The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Recurrent Energy And Bilt Rewards See Big Money

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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.

Not a bad week for a big funding announcement, as there were a couple nine-figure rounds in energy and loyalty rewards, but several just slightly smaller ones in a variety of other sectors. As the month wore on, investors seem to be opening their wallets — or at least the announcements were made.

1. Recurrent Energy, $500M, energy: This large round may have gone under the radar for many, but Austin, Texas-based Recurrent Energy secured a $500 million preferred equity investment from BlackRock. The company — a utility-scale solar and energy storage project development, ownership and operations platform — will use the new capital to grow its “high value project development pipeline.” Recurrent is a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, and that company will continue to own the remaining majority shares of Recurrent after the investment closes. Founded in 2006, the company has raised about $1.4 billion, per Crunchbase.

2. Bilt Rewards, $200M, loyalty rewards: Everybody loves loyalty rewards, and investors must know that. Bilt Rewards raised a $200 million round led by General Catalyst at a $3.1 billion valuation — more than double the number after its last fundraising in 2022. The New York-based startup allows consumers to earn rewards on the rent they pay. Bilt plans to use some of the proceeds to expand its network to include local dining, grocery stores, ridesharing and other retail purchases. The company also appointed some big names to roles in the company, naming Ken Chenault, former chairman and CEO of American Express, as its chairman, and Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, as an independent director. The company reported its annualized member spend is nearing $20 billion. It also became profitable on an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization basis last year. Those metrics must have impressed investors, as Bilt has seen its valuation shoot up after raising a $150 million Series B at a pre-money valuation of $1.4 billion in October 2022. Founded in 2021, the company has raised a total of $413 million, per Crunchbase.

3. BillingPlatform, $90M, fintech: BillingPlatform’s revenue lifecycle management platform got a big shot in the arm this week with a $90 million round led by FTV Capital. Every company wants to increase revenue and find new revenue streams, so clearly FTV sees a growing market for the Denver-based startup’s platform. Founded in 2012, the company has now raised $104 million, per Crunchbase.

4. ElevenLabs, $80M, AI: Voice AI startup ElevenLabs raised an $80 million Series B at a unicorn valuation as investor interest in all AI tech remains at an all-time high. The Brooklyn-based company did not release an exact valuation, but did say it had reached “unicorn status.” That represents a significant up round from its Series A in June, when the firm raised $19 million at a $99 million post-money valuation. The Series B was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. ElevenLabs allows creators, enterprises and others to use AI software to replicate voices in dozens of languages. Founded in 2022, ElevenLabs has raised $101 million, per Crunchbase.

5. (tied) Accent Therapeutics, $75M, biotech: Another week, another big biotech round. Lexington, Massachusetts-based Accent Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule precision cancer therapies, raised a $75 million Series C led by Mirae Asset Capital Life Science. The startup is looking at therapies to address several cancers with large patient populations, including breast and colorectal cancers. The round included participation from some big brand names, such as Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Founded in 2017, the company has raised $178 million, per Crunchbase.

5. (tied) LB Pharmaceuticals, $75M, biotech: Accent wasn’t the only $75 million raise this week, as we had a trio. LB Pharmaceuticals, a schizophrenia biotech startup, closed a $75 million Series C as it began a Phase II trial last month, Endpoints News reported. Founded in 2015, the company has raised more than $133 million, per Crunchbase.

5. (tied) Sion Power, $75M, energy: Tucson, Arizona-based Sion Power, a developer of next-generation batteries for electric vehicles, also secured $75 million in a Series A led by LG Energy Solution. VCs see big potential in EV batteries, so the investment size is not a shock. Founded in 1994, the company has raised $145 million, per Crunchbase.

8. SmithRx, $60M, health care: San Francisco-based SmithRx, a pharmacy benefits management company, closed a $60 million Series C led by Venrock. Founded in 2016, the company has raised nearly $98 million, per Crunchbase.

9. AiDash, $50M, climate: San Jose, California-based AiDash, a SaaS startup helping infrastructure companies be more climate-resilient and sustainable with satellites and AI, raised a $50 million Series C led by Lightrock. Founded in 2019, the company has raised $83 million, per Crunchbase.

10. CheckSammy, $45M, recycling: Dallas-based CheckSammy, a bulk waste operator, closed a  $45 million strategic investment led by I Squared Capital. Founded in 2018, the company has raised nearly $66 million, per Crunchbase.

Big global deals

Recurrent’s raise was top globally, but the second largest came from Sweden.

• Stockholm’s H2 Green Steel, which operates a green energy steel production plant, raised a large round worth about $516 billion, in which $326 billion was equity.

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. 20 to 26. 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