Silicon Valley Funding News - Week of October 11, 2021. Tekion (Automotive Retail Cloud) raised $250M Series D

Happy Monday! 

2021 is becoming a blockbuster year for venture and startup investing with over $158.2B in funding in just this quarter.  I enjoyed reading this CBInsights State of Venture report.  Sequoia Capital China is the new #1 investor by the number and completed 96 deals in 90 days. That’s 1.5 deals per business day!  With a total of 848 unicorns now on the planet, the industry is on fire! 

Kari McMahon from Business Insider wrote a nice profile piece on Race Capital. =)  Reflecting on what I have learned as an investor over these past 7 years:

• As an investor, we are only as good as the next investment we make.
• Our past glory can get us access, but does not mean you deserve to invest.
• Investing in seed stage is about getting comfortable with feeling very uncomfortable and investing in things that you don't understand. If you want to understand 100%, then better to focus on later stage investment
• The future will be created by founders who are literally half your age. =) You better get used to it.
• Investing is only a small part of the venture business. Portfolio management, portfolio support, taking care of partners, LPs and founders take discipline, love and care.
• FOMO is our worst enemy.
• Don’t take yourself too seriously. Otherwise you may either get a heart attack or become an asshole.

This week a total of 28 startups raised $1.0483B in funding, 6 M&As:

• $179.8M goes to 10 Enterprise startups
• $7.3M goes to 2 HR startups
• $7M goes to 1 Mobile startup
• $2.4M goes to 1 eCommerce startup
• $120.6M goes to 4 FinTech startups
• $115M goes to 2 Insurance startups
• $180.5M goes to 3 Healthcare startups
• $260.7M goes to 2 Automotive startups
• $175M goes to 3 Transportation startups