19 Companies Raise Over $498M, Investors Raise Nearly $875M for New Funds, and $15.6B in M&A

October 5, 2023's biggest news in the private markets.

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Brite Payments, a four-year-old Stockholm startup that offers embedded account-to-account payment software to its clients, raised a $60 million funding round led by Dawn Capital and including Headline and previous investor Incore.

Clearco, an eight-year-old Toronto startup that uses AI and proprietary machine learning-based technology to underwrite businesses and help customers fund inventory and marketing invoices of between $10,000 and $2 million, raised a $60 million Series D round co-led by existing backers Inovia Capital and Founders Circle Capital and a $100 million credit facility spearheaded by Pollen Street Capital.

Headway, a healthcare tech startup that connects patients and in-network therapists, has raised $125 million in Series C funding, it tells Reuters. The round, which valued the company at $1 billion, was led by Spark Capital, with participation from earlier investors including Thrive Capital, Accel, and Andreessen Horowitz. Insurance company Health Care Service Corporation also joined the round.

Mach Industries, a one-year-old Austin-based startup that is developing a suite of hydrogen-powered platforms and munitions for the military, including unmanned aerial vehicles and hydrogen generation systems, raised a $79 million Series A led by Bedrock Capital at a $335 million post-money valuation.

Blackbird Labs, a one-year-old New York startup founded by Resy and Eater co-founder Ben Leventhal whose software will give independent restaurants the means to identify and reward regulars, raised a $24 million Series A round. Andreessen Horowitz was the deal lead, while Amex Ventures, QED, Union Square Ventures, Shine, Variant, Quality Branded, Rustic Canyon Family, Souvla, and Brooks Reitz also piled on. The company has raised a total of $35 million.

Loop, a two-year-old Chicago startup that provides audit and payment systems for logistics companies, raised a $35 million Series B round co-led by J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners and Index Ventures.

Opsera, a three-year-old Palo Alto startup that offers a range of tools that enables developers to create, secure, and deploy apps, raised a $12 million Series A extension led by Taiwania Capital, with previous investors Felicis Ventures and Clear Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $31.3 million.

Osmoses, a two-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that is developing membranes to separate hydrogen from other gases, raised an $11 million seed round led by Energy Capital Ventures, with Engine Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, and New Climate Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $14 million.

Saleo, a two-year-old San Francisco-based startup that has built a live sales demo platform that allows businesses to easily share sales collateral, raised a $12 million round from Emergence Capital and Tech Square Ventures.

Shorla Oncology, a startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that is focused on oncology treatments for orphan and pediatric cancers, raised a $35 million Series B round led by Kurma Partners, with previous investors Seroba Life Sciences and Enterprise Ireland also taking part.

Centro, a one-year-old Toronto startup that intends to provide a central hub for ecommerce brands where they can manage inventory, procurement, and risk management, raised a $2 million pre-seed round co-led by Ripple Ventures and 2048VC, with Valia Ventures and Comma Capital also chipping in.

Dharma, a two-year-old Abu Dhabi startup that plans and sells trips hosted by influencers and brands, raised a $4.7 million seed round. The lead was Convivialite Ventures, with FJ Labs, Stephen Ross, and Liontree also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $10 million.

Helios, a startup based in Tysons, Va., that combines clients’ supplier data with “climate, economic, currency and political risk signals” to create business insights, raised a $1.85 million pre-seed round led by Supply Change Capital and joined by January Ventures.

KittyCAD, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that is building a programmable CAD platform with a set of APIs that will allow developers to build their own hardware design tools, raised a $5M seed round led by Venrex Partners, with additional financing provided by USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering, Gaingels, Kelvin Beachum, Matt Terrell, Undeterred Capital, Liquid 2, Tom Preston-Werner’s Family Office, Madrona Venture Group, Bernie Lagrange, and Nat Friedman.

Kraaft, a four-year-old Paris startup that has developed a messaging app specifically designed for contractors, raised a $3.4 million round. Investors included Chalfen Ventures, Stride VC, and OSS Ventures.

Lokavant, a nine-year-old New York startup whose platform helps pharmaceutical companies increase the accuracy and efficiency of trial planning and execution, raised an $8 million Series A extension from Mitsui & Co. The company has raised a total of $29 million.

Previsico, a four-year-old London startup that provides flood alerts for insurers, public agencies, major corporate clients, and SMBs, raised a $2.4 million round led by 24Haymarket, with Foresight Group also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $5.3 million.

Rainforest, a one-year-old Atlanta startup that helps software companies embed financial services into their offerings, raised an $8.5 million seed round. Accel was the deal lead, while Infinity Ventures, BoxGroup, The Fintech Fund, Tech Square Ventures, and Ardent Venture Partners also contributed. Silicon Valley Bank added $3.25 million in venture debt.

RQD Clearing, a two-year-old New York startup whose platform offers clearing and custody services for brokers, raised a $10 million Series A round. Nyca Partners and ABN Amro co-led the deal.

PE firms Veritas Capital and Platinum Equity are competing against contractor Amentum to acquire Jacobs Solutions’ Critical Mission Solutions in a deal that could value the government consulting unit at over $4B.

Singapore state investor Temasek hired Goldman Sachs to help it find a buyer for its 40% stake in Australian gas and electricity distributor Jemena, which could be worth up to $3.8B.

Civitas Resources will buy acreage in the Permian Basin from global energy trader Vitol's upstream venture Vencer Energy for $2.1B.

UK regulators approved Japanese firm Hitachi’s $1.8B acquisition of Thales’ rail-signal business after Hitachi offered to divest parts of its European unit.

Canadian energy company Suncor Energy will acquire French multinational energy company TotalEnergies' Canadian operations for $1.1B.

Lab equipment manufacturing company Standard BioTools and protein and biomarker company SomaLogic will combine in a $1B all-stock merger.

BlackRock will buy Exxon Mobil’s 71% stake in Italy's main LNG terminal in a deal that values the offshore Adriatic LNG Terminal at ~$881M.

Australian lender Westpac canceled the sale of its Fiji and Papua New Guinea businesses after failing to find a buyer.

AT&T is exploring options for its 70% stake in DirectTV.

Alterra Capital Partners fund, an Africa-focused PE fund founded by a team spun out of Carlyle Group, plans to raise as much as $500M.

Climate venture investment firm At One Ventures raised $375M for its second fund that will invest in early-stage startups with technology that will improve biodiversity.