Silicon Valley Funding News - Week of August 16, 2021. Talkdesk Raised $230M Series D

Hope you are enjoying the warm summer days.  America is still not COVID free and more shut downs are possible.

Despite what's happening with Main Street, July was yet another again big month for VC investment tying with June 2021, Crunchbase data shows. All told, at least $61 billion was invested in startups globally last month, and 53 new unicorns were born. We looked at the startups getting funding and the investors leading the way.

According to Preqin data, 43 China-focused funds raised a total of $49 billion this year, nearing 2020's total annual amount of $50 billion. Hillhouse Capital Group alone raised $18 billion in Asia's biggest non-state-backed fund in May.  Many Chinese PE & VC funds are pivoting away from data-heavy, consumer-facing internet companies to sectors including semiconductors, automation, renewable energy, healthcare and business-focused tech services. The unexpected crackdown of private tutoring firms last month from making a profit from teaching core school subjects and raising capital, for example, is set to trigger a scramble among private equity investors to find an exit after pouring in billions.

Goldman Sachs released this report called "Beauty Is Not in the Eye of the Beholder" on the topic of digital currency. Bitcoin is primarily a store of value and probably won’t be the most functional payment rail; the value of Bitcoin mostly comes from its widespread adoption rather than its core use cases. Ethereum and Solana are gradually becoming the preferred host for stablecoin payments in cross-border transactions, as well as in DeFi lending and staking protocols aimed at enhancing financial inclusion. 

There is a major shift going on in the underlying infrastructure powering financial applications, and it’s changing the way we think about permission and control, transparency and risks. Read more on Defi 101.

This week a total of 26 startups raised $1.4933B in funding, 4 M&As: 

• $714.5M goes to 12 Enterprise startups
• $30M goes to 2 FinTech startups
• $219.8M goes to 3 Crypto startups
• $200M goes to 1 Real Estate startup
• $73M goes to 2 Construction startups
• $75M goes to 1 Auto Insurance startup
• $66M goes to 1 Autonomous Vehicle startup
• $40M goes to 1 Gaming startup
• $70M goes to 2 Healthcare startups
• $5M goes to 1 AgTech startup