Today's Biggest Private Market News: Major Funding Rounds and Strategic Investments

Today's Biggest Private Market News: Major Funding Rounds and Strategic Investments

Jun 26, 2024

Venture Capital

  • Anduril: This seven-year-old Irvine, CA-based company, specializing in advanced defense technologies such as autonomous systems, AI, and robotics, is reportedly raising $1.5 billion at a $12.5 billion pre-money valuation. Founders Fund, a previous investor, is co-leading the round with a $400 million investment alongside Sands Capital.

  • Bright Machines: The six-year-old San Francisco-based startup, which develops automated manufacturing systems for items like servers and batteries, secured $106 million in funding led by BlackRock. Nvidia, Microsoft, and Jabil also participated, with an additional $20 million in venture debt.

  • Etched: A two-year-old Los Angeles startup focused on creating specialized chips for transformer AI models, such as those used in ChatGPT, raised $120 million. The round was co-led by Primary Venture Partners and Positive Sum Ventures, with contributions from Hummingbird, Fundomo, Fontinalis, Lightscape, Earthshot, Two Sigma, Oceans Venture, Skybox Data Centers, and Peter Thiel.

  • EvolutionaryScale: This one-year-old New York startup, which develops AI tools for protein design and understanding, raised $142 million in a seed round co-led by Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Lux Capital, with additional investments from Amazon and NVentures.

  • Exsilio Therapeutics: The Boston-based genomic medicine startup raised $82 million in a Series A round. The funding was co-led by Novartis Venture Fund and Delos Capital, with participation from OrbiMed, Insight Partners, JPMorgan Life Sciences Private Capital, CRISPR Therapeutics, Innovation Endeavors, Invus, Arc Ventures, and Deep Insight.

  • Neustark: This seven-year-old Bern, Switzerland-based startup, which captures CO₂ from biogas plants and stores it in demolished concrete via mineralization, raised $69 million. Decarbonization Partners led the round, with Blume Equity, Holcim, Siemens Financial Services, Verve Ventures, and ACE Ventures also participating.

  • Prewave: The seven-year-old Vienna-based startup, which helps businesses identify supply chain risks by monitoring news and social media for early warnings, raised $67.5 million in a Series B round led by Hedosophia, with contributions from Creandum, Ventech, Kompas, Speedinvest, and Working Capital Fund.

  • SkyCell: The Zürich-based company providing advanced containers for temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals raised $116 million in a Series D round. Investors included Tybourne Capital Management, CCI, and Catalyst.

  • Stability AI: The four-year-old London startup behind Stable Diffusion, a generative AI LLM that converts text into images, raised $80 million in a recapitalization round. Investors included Sean Parker, Eric Schmidt, Greycroft, O’Shaughnessy Ventures, Robert Nelsen, Coatue Management, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Sound Ventures.

  • Adonis: The healthcare revenue cycle intelligence and automation startup secured $31 million in Series B funding, bringing its total to $54 million. The round was led by Point72 Private Investments, with participation from Kin Ventures, General Catalyst, Max Ventures, and Bling Capital.

  • Deskpro: An Austin-based startup that develops help desk software raised $25 million in a Series A round led by Elsewhere Partners.

  • FirstVet: The eight-year-old Stockholm-based startup raised $21.4 million in a Series C round led by Telus Global Ventures, with previous investors OMERS Ventures, Mubadala Capital, and Cathay Innovation participating.

  • Formic: The four-year-old Chicago startup, which provides manufacturers with subscription-based robots covering installation, maintenance, and operation, raised $24.7 million in a Series A round led by Blackhorn Ventures. Other investors included Mitsubishi HC Capital America, NEC, Translink Capital, Alumni Ventures, FJ Labs, Lux Capital, Initialized Capital, and Lorimer Ventures.

  • Function: This three-year-old Los Angeles startup offering an annual membership for access to over 100 lab tests to monitor health conditions raised $45 million. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, with participation from Wisdom.vc, Draft Ventures, K5 Ventures, G9 Partners, and 53 Stations.

  • k-ID: The one-year-old Singapore startup that helps game developers comply with child safety regulations raised $45 million in a Series A round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Okta, Z Venture Capital, Konvoy Ventures, and TIRTA Ventures. The total funding now stands at $51 million.

  • LiveEO: This six-year-old Berlin startup using satellite data and AI to monitor infrastructure raised $26.8 million in a Series B round co-led by NordicNinja and DeepTech & Climate Fonds.

  • Norm AI: The New York-based AI-powered regulatory compliance platform raised $27 million in a Series A funding round led by Coatue.

  • Rocketlane: The four-year-old San Mateo, CA-based startup that helps businesses manage customer onboarding raised $24 million in a Series B round. The round was co-led by 8VC, Matrix Partners India, and Nexus Venture Partners, bringing total funding to $45 million.

  • Route: The six-year-old Lehi, UT-based startup allowing customers to track online orders and offering package protection raised $40 million in a Series C round at a $1.4 billion valuation. Hanaco VC led the round, with Jaws Ventures, Madrona Ventures, and Granger participating.

  • Sift: The two-year-old El Segundo, CA-based startup enhancing telemetry platforms for the space industry raised $17.5 million in a Series A round led by GV.

  • SLUSHY: The four-year-old Miami startup with a monetization platform for content creators raised $10.2 million in a seed round with participation from Mantis VC and Electric Feel Ventures.

  • AnchorZero: The New York startup that helps founders set up self-directed Roth IRAs for tax-efficient investments raised $8 million in a seed round co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Spark Capital, with participation from Ethereal Ventures, Mischief Capital, Pascal Capital, and Robot Ventures.

  • Chift: This two-year-old Brussels startup providing a unified API for SaaS companies to integrate with various financial tools raised $2.5 million in a seed round. Investors included Entourage, Shapers, and Seeder Fund.

  • Created by Humans: The Bay Area startup founded this year that helps authors and creators license their work for AI models raised $5 million in a seed round. Investors included Craft Ventures, Floodgate, Launch, Slow Ventures, Garry Tan, and Walter Isaacson.

  • Cureosity: The six-year-old Düsseldorf startup developing VR systems to help patients with neurological and orthopedic conditions raised $4.1 million. Nomainvest and TechVision Fund co-led the round.

  • Fantasy Chess: The one-year-old Oslo startup founded by Magnus Carlsen to build an interactive chess platform raised a pre-seed round from SNÖ Ventures, Coatue, Breakthrough Initiatives, and Thiel Capital.

  • Marble Health: This one-year-old New York startup connecting teens with licensed therapists in group settings raised $5 million in a seed round co-led by Khosla Ventures, Town Hall Ventures, and IA Ventures, with participation from Daybreak Ventures and Lorimer Ventures.

  • TestParty: The one-year-old New York startup creating accessible websites with automated tools raised $4 million in a seed round co-led by Harlem Capital and the Urban Innovation Fund.

  • Wilya: This three-year-old New York startup helping manufacturers manage workforce skills and improve productivity raised $4 million in a seed round led by Ironspring Ventures, with contributions from Schematic Ventures, Plug & Play Ventures, Iron Prairie Ventures, Motivate Ventures, and 25Madison.

Private Equity

  • Sanofi: The French pharmaceutical giant has called for initial bids for its $20 billion consumer health unit while simultaneously preparing for an IPO.

  • Brookfield: The investment firm agreed to acquire a roughly 53% stake in the French renewables company Neoen, valuing the company at $6.5 billion.

  • Volkswagen: The automotive giant will invest $5 billion to form a joint venture with EV maker Rivian.

  • Boeing: The aerospace company switched its offer for Spirit AeroSystems from cash to stock.

  • Thoma Bravo: The private equity firm is exploring the sale of Canadian automotive marketplace and software provider Trader, which could be valued at $2.9 billion, including debt.

  • UniCredit and OTP Bank: Italy's UniCredit and Hungary’s largest lender OTP Bank have submitted competing bids for Baltic bank Luminor, with owner Blackstone seeking a $2.3 billion equity valuation.

  • KKR: The investment firm acquired a portfolio of over 5,200 apartment units across the US for $2.1 billion from Quarterra, the apartment development arm of Lennar.

  • Quantum Capital Group: The investment firm agreed to purchase Caerus Oil and Gas for $1.8 billion.

  • Equitix: A consortium led by global investor Equitix will acquire Macquarie's 40% stake in Italy's Hydro Dolomiti Energia, valuing the stake at approximately $1.1 billion.

  • ZimVie: The dental implants manufacturer, with a market cap of around $500 million, is considering options including a sale after receiving takeover interest.

  • Chapel Down Group: The English winemaker has initiated a strategic review that may result in a sale.

  • LVMH: The luxury goods conglomerate will acquire Swiza, which owns the Swiss high-end clock maker L’Epée 1839.

  • Blackstone: The investment firm has made a 'best and final' offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund.

  • Doordash: The food delivery service held takeover talks with its UK rival Deliveroo last month.

  • Beehiiv: The newsletter platform has acquired the website builder Typedream.

IPO

  • Solera: The Vista-backed automotive SaaS provider is seeking to raise over $1 billion in its planned IPO, targeting a valuation of up to $13 billion.

  • Clario: The drug-trial software maker has confidentially filed for an IPO, aiming for a valuation exceeding $10 billion.

  • Zealand Pharma: The Danish company will sell approximately $900 million in new shares to fund research and development for obesity drugs.

New Funds

  • Macquarie Asset Management: The firm closed an opportunistic real estate fund at approximately $1.9 billion, aimed at global investments.

  • Blackstone: The investment firm raised around $1.1 billion for its targeted $2 billion European credit fund.

  • Meadow Partners: The real estate private equity firm closed its sixth flagship fund at $530 million.

  • a16z: The venture capital giant plans to raise its first private equity fund.

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Unlock the Power of Advanced People Research

Elevate your decision-making with real-time, comprehensive data, transforming data into your most valuable asset. Begin with TRACT today and ensure every decision is backed by unmatched precision.

Unlock the Power of Advanced People Research

Elevate your decision-making with real-time, comprehensive data, transforming data into your most valuable asset. Begin with TRACT today and ensure every decision is backed by unmatched precision.