.
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 Today's Funding 💸 Agtech - Kula Bio (Boston, Mass.), sustainable nitrogen solutions for fertilizer: $50M A led by Lowercarbon Capital, participation from Collaborative Fund, Grantham Environmental Trust's Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund, et al.
Biotech/Health - The Vets (New York, N.Y.), tech-enabled pet healthcare platform: $40M Seed from Target Global, PICO Venture Partners, Bolt Ventures.
- First Dollar (Austin, Texas), health wallet for member-first plans: $14M A led by Blue Venture Fund, participation from Next Coast Ventures, Meridian Street Capital, et al.
Blockchain - Dropp GG (San Francisco, Calif.), social NFT minting platform: $8M from Animoca Brands, Three Arrows Capital, DeFiance Capital, Alameda Research, Spartan Capital, Genblock Capital, Anti Fund VC, et al.
Climatetech - ReCarbon (Santa Clara, Calif.), greenhouse gas utilization technology platform: $25M B from POSCO, GS Holdings Corporation.
Consumer - DealShare (India), grocery and essentials focused social commerce startup: $130M led by Tiger Global, participation from Alpha Wave, Kora Investment, DF International Partners, et al.
- Lemonada (Los Angeles, Calif.), podcast network which shares an unfiltered version of the human experience: $8M A led by BDMI, participation from Madison Wells, Greycroft, Spring Point, et al.
Cybersecurity - HackerOne (San Francisco, Calif.), bug bounty and penetration testing startup: $49M E led by GP Bullhound, participation from Benchmark, NEA, Dragoneer Investment Group, Valor Equity Partners.
- Censys (Ann Arbor, Mich.), continuous attack surface management solutions: $35M B led by Intel Capital.
- Portnox (Austin, Texas), cloud-native network and endpoint security solutions: $22M A led by Elsewhere Partners.
DevOps - iMocha (Pune, India), digital skills assessment startup: $14M A led by Eight Roads Ventures, participation from Upekkha, Better Capital.
Edtech - Domestika (Berkeley, Calif.), learning community for creatives: $110M D led by Zeev Ventures, participation from GSV Ventures, et al.
Enterprise - Cheetah (San Jose, Calif.), restaurant wholesale delivery platform: $60M led by Manna Tree, Sator Grove Holdings.
Fintech - T-REX (New York, N.Y.), SaaS platform for the asset-backed financing industry: $40M C led by Riverstone Holdings, Riverstone, participation from Citi, ClearSky, Westly Group, Viola FinTech, et al.
- Nala (Tanzania), cross-border payments platform: $10M from Amplo, Accel, Bessemer Partners, DFS Lab, et al.
Gaming - PortalOne (Oslo, Norway), hybrid games platform: $60M A led by Tiger Global, participation from TQ Ventures, Schuster Tanger, Andrew Marks, Temasek, Avenir Growth, Connect Ventures, Animoca Brands, et al.
Insurtech - Ascend (New York, N.Y.), modern insurance payments platform: $30M A led by Index Ventures, participation from Distributed Ventures, et al.
Logistics - SamsonVT (Manchester, U.K.), digitizing platform for aftermarket servicing and order fulfillment: $5.1M led by Par Equity, participation from Blumberg Capital.
Did you enjoy reading about all of today's funding in one place? The funding roundup is only available to free users on Mondays and Fridays. Upgrade to Inside VC Premium for either $10/month, or $100 billed annually, to receive the full list in every issue! For a limited time, we are offering a 14-day free trial. Click here to sign up! | | | |
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- Portuguese VC firm Indico Venture Partners raised a $55.7M (€50M) fund to invest in startups tackling problems with the oceans, known as Blue Technology.
- The SEC has amended its rules to require more reporting from PE funds. Managers now have to report events that could cause significant stress to the fund within one day of it occurring.
- Sam Altman poked fun at top AI lab OpenAI’s fundraising history, specifically that it finally managed to raise a series A round after six previous rounds.
- French IoT startup Sigfox filed for bankruptcy protection after raising over $300M in funding. It will seek a buyer.
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 |  | Inside VC's writer/curator Stephen currently lives in Berlin and is pursuing a Master's degree in philosophy. He otherwise spends his time trying his hand at recipes from India and Southeast Asia, escaping it all at the kickboxing gym, and offending aural sensibilities with his band. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
Splinterlands is the world’s #1 most played blockchain game. Play Splinterlands for free today. | |
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