Startups Raise Over $304M, Investors Raise $200M for New Funds, and $13.9B in M&A
October 30, 2023's biggest news in the private markets.
AgentSync, a five-year-old Denver startup that helps insurance carriers and agencies ensure that their brokers comply with applicable laws, raised a $50 million round co-led by Craft Ventures and Valor Ventures.
Eavor, a six-year-old Calgary startup that raised a $131.2 million round led by OMV, with additional participation from Canada Growth Fund, Japan Energy Fund, Monaco Asset Management, and Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund as well as previous investors BDC, bp Ventures, Eversource Energy, Temasek, and Vickers Venture Partners.
Abridge, a five-year-old Pittsburgh startup whose software transcribes conversations between doctors and patients in a HIPAA-compliant manner, raised a $30 million Series B round. Spark Capital was the lead investor, with previous investor Bessemer Venture Partners also participating. The company has raised a total of $62.5 million.
Omnidian, an eight-year-old Seattle startup that manages solar power performance and services the panels for commercial and residential installations, raised a $25 million round. Investors included HSBC Asset Management as well as previous investors Activate Capital, WIND Ventures, Avista Development, Evergy Ventures, National Grid Partners, Congruent Ventures, and Blue Bear Capital. The company has raised a total of $78 million.
Opal Camera, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that produces and sells a DSLR-quality webcam, raised a $17 million Series A round. Founders Fund was the deal lead, with previous investor Kindred Ventures as well as influencers Marques Brownlee and Casey Neistat also pitching in.
Traba, a two-year-old Miami startup whose marketplace connects light industrial businesses looking for temporary staffing with workers who want to pick up shifts, raised a $22 million Series A2 round led by Founders Fund, with Khosla Ventures also taking part. The company has raised a total of $43.6 million.
BluBirch, a nine-year-old Bengaluru startup that helps its clients identify invalid returns and manage the automated processing of returns and warranty claims, raised a $6.4 million Series A round. Cornerstone Ventures and Capital2B Fund were the co-leads. The company has raised a total of $10.2 million.
Canopy Connect, a three-year-old startup based in Beaverton, Or., whose platform is used for collecting, verifying, and monitoring insurance information, raised a $6.5 million Series A round led by Nevcaut Ventures, with Elefund, Nimble Partners, LocalGlobe, 9Yards Capital, and Global FinTech Venture Partners also stepping up.
CarbonFarm, a two-year-old Paris startup whose mission is to provide rice farmers and agribusinesses with access to carbon markets, raised a $2.6 million seed round co-led by Racine2, Serena, and Makesense, with TechMind, Ponderosa Ventures, AgFunder, Climate Capital, and BPI France also anteing up.
Credal.ai, a one-year-old New York startup that helps clients build AI chatbots while maintaining appropriate compliance and security, raised a $4.8 million seed round led by Spark Capital.
Viso, a five-year-old Swiss startup that provides the software stack to enable companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers, DHL, and Orange to build their own computer vision applications, raised a $9.2 million seed round led by Accel.
Web3 Pro, a five-year-old Palo Alto startup that helps brands build and deploy web3 applications, raised an undisclosed round at a $57.6 million valuation. P101 was the deal lead, with existing investors including Sumitomo Corporation’s venture fund, Presidio Ventures, Seventy-Six Capital, River Capital Group, Ripple, and VU Ventures also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $10 million.
Sofinnova Partners has closed a new $200 million fund to focus on seed- to later-stage digital health investments across enabling technologies, analytics, and treatment. The French firm now has $2.65 billion under management.Â
Zegona Communications is nearing a deal to acquire a stake of at least 50% in telecom Vodafone Group’s Spanish business at a $5.3B valuation.
Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy is exploring a multi-billion dollar asset sale to reduce debt including minority stake sales in the $3B ANR Pipeline, a minority stake sale in its Mexican operation, and stake sales in Portland Natural Gas Transmission System and the Millennium Pipeline.
Investor GLIL Infrastructure is in exclusive talks to acquire a stake in Virgin Media O2’s shareholding in Britain's largest mobile tower network, Cornerstone, in a deal that could value the business at $3B.
Hancock Prospecting, owned by Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, acquired an 18.3% stake in Australian lithium company Azure Minerals in an attempt to block a $1B acquisition by Chilean mining giant Sociedad QuÃmica y Minera de Chile.
Rithm Capital will acquire hedge fund Sculptor Management for $720M in a sweetened new deal.
PE firm Aurelius Group is in talks to buy beauty products chain The Body Shop from Brazilian owner Natura & Co at a valuation lower than the $485M-$607M suggested in some media reports.
British online fashion retailer ASOS is exploring a sale of its Topshop brand, which it acquired for $321M in 2021.