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Sequoia Capital pared back the size of two major venture funds, including its cryptocurrency fund, as part of a dramatic downsizing amid the broad startup downturn, the WSJ reported earlier today. It says Sequoia cut the size of its cryptocurrency fund to $200 million from $585 million and the size of its so-called ecosystem fund -- which invests in other venture funds -- to $450 million from $900 million, per its sources. Sequoia reportedly told fund investors in March it made the decision to reduce the funds, so kudos to its LPs for not spilling the tea until now. More here.
Meta execs are heavily focused on boosting retention on their new Twitter rival Threads, after the app lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its buzzy launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees today. Reuters has more here.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell today, ending a streak of 13 consecutive winning sessions. Its run of gains was the longest since 1987 and the second-longest on record.
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| VC Andy McLoughlin of His Firm's New Funds, Succession, and Why Next Year Could Be a Bloodbath (Sorry, Startups) |
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A few weeks ago, Uncork Capital shared the news that it recently closed on $400 million in capital commitments across two new funds: $200 million for a seed-stage vehicle and another $200 million for an opportunity-style fund that mostly aims to support startups that are already part of its portfolio.
The funds represent twice what Uncork raised in 2019 when it last announced two new funds, and late last week, Managing Partner Andy McLoughlin told us that the firm is likely to invest 70% of that money into B2B software startups. While some of Uncork’s highest-profile wins have come from consumer brands, including Fitbit, Postmates, and Poshmark, the 19-year-old outfit has stakes in enterprise outfits like the 401(k) service provider Human Interest and the developer software business LaunchDarkly, and it’s more dazzled these days by, for
example, dev tools, infrastructure opportunities, vertical industry software and traditional enterprise software.
“We think there are a lot of really interesting opportunities in consumer and marketplaces and in fintech, but [B2B software] is certainly the bread and butter of what we’re doing today,” McLoughlin said.
We were also curious about the changing composition of Uncork, and what McLoughlin is seeing the broader market, where the tech world’s gloomy headlines don’t match up so neatly with the many startups that continue to announce funding. Catching McLoughlin at Uncork’s current San Francisco office — it will be moving into a bigger location in the city later this year — he talked about how the market is shifting in real time. That conversation follows.
More here.
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Field, a three-year-old London startup that develops battery systems to store energy generated during periods of low demand, which can then be released to the UK grid when demand is high, raised a $255.9 million round. DIF Capital Partners was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $307 million. Sifted has more here.
RapidAI, a 12-year-old company based in Menlo Park, Ca., that says it uses AI to provide hospitals with imaging and decision support tools for stroke victims, raised a $75 million Series C round. Vista Credit Partners led the transaction. The company has raised a total of $100 million. Vascular News has more here.
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| Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
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Airvet, a telehealth veterinary platform, has raised $18.2 million in Series B funding. Mountain Group Partners led the round, joined by a mix of new and earlier investors, including Canvas Ventures, Headline, Burst Capital and a group of strategic investors, including VCA Animal Hospitals founder Bob Antin. TechCrunch has more here.
Croissant, an eight-year-old New York startup whose software integrates into a merchant's existing shopping experience and offers customers a guaranteed buyback value at checkout, raised a $24 million seed round from Portage Ventures, Third Prime, BoxGroup, 25 millionadison, Twelve Below, and KKR founders George Roberts and Henry Kravis. Fintech Finance News has more here.
ev.energy, a five-year-old London startup that operates a network of EV charging stations, raised a $33 million Series B round led by National Grid Partners, with Aviva Ventures, WEX Venture Capital, InMotion Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Future Energy Ventures, and ArcTern Ventures also taking part. The company has raised a total of $46.5 million. Tech.eu has more here.
Finicast, a four-year-old startup based in San Mateo, Ca., whose platform allows businesses to model, plan, forecast, and track performance, raised a $12.8 million seed round led by Celesta Capital. The company has raised a total of $24.4 million. More here.
GlossGenius, a seven-year-old New York startup whose platform is designed to handle bookings and payments for salons and spas, raised a $28 million Series C round led by L Catterton, with Bessemer Venture Partners and Imaginary Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $70.6 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Protect AI, a one-year-old Seattle startup whose goal is to build tools to harden the security around AI systems, raised a $35 million Series A round led by Evolution Equity Partners, with additional participation from Salesforce Ventures, Acrew Capital, boldstart ventures, Knollwood Capital, and Pelion Ventures. The company has raised a total of $48.5 million. TechCrunch has more here.
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Bunker, a Singapore startup that claims its platform can read a business’s financial data and create dashboards and reports to help management better understand what’s going on at a transactional level, raised a $5 million round from Alpha JWC, January Capital, Northstar Group, GFC, and Money Forward. Forbes has more here.
Effectiv, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that is building AI tools to address payment fraud detection, customer and business onboarding verification, and compliance management, raised $4.5 million, increasing the size of its seed round to $9 million. The lead was Better Tomorrow Ventures, while Accel also participated. More here.
Flipturn, a New York startup that aims to help fleet operators manage the charging of their EVs, raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Accel, with Comma Capital and Background Capital also chipping in. TechCrunch has more here.
ReflexAI, a one-year-old New York startup that develops AI-infused training software for call center employees, raised a $3.3 million seed round. Footwork was the deal lead, while Emerson Collective, Altman Capital, and Gaingels also wrote checks. The company has raised a total of $5.6 million. More here.
Space DOTS, a two-year-old London startup that is developing miniaturized in-situ testing for advanced materials in any space environment, raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round from Boost VC, Sie Ventures, 7Percent Ventures, and Blue Wire Capital. The company has raised a total of $3 million. EU-Startups has more here.
Thymia, a three-year-old London startup that is building building gamified AI tool to perform mental health assessments, raised a $2.7 million seed round. The lead was Kodori Ventures, while Entrepreneur First, Syndicate Room's Access, Calm/Storm, and Form Ventures also contributed. The company has raised a total of $3.8 million. EU-Startups has more here.
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App delivers 100% positive net return track record. It may sound too good to be true, but this investment platform's users are already smiling all the way to the bank. Because every single one of Masterworks’ 13 sales has returned a profit to investors, for a 100% positive net return track record. With 3 recent sales, Masterworks investors realized annualized net returns of 17.8%, 21.5% and 35%. Shares of every offering are limited, but Strictly VC readers can skip the waitlist with this exclusive link.
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Surf Air, a Los Angeles-based flight travel membership that emerged from the business incubator and venture firm Mucker Lab in 2012 , began trading on the NYSE via a direct listing this morning. Institutional investors must have thrown up on the deal ahead of its debut; the company's shares opened at $5, down from their reference price of $20; they closed at $3.15 apiece.
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Battery Ventures, the Boston- and San Francisco-based investment firm, promoted Danel Dayan and Max-Julian Kaye to principal and Becca Jones to vice president. More here.
Former top Twitter lieutenant Esther Crawford today penned a lengthy post that alternated between criticizing and praising Elon Musk for his leadership at Twitter, now known as X.
Sofia Guerra was promoted to vice president at Bessemer Venture Partners. She joined the firm in 2021 after short stints with BoxGroup and Rough Draft Ventures. She is based in Cambridge and focuses on healthcare and biotech.
Congrats to VC Chamath Palihapitiya and wife Nathalie Dompé. (Yesterday's wedding item is now confirmed, with Palihapitiya on his podcast comparing the couple's "eclectic" guest list to a "2x2 matrix of villainy, wealth, fame and infamy.")
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Enthusiasm around NFTs continues to wane. Sales volume for the popular collection CryptoPunks is down 50% in the past 30 days, according to NFT Price Floor data (as cited by Bloomberg). For another blue-chip collection, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, sales volume has deceased 42%, according to the industry data tracker.
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A one-of-a-kind C1 Corvette is coming up for auction in a couple of weeks. Vroom, vroom.
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