The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Anthropic And Our Next Energy Raise Huge $300M Rounds

Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2023 with our new curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out our new Megadeals Tracker here.

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.

It seems like every week we are going to be talking about AI. This week did not have a $10 billion round go to an AI startup, but $300 million is still pretty big. It’ll be interesting to see if these large corporate rounds to AI startups continue all year, or if this is just the latest shiny new object for investors.

1. (tied) Anthropic, $300M, AI: San Francisco-based startup, and rival to ChatGPT, Anthropic is the latest AI company to raise big from a tech giant. The AI startup locked up a $300 million round from Google this week. Anthropic’s new round could bring the company’s total valuation to $5 billion, The New York Times reported. The Financial Times first reported Google as the investor.  The new year is shaping up to be an all-out AI war. Late last month, Microsoft finally confirmed it has agreed to a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment” into OpenAI, the startup behind the artificial intelligence tools ChatGPT and DALL-E, for a reported $10 billion.

1. (tied) Our Next Energy, $300M, energy: While the EV market has taken off, it’s important to remember those vehicles need batteries. Novi, Michigan-based Our Next Energy raised a huge $300 million Series B to develop those batteries. The round values the startup at $1.2 billion and was led by Franklin Templeton Investments and real estate-focused Fifth Wall. The raise comes just as supply chain issues and the rising cost of battery and metal material are bottlenecking U.S.-based electric car manufacturers. The latest raise will help fund the operations of its battery cell factory that completed construction in December and will formally launch in 2024. Our Next Energy has now raised $390 million, according to Crunchbase data.

3. Colossal Biosciences, $150M, biotech: The idea of bringing back the dodo also was able to bring in big money. De-extinction platform Colossal Biosciences raised a $150 million Series B, giving the startup a valuation of more than $1 billion, per reports. The new round was led by US Innovative Technology Fund. The Dallas-based startup, which launched in 2021, plans to use the new cash infusion to continue to advance its genetic engineering, as well as keep developing its software and hardware solutions for applications involved with de-extinction, conservation and human health care. With this new round, Colossal has launched its Avian Genomics Group, which will pursue the de-extinction of the dodo. The startup previously had talked about bringing back the woolly mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger. Last March, Colossal Bioscience raised a $60 million Series A led by Thomas Tull and At One Ventures. Per the company, it has now raised a total of $225 million.

4. LeafLink, $100M, cannabis: Few cannabis startups raise the kinds of rounds to get high on this list, but LeafLink’s $100 million round makes it. The round was led by CPMG, L2 Ventures and Nosara Capital. The New York-based cannabis wholesaler also announced co-founder Ryan Smith will move to the chairman post, while company president Artie Minson will take over as CEO. Some form of marijuana use is legal in 40 states in the U.S. The company says its marketplace processes approximately $5 billion in annual transactions — which represents about 50% of legal U.S. wholesale cannabis commerce. Founded in 2015, LeafLink has raised $231 million in financing, per the company.

5. (tied) Clearsense, $50M, health care: Data governance and transparency aren’t the sexiest aspects of the tech world, but they are necessary — especially in highly regulated industries such as health care. Jacksonville, Florida-based health care data analytics startup Clearsense raised a $50 million Series D funding round led by HealthQuest Capital to tap further into that market. The company offers a platform of data applications that aim to drive faster clinical, financial and operational outcomes. Founded in 2013, the startup has raised more than $100 million, according to Crunchbase.

5. (tied) Jokr, $50M, delivery: Instant grocery delivery company Jokr raised a $50 million Series C led by G Squared on a $1.3 billion post-money valuation, according to TechCrunch. The New York-based company last raised a $260 million round in November 2021 at a $1.2 billion pre-money valuation. The startup is looking to increase its presence in Brazil. Founded in 2021, the company has raised $480 million, according to Crunchbase.

5. (tied) Portside, $50M, aviation: Air travel has some issues implementing new tech and software — something that became abundantly clear this holiday season as delays and cancellations ruined many people’s travel plans. Well, San Francisco-based software developer Portside is looking to fix that, at least for the business aviation industry. The startup raised a $50 million Series B this week led by Insight Partners. Its software allows aircraft operators to share schedules, maintenance data and other important data to help streamline a process with many moving parts. Founded in 2017, the startup has raised more than $67 million, per Crunchbase.

8. (tied) Freeform, $45M, 3D printing: Los Angeles-based 3D printing company Freeform emerged from stealth this week and announced it has raised $45 million to date from investors including Two Sigma Ventures, Founders Fund and Threshold Ventures.

8. (tied) Moov, $45M, financial services: Denver-based financial tools developer Moov closed a $45 million Series B led by Commerce Ventures. Founded in 2017, the company has raised nearly $78 million.

10. Phantom AI, $37M, autonomous vehicles: Mountain View, California-based autonomous driving platform developer Phantom AI locked up a $36.5 million Series C from investors that included Renaissance Asset Management and Samsung Ventures among others. Founded in 2017, Phantom AI has raised $80.2 million, per the company.

Big global deals

The largest round this week happened outside the U.S.

• Switzerland-based ABB E-Mobility, an EV charging technology developer, raised a venture round worth approximately $351 million.

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 Jan. 28 to Feb. 3. 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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