The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: HeartFlow And Cybereason Lead Another Down Week

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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.

For the third week in a row, rounds were down noticeably in the U.S. Only two rounds hit nine figures — one in the health care AI sector and one to a company that has been in the news recently for layoffs and a possible sale. We wondered last week if this may have been an effect of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, but perhaps there are more forces at play.

1. HeartFlow, $215M, health care: The use of AI for health diagnostics is front and center in the largest funding this past week to a heart precision care technology startup. The Mountain View, California-based company raised a $215 million Series F led by Bain Capital Life Sciences. Its noninvasive technology provides a 3D model to analyze the risk of a heart attack. The technology has been used so far by 180,000 patients across 725 hospital systems globally. Founded in 2010, HeartFlow has raised about $793 million, according to Crunchbase data. 

2. Cybereason, $100M, cybersecurity: Times seem to have changed for Cybereason. The Boston-based startup raised a $100 million investment led by SoftBank, but also along with it announced a CEO change. Executive Vice President of SoftBank Eric Gan will now serve as the company’s CEO, with Lior Div, current CEO and co-founder, transitioning to the role of adviser. The news comes after reports in October that the company hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. to find a buyer for the company. It has been reported the company has had two rounds of layoffs, cutting 100 jobs in June and then another 200 in October. Just more than a year ago the company confidentially filed for an initial public offering that would have valued it at more than $5 billion, Reuters reported at the time. In July 2021, the startup announced it had raised $275 million in a financing led by Liberty Strategic Capital, the fund started by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. No valuation was given by the company, but reports at the time in both the Globes newspaper in Israel and The Boston Globe said the round valued the company at about $3.1 billion. Cybereason is one of the best-funded startups in cybersecurity, with more than $800 million raised, per Crunchbase data. Now the question is: What will investors get for all that money?

3. Covariant, $75M, robotics: It’s one thing to have robots, it’s another thing to know how to train them or tell them exactly what to do. Emeryville, California-based Covariant added an additional $75 million to its Series C — previously $80 million — to do just that. The round was co-led by returning investors Radical Ventures and Index Ventures. The startup’s “Covariant Brain” is a robotics platform that enables robots to interact with and learn from their environments. The platform can be used by retailers and logistics providers for warehouse work. Founded in 2017, Covariant has now raised $222 million, per the company.

4. (tied) Everstream Analytics, $50M, logistics: Thanks to the pandemic and the snarled supply chain it caused, logistic startups saw a flood of funding in 2021, with over $21 billion invested into the space, according to Crunchbase data. That funding cooled last year, with around $11 billion invested, a 48% drop year over year. That, however, did not stop San Marcos, California-based supply chain startup Everstream Analytics from raising a $50 million Series B funding co-led by StepStone Group and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. The company, which was founded in 2012, provides risk performance insights in the world of logistics. It works with the various touchpoints of the supply chain system to improve efficiency. The startup has now raised $79 million, per Crunchbase.

4. (tied) Honeycomb, $50M, developer tools: Engineers depend more and more on observability tools to understand what goes wrong as the cloud environment gets more complex. That likely helped San Francisco-based Honeycomb lock up a $50 million Series D led by Headline this week. The startup has doubled its revenue — and headcount — in the past year, as engineering teams continuously seek data on how users are using applications in real time. Founded in 2016, Honeycomb says it has raised $150 million to date.

6. Mercy BioAnalytics, $41M, biotech: The promise of early diagnosis of cancer will always bring out investors, and this week Natick, Massachusetts-based Mercy BioAnalytics closed a $41 million Series A led by Novalis LifeSciences. The new cash will be used to further develop its Mercy Halo test for high-risk lung cancer screening. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death globally — and more than 350 Americans die from lung cancer daily, per the company’s release. The company also hopes to advance clinical programs to detect ovarian cancer. Founded in 2018, the company has raised more than $68 million, according to Crunchbase data.

7. Phlow, $35M, health care: Richmond, Virginia-based Phlow is a public benefit corporation that manufactures affordable medicines using advanced technology. It raised a Series B funding from strategic partners. The company partners with hospitals, industry and the government to provide needed medicines in the U.S. Founded in 2020, the company has raised a little over $80 million, per Crunchbase.

8. Richmond National Group, $30M, insurance: Richmond, Virginia-based Richmond National Group, a property, casualty and professional liability insurance company, raised more than $30 million from existing shareholders including HF Capital and Bonhill Capital. Founded in 2021, Richmond National has now raised  more than $100 million, per the company.

9. Oxos Medical, $23M, medical devices: Atlanta-based Oxos Medical, a developer of digital imaging devices, closed a $23 million Series A from Parkway Venture Capital and Intel Capital. Founded in 2016, Oxos has raised a total of $45 million, per the company.

10. (tied) Strivacity, $20M, cybersecurity: Herndon, Virginia-based cybersecurity startup Strivacity raised $20 million in a Series A2 led by SignalFire. Founded in 2019, the company has raised more than $30 million, according to Crunchbase.

10. (tied) Vytelle, $20M, agtech: Lenexa, Kansas-based Vytelle, a startup that helps cattle producers optimize their herds, raised a $20 million Series B led by Forage Capital Partners. Founded in 2015, the company has raised more than $33 million, per Crunchbase.

Big global deals

With rounds being down in the U.S., there were several larger raises abroad, including two large deals.

• India-based DMI Finance, a nonbanking financial company that offers consumer loans, home loans and asset management, raised a $400 million venture round.
• China-based SJ Semi, a foundry that implements front-end wafer manufacturing, closed a $340 million Series C.

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 1 to 7. 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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