Startups Raise Over $456M, Investors Raise $75M for New Funds, and $62B in M&A

October 17, 2023's biggest news in the private markets.

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Skeleton Technologies, a 14-year-old company based in Tallinn, Estonia, that manufactures supercapacitors and superbatteries, raised a $113.9 million round consisting of both debt and equity. Siemens Financial Services and Marubeni Corp. were the co-leads. The company has raised more than $300 million.

Agnikul, an Indian space tech startup developing small-lift launch vehicles, has raised $26.7 million in Series B funding as it looks to begin commercial launches using its customizable satellite rocket. Backers in the round included Celesta Capital, Rocketship.vc and Artha Select Fund.

Matic, a nine-year-old startup based in Columbus, Oh., that operates an insurance agency and an insurance marketplace, raised a $17 million Series B extension round co-led by IA Capital Group, and Cultivation Capital, with additional participation from Intuit Ventures, TruStage Ventures, Assurity Ventures, Venice Investments, and Bayshore Capital as well as previous investors Fenway Summer, MTech Capital, Nationwide Ventures, and Allstate Strategic Ventures.

Membrane Labs, a four-year-old New York startup that has built a cryptocurrency-focused trading and lending platform, raised a $20 million Series A round. Brevan Howard, Point 72, and Jane Street co-led the transaction, while Flow Traders, QCP Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, Electric Capital, Jump Crypto, QCP Capital, GSR Markets, Belvedere Trading, and Framework Ventures also participated.

Pantomath, a one-year-old startup based in Cincinnati, Oh., whose software helps clients detect and resolve data quality issues, raised a $14 million Series A round. Sierra Ventures was the deal lead, while Bowery Capital and Epic Ventures also took part. The company has raised a total of $18 million.

Account Labs, a Singapore startup that has developed a self-custodial wallet, raised a $7.7 million round. Investors included Amber Group, MixMarvel DAO Ventures, and Qiming Ventures.

Arctop, a seven-year-old Los Angeles startup that is developing software to measure brain activity, raised a $10 million Series A round. Fifth Growth Fund and Supermoon Capital co-led the deal.

ergo, a New York startup whose platform will help online retailers clear out inventory by repricing it rather than putting it on sale, raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round. Anthemis and Wischoff Ventures co-led the deal.

Hook, a two-year-old New York startup that helps consumers remix songs via AI, raised a $3 million seed round led by Waverley Capital, with Three Six Zero and Avex also pitching in.

Jam & Tea Studios, a Los Angeles startup founded this year that is building a remote-first multi-player game studio, raised a $3.2 million seed round led by London Venture Partners, with participation from Sisu Game Ventures and 1Up Ventures.

Leucine, a four-year-old New York startup that aims to make compliance less burdensome for drug manufacturers by creating an audit trail of the production process and using AI to identify deviations, raised a $7 million Series A round led by Ecolab and including Pravega Ventures, Axilor Ventures, and Techstars.

Meolaa, a one-year-old Bengaluru startup that has built a sustainable consumer products e-commerce platform, raised a $2 million seed round led by Turbostart.

Morty, a Los Angeles startup whose app helps consumers find, book, and review escape rooms, raised a $2.2 million seed round led by Protagonist, with Animo VC, Marketplace Capital, Wedbush, and Unpopular Ventures as well as previous investors General Catalyst and Wedbush also stepping up.

PickNik, a startup based in Boulder, Co., whose platform enables developers to create robot applications, raised a $2 million pre-seed round co-led by Stellar Ventures and Cypress Growth Capital.

Xpanceo, a two-year-old Dubai startup that aims to develop a smart contact lens, raised a $40 million round from sole investor Opportunity Ventures.

SYN Ventures has closed a $75 million fund to focus on seed-stage cybersecurity deals. The new fund will complement a $300 million early-stage fund it raised last year. SYN, which is based in West Palm Beach, Fl., now has over $600 million under management. 

KKR submitted a binding offer for Telecom Italia’s landline grid that valued the network at as much as $24.3B.

Saudi Arabian food-processing firm Savola Group is exploring options for its $5.4B, 35% stake in multinational dairy company Almarai, which is the Middle East’s largest dairy firm.

PE firm Hg has drawn interest from investors including Mubadala and CDPQ for its 25% stake in Argus Media; a deal could value the oil pricing business at $4.9B.

DAZN Group and Comcast’s Sky Italia slightly raised their bid to broadcast Italy’s top football competition for as many as five seasons to $4.75B.

US lithium miner Albemarle abandoned its $4.2B buyout bid for Australian lithium developer Liontown Resources due to ‘growing complexities’ after Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart raised her stake in Liontown to 19.9%.

Searchlight Capital Partners and British Columbia Investment Management will acquire fiber provider Consolidated Communications for $3.1B, including debt.

Closely held US kitchen and bath-products conglomerate Kohler is exploring a sale of its generators division that could value the unit at $3B or more.

Prothena, a closely watched developer of a treatment for Alzheimer’s with a $2.8B market cap, is preparing for a potential sale.

Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, one of the largest gambling companies in Canada, is considering a sale or other strategic options at a $2B valuation.

Czechoslovak Group, a Czech arms conglomerate, will buy Vista Outdoor’s ammunition business, which includes Remington and CCI, in a $1.9B deal.

Ineos Chair and UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe would pay $1.5B for a 25% stake in Premier League team Manchester United if his bid is accepted by the controlling Glazer family.

PE firm Blue Wolf Capital Partners will acquire environmental solutions provider LOGISTEC at a ~$1.2B EV.

Canadian energy company Tourmaline Oil will buy rival Bonavista Energy for $1.1B in cash and stock, strengthening its position in Western Canada's Deep Basin.

Elliott Investment Management is considering taking supply-chain software company E2open Parent Holdings, which has a $913M market cap, private.

Leading El Salvador grocery retailer Grupo Calleja will acquire indebted French supermarket chain Casino’s stake in Latin American retailer Almacenes Exito for $556M cash.

Hong Kong’s BC Technology Group is exploring a sale of its crypto platform OSL at a $128M valuation.

Brazilian firm Patria Investments will acquire UK investment company Abrdn’s $9B European-headquartered PE business for $98M cash.