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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.
March did come in like a lion — at least compared to last week. Startups in cyber, defense and biotech all saw some large rounds in a week that for once was not dominated by artificial intelligence. Five VC-backed companies all saw nine-figure rounds this week, a strong start to the last month of the quarter.
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1. Wiz, $300M, cybersecurity: Cybersecurity startup Wiz graduated to decacorn just this week, as the company based in the U.S. and Israel raised $300 million in fresh capital at a valuation of $10 billion. The Series D funding was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Founded in 2020, Wiz has now raised a total of $900 million, according to Crunchbase data. The funding for the cloud security startup came with other news; Wiz announced it won’t move any of that money to Israel due to ongoing unrest about proposed reforms to the country’s judicial system. Some fear the proposed judicial system reforms would undermine Israel’s democratic foundations and grant unchecked power to the government.
2. Skydio, $230M, drone: Drone startup Skydio locked up a $230 million Series E at a $2.2 billion valuation led by Linse Capital — more than double its valuation from just a couple of years ago. The new round comes almost exactly two years after the company raised a $170 million Series D at a valuation of more than $1 billion. Skydio produces drones for the consumer, enterprise and government sectors. Its drones are used by every branch of the U.S. Department of Defense, by over half of all U.S. State Departments of Transportation, and it now has more than 1,200 enterprise customers. Founded in 2014, Skydio has raised $562 million in total, according to the company.
3. Cargo Therapeutics, $200M, biotech: A couple of biotech startups rank pretty high on the list this week. The first is Cargo Therapeutics, which closed a $200 million Series A co-led by Third Rock Ventures, RTW Investments and Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund. The San Mateo, California-based company is developing CAR T-cell therapies for cancer. The startup is in phase 2 clinical trials for its treatment of large B-cell lymphoma. Founded in 2021, this is the biotech firm’s first outside funding, per Crunchbase.
4. Chroma Medicine, $135M, biotech: The second biotech firm with a nine-figure raise this week is on the opposite coast. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Chroma Medicine locked up a $135 million Series B led by GV (formerly Google Ventures). The startup’s gene editing platform does not rely on cutting or nicking DNA — which introduces risks — to regulate gene expression like most other therapeutic programs. Founded in 2021, the company has now raised $260 million, according to Crunchbase.
5. (tied) Kindbody, $100M, health care: Companies offering fertility health care benefits are becoming more commonplace in the U.S. Kindbody is one of those startups that partner with companies to offer employees family-building benefits, and this week the New York-based firm raised $100 million in capital from Perceptive Advisors. The new cash values Kindbody — founded in 2018 — at $1.8 billion. Kindbody, which owns and operates fertility clinics, has now raised more than $290 million in debt and equity, per the company.
5. (tied) Paratus Sciences, $100M, biotech: Bats have kind of been put through the ringer the past few years, what with the pandemic and all (although the new DOE report may dispute that). However, maybe they can also help human health. New York-based Paratus Sciences launched with a $100 million Series A co-led by Polaris Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, ClavystBio, EcoR1 Capital and Leaps by Bayer. The startup is looking at what bats and other animals can tell researchers about human health. Paratus is focusing on developing human therapeutics in areas like inflammation.
7. Bitwise Industries, $80M, education: Fresno, California-based Bitwise Industries, which attempts to bring coding skills to historically underrepresented minorities, closed an $80 million round led by existing investors Kapor Center and Motley Fool. Founded in 2013, the company has now raised approximately $158 million, per Crunchbase.
8. Wunderkind, $76M, marketing: New York-based marketing tech startup Wunderkind raised a $76 million Series C led by Neuberger Berman, TechCrunch reported. Founded in 2012, the company has raised nearly $152 million, per Crunchbase data.
9. Temporal, $75M, software: Seattle-based Temporal, whose platform helps in application development, raised $75 million in a Series “B-Prime.” Greenoaks joined existing investors in the round. Founded in 2019, Temporal has raised more than $200 million, per the company.
10. Shef, $67M, retail: San Francisco-based Shef, a chef-to-consumer marketplace, closed a Series B led by CRV that included $66.5 million in equity and $7 million in debt. Founded in 2019, Shef has raised more than $100 million, according to the company.
Big global deals
Very surprisingly, the top nine rounds all occurred in the U.S. this week. The only large raise this week to crack the top 10 was:
- Tokyo-based space tech startup Astroscale raised a $76 million Series G.
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. 25 to March 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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