Newnex Newsletter
15 May 2024
Newnex's comprehensive roundup of venture capital and growth-equity insights, along with highlights of recent fundraisings and investments. We tracked $73+ million fundraisings in the European and Indian VC space.
Top of our mind:
Disrupting the AI Landscape: The Impact of ChatGPT 4o on Leading AI Companies
Navigating Turbulence: Insights from Bain & Company's India Venture Capital Report 2024
The 'Eat What You Kill' Model: Wall Street's Debate Over Financial Incentives
PremjiInvest Bolsters AI Investments and Tools, Eyes Technological Advancements for Future Growth
Reid Hoffman's Experiment with AI Avatars Raises Concerns and Ethical Questions
Navigating the Complex Landscape of AI Regulation: Perspectives from Business Leaders and Experts
Venture Fundraising Slows in Q1 2024: Institutional Investors Remain Cautious
Microsoft's Push into AI: Behind-the-Scenes Insights Revealed in Internal Email
European startup fundraisings ($284+m):
Italian startup Glaut has recently concluded a pre-seed funding round, securing $1.4 million. Leading the investment is the Italian Founders Fund, with contributions from Brainstorm Ventures, Alecla7, Ithaca, BHeroes, Club degli Investitori, Eden Ventures, Delirus Capital, along with notable angel investors such as David Clarke (formerly of Workday) and Pietro Cesati (formerly of Soisy).
French startup Carbonfact recently secured a $15 million funding round led by Alven. Additional investors in this round include Headline and Y Combinator.
CroBio, headquartered in Cheshire, is an agtech startup with a mission to revolutionize agriculture through the utilization of advanced microbes. The company has recently finalized a seed round of €1.45 million, spearheaded by a consortium of US investors led by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. Additional investors in the round include SOSV and Ponderosa Ventures, with ongoing backing from the Catapult Ventures Group.
Vivalyx, a biotech company specializing in the development of a preservation liquid for maximizing organ viability prior to transplantation, has successfully raised a €5.4 million seed round. The funding round was backed by investors including Luc Starmans (Brightlands Venture Partners), Bernhard Kugel (TVF | TechVision Fonds), Arve Capital, Ashok Rao (GOOSE Capital), and numerous distinguished angel investors.
Bristol-headquartered climate technology company Nusku has secured £1 million in funding, with £700,000 sourced from the UK government.
Urban Jungle, an insurtech startup, has secured £11.2 million in its most recent funding round, spearheaded by its current investors. Among the existing investors participating in this round are Intact Ventures, Ingka Investments, Mundi Ventures, Eka Ventures, and Sony Innovation Fund. Notable angel investors, including former Prudential UK CEO Rob Devey, have also contributed to this funding round.
Birdwingo, a fintech firm headquartered in Prague, has effectively concluded a funding round amounting to €1.2 million. The company has garnered funding from various sources, including Bienville Capital, a VC fund based in New York, as well as contributions from other company founders and bank executives.
Tuza, formerly known as Statement, is pioneering a transformation in payment processing for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The company has recently closed a £4 million seed funding round, with Connect Ventures taking the lead alongside investments from Northzone, Triple Point, and Entrepreneur First.
London-based fintech company SumUp has revealed a significant funding milestone, securing €1.5 billion from private credit lenders in a round led by Goldman Sachs. This round sees participation from a cohort of new investors including AllianceBernstein, Apollo Global Management, Arini, Deutsche Bank AG, Fortress Investment Group, SilverRock Financial Services, and Vista Credit Partners. They join existing investors such as funds managed by BlackRock, Crestline Investors, Liquidity Capital, Oaktree Capital Management, Sentinel Dome, and Temasek.
Manchester-headquartered Made With Intent, a company dedicated to enhancing e-commerce experiences, has successfully secured £1.5 million (approximately €1.75 million) in funding. The investment will fuel the launch of its segmentation platform, aimed at making online shopping more personalized and tailored to individual customers. Mercuri led the funding round, with additional support from Portfolio Ventures and existing investor Haatch.
Ikerian AG, headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, along with its subsidiary RetinAI U.S. Inc., a developer of software solutions aimed at accelerating healthcare workflows, has successfully concluded a Series A extension funding round, raising $6.18 million. Topcon Healthcare, Inc.'s Corporate Venture Capital arm led the round. Additionally, existing investors, including Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), the btov Industrial Technologies fund managed by Matterwave Ventures, Verve Ventures, and private investors, participated in this funding round.
VoltR, based in Pays de la Loire, France, specializes in the second life of lithium batteries. The company recently announced its inaugural fundraising round of €4 million, with participation from notable investors such as C4 Ventures and Exergon. Additionally, investors include Pays de la Loire Participations, Anjou Amorçage, and the network of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of the region.
Wayve, a UK-based startup pioneering a self-learning approach for autonomous driving rather than relying on rule-based systems, has secured $1.05 billion in Series C funding. Leading the funding round is SoftBank Group, with participation from Nvidia and existing investor Microsoft. Notably, among Wayve's early-stage investors was Yann LeCun, Meta's head of AI.
Stonal, a real estate data management platform, has secured a strategic investment of up to €100 million from Aareon, a leading European provider of SaaS solutions.
CoreWeave, a firm specializing in cloud infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI), has raised $1.1 billion in Series C funding. Leading this round is Coatue, joined by existing investor Magnetar, as well as Altimeter Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Lykos Global Management.
Futura, headquartered in Milan and utilizing AI for education, has disclosed a Series A funding round of €14 million, led by Eurazeo. United Ventures, an existing investor, and Axon Partners Group, a new investor, also joined in this round.
SLAM Orthopedic, headquartered in Delft and focused on developing advanced sensor systems for surgical applications, has successfully raised €2 million in a seed round of funding. Leading this investment is the Dutch seed fund Rising Star Venture Partners, with additional support from individual investors and the Zeeuws Participatiefonds.
Berlin-headquartered greentech startup everyone energy has secured a seven-figure seed financing round of undisclosed amount. High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Cologne-based early-stage VC neoteq ventures spearheaded the round.
The insurtech company Eleos has successfully raised €3.75 million in a Seed round, with Fuel Ventures and Indico Capital taking the lead.
German biotech firm Insempra has recently concluded a Series A financing round, raising $20 million. The round saw participation from existing investors EQT Ventures, BlueYard Capital, Possible Ventures, Taavet Sten, and Acequia Capital. Additionally, new investors include the corporate venture arm of global FMCG giant Henkel, Henkel dx Ventures, Bayern Kapital, and Alante Capital.
Cetasol, headquartered in Gothenburg and specializing in maritime sustainability, has confirmed €2 million in funding through a seed round. Sarsia, ShipsFocus, and Impact X Capital contributed to the investment.
Phished, a cybersecurity startup headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has revealed that it will receive an additional €7.5 million over the next four years via a convertible bond from the Flemish investment fund Welvaartsfonds.
mimic, a startup based in Switzerland, is stepping up to challenge the dominance of US firms in the robotics arena. The company aims to be the first to bring a combination of robotic arm and humanoid hand to market, utilizing generative AI technology. To support this endeavor, mimic has raised a pre-seed round of €2.3 million. Leading the investment round is early-stage Swiss investor Founderful, with participation from German-based fund another.vc, UK-based Tiny.vc, and a group of specialized angel investors.
Kubos Semiconductor, headquartered in Cambridge, has disclosed securing $2 million in funding. The UK-based firm has garnered support from three seasoned professionals in the compound semiconductor industry, as well as three strategic investors: Martin Lamb, Drew Nelson, and Geoff Haynes. Among the strategic investors are the Development Bank of Wales, FOV Ventures, and S4C Digital Media Limited.
Mapping and location platform Magic Lane has secured €3 million for navigation purposes, particularly focusing on micro-mobility, specialized vehicles, apps, and platforms. The funding round was spearheaded by No Such Ventures.
2i, headquartered in Edinburgh, specializes in assisting clients with testing and quality assurance. The company has secured eight-figure funding from Rockpool Investments, a London-based firm known for accelerating business growth.
Sesame, a human resources management startup based in Valencia, has revealed securing €23 million in fresh funding. The investment was led by GP Bullhound funds, with participation from PSG.
London-based Nivoda, an online jewelry marketplace, has successfully raised $30 million in its Series B funding round. Avenir Growth Capital led the round, with participation from existing investors Headline and Abstract Ventures, as well as new investor Canaan Ventures.
Indian Startup fundraisings ($449m):
Agritech robotics firm Niqo Robotics, previously known as TartanSense, has raised $9 million in a new funding round. Brida Innovation Ventures led the round, with existing investor Omnivore Partners also participating in the funding.
The electric vehicle (EV) charging network Charge Zone has secured a $19 million commitment from British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor.
D2C men’s lifestyle brand DaMENSCH has secured $2.5 million in its extended Series B round from existing investors. Notably, Matrix Partners, Saama Capital, Whiteboard Capital, and A91 Emerging Fund continued their participation in the round.
Mumbai-based esports media platform TalkEsport has recently concluded its pre-Series A funding round, securing $1 million from Saswat Ventures.
Dexif, fintech startup, has recently secured $4 million in seed funding, with RTP Global leading the investment round.
GO DESi, a startup in the packaged foods sector headquartered in Bengaluru, revealed that it secured $4.9 million in equity investment from Aavishkaar Capital.
Poshn, a full-stack foodtech supply chain startup, has announced raising $4 million in equity and $2 million in debt in its pre-Series A funding round. The investment was led by existing investors Prime Venture Partners and Zephyr Peacock India.
SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) startup Knit has announced securing funding of USD 1 million from Endiya Partners, Axilor Ventures, and angel investors. Other investors include JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation (JIIF), We Founder Circle, Prataap Snacks, Apricot Foods, Workie, and IVY League Ventures.
Agritech startup Superplum has successfully raised $15 million in its Series A financing round, led by Erik Ragatz, former partner and current senior advisor of private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. Ragatz joins a group of Superplum’s current investors, including Mark Siegel, Dan Rose, Steve Jurvetson, Rick Kimball, Binny Bansal, and Kabir Misra.
BharatRohan, a startup specializing in drone-based hyperspectral remote sensing, has secured $2.3 million in funding from investors including Villgro Innovation Foundation, Caspian, RevX, Venture Garage, and other ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Parseable, a cloud-native log analytics platform, has successfully raised $2.75 million in a seed funding round. The round was led by Surge, the venture capital firm Peak XV's scale-up program for early-stage startups, with participation from Amsterdam-based venture capital fund NP-Hard Ventures.
Data and AI governance company Atlan has secured $105 million in its Series C funding round. The round was led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and Meritech Capital. Additionally, existing investors Salesforce Ventures and Peak XV Partners participated in the round.
Treacle, a cybersecurity startup, has secured ₹4 crore in a pre-seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The company plans to utilize the funds for enhancing technical and business developments, marketing and office expenses, partnerships, and expansion in the Indian market.
Social commerce platform Meesho has raised $275 million in funding as part of an ongoing round. The investment comes from existing investors such as SoftBank, Prosus, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners.
Plotline, headquartered in San Francisco and Bengaluru, is instrumental in facilitating consumer app companies to swiftly and seamlessly customize their applications. Recently, the company secured $2.6 million in funding from Elevation Capital.
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