18 Companies Raise $388.5M, VCs Raise $54M, & Palo Alto Networks $1B Aquisitions

September 27, 2023's biggest news in the private markets.

Alto Pharmacy, an eight-year-old San Francisco startup that sells pharmaceuticals online, raised a $120 million at an $800 million post-money valuation, according to Axios. The investors were not disclosed.

Adela, a Toronto startup that has developed genome-wide methylation analysis technology that is used for the early detection of cancer as well as diagnosis and management, raised a $48 million round. Investors included Labcorp as well as previous investors F-Prime Capital, OrbiMed, Deerfield Management, Decheng Capital, and RA Capital Management. The company has raised a total of $108 million.

AYRO, a five-year-old Paris startup that builds wingsails for cargo ships as well as yachts, raised a $22.2 million Series B round led by Blue Ocean, with Swen Capital Partners also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $31.7 million.

H55, an eight-year-old Swiss startup that is developing electric and hybrid propulsion and battery systems for the aviation industry, raised a $49.3 Series C round. Investors included ND Capital, Tippet Venture Partners, and RTX Ventures.

Kneron, an eight-year-old San Diego startup that is developing AI chips to power self-driving cars, raised a $49 million Series B extension round. Foxconn, Alltek, Horizon Ventures, Liteon Technology, Adata, and Palpilot were all in on the deal. The company has raised a total of $190 million.

Mundi, a three-year-old New York startup whose platform helps importers and exporters handle payments, collections, FX management, and insurance, raised a $15 million Series A-2 round led by Haymaker Ventures, with previous investor Union Square Ventures participating super pro rata. GMO Ventures, Upper90, Colibri Ventures, Base10, Asymmetric Capital Partners, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, and GSBackers also contributed.

Pexapark, a six-year-old Zurich startup that offers software and advisory services for post-subsidy renewable energy sales and risk management, raised a $21.1 million Series C round led by Telstra Ventures, with Swisscom Ventures and the A&G Energy Transition Tech Fund also participating. The company has raised a total of $41.8 million.

Series, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that is developing software to centralize and automate businesses' finance and operations stacks, raised a $25 million seed and Series A round led by 776 and Basis Set Ventures, with participation from Pear VC, Kleiner Perkins, Day One Ventures, Hustle Fund, Caffeinated Capital, and Wischoff Ventures.

Avantis Labs, a New York startup that is building a DeFi trading platform, raised a $4 million seed round led by Pantera Capital, with Founders Fund, Galaxy, Coinbase’s Base Ecosystem Fund, and Modular Capital also anteing up.

Crediverso, a two-year-old Los Angeles startup that helps members of the U.S. Latino community with financial and legal advice, raised a $3.5 million pre-Series A round. The investment syndicate was made up of Torch Capital, Gaingels, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Act One Ventures. The company has raised a total of $6.6 million.

Digma, a one-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, Ca., that looks for regressions, anomalies, and other patterns to help developers improve their code, raised a $6 million seed round co-led by at.inc/ and Sorenson Ventures, with Abstraction Capital, Inner Loop Capital, and Hetz Ventures also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $12.5 million.

Erudit, a three-year-old Miami startup that says it uses AI to keep track of workforce stats like engagement, turnover risk, and burnout rate, raised a $10 million Series A round. Investors included Conexo Ventures, Athos Capital, Ignia Partners, True Blue Partners, and Fondo Bolsa Social. The company has raised a total of $12 million.

FlexPoint, a one-year-old startup based in Minnetonka, Mn., that has created a payments platform for managed service providers, raised a $2.4 million round led by Garuda Ventures, with Far Out Ventures, Techstars, Cascade Seed Fund, and Lorimer Ventures also taking part.

PartyKit, a one-year-old London startup that has built an open source platform for companies looking to integrate multiplayer functionality into their apps, raised a $2.5 million pre-seed round led by Sequoia Capital, with Cursor Capital and Remote First Capital also contributing.

Savoy Life, a startup based in Tysons, Va., that aims to empower community managers, caregivers, and those closest to residents to deliver high quality, comprehensive, personalized care, raised a $3 million pre-seed round from Red Cell Partners.

XL8, a four-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., that uses AI to translate media content, raised a $7.5 million Series A round led by KB Investment and including Atinum Investment. The company has raised a total of $13.7 million.

Blume Equity, a cleantech growth fund, has raised €40 million for its first fund from the European Investment Fund. The capital commitment marks one of the EIF’s largest into a first-time growth stage fund. 

An alumnus of Google’s AI research unit DeepMind has a new venture fund, Mythos Ventures, that will bankroll young AI startups. Vishal Maini, a former DeepMind researcher, founded Mythos earlier this year and has raised $14 million from more than four dozen investors, according to a filing this month.

Palo Alto Networks is in the market to pick up two Israeli security startups - Talon Cyber Security and Dig Security - for a combined price of $1 billion.