The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Group14 Raises Monster Round For EV Battery Material; Mosyle Lands $196M To Manage Apple Devices

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

Noticeable this week was that the much talked about investor pullback seems very real. Crunchbase already has reported April saw the lowest amount invested in private companies in the past 12 months, and taking a quick perusal of the top rounds raised this week signals that May is off to a slow start as well. Five of the top 10 deals that made the list this week were for $100 million or less. That would never have happened five months ago.

1. Group14, $400M, battery:  A Woodinville, Washington-based EV battery company took pole position this week. Group14 closed a $400 million Series C led by German auto giant Porsche AG. The company is a manufacturer of materials needed to create lithium-silicon batteries and will use the new cash to increase its manufacturing ability. The development of EV batteries has become big among investors. Last year saw record investment, with more than $3.6 billion going to hardware and software companies developing better battery technologies, according to Crunchbase data. Group14 has raised $441 million to date, according to the company.

2. Mosyle, $196M, mobile devices: Protecting and managing mobile devices are always concerning for companies. That is especially true now, as more and more employees use their own personal devices for work. That has caused IT departments to find solutions for multiple products, especially the growing amount of Apple products in the workforce. Winter Park, Florida-based Mosyle raised a $196 million Series B—led by New York-based Insight Partners—this week to help manage and secure those Apple devices. The company launched a new unified platform Apple-only mobile device management solution to help those struggling IT departments catch up. Other cybersecurity companies, as well as San Diego-based startup ​​Kandji, which has raised nearly $190 million according to Crunchbase, also offer Apple solutions. However, with Insight’s backing, Mosyle may be in a prime position in the space.

3. Material Bank, $175M, interior design: Bloomberg reported Material Bank raised a $175 million equity funding round led by Brookfield Growth that values the architectural- and design-focused material resource library at $1.9 billion. That almost doubles the $975 million valuation that the Boca Raton, Florida-based startup reached last April when it raised $100 million, according to the report. Founded in 2018, the design materials marketplace has raised more than $320 million, according to Crunchbase.

4. Point, $115M, fintech: Most homeowners would love to tap into the equity of their home. However, refinancings and loans obviously come with monthly payments and costly interest. Palo Alto, California-based Point offers a different route. It allows homeowners to sell a fractional share of the home’s future value to institutional investors for financing now. The business model—which may be appealing to homeowners considering the rising interest rate environment—was enough for the company to close a $115 million Series C fundraise led by WestCap. Founded in 2015, Point has raised over $170 million in equity capital, according to the company.

5. Teleport, $110M, identity: Making things easier for developers to develop is a good way to raise funding from investors. Oakland, California-based Teleport closed a $110 million Series C led by Bessemer Venture Partners at a $1.1 billion valuation. The company offers what it calls “identity-based” infrastructure access, which consolidates all aspects of infrastructure access into one platform for software engineers and their applications. The new round comes after the company nearly tripled its revenue and doubled its customer base from 2020 to 2021. Founded in 2015, the company has raised $169 million to date, it said in a release. The identity and authentication space saw unprecedented investment last year. That may continue.

6. Fictiv, $100M, manufacturing: San Francisco-based Fictiv, an on-demand manufacturing company, raised a $100 million Series E led by Activate Capital. Founded in 2013, Fictiv has raised a total of  $192 million, according to the company.

7. Sentry, $90M, application performance: San Francisco-based Sentry raised a $90 million Series E co-led by BOND and Accel at a valuation of more than $3 billion. The application performance management company tripled its valuation from February 2021, when it raised a $60 million Series D at a $1 billion valuation. Founded in 2012, Sentry has now raised $217 million, according to the company.

8. (tied) Hello Heart, $70M, health care: Menlo Park, California-based heart-focused digital therapeutic firm Hello Heart closed a $70 million Series D led by Stripes. Founded in 2013, the company has raised a total of nearly $140 million, according to Crunchbase.

8. (tied) Lev, $70M, real estate: New York-based Lev closed a $70 million Series B round led by Parker89 and Cross River Digital Ventures. The company also secured $100 million in debt financing. Founded in 2019, the digital commercial real estate transaction platform has raised over $200 million, the company said.

10. Edge Delta, $63M, data analytics: Seattle-based Edge Delta raised a $63 million Series B round led by Quiet Capital. Founded in 2018, the company, whose platform helps customers analyze and extract data insights, has raised more than $80 million, according to Crunchbase.

Big global deals

Three of the five largest rounds were raised by companies outside the U.S., including a $1 billion-plus round.

• South Africa-based Inspired, an operator of premium schools in Europe, Australia and Africa, closed a private equity financing of more than $1 billion.
• India-based Zepto, a grocery delivery service, raised a $200 million Series D.
• Paris-based digital health insurance platform Alan closed a round worth approximately $194 million.

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of April 30 to May 6. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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