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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.
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We are only only a few days into May, but things are slow. After a strong week of big rounds last week, only two raises came in at nine figures. Last week, a company had to raise at least $50 million to make the top 10, but not this one. One thing, however, that is similar to last — are a couple of pretty large biotech rounds.
1. (tied) Mavenir, $100M, network software: Mavenir is not having an issue raising cash in this down market. After raising $250 million last year, the network software provider locked up another large tranche of money, closing a $100 million round led by Siris. The Richardson, Texas-based company builds cloud-native software that allows enterprises and service providers to manage complex networks without relying on older telecom hardware such as routers and switches. This allows customers to scale operations more quickly on the cloud and without the expense of equipment. Aside from Siris — the company’s largest equity holder — the new round also included investment from “two highly strategic ecosystem partners,” according to Mavenir. Mavenir has been busy on the capital front in recent years. In 2022 the company raised $95 million in debt in the summer and then a big $155 million tranche led by Siris and Koch Strategic Platforms in October. Before those deals, in April 2021, Koch placed a huge bet on Mavenir, investing $500 million in the company.
1. (tied) Runway, $100M, AI: You may have heard generative AI is big right now. New York-based Runway became the latest startup in the sector to raise big — landing a $100 million round at a $1.5 billion valuation from a cloud service provider, according to Business Insider. The startup helped develop the AI image generator Stable Diffusion and launched its video-to-video generative AI app in April. The app lets users transform videos into different styles, such as claymation or watercolors. Founded in 2018, the company has raised nearly $200 million, per Crunchbase.
3. Convergent Therapeutics, $90M, biotech: Biotech was huge last week, and this week oncology startup Convergent Therapeutics continued that trend. The company, which is targeting prostate cancer, raised a $90 million Series A led by OrbiMed and RA Capital Management. The company is creating a pipeline of radiopharmaceuticals starting with a specific therapeutic dedicated to advanced prostate cancer. Convergent Therapeutics, which was spun out of a university lab at Cornell University in 2020, is also looking into other therapeutics to treat different types of cancers. Radiopharmaceuticals — which are injected into the body and stick to cancer cells — seem to have caught investors’ fancy. Abdera Therapeutics raised $142 million in Series A and B funding in April.
4. Initial Therapeutics, $75M, biotech: Biotech was not done for the week, however, as New York-based Initial Therapeutics closed a $75 million Series A from Apple Tree Partners — which launched the startup. The biotech firm develops new small molecule treatments focused on known targets that play key roles in cancer and other serious illnesses.
5. Simpplr, $70M, enterprise software: Company intranets can be handy — when done well — and clearly investors see the value. Employee experience platform Simpplr closed a $70 million Series D led by Sapphire Ventures. The Redwood City, California-based startup allows employees to create profiles, access the always valuable company handbook, and find other resources. Employers can use it to update policies, build social hubs and even deploy surveys. Such platforms have become more valuable as remote work has taken over and employees need a go-to source for company information from outside the office. Simpplr’s $70 million fundraising round is the third largest in this space so far. Rippling, a human resource management platform, raised $500 million in Series E funding back in March. Alera Group, an employee benefits management startup, raised $100 million back in April. Founded in 2014, this brings Simpplr’s total funding to $131 million.
6. Sourcepass, $65M, cybersecurity: New York-based IT services and cyber firm Sourcepass raised $65 million in funding led by Metropolitan Partners Group. Founded in 2021, Sourcepass has raised $135 million to date, per the company.
7. Redaptive, $50M, energy: Denver-based Redaptive added another $50 million to its Series E led by long-time investor Linse Capital. The new investment brings the round total to $250 million. Redaptive helps customers conserve energy and be more efficient, lowering costs and meeting goals to reduce their carbon footprints.
8. (tied) Duetti, $32M, music: New York-based music financing startup Duetti announced its launch and funding of $32 million, which included investment from the likes of Viola Ventures and Roc Nation. Founded in 2022, the company has now raised $39 million, per Crunchbase.
8. (tied) Impact Nano, $32M, manufacturing: Devens, Massachusetts-based Impact Nano, a chemical manufacturing startup, raised $32 million in successive rounds from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Intel Capital and other investors. Founded in 2019, this is the company’s first funding announcement, according to Crunchbase data.
10. (tied) Uwill, $30M, mental health: Natick, Massachusetts-based Uwill, a mental health and wellness startup for college students, completed a $30 million Series A led by Education Growth Partners. Founded in 2020, the company has raised $38.5 million, per Crunchbase.
10. (tied) MayMaan Research, $30M, energy: Hollywood, Florida-based clean energy and power generation technology startup MayMaan Research raised a $30 million Series A from Wave Equity Partners. Founded in 2013, it is the company’s first outside funding, per Crunchbase.
Big global deals
There were not a lot of large U.S. rounds, and there also were not a lot outside the country. In fact, only one funding from outside the U.S. broke the top five global rounds.
- Singapore-based fintech startup Advance Intelligence Group raised an $80 million private equity round.
Methodology
We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of April 29 to May 5. 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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