Chinese startups are beginning to list on domestic stock markets at lower valuations than in their most recent private funding rounds. The onslaught of so-called 'blood listings' comes as Covid lockdowns and regulatory pressure continue to depress the country’s tech ecosystem. More: - For instance, CloudWalk Technology was once hailed as one of China's "Four Dragons" in AI.
- The company is set to debut in Shanghai on Friday following an IPO that slashed its pre-IPO valuation by 29%.
- Chipmaker Smarter Microelectronics has also submitted paperwork for a Shanghai listing that could see its valuation fall by 78%.
The wider lens: - The Chinese tech market hit exceptionally frothy levels following the trade tensions with the U.S.
- As the government emphasized the need for domestic production of crucial technologies, investors poured money into loss-making startups.
- Following industry-stopping Covid lockdowns, VC and PE investment plunged more than 70% YoY from a year earlier in April, according to CVSource
- Andrew Qian, CEO of Shanghai-based New Access Capital, expects 20% of venture capitalists to be inactive this year.
- As valuations fall, the VCs that invested in late-stage rounds at astronomical prices will see heavy losses.
- Abraham Zhang, chairman of China Europe Capital, hopes that 66% of some 15,000 registered VC and PE firms in China will exit the market following a steep reduction in valuations.
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Jakarta-based Astro has raised $60M Series B for its 15-minute grocery delivery platform. The round was made at an undisclosed valuation and was led by Accel, Citius, and Tiger Global. Participation came from existing investors AC Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Lightspeed, and Sequoia Capital India. More: - Astro has raised $90M to date since launching just nine months ago.
- The rapid pace of fundraising is a testament to the high capital costs for instant-delivery startups.
- Astro in particular has opted for a cash-heavy business model which sees it owning the entire user journey including inventory sourcing, supply chain, mid-mile, and last-mile delivery.
- With 1,000 drivers operating in Jakarta, home to 30 million residents, the company reported revenue growth of over 10x in the past few months and downloads of one million.
- E-grocery penetration in the archipelago remains low and is estimated to be just 0.5% in 2022. That figure comes in way below China’s 6% and South Korea’s 34% in 2020.
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Best of Last Week M&A IPO - Ripple will consider an IPO after it resolves its lawsuit with the SEC, according to the fintech company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse.
- Didi’s board has voted to delist its shares from the NYSE, ending a saga that put it at odds with the Chinese government and caused its valuation to collapse.
New Funds - According to federal security filings seen by Axios, venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates has raised more than $5.1B for two new funds.
- Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has raised $4.5B for its largest cryptocurrency and blockchain fund yet.
- General Atlantic is reportedly prepping for a $2B investment spree in India and Southeast Asia over the next two years.
- Washington, D.C.-based Updata Partners closed a new growth equity fund at $608M focused on B2B software companies not hailing from the Bay Area.
- Blockchain-focused investor Standard Crypto has raised almost $500M for its maiden fund, according to Axios sources.
- Syn Ventures, which invests in cybersecurity, industrial security, national defense, privacy, regulatory compliance, and data governance, raised $300M for its second fund.
- Synthesis Capital, an early supporter of the foodtech movement, has raised a new $300M vehicle.
- Venture capital firm Maveron raised $225M in commitments for its eighth fund to place bets on e-commerce, healthcare, education, web3, and consumer tech.
- Crane Venture Partners closed a $140M early-stage fund as its second vehicle for open-source, artificial intelligence, data, and developer tools.
- Old Fashion Research (OFR), launched by former Binance execs, raised $100M for its strategy of investing in crypto companies.
- Good Growth Capital secured $100M in capital toward its oversubscribed third fund for impact investment.
- Chip manufacturer Qualcomm announced a $100M venture fund for backing metaverse startups.
- Dallas Venture Capital has closed its second fund at $80M for early-stage B2B SaaS investments. 1Sharpe Ventures closed its maiden fund at an oversubscribed $90M to place 30-40 bets on early-stage proptech companies.
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Berlin-based Mondu raised $43M in a Series A funding round just seven months after securing seed capital. The latest injection was led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, with participation from existing investors Cherry Ventures and FinTech Collective, in addition to angels from Klarna, Zalando, and SumUp. More: - Mondu provides a BNPL platform that targets businesses as opposed to consumers, making it solidly part of the second wave of BNPL startups.
- Accounting for new entrants Tranch and Previse, which raised rounds just last week, Europe is home to nine B2B BNPL companies.
- Berlin-based Billie is the market leader as judged by its $640M valuation following a $100M Series C last year, which was supported by B2C BNPL giant Klarna.
- Mondu itself only operates in Germany at the moment, but it is planning to expand to other countries soon starting with Austria this summer.
- It currently has a 100-strong team and is looking to hire aggressively, though it declined to disclose how many new employees it is looking for.
- The company estimates that the B2B BNPL market will grow to $200B in Europe and the US in the next few years.
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 Today’s Funding 💸 Biotech/Health - Patronus (Berlin, Germany), digital tools to improve elderly care and well-being: $7M Seed led by Cavalry Ventures, participation from UVC Partners, DN Capital, Hanno Heintzenberg, Lukas Pieczonka, et al.
Blockchain - FanTiger (New Delhi, India), provider of a music NFT marketplace: $5.5M led by Multicoin Capital, participation from Krafton, Pravega, GAMA, Woodstock, et al.
- Jupiter Exchange (New York, N.Y.), alternative asset exchange using fractional NFT technology: $5M Seed led by White Hilt Capital.
Enterprise - Autocrypt (Seoul, South Korea), mobility and V2X communications: $25.5M B from Korea Asset Investment Securities, Ulmus Investment, BSK Investment, et al.
- Code Ocean (New York, N.Y.), computational-research laboratory SaaS platform for scientific collaboration and discovery: $16.5M B led by Battery Ventures, M12.
- Idiomatic (Palo Alto, Calif.), customer intelligence platform: $4M Seed led by Freestyle Capital, participation from Scott Belsky, Gert Lanckriet, et al.
Fintech - Pebble (New York, N.Y.), personal funds saving, spending, sending platform: $6.2M from Y Combinator, Lightshed Ventures, Soma Capital, Eniac Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Montage Ventures, et al.
Greentech - Greyparrot (London, U.K.), waste management software company for improved recycling: $11.3M A led by Una Terra, participation from Closed Loop Partners, Speedinvest, Unreasonable Collective, et al.
Metaverse - Bud (Singapore), metaverse UGC platform: $36.8M led by Sequoia Capital India, participation from ClearVue Partners, NetEase, Northern Light Venture Capital, GGV Capital, et al.
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Quick Hits - 64% of companies used this channel to generate nearly half of their revenue—and it’s not paid ads or content.*
- Matrix Partners, one of China’s top VCs, is reportedly struggling to find LPs for its latest $1.5B fund after its previous vehicle only made a 10% return after its first year. Investors holding an index such as S&P 500 or Nasdaq Composite would have made substantially more in the same period.
- FFL Partners, an investor in midsize healthcare and technology-enabled services companies, is targeting $750M for its next fund.
- Viola Credit, a global alternative credit asset managing platform, is raising $700M for its Alternative Lending Income Fund II. It will target established fintech, proptech, and insurtech companies.
- With 79% fewer deals and a 90% lower total deal value, D1 Capital Partners tops the list of the investors that pulled back hardest in Q1’22 compared to the previous year, according to Crunchbase.
- Financial institutions are leaving workers behind. Find out if you’re one of them.*
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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 | Gregory Bridgman is a writer and researcher with an academic background in politics and the philosophy of science and technology. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Cape Town and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Cambridge. He is interested in climate issues, technological changes, and the implications of the fourth industrial revolution. | |
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