12 Companies Raise Over $130M, VCs Get $178M, & $60B in M&A
October 3, 2023's biggest news in the private markets.
Bonsai Robotics, a startup based in San Jose, Ca., that is outfitting heavy farming equipment with machine vision capabilities, raised a $10.5 million round led by Acre Venture Partners, with E14, Congruent, Serra Ventures, Fall Line Capital, SNR Ventures, and Andros also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $13.5 million.
Framer, a 10-year-old Amsterdam company that is a no-code website builder, raised a $27 million Series C round led by Meritech Capital Partners, with previous investors Accel and Atomico also participating.
Health Data Analytics Institute, a seven-year-old startup based in Dedham, Ma., that uses predictive analytics and machine learning to help clinicians make better decisions about patient care, raised a $31 million Series C round. Invus was the deal lead.
Jetson, a six-year-old Palo Alto startup that is developing an electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft that will cost $98,000 and won’t require a pilot’s license to fly, raised a $15 million seed round. Investors include rapper Will.i.am.
Unitary AI, a four-year-old Cambridge, England-based startup that says it builds context-aware AI to detect harmful content in videos and keep brands and platforms safe, has $15 million in Series A led by Creandum. Paladin Capital Group and Plural also joined the round.
Cellply, a 10-year-old startup based in Bologna, Italy, that specializes in assessing the efficacy of immunotherapies in cancer treatments, raised a $3.8 million round from Recomec, Liftt, and Schia Ventures. The company has raised a total of $11.7 million.
Granular Energy, a two-year-old Paris startup that provides software to help utilities and companies trade clean energy, raised a $7.9 million seed round led by Norrsken VC, with All Iron Ventures, Box Group, and Valo Ventures as well as previous investors Seedcamp, Revent, and Powerhouse Ventures also digging in.
Humata AI, a one-year-old Austin startup that uses AI to let users quickly obtain answers to questions they have about the content of PDF files, raised a $3.5 million round from Gradient Ventures, ARK invest, and M13.
Lex, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that operates a LGBTQIA+ social network and dating site, raised a $5.6 million round led by Stellation Capital, with additional participation from Slauson & Co, Hope Lab Ventures, Best Nights VC, Great Oaks, and Graph Ventures as well as previous investors Female Founders Fund, Alpaca Ventures, Red Swan, and Gaingels.
MeetingPackage, a nine-year-old startup based in Espoo, Finland, whose software enables clients to sell and manage meeting and event spaces, raised a $4.6 million Series A round. Scale Capital was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $8.6 million.
PandasAI, a Munich startup that is building a conversational AI assistant for data analysis, raised a $1.1 million pre-seed round. Investors included Runa Capital, Episode 1, and Vento.
Pivot, a Paris startup founded this year that helps young companies manage procurement, raised a $5.2 million pre-seed round. Investors included Visionaries, Emblem, Cocoa, Anamcara, and Financière Saint James.
Alpaca VC, an 11-year-old, New York-based seed-stage venture firm, has garnered $78 million in capital commitments for its third fund. The outfit is now managing $194 million in assets altogether.
Visa announced today that it plans to invest $100 million in companies developing generative AI technologies and applications “that will impact the future of commerce and payments.” The investments will be made through Visa Ventures, the card giant’s 16-year-old global corporate investment arm.
Birkenstock, the functional footwear manufacturer that traces its origins back to 1774, is reportedly targeting a $9.2 billion IPO valuation. Some think it will be a real test of the IPO's market's supposed rebound given Instacart's and Arm's 35.8% and 12% respective declines from their opening day highs.
Italian construction magnate Matterino Dogliani’s family firm Finnic is considering a takeover bid for Autostrade per l’Italia that could value the highway operator at ~$21B, including debt; Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said an offer would be of ‘great interest.’
PE firms Bain Capital and Cinven lined up banks to help them weigh options for Stada Arzneimittel, including a potential sale of the $10.5B German drugmaker.
Bain Capital is mulling a 49% stake sale in US LBM that could value the building materials group at $7B or more, including debt.
Shipping group MSC will acquire a 50% stake in Italian passenger rail operator Italo, which is currently owned by Global Infrastructure Partners; deal terms were not disclosed, but it was previously reported that the deal would give Italo an EV of $4.4B.
Drugmaker Viatris will divest some of its businesses for a total of up to $3.6B: France-based Cooper Consumer Health offered $2.17B for almost all of its OTC drug business, while Spanish pharmaceutical company Insud Pharma and Iquest Enterprises will buy its women’s healthcare business and active pharmaceutical ingredients business in India for $1.2B in total proceeds.
Tech-focused PE firm Vista Equity Partners is exploring a sale of Quickbase that may value the software company at over $2.5B, including debt.
Activist investor Elliott Investment Management is weighing a sale of Gigamon, which could value the private technology company at over $2B.
China's Hollysys Automation Technologies, a maker of automation and control systems, will consider a $1.6B takeover offer from a consortium led by Recco Control Technology and Dazheng Group Investment Holdings, as well multiple other offers.
Cinven is weighing a a sale of German life insurer Viridium after another one of its insurance investments was hit by heavy customer outflows; Viridium had a book value of over $1.1B in 2021.
KKR sold an industrial property portfolio for a total aggregate value of $560M to an undisclosed buyer.
KKR is in exclusive talks to acquire Eugin from German health care company Fresenius in a potential deal that values the Spanish and Portugese fertility clinics at $529M.
Lithia Motors will acquire British auto dealer Pendragon’s UK motor and leasing businesses for $482M.
Casino Guichard-Perrachon sold 61 shops to rival Les Mousquetaires at an EV of $220M as the troubled French retailer tries to restructure its debt.
MC2 Titanium will acquire a 98% stake in cyber security business Trustwave from Singapore Telecommunications for $205M.
TalkTalk Telecom Group is selling its B2B division to the broadband provider’s main shareholders at a $116M valuation ahead of its breakup.
T. Rowe Price Group and Oak Hill Advisors are launching a new private credit fund, T. Rowe OHA Select Private Credit Fund, which already has $1.5B of investible capital.
Payments processor Visa launched a $100M venture fund to invest in generative AI startups.