Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the Crunchbase News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.
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Fireblocks raises $310M
New York-based Fireblocks, a security-focused platform for digital assets, raised $310 million in a Series D funding.
The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital, Stripes, Spark Capital, Coatue, DRW Venture Capital and SCB 10X. The financing brings Fireblocks’ valuation to above $2 billion.
Founded in 2018, Fireblocks markets itself as an all-in-one platform to store, transfer and issue digital assets.
Onto lands $175M for electric car susbscriptions
Onto, a U.K.-based startup offering subscriptions for electric cars, raised $175 million in a Series B funding round consisting of equity and debt.
Alfvén & Didrikson led the equity portion of the financing, while Pollen Street Capital provided the debt facility. The company provides all-inclusive subscriptions for electric cars, including insurance, charging and maintenance, along with a selection of vehicles.
ActiveFence picks up $100M
ActiveFence, an Israeli startup offering tools to detect malicious activities online, revealed that it raised $100 million in funding. The financing reportedly consists of a Series B round led by CRV and Highland Europe as well as a previously undisclosed Series A round led by Grove Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners.
— Joanna Glasner
Robotics and automation
• Covariant dials up $80M for robotics AI: Automation startup Covariant said this week that it raised an $80 million Series C funding round led by returning investor Index Ventures with participation from Amplify Partners and Radical Ventures. Berkeley, California-based Covariant said it will use the latest funds to continue R&D investment for its AI robotics technology and expand its team globally. In the last year, its Covariant Brain technology, which the company describes as a universal AI for robotic manipulation, has been deployed into industries including fashion, health, industrial supply and pharmaceutical, it said.
“While the company is proving the value of AI robotics in the supply chain, we predict Covariant AI will expand far beyond the realm of warehouses,” Mike Volpi of Index Ventures said in the funding announcement.
Venture investors are pouring money into robotics and automation startups amid a nationwide labor shortage and pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions. Recent Crunchbase numbers show global venture funding to industrial automation startups has already topped $1.4 billion in 104 funding deals this year, on track to beat last year’s $1.7 billion in funding in 191 deals. Restaurant and retail worker shortages have also whetted investors appetites for automation technologies.
— Marlize van Romburgh
Health care
• Veda gets $45M Series B for health data processing AI platform: Veda, a startup with an AI and machine-learning platform designed to reduce health insurers’ administrative costs, said it has raised a $45 million Series B funding led by Oak HC/FT. The company says its automation technology can reduce data processing time by 90 percent compared to manual entry. The Madison, Wisconsin-based company also noted that the funding comes ahead of new regulatory requirements for health care providers under the No Surprises Act, which aims to reduce surprise health care bills and unexpected out-of-pocket costs for consumers.
Cybersecurity
At-Bay and 1Password raise large rounds: San Francisco-based cybersecurity company At-Bay closed a $185 million Series D, which was co-led by Icon Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors including Khosla Ventures, M12, Acrew Capital, Qumra Capital, the HSB fund of Munich Re Ventures, entrepreneur Shlomo Kramer and Glilot Capital. This is the company’s third round in the past 18 months and brings its total funding to $272 million. The company now has a post-money valuation of $1.35 billion.
In other cyber news, Toronto-based secure password manager 1Password raised a $100 million round at a $2 billion valuation. The round was led by Accel, with participation from new investors including Sound Ventures, Skip Capital and other enterprise and consumer technology executives.
1Password is profitable with more than $120 million in ARR, according to the company.
The rounds are further examples of the investor interest the cybersecurity sector continues to see.
— Chris Metinko
Internet of Things
Wiliot raises $200M: San Diego-based IoT company Wiliot closed a $200 million Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The company develops self-powered tags that can be attached to products and packaging to sense a range of physical and environment data that is then sent to its cloud. Wiliot, founded in 2017, has raised a total of $289 million, according to Crunchbase data.
— Chris Metinko
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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