Thrive Capital to invest $1B in Stripe / Anthropic may raise $300M at a $5B valuation / TrueBridge targets $750M for eighth fund

Plus: Colossal Biosciences nabs $150M to pursue de-extinction of Dodo bird

Inside.com Part of   Network January 31, 2023

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Joshua Kushner's venture firm Thrive Capital is reportedly planning to invest $1B in Stripe as a lead investor in the upcoming $2.5B funding round. The payments startup is poised to be valued between $55B and $60B at the upcoming fundraiser, significantly lower than its peak valuation of $95B in 2021. Stripe has planned the fundraiser to allow existing employees to sell shares and pay off its tax liabilities.  More: Last week Stripe hired JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to explore public listing options, either through a private share sale or a direct listing, to allow employees to cash out their expiring restricted stock units. Over 2022, Stripe laid off staff and lowered its internal valuation multiple times — most recently to $63B — as it struggled to raise money and was looking to cut back on expenses. Zoom out: Thrive Capital closed a $3B fund last February, its largest to date. The firm sold a 3.3% minority stake to a group of billionaires, including Robert Iger, Henry Kravis, Mukesh Ambani, and Xavier Niel, last week for $175M.  The deal valued the New York-based venture firm at $5.3B.

San Francisco-based AI startup Anthropic is in talks with investors to raise $300M in funding at a $5B valuation. Anthropic is currently developing its AI chatbot, Claude, to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT platform. The Claude platform is in closed beta mode as of now.  More: Anthropic, founded by several researchers from OpenAI, aims to ride the recent funding wave for generative AI startups.  The firm was last valued at $4B in 2022 when it raised $580M in Series B funding led by Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt crypto platform FTX.  The bankruptcy court could potentially claw back the amount invested by Bankman-Fried.   To date, the firm has nabbed $704M in venture funding.  Zoom out: Over the past few years, 10% of all venture funding has gone to the AI sector. Recently, Microsoft invested $10B in OpenAI.

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TrueBridge Capital Partners, a Chapel Hill, N.C.-based venture capital firm, is aiming to raise $750M for its newly launched eighth fund-of-funds, named TrueBridge Capital Partners Fund VIII. The fund's cap is the same amount it secured for its seventh vehicle a year ago.  More: TrueBridge makes investments in high-performing venture capital firms with proven track records.  Its debut $310M fund in 2008 received backing from South Carolina's and North Carolina's employee retirement systems.  TrueBridge was founded by UNC-Chapel Hill graduates Mel Williams and Edwin Poston in 2007.   The firm started as a fund-of-funds investor but has since expanded its business model to directly fund early-stage and late-stage technology ventures.  TrueBridge currently has $5.5B worth of assets under management.

Dallas, Texas-based Colossal Biosciences secured $150M funding to advance its genetic engineering software and hardware solutions, and pursue the de-extinction of the Dodo bird. The Series B round was led by the United States Innovation Technology Fund.  More: Sources told Bloomberg that the firm was valued at $1.5B at the recent funding round, cementing its status as a unicorn.  Participants in the funding round include Breyer Capital, WestRiver Group, In-Q-Tel, Animoca Brands, and Jazz Ventures.  The funding brings the total raised to date to $225M.  Last year, the firm announced plans to de-extinct the woolly mammoth and Tasmanian tiger.  The de-extinction of the Dodo will be pursued by its newly launched subsidiary, Avian Genomics Group.  Form Bio spun out from Colossal last year and recently raised $30M in Series A funding.

Los Angeles-based venture firm Embedded Ventures launched its debut fund with a target of $100M. The firm intends to invest in commercial, national security, and space startups. Embedded already raised an undisclosed sum and held a first close of the fund. The firm aims to hold a final close by the end of Q2 2023.  More: The firm is led by general partners Jenna Bryant and Jordan Noone.  Noone founded the 3D rocket printing startup Relativity Space prior to joining Embedded.  The firm has invested in over six startups to date, including Akash Systems and Slingshot Aerospace, and launched the fund to increase its pace of investments.   It has six more potential investments undergoing the due diligence process.   Embedded hired former Virgin Orbit national security executive Mandy Vaughn as an operating partner to lead the government business development.  The firm signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Space Force in 2021.

Canadian venture capital firm Raven Indigenous Capital Partners received $100M in capital commitments toward its oversubscribed second fund. The fund aims to back Native American startups across five sectors: technology, health, regenerative agriculture, clean energy, and consumer products.    More: The fund was backed by MacArthur Foundation and Bush Foundation, with the latter committing $2M to Fund II.  Raven closed its first fund at $25M in March 2021.  Crunchbase data shows that Raven has been the lead investor in Animikii Indigenous Technology, Plato Testing, Salish Environmental, and Totem's funding rounds.  The firm is growing its U.S.-based team to expand the scope of opportunities for Native American entrepreneurs.  Raven invests in startups that have demonstrated commercial viability, scalability, and measurable community benefits.

Quick Hits: This year, try a resolution that sticks — going to therapy with BetterHelp. Save 25% off your first month.* Battery energy storage solutions provider Elevate Renewable Energy secured $150M in funding from ArcLight Capital Partners.  Momenta established a $100M Industry 5.0 Fund to back startups working on programs outlined in the EU Commission's Industry 5.0 initiative. Crypto exchange Kraken's venture capital arm appointed Laurens De Poorter as its first European partner.  Eight Roads Ventures, Nufarm, Endeavor8, and Akroyd led a $10M additional funding into crop health company Enko, bringing its Series C round total to $80M.  Cloud data security company Sentra closed its Standard Investments-led Series A round with $30M in funding.  Automation is your finance team's best productivity strategy. See five finance tasks you should be automating today* *This is sponsored content.

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Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot.  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 and 1972 Fords.

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