Startups Raise Over $396M, Investors Raise $131M for New Funds, and $8B in M&A
November 9, 2023's biggest news in the private markets.
Forward Therapeutics, a one-year-old startup based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl., that is developing small molecule immune therapies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory disorders, raised a $50 million Series A round led by BVF Partners, with additional participation from RA Capital Management and OrbiMed.
Photonic, a seven-year-old Montréal startup that aims to create reliable quantum technology that can avoid errors by using a special link between silicon spins and light, raised a $100 million round from Microsoft, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, the National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Inovia Capital, and Amadeus Capital Partners. The company has raised a total of $140 million.
Wonder, a five-year-old New York startup founded by Jet.com founder Marc Lore that operates a network of cloud kitchens that license dishes from popular restaurants and celebrity chefs, raised a $100 million round from Nestlé. The company was valued at approximately $3.5 billion when it raised a $350 million round this past June.
Dotwork, a startup that provides companies with a platform for creating strategy documents, raised a $12 million Series A round led by Dotwork CEO Steve Elliott as well as angels Jim Crane and Hunter Nelson.
Princeton NuEnergy, a four-year-old Princeton University spinout based in Bordentown, NJ, that aims to significantly reduce the cost, environmental waste, and carbon emissions commonly associated with lithium-ion battery recycling, raised a $16 million Series A round led by Wistron Corp., with Honda Motor Co., GS Futures, and Traxys North America as well as previous investors Greenland Technologies, Shell Ventures, and WorldQuant Ventures also taking part.
Ritual, a startup that says it is building a decentralized network to provide open access to AI tools, raised a $25 million round led by Archetype, with Accomplice and Robot Ventures also participating.
ShippyPro, a seven-year-old startup based in Firenze, Italy, that says it has created a multi-carrier infrastructure for e-commerce brands that streamlines the fulfillment process, raised a $15 million Series B round. Five Elms Capital was the deal lead.
Summer, a two-year-old New York startup that aims to help consumers purchase second homes that they can rent out, raised $18 million in equity from QED Investors and Viola Group as well as $50 million in debt from Setpoint Capital. The company has raised approximately $30 million in equity.
AdaptX, a seven-year-old Seattle startup whose tools are designed to enable clinicians to analyze data from electronic medical records in order to detect patterns and trends in patient care, raised a $10 million round led by Cercano Management, with Memorial Hermann Health System and Morningside Ventures as well as previous investors Founders' Co-op, Fortson VC, Star Equity, and WRF Capital also piling on.
AppMap, a three-year-old Boston startup whose software helps developers untangle unexpected runtime defects, raised a $10 million round. Investors included Work-Bench Ventures, Forgepoint Capital, Venture Guides, Unusual Ventures, Dell Technology Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Secure Octane, and Argon Ventures.
Authentick, a Singapore startup that enables consumers to accumulate digital collectibles and NFTs without requiring a digital wallet, raised a $4 million seed round. Menyala was the deal lead.
EarnBetter, a startup based in Lafayette, Ca., that says it uses generative AI to reformat and rewrite resumes, draft cover letters, and scan through millions of jobs in order to provide personalized matches for job seekers, raised a $4.5 million seed round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Abstract Ventures.
Integration.app, a startup that uses LLMs to connect apps and services together, raised a $3.5 million round co-led by Crew Capital and Cortical Ventures.
Kento Health, a one-year-old Montréal startup whose AI-powered app helps cardiac patients and their providers monitor progress through the rehabilitation process, raised a $3 million pre-seed round co-led by Boreal Ventures and N49P, with Broom Ventures and Graphite Ventures also pitching in.
Llama, a New York startup that is developing smart contract technology for the blockchain, raised a $6 million round. Founders Fund and Electric Capital were the co-leads.
Mogul, a 15-month-old, Washington, D.C.-based blockchain-based platform that says it allows anyone to participate in the fractional property ownership trend with as little $100, says it just closed on $3.6 million in seed funding. AY Ventures led the round, which also included participation from Tim Draper & Associates, Draper B1, InterVest, Draper Dragon and Blizzard Fund, among others.
Pimlico, a London startup founded this year that aims to build the infrastructure for blockchain developers to make more user-friendly applications, raised a $4.2 million seed round. Andreessen Horowitz was the deal lead.
Protecto, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that helps organizations protect their data and ensure compliance throughout the process of creating AI models, raised a $4 million seed round led by Together Fund, with Better Capital, FortyTwo VC, Arali Ventures, and Speciale Invest also contributing. The company has raised a total of $5 million.
Upciti, a French startup that has been working on a hardware sensor for city centers that is easy to install and maintain, recently raised €6 million in equity funding from Point Nine, Chalfen Ventures, Demeter and Innovacom. It also raised €1 million in debt.
Founder Collective, a 14-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based seed-stage venture firm, says it has garnered $95 million in capital commitments for its fifth and largest fund. It tells Insider that in keeping with the firm's thesis, its four investment partners are the single-largest investors in the fund.
Dubai has launched Oraseya Capital, a new $136 million fund that is targeting investments in Dubai fintechs from pre-seed to Series B.
Canadian pension manager Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec is exploring the sale of as much as $2B of PE assets in the secondary market to free up cash.
Software services provider Bill Holdings is in advanced talks to acquire digital payment tool provider Melio Payments in a $2B cash-and-stock deal.
Recco Control Technology and Dazheng Group Investment Holdings offered $1.64B to acquire Hollysys Automation Technologies, topping Ascendent Capital Partners’ $1.6B bid.
Eni is nearing a deal to sell a ~10% stake in its Plenitude renewables unit for ~$800M to Energy Infrastructure Partners.
KKR and GED Capital acquired Fresenius’ fertility business Eugin Group in a deal worth up to $536M.
Chinese PE firm Wise Road Capital is in advanced talks to buy Singapore’s Innovalues Holdings from Northstar Group, which was looking to sell the precision machine parts maker at over $377M.
China's ByteDance, the parent of short video app TikTok, is offering to buy back at least $300M worth of shares from its employees outside the United States for $160/share, which values the company at $224B.
Software and IT service provider Fuji Soft is close to unveiling buyout offers for four of its Tokyo-listed subsidiaries, Cyber Com, Cybernet Systems, Fuji Soft Service Bureau, and Vinx, to acquire the shares they don’t own for ~$266M.
US chip company Vishay Intertechnology agreed to buy Newport Wafer Fab for $177M from Chinese-owned Nexperia.
PE firm Warburg Pincus launched a tender offer to acquire control of Brazilian insurance group Alper at a $174M valuation.
Abu Dhabi National Oil made a new offer to acquire a 38.3% stake in Brazil’s Braskem, one of the world’s largest petrochemical makers, from Novonor.