The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Pristine Sun Shines Bright, ShiftMed Raises Big

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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.

Renewable energy was big again this week after another quarter-billion-dollar round. Two media-related companies also made it into the top five — a rarity — in what was a slightly down week. We also had a six-way tie for ninth on the list, as $50 million proved to be a popular amount to raise.

1. Pristine Sun, $250M, renewable energy: To kick off this year, renewable energy firm Silicon Ranch announced it had closed $375 million of what could be a $600 million raise. This week, another renewable energy company wrapped up a huge private quarter-billion-dollar round. Richmond, California-based Pristine Sun locked up the huge round from what it called “strategic private equity and family office investors.” The company plans to use the new cash infusion to develop and finance up to 5 gigawatts of its solar projects in Texas, California and Louisiana. The round is the company’s first from outside investors, according to Crunchbase data. Since 1996, Pristine Sun and its affiliates have developed solar and wind projects totaling over 25 GW.

2. ShiftMed, $200M, health care: The pandemic exposed many issues affecting hospital workers — from burnout to scheduling problems. Virginia-based ShiftMed, a health care workforce marketplace, raised a $200 million round led by health care-focused Panoramic Ventures to tackle some of those issues. Through an automated scheduling platform, the startup connects 35,000 full-time nurses with hospitals and at-home care companies that need last-minute extra support. Founded in 2019, the company has raised $245 million, per Crunchbase.

3. Vox Media, $100M, digital media: Washington, D.C.-based Vox Media, which owns publications such as The Verge and New York Magazine, raised $100 million in new funding this week from Penske Media, as reported by The New York Times. Los Angeles-based Penske will take a 20% stake in Vox — per the report — suggesting Vox Media is valued at $500 million. Vox previously had been valued at $1 billion back in 2015 when it raised a $200 million Series F — but the digital media landscape was much different back then. The media firm now has raised more than $400 million from investors, according to Crunchbase.

4. Atmosphere, $65M, media: We’ve all sat in a doctor’s room, staring blankly at a television screen waiting for our names to be called. Atmosphere is one of the providers of those streaming channels you are watching to kill that time, and the Austin, Texas-based startup closed a $65 million Series D that values it at $1 billion. The round was led by Sageview Capital, Valor Equity Partners and S3 Ventures. Atmosphere, which provides streaming TV entertainment for other types of businesses such as Burger King and Texas Roadhouse, more than doubled its customer count last year. Founded in 2019, the company has raised nearly $214 million, per Crunchbase.

5. Salt, $64.4M, crypto: The fallout from FTX continues. Denver-based crypto lender Salt closed a $64.4 million Series A from accredited investors this week, it was reported. The startup paused business after the collapse of FTX. After Salt announced the business stoppage, online investing platform BnkToTheFuture backed out of buying the company. Founded in 2016, the company offers blockchain-backed loans where cryptocurrency is used as collateral.

6. Garuda Therapeutics, $62M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Garuda Therapeutics, a developer of blood stem cell-based cellular therapies, raised a $62 million Series B led by Northpond Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors, Cormorant Asset Management and Aisling Capital. Founded in 2021, Garuda has now raised $134 million, according to the company.

7. Zeitview, $55M, drones: Santa Monica, California-based drone startup Zeitview — formerly DroneBase — closed a $55 million round led by Valor Equity Partners. Founded in 2014, the company has now raised $114 million, per Crunchbase.

8. InfluxData, $51M, database: San Francisco-based InfluxData, the developer of an open source time series database, closed a $51 million Series E led by new investors Princeville Capital and Citi Ventures. The startup also announced a new $30 million debt facility. Founded in 2012, InfluxData has now raised $171 million, per the company.

To round out the list, six California-based companies raised $50 million rounds this week — Santa Clara-based Ushur, Campbell-based Acceldata, La Jolla-based Fabric8Labs, and a trio of San Jose-based startups, Light Field Lab, Skybox Security and Arrcus.

Big global deals

Here’s a quick look at some large rounds from outside the U.S., including one to a semiconductor firm.

• China-based Tianyu Semiconductor, a semiconductor silicon carbide epitaxial wafer manufacturer, raised a venture round worth approximately $176 million.
• Saudi Arabia-based Floward, an online flowers and gifts e-commerce platform, raised a $156 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 Feb. 4 to 10. 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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