The Most Recent Startup Investments Over $250 Million In 2019

2018 was the year supergiant VC deals became a nearly everyday occurrence. Equity funding rounds of $100 million or more dominated the global VC market, accounting for a vanishingly small percent of total deal volume, but accounting for 56 percent of the total dollar volume.

Here’s the thing about these supergiant VC deals though. The New York Times headline from August 2018 said it simply: $100 million was once big money for a startup. Now, it’s common. In our Q4 and end-of-year analysis of the global VC market, Crunchbase News found that there were over 500 rounds in the “supergiant” size class throughout 2018, worldwide. Although we covered many of them last year, there were just too many to discuss individually.

“Supergiant” stars aren’t the absolute biggest, brightest things in the universe, though they loom larger than just about everything else. Supergiant VC rounds bent the curve of the venture market. But, there’s another size up. Hypergiant stars are many times the size of supergiant stars, and, so, it follows that hypergiant VC rounds would follow a similar pattern.

In a prior exploration of beyond-supergiant VC, Crunchbase News defined “hypergiant rounds” as any VC round of $250 million or more (at least 2.5x larger than the “supergiant” threshold). These are the deals that shine a bright and sometimes harsh light over a given market. And, at this point, there are sufficiently few of them that we can track a whole year’s worth of hypergiant deals.

So, below, you can find an ever-expanding list of hypergiant rounds from 2019, filed in reverse-chronological order based on announcement date. We’ll update this post on a weekly basis. If you’d like to check in on a more real-time basis, take a look at the query we’re using to surface these rounds.

Last updated on June 17, 2019.

June

KnowBe4

KnowBe4 is a cybersecurity training company headquartered in Clearwater, Florida. The company simulates phishing attacks on corporate email networks and trains employees on how to identify and react to these incidents.

• On June 12th, the company announced it raised $300 million in a late-stage round led by asset manager Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), which will be investing out of its first Next Generation Technology Fund. Participating investors included cybersecurity specialty firm TenEleven Ventures and Elephant, a Boston-based venture firm co-managed by Warby Parker co-founder Andrew Hunt which has been an investor in KnowBe4 since its Series A. In its announcement, KnowBe4 said it has over $100 million in recurring revenue, “near triple-digit growth, and a customer base of over 25,000 organizations.” KnowBe4 is now valued at $1 billion, post money.
• The company was founded on August 13, 2010, according to its Crunchbase profile.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $93.5 million in prior venture funding. Its last round, a $50 million Series C, valued the company at $800 million, post-money, in March 2019.
• Savannah Dowling covered the deal as part of a broader check-in on the state of cybersecurity ventures.

Gympass

Based in São Paulo, Brazil, Gympass works with employers to provide discounted access to gyms and other personal fitness facilities as a benefit to their employees.

• Gympass raised $300 million in a late-stage funding round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund. Prior backers Valor Ventures, General Atlantic, and Atomico participated in the funding round, which was announced on June 12th. SoftBank’s new Latin America-focused venture fund will also contribute to the round after certain unspecified closing conditions are met, according to a press release announcing the round. The round valued the company at over $1 billion.
• The company was founded in 2012.
• At time of writing, Crunchbase doesn’t list other prior funding raised by Gympass. However, back in January, Brazilian news outlet Valor (which is Portugese for “Value”) reported that SoftBank had invested $190 million in Gympass. Their reporting indicated that it would be the first of a three-tranche deal which would ultimately net Gympass $500 million in total funding. $490 million has now been raised in two transactions over the span of five months, leaving $10 million in remaining allocation for the round. At this time, Crunchbase News couldn’t find information about how the company funded itself between its inception and this hypergiant round.
• Back in May, Mary Ann Azevedo mentioned the first $190 million transaction in her coverage of the LAVCA’s annual report on Central and South American venture capital activity.

May

Judo Bank

Judo Bank is an upstart financial institution serving primarily small and medium-sized enterprise clients. The company is based in Melbourne, Australia.

• According to reports in the Australian Financial Review, Judo Bank has raised A$340 million (approximately $233.4 million USD) out of a targeted A$400 million Series B round (approximately $274.6 million USD). Apart from mentioning the Myer Family Company, a prior investor in Judo Bank, reports didn’t identify other investors participating in the round, which is expected to close out “in [the] coming weeks.”
• The company was founded in March 2017.
• Prior to the A$400 million round mentioned above, the company has raised a considerable amount of equity and debt financing. Judo Bank closed an A$140 million Series A round ($103.7M USD) in August 2018. That round saw participation from Myer Family Investments, Credit Suisse, OPTrust Private Markets Group, and Abu Dhabi Capital Group. Judo Bank opened a $350 million (USD) debt facility with Credit Suisse in November 2018, and another $100 million (USD) credit line from Goldman Sachs in April 2019.
• Although Crunchbase News didn’t cover this round in particular, Natasha Mascarenhas profiled the Australian venture capital ecosystem in March.

DoorDash

DoorDash is a San Francisco-based company facilitating on-demand food delivery services.

• The company raised $600 million in Series G funding; the round was announced on May 24th and valued the company at $12.6 billion, post-money. Late-stage backers Darsana Capital Partners and Sands Capital took their first stakes in DoorDash during this transaction. Many of the company’s prior investors — including Sequoia Capital, Temasek Holdings, SoftBank Investment Advisors (the firm managing the SoftBank Vision Fund), Dragoneer Investment Group, Coatue Management, and DST Global—also participated in the round.
• DoorDash was founded in 2013.
• Prior to the company’s Series G round, DoorDash had raised over $1.37 billion in earlier venture financing, according to Crunchbase. This is the second hypergiant round DoorDash closed thus far in 2019. In February, the company announced it raised $400 million in Series F financing, which valued the company at just over $7.1 billion, post-money. In other words, the company packed nearly $5 billion onto its valuation in the intervening time.
• Natasha Mascarenhas and Alex Wilhelm covered the Series G transaction for Crunchbase News. Additional details about the company’s Series F round can be found under the February heading in this post.

SpaceX

SpaceX is a rocketry and space transportation company headquartered in Hawthorne, California.

• According to paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 24th, SpaceX had raised $535,744,188 million in equity funding from 5 investors. The filing indicates that SpaceX intended to raise an additional $5 million in the offering, which would bring the deal’s total capital raised to $540.7 million. Identities of investors are not disclosed in Form D filings.
• SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk.
• According to Crunchbase data, SpaceX has raised over $3 billion to date.

Mafengwo

Mafengwo (also known as 马蜂窝) is a Beijing-based social platform company which helps people share and shop for travel experiences.

• Mafengwo raised $250 million in a Series E round led by Tencent Holdings. Qiming Venture Partners and General Atlantic participated in the deal, which was announced on May 23rd. The company’s valuation was not disclosed.
• Mafengwo was founded in 2010.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $253 million, meaning that this round effectively doubled the amount of Mafengwo has raised to date.
• Mary Ann Azevedo covered the transaction for Crunchbase News.

Marqeta

Based in Oakland, California, Marqeta is a financial technology company that helps businesses issue their own virtual debit and credit cards for a variety of use cases.

• Marqeta raised $260 million in a Series E round, which valued the company at or near $2 billion, post-money. Coatue Management, a new investor in the company, led the deal. Goldman Sachs, Visa, ICONIQ Capital, 83North, Greyhound Capital, and several other investors also participated in the round, which was announced on May 21st.
• The company was founded in 2010 by Jason Gardner.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, Marqeta had raised approximately $116.3 million in prior venture backing, according to Crunchbase data. The company’s most recent funding before its Series E was the second tranche of Marqeta’s Series D round, which valued the company at $545 million, post-money, in June 2018.
• Alex Wilhelm covered Marqeta’s round in a brief rundown of deals struck by billion-dollar “unicorn” companies.

Deliveroo

Headquartered in London, Deliveroo is in the online food ordering and on-demand delivery business.

• Deliveroo raised $575 million in a Series G round announced on May 17th. Amazon led the deal, in which T. Rowe Price, Greenoaks Capital, and Fidelity Management and Research Company. The deal values Deliveroo at nearly $4 billion, post-money, according to Crunchbase data.
• Deliveroo was founded in 2012.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised over $950 million in venture backing. The company’s $482 million Series F round, closed back in September 2017, valued Deliveroo at just under $2.1 billion, post-money
• Holden Page covered the transaction as it was announced.

Impossible Foods

Based in Redwood City, CA, Impossible Foods is a food technology company that makes meat and cheese substitutes entirely from plant-based sources.

• On May 13, 2019, Reuters broke the news that Impossible Foods raised $300 million in a round of late-stage, pre-IPO funding. A number of notable investors participated in the round. They include the likes of GV (formerly Google Ventures), Singaporean firm Temasek, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and an expansive cadre of American music and athletics celebrities, among others.
• The company was founded in 2011.
• Prior to the $300 million round mentioned above, the company had raised at least $387.5 million in prior venture funding, according to Crunchbase data.
• Mary Ann Azevedo covered the deal for Crunchbase News. Crunchbase News also covered facets of competing firm Beyond Meat’s initial public offering, which took place less than two weeks before this latest round from Impossible Foods.

Megvii

Megvii is the Beijing, China-based artificial intelligence company behind the Face++ facial recognition engine.

• On May 8th, Megvii announced it raised $750 million in a Series E round which valued the company at over $4 billion, post-money. Bank of China Group Investment (BOCGI) led the deal. Hong Kong-based ICBC Asset Management, Australian backer Macquarie Group, Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba Group, and the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi participated in the deal. Reuters reports that Megvii is planning to go public on a Hong Kong exchange later this year.
• The company was founded in 2011.
• At the time of writing, Crunchbase’s records of Megvii’s prior funding history are incomplete. Crunchbase lists $607 million in known prior funding rounds. Funding amounts for the company’s Series A and Series D rounds are not listed.
• Mary Ann Azevedo covered the transaction for Crunchbase News.

Carta

Carta (formerly “eShares”) is a Palo Alto-headquartered financial technology company developing capitalization table, limited partner subscription, and other management tools for the private equity and venture capital sector.

• Cara raised $300 million in a Series E round, which valued the company at approximately $1.7 billion, post-money. Andreessen Horowitz, a new investor in the company, led the deal. Tiger Global Management, a private-market investment arm of Goldman Sachs, and Thrive Capital join prior investors Menlo Ventures, Tribe Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners among participants in the round.
• The company was founded in 2012 by Henry Ward and Manu Kumar.
• Before the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised at least $147.8 million in prior venture funding. The company was valued at $800 million, post-money, in a Series D round announced in late December 2018. In other words, Carta’s valuation doubled in roughly four months.
• Crunchbase News’s editor-in-chief Alex Wilhelm covered the transaction.

April

Rappi

Rappi is an on-demand e-commerce and delivery platform service provider based in Bogota, Colombia.

• The company raised $1 billion in a Series E round announced on April 30, 2019; the company is now valued at roughly $3.5 billion, post-money. The structure of this transaction, like most of SoftBank’s late-stage deals, is complex. SoftBank Group (the Japan-HQ’d conglomerate) and its subsidiary SoftBank Vision Fund each committed to invest “up to $500 million,” which, combined, brings the total to $1 billion. However, in Rappi’s announcement, the company said that SBG and the SBVF will transfer their collective stakes to the as-yet inchoate SoftBank Innovation Fund upon the eventual formation of that fund. (For more about the Innovation Fund, a SoftBank-anchored investment vehicle aiming to invest in Latin America, check out Mary Ann Azevedo’s coverage from March 2019.)
• Rappi was founded in 2016 by Felipe Villamarin, Sebastian Mejia, and Simon Borrero.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $392 million in prior venture funding. Dollar amounts for some pre-Series A rounds are unknown. The company’s last round, $200 million in Series D funding announced in August 2018, valued the company at $1 billion, post-money. Rappi was part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch.
• Mary Ann Azevedo and Natasha Mascarenhas collaborated on covering the round for Crunchbase News.

UiPath

UiPath is a New York City-based company developing software-enabled robotic process automation (RPA) tooling.

• The company raised $568 million in a Series D round that was announced on April 30, 2019. The transaction—which valued the company at nearly $7 billion, post-money—was led by Coatue Management. Wellington Partners, Sands Capital Ventures, and Dragoneer Investment Group are among the participating investors in the round. The company says it now generates $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and hinted in its press release that it is exploring a path to public markets.
• The company was founded in 2005 by Daniel Dines and Marius Tirca.
• Prior to the Series D round mentioned above, UiPath had raised $448 million in known venture funding between its Series A and Series C rounds. Dollar amounts of pre-Series A funding is not listed in Crunchbase at time of writing.
• Mary Ann Azevedo covered the transaction for Crunchbase News.

Tencent Trusted Doctor

Tencent Trusted Doctor (also known as Tengkang Hui Medical Technology Co., Ltd.) is the product of a merger between Tencent Doctorwork and Trusted Doctors. The company is headquartered in Beijing, China.

• Tencent Trusted Doctor raised $250 million in a venture round led by Tencent Holdings, Country Garden Holdings, and Sequoia Capital China. The deal was announced on April 24, 2019. According to reporting by Reuters, CEC Capital advised Tencent Trusted Doctor on the transaction. The deal values Tencent Trusted Doctor at over $1 billion, post-money. Quoting Reuters: “Tencent Trusted Doctor said it connects 440,000 certified doctors with more than 10 million patients online, offering services from online consulting to e-commerce to physical checks.”
• The company was formed following a merger in August 2018.
• Crunchbase does not list prior funding raised by the company. We were unable to easily locate records of how much Tencent may have invested in Tencent Doctorwork prior to merging with Trusted Doctors. However, in coverage of that merger, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that “Trusted Doctors, launched in 2014, is a professional platform for over 430,000 registered doctors in China and had planned to expand its network to 31 clinics and 10 surgery centres by the end of 2018.” The SCMP reported that Tencent Doctorwork had [sic] “23 bricks-and-mortar clinics across the country.” Reuters reporting of the new round relayed Tencent Trusted Doctor’s assertion that “it connects 440,000 certified doctors with more than 10 million patients online, offering services from online consulting to e-commerce to physical checks.” By 2021, the company wants to grow its physical footprint nearly tenfold, to over 500 clinics, according to a company statement given to Reuters.
• Crunchbase News did not cover this round in particular, but we’ve covered Tencent, its side bets (like Tencent Music), and its investments in the past.

Hozon Automobile

Hozon Automobile (合众新能源) is a Hangzhou, China-based company developing all-electric automobiles.

• Hozan Automobile raised CN¥3 billion (~$447 million USD) in a Series B funding round announced on April 22, 2019. Lead and participating investors were not disclosed by the company.
• The company was founded in 2014.
• At the time of writing, Crunchbase does not have information on Hozon Automobile’s prior funding rounds, although at least one report indicates that the company has raised in excess of CN¥ 7 billion in total funding (inclusive of the hypergiant Series B round mentioned above).

ENOVATE Motors

ENOVATE Motors is an all-electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Shanghai, China.

• The company raised CN¥ 2 billion (~$298 million USD) in a Series A round announced on April 16, 2019. According to media reports linked in the Crunchbase page for the funding round, the company did not disclose the names of its financial backers. For AVCJ, Jane Li reported “the round was led by a large listed company, with participation from government guidance funds, professional investment firms,” and other investors.
• The company was founded in 2015.
• At time of writing, Crunchbase does not have information about pre-Series A financing raised by the company.

Lemonade

Lemonade is a “full-stack insurance company” based in New York City, New York.

• The company raised $300 million in a Series D round announced on April 11, 2019. SoftBank led the deal, which valued Lemonade at $2 billion, post-money. A number of other investors participated in the funding round, including Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital, GV, General Catalyst, and German insurance giant Allianz.
• The company was founded in 2015 by Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $180 million in prior venture funding. The bulk of that came in Lemonade’s Series C round, announced in late December 2017, in which the company raised $120 million at a post-money valuation of roughly $620 million.
• Crunchbase News’s own Mary Ann Azevedo covered the deal as the news broke.

Affirm

Affirm is a company which offers short-term, installment-based loans for consumer purchases at the point of sale. Affirm is based in San Francisco, California.

• Affirm raised $300 million in a Series F round announced on April 3, 2019. Joshua Kushner’s firm Thrive Capital led the deal. A number of new investors, including Fidelity Management and Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Wellington Management Company, and Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures. Additionally, prior investors including Founders Fund, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, Spark Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Moore Asset Backed Fund, and Ribbit Capital followed on as participants in the round.
• The company was founded in 2012 by Paypal Mafia OG Max Levchin, ex-Palantir co-founder Nathan Gettings, and Jeffrey Kaditz. At time of writing, Levchin serves as the company’s CEO. Kaditz and Gettings have since left to start other companies.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised at least $620 million in prior equity funding (not including a seed round with an undisclosed dollar amount). The company opened a $100 million line of credit with Morgan Stanley in October 2016.
• For Crunchbase News, Mary Ann Azevedo covered Affirm’s deal, alongside an $88 million round from Bill.com, on April 3rd.

March

Toast

Toast is a company which makes point-of-sale and restaurant management platform for food-service and hospitality businesses. Toast is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

• The company raised $250 million in a Series E round announced on March 29, 2019. Toast is valued at approximately $2.75 billion, following the transaction. Tiger Global Management and TCV co-led the quarter-billion dollar deal, which saw participation from T. Rowe Price, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Lead Edge Capital.
• The company was founded on December 22, 2011 by Aman Narang, Jonathan Grimm, and Steve Fredette.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $249 million in cumulative equity funding between its $3 million Series A round from July 2015 and the $115 million Series D it closed three years later in July 2018. Toast took on $3 million in debt funding in August 2015, after reaching its first 1,000 customers.
• Savannah Dowling and Mary Ann Azevedo covered the deal for Crunchbase News. The company said it serves “tens of thousands” of restaurants today.

T3 Mobile Travel Services

T3 Mobile Travel Services is developing a ride-sharing service and self-driving car technology. It is based in Nanjing, China. The upstart is a joint venture between Chinese automakers FAW Group, Dongfeng Automobile, and Chongqing Changan Automobile, according to coverage in Reuters.

• The new joint venture raised CN¥9.8 billion (approximately $1.46 billion) in Series A funding from its principal corporate backers. Chinese automakers Congqing Changan Automobile, Dongfeng Motor Group, and FAW Group co-led the deal alongside industrial investor Suning Investment (a branch of Suning Group). Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group, themselves developing self-driving and electric vehicle technologies, participated in the transaction. Reuters reported that Congqing Changan Automobile posted to its WeChat that “The three major car companies have joined forces to enter the field of shared travel, which provides an opportunity to transform traditional car enterprises.”
• Reuters reported that the three automakers first signed a cooperation agreement in December 2018.
• Apart from the funding described above, Crunchbase does not have information about any prior funding raised by the new entity.

MiningLamp

MiningLamp (also known as 明略数据 or Minglue Shuju) is a Beijing, China-based predictive analytics, big data, and machine learning platform company which helps its customers build and analyze their knowledge graphs.

• MiningLamp raised CN¥ 2 billion (~$298 million USD) in a Series D round led by Tencent Holdings. Jintuo Capital, Huaxing New Economic Fund, and AVIC Trust participated in the transaction.
• The company was founded in 2014 by Minghui Wu.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised CN¥ 1 billion in its Series C round, and $30 million its Series B round. At time of writing, no information about the company’s Series A round or prior seed-stage funding is present in Crunchbase.

Ke.com

Ke.com (also known as Beike and 贝壳找房) is a Beijing, China-based real estate sales platform company. Ke.com is a relatively recent spin-out from real estate listings giant Lianjia.

• The company raised $800 million in a Series D round announced on March 25, 2019. Tencent Holdings led the deal, which valued Ke.com at nearly $18 billion, post-money. Citing reports from Chinese business news site Caixin, Asia real estate news site Mingtiandi says Ke.com is seeking to raise as much as $1 billion more by the end of 2019 to continue expansion. Mingtiandi calculates that “Based on a RMB 120 billion valuation, Tencent may hold as much as 4.47 percent of Beike after the latest investment.”
• The company was spun out from Lanjia in May 2018.
• No prior funding information for Ke.com is present in Crunchbase at this time. Lianjia, the corporate parent of Ke.com, has raised over CN¥ 12.6 billion (almost $1.9 billion USD) in known venture funding, according to Crunchbase data. The Wall Street Journal reported back in September 2018 that Tencent and Warburg Pincus were planning to invest $1.5 billion in Lianjia, but it seems as though that deal is yet to be finalized at time of writing.

Delhivery

Delhivery is a supply chain services and logistics provider, connecting ecommerce and brick-and-mortar retail to customers. The company is based in Gurgaon, India.

• Delhivery raised $413 million in a Series F round announced on March 4, 2019. SoftBank led the deal, which valued the company at roughly $1.6 billion, post-money. Fosun Group and Carlyle Group were participating investors in the transaction.
• The company was founded in 2011
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised roughly $251 million in prior venture funding.

Opendoor

Opendoor is based in San Francisco. Opendoor acquires residential real estate and sells them directly to home-buyers, aiming to streamline the purchase process to just a few days.

• The company raised $300 million in the latest tranche of its Series E round, formally announced on March 20. General Atlantic led the deal, in which a number of other institutional investors—including the SoftBank Vision Fund, Norwest Venture Partners, and New Enterprise Associates, among others—participated in the round. The deal values Opendoor at $3.8 billion, post-money.
• The company was founded in 2014 by Eric Wu, Ian Wong, Justin Ross, and Keith Rabois.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised over $1 billion in prior venture funding. In the various parts of its Series E round alone, Opendoor has raised $1.025 billion. The company announced a $325 million first tranche in June 2018, and a $400 million tranche from the SoftBank Vision Fund in September 2018.

In February, 2019, when reports of this deal first surfaced in regulatory filings by Opendoor, Mary Ann Azevedo covered the story for Crunchbase News.

Offerpad

Offerpad is a Phoenix, AZ-based residential real estate company in the business of acquiring houses and selling them directly to consumers, rather than simply brokering a transaction between buyers and sellers.

• The company raised $565 million in a Series C round formally announced on March 14th. The lead investor was not disclosed. According to coverage of the deal in FinSMEs, the company will use the new funding to “purchase houses, enhance the real estate experience for consumers, and introduce new tools” for its real estate agents.
• The company was founded in 2015 by co-CEOs Brian Bair and Jerry Coleman.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised at least $410 million in combined equity and debt financing, according to Crunchbase data. According to FinSMEs, Citi extended a warehouse line of credit to Offerpad in Q3 2018.

WM Motor

WM Motor (also known as 威马汽车技术有限公司) is an electric vehicle company based in Shanghai, China.

• The company raised CN¥3 billion (approximately $447.3 million USD at the time of transaction) in a C round formally announced on March 8. Chinese search giant Baidu led the deal. Linear Venture and Tailing Industrial Fund also participated. Baidu Capital, an expansion/growth-stage investment arm of Baidu, co-led WM Motor’s Series B round, alongside Tencent Holdings.
• The company was founded in 2015 by Freeman Shen and Napoleon Du.
• According to Crunchbase data, WM Motor had raised at least $1.15 billion prior to the round mentioned above. This includes a CN¥1 billion Series B round (linked above) and a $1 billion (USD) Series A round. Reports indicate WM Motor may have raised capital in December 2017, but funding amounts were not disclosed and Crunchbase News was not able to confirm whether that transaction actually occurred.

Delhivery

Delhivery is a supply chain services company based in Gurgaon, India.

• Delhivery raised $395 million in a Series F round that values the company at approximately $1.6 billion, post-money. SoftBank led the deal. Note that SoftBank sometimes invests its own capital directly, and then moves its stake to the SoftBank Vision Fund (its $100 billion pooled investment vehicle) at a later date. Global private equity firm Carlyle Group and Shanghai-based Fosun Group participated in the transaction.
• The company was founded in 2011 by Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati, Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, and Suraj Saharan, according to its Crunchbase profile.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $257.6 million in combined USD and Rupee-denominated funding prior to the Series F deal detailed above. The company’s last round—a two–tranched Series E—was announced throughout the first half of 2017.

Grab

Grab is a Singapore-based ride-hailing platform offering booking services for taxis, private cars, and motorbikes through a mobile application.

• As part of its seemingly endless Series H round, Grab raised $1.46 billion from the SoftBank Vision Fund in a deal announced on March 6th. Grab is valued at approximately $14 billion, post-money. In total, Grab has raised approximately $4.5 billion across multiple tranches of its Series H fundraise, which began in June 2018. This is the second hypergiant (>$250M) Series H tranche Grab announced this year, following $350 million from Tokyo Century announced in January.
• The company was founded in June 2012 by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised roughly $4.3 billion before embarking on its Series H fundraise.

Natasha Mascarenhas covered SoftBank’s investment in Grab for Crunchbase News as the story surfaced. Back in December 2018, Savannah Dowling documented Grab’s never-ending Series H round.

February

Chehaoduo

Chehaoduo (also known as Guazi.com and 瓜子二手车直卖网) is a consumer-to-consumer used car marketplace company based in Beijing, China.

• Chehaoduo raised $1.5 billion in a Series D round, announced on February 28, which valued the company at $9 billion, post-money. The SoftBank Vision Fund was the sole reported investor in the transaction.
• The company was founded in 2015.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised approximately  $1.87 billion in prior venture funding. Chehaoduo’s last round, Series C, topped out at $980 million, which was closed in two tranches. The last Series C tranche was announced in October 2018, valuing Chehaoduo at approximately $6.5 billion, post-money, five months prior to its Series D round.
• Crunchbase News covered the deal as it was announced.

Danke Apartment

Danke Apartment is a technology-enabled apartment management company based in Beijing, China.

• The company raised $500 million in a Series C deal which was announced on February 28. Danke Apartment is valued at $2 billion, post-money, following the transaction. Tiger Global Management and Ant Financial co-led the deal, which saw participation by Joy Capital, Primavera Capital Group, Gaorong Capital, and CMC Capital Group.
• The company was founded in January 2015.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $184.7 million in combined prior CNY and USD-denominated venture funding.

Horizon Robotics

Horizon Robotics (also known as 地平线 and Dipingxian) is an AI semiconductor manufacturer operating in the robotics industry. The company is headquartered in Beijing, China.

• The company raised $600 million in a Series B round announced on February 27. RAM-maker SK Hynix and petrochemical industry technology provider SK China—branches of globally-scoped Korea-based conglomerate SK Group—co-led the deal. V Fund Management, Oceanwide Holdings, Oceanpine Capital, Morningside Venture Capital, Linear Venture, Hillhouse Capital Group, CMBC Capital Holdings, and CITIC Securities One-Belt One-Road (CSOBOR) participated in the transaction, which valued Horizon Robotics at $3 billion, post-money.
• Horizon Robotics was founded in 2015.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised at least $100 million in its Series A round, which was led by Intel Capital back in October 2017. An earlier Series A tranche, announced in June 2016, doesn’t have a dollar value attached to it in Crunchbase’s dataset at time of writing, meaning Horizon has likely raised more than the $700 million in total funding listed on its profile.
• Alex Wilhelm and Mary Ann Azevedo covered the round for Crunchbase News when it was announced.

DoorDash

Based in San Francisco, DoorDash is an on-demand restaurant delivery service.

• The company raised $400 million in a Series F round formally announced on February 21. Singapore government-backed firm Temasek Holdings and growth equity firm Dragoneer Investment Group co-led the deal. The SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital, GIC (another Singaporean sovereign wealth investor), DST Global (Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner’s Hong Kong-domiciled investment group), and Coatue Management participated in the deal, which valued DoorDash at $7 billion, post-money.
• The company was founded in 2013 by Andy Fang, Evan Moore, Stanley Tang, and Tony Xu.
• Before the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised approximately $971 million in prior venture funding. Since its March 1, 2018 Series D (barely more than one year before the above-mentioned Series F round) DoorDash has raised just under $1.2 billion in equity funding.
• Savannah Dowling covered the Series F round for Crunchbase News when it was announced.

Flexport

Flexport is a San Francisco-based, full-service, software-driven global freight forwarder and logistics platform company.

• On February 21, the company announced it raised $1 billion in a venture round which values Flexport at $3.2 billion, post-money. The SoftBank Vision Fund led the massive deal. Susa Ventures, S.F. Express, Cherubic Ventures, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, and Yuri Milner’s DST Global participated in the private securities offering.
• The company was founded in 2013 by Ryan Petersen.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $304 million in prior venture funding.
• Mary Ann Azevedo and Jason D. Rowley covered the transaction for Crunchbase News when it was announced.

Lalamove

Lalamove (货拉拉) is a Hong Kong-based delivery and logistics service marketplace company

• The company raised $300 million in a Series D round co-led by Sequoia Capital China and Hillhouse Capital Group. Shunwei Capital, PV Seed Fund, MindWorks Ventures, and Eastern Bell Venture Capital participated in the deal, which was announced on February 21.
• The company was founded in 2013 by Chow “Shing”-Yuk, Gary Hui, and Santit Jirawongkraisorn. It was originally called EasyVan.

Before the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $161.5 million in prior venture funding.

Shiheng

Shiheng is an online catering management service provider based in Beijing, China.

• The company raised $300 million in a Series B round announced on February 18. SoftBank (not the Vision Fund) and TPG co-led the deal. CEO Fang ShiHun told DealStreetAsia that “ShiHeng is now valued at more than 1 billion yuan ($150 million), and is the leader of the takeaway/catering industry,” adding that “Our current GMV (gross merchandise value) is over 400 million yuan ($59 million).”
• The company was founded in 2017.
• DealStreetAsia reports that Shiheng has “raised three funding rounds in the last 12 months.” The report says that over the course of 2018, Shiheng raised over ¥200 million (approximately $30 million USD) between its Series A and “Series B-1” round. (The round above is being reported as a “Series B-2” deal.) Sequoia Capital China, Gaorong Capital, and Vision Plus Capital invested in those prior rounds.

Nuro

Nuro is a Mountain View, CA-based designer and manufacturer of autonomous delivery robotics.

• The company raised $940 million in a Series B round that valued the company at $1.8 billion, pre-money. The SoftBank Vision Fund was the sole named investor in the deal, which was announced on February 11th.
• The company was founded in 2016.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $92 million in a Series A round co-led by Gaorong Capital and Greylock Partners.
• Crunchbase News’s Mary Ann Azevedo and Holden Page covered the transaction as it was announced.

Reddit

Reddit is a social media and community platform company headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

• In a Series D round, Reddit raised $300 million in a deal formally announced on February 11th. The transaction transaction was led by Chinese tech and media conglomerate Tencent Holdings. Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Investments, and Andreessen Horowitz participated in the deal, which valued the company at $3 billion, post-money.
• The company was founded in 2005 by Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman. Reddit was acquired by Condé Nast in 2006, but it was spun out as an independent company once again in September 2011.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised at least $250 million in prior venture funding. Y Combinator backed Reddit’s seed round and led its $50 million Series B round in 2014. Reddit raised $200 million in a Series C round announced in August 2017.

OakNorth

Based in Manchester, U.K., OakNorth is a commercial bank focused on serving the capital needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

• On February 8th, OakNorth announced it raised $440 million in a venture funding round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund. Singapore-based Clermont Group participated in the deal, which values the financial services company at over $2.8 billion, post-money. The round is earmarked for funding expansion into North America and other international markets.
• The company was founded in 2013 by Joel Perlman and Rishi Khosla.
• Prior to the deal mentioned above, OakNorth had raised $100 million (USD) and £367.5 million (GBP) across its seed, Series A, and multi-tranched Series B rounds.

Aurora

Aurora is a Palo Alto-based self-driving vehicle company.

• Aurora raised $530 million in a Series B round, which was announced on February 7th. Sequoia Capital led the deal, in which T. Rowe Price, and Amazon participated in the deal. Aurora is valued at $2.53 billion, post-money.
• The company was founded in 2016 by Chris Urmson, J. Andrew Bagnell, Sterling Anderson.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised $90 million in a Series A round, which was co-led by Greylock Partners and Index Ventures.
• Crunchbase News’s Mary Ann Azevedo covered the transaction when it was announced.

Lime

Lime is an on-demand point-to-point transportation company that offers electric scooters and bicycles for metered rental enabled through its mobile application. The Silicon Valley company is situated in San Mateo, California.

• Lime raised $310 million in a Series D round announced on February 6, 2018. The company announced it is now valued at $2.4 billion, post-money. Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, Fidelity Investments, GV, and IVP co-led the round. Existing investors including Alphabet (parent organization to GV) and Singapore’s GIC fund, among others, participated. Additional, new investors joined in in what looks like quite the party round.
• The company was founded in June 2017.
• Crunchbase does not have information about Lime’s Series A round, or how much was raised in its seed round, at time of writing. Lime raised $120 million across two separate tranches in its Series B round. The company subsequently raised $335 million in its Series C round, announced in July 2018.
• Crunchbase News has covered Lime and other scooter companies in the past.

Databricks

Databricks offers big data and analytics software as a service, built on top of Apache Spark. The company is based in San Francisco, California.

• The company raised $250 million in a Series E round formally announced on February 5th. Andreessen Horowitz, a longtime investor in the company, led the deal, which valued the company at $2.75 billion, post-money. Prior investors New Enterprise Associates, Battery Ventures, and Green Bay Ventures participated, as did new investors Coatue Management and Microsoft.
• The company was founded in 2013, though its founding team had worked together on Apache Spark since 2009.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised just over $247 million in prior venture funding.
• Crunchbase News covered the transaction.

January

Clover Health

Clover Health is a Medicare benefits company based in San Francisco, California.

• The company raised $500 million in a Series E round that was announced on January 29th. Greenoaks Capital led the deal.
• The company was founded in 2013 by Kris Gale and Vivek Garipalli.
• Prior to the hypergiant round mentioned above, the company had raised at least $425 million in prior venture funding.

Jusda

Based in Shenzhen, China, Jusda (准时达) is a B2B supply chain management (SCM) company.

• The company raised CN¥2.4 billion ($356 million USD) in a Series A round announced on January 29th. A triumvirate of state-backed investors—IDG Capital, CICC, and China Life Insurance—co-led the deal; TI Capital, Oriza Holdings, and China Railway Supply Chain Group participated in the offering.
• The company was founded in 2010.
• This is the first publicly disclosed funding round that Crunchbase or Crunchbase News was able to find for the company. It’s unclear how the company has financed its operations and growth to date.

BridgeBio

BridgeBio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on treating genetic diseases. It is based in Palo Alto, California.

• The company raised $299.2 million in a round formally announced on January 23. Late-stage private equity investors Viking Global Investors and KKR & Co co-led the deal. A number of BridgeBio’s prior investors, including Sequoia Capital, Cormorant Capital, Aisling Capital, AIG Investments, Perspective Advisors, and Hercules Capital, among others.
• The company was founded in 2015 by Dr. Neil Kumar.
• At time of writing, Crunchbase does not have a complete history of BridgeBio’s prior rounds in its dataset. Apart from the $299.2 million round mentioned above, Crunchbase data shows that BridgeBio raised $135 million in a Series C round, which was also co-led by KKR and Viking. (Note: Crunchbase News may update this paragraph as more data is added to Crunchbase.)

Zhangmen

Zhangmen is a K-12 personalized online tutoring company based in Shanghai, China.

• The company raised $350 million in a Series E round announced on January 23rd. The deal was co-led by China Media Capital and CICC Alpha.
• The company was founded in 2015.
• Crunchbase does not have a complete funding history for Zhangmen at time of writing. The first round listed on Zhangmen’s Crunchbase profile is a CN¥200 million Series C deal, led by Huaxing Growth Capital and announced in December 2016. Zhangmen’s $120 million Series D round was co-led by Warburg Pincus and Genesis Capital. The Series D deal was announced in January 2018.

DaDa

DaDa is a Shanghai-based online education service for English language learners.

• The company raised $255 million in Series D funding led by global private equity and growth-stage investment firm Warburg Pincus. Yonghua Capital and TAL Education Group participated in the deal, which was announced on January 16th.
• The company was founded in April 2013, according to Crunchbase data.
• Prior to its Series D round, DaDa raised over $600 million in prior funding. That includes a $500 million Series B round raised from undisclosed investors back in April 2016.

Rubrik

Hailing from Palo Alto, Rubrik is a provider of enterprise-focused data backup, management, and recovery services.

• Rubrik raised $261 million in a Series E round announced on January 15. Bain Capital Ventures led the deal, which reportedly valued the company at $3.26 billion, post-money. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, and Khosla Ventures—a veritable who’s who of old school Silicon Valley VC—participated in the round.
• The company was founded in 2014.
• Before its hypergiant Series E round, Rubrik had raised $292 million in prior venture funding, according to Crunchbase data.

Knock

Launched by the founding team members of real estate listing site Trulia, Knock is a “home trade-in” platform for existing homeowners. The company is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

• Almost exactly two years after closing a $32.5 million Series A round, Knock announced it had raised $400 million, led by Foundry Group, in a Series B round disclosed on January 15th. An undisclosed portion of that total was debt financing. Prior investors RRE Ventures, FJ Labs, WTI, and Corazon Capital participated in the round; Company Ventures joined the Series B as a new investor.
• The company was founded in 2015.
• Besides the Series B round announced in January 2019 and the Series A from January 2017, Knock’s only other known funding was a $2 million seed round announced in May 2016. Knock also received an unspecified amount of non-equity assistance from NY-based Grand Central Tech.
• Crunchbase News covered the news of Knock’s Series B round as it was publicly announced.

Yimidida

Shanghai-based Yimidada develops logistics management systems.

• Yimidada raised a CN¥1.8 billion ($266.2 million) Series D round led by private equity firm Boyu Capital. HOPU Investment Management Company and Source Code Capital participated in the deal, which was announced on January 14th.
• The company was founded in March 2015.
• Prior to raising its Series D round, Yimidada had raised $137.4 million in known venture funding, which includes a $79 million Series C announced in April 2018.

N26

German fintech company N26 is a provider of mobile banking and international money transfer infrastructure and services.

• N26 raised $300 million in a Series D round led by Insight Venture Partners. Greyhound Capital and Singapore’s government-backed fund GIC participated in the deal. It was announced on January 9th and valued the company at $2.7 billion, post-money.
• The company was founded in February 2013.
• Prior to its Series D round, N26 had raised nearly $213 million in prior venture capital funding.
• Crunchbase News covered N26’s Series D round, as well as the $160 million the firm raised back in a Series C round from March 2018.

The We Company

Née “WeWork,” the recently re-christened The We Company is a New York City-based commercial real estate company that offers temporary, shared, and private workspace options to clientele ranging from individuals to corporations.

• The company raised $1 billion in a Series H round formally announced on January 9th.  SoftBank (not the Vision Fund) invested $2 billion total in the transaction: $1 billion from the de novo equity financing, and an additional $1 billion in equity acquired through a secondary stock sale from prior shareholders. These were the final parts of a transaction that ultimately netted The We Company $6 billion.
• The company was founded in 2010.
• Prior to the $6 billion deal (which included debt and warrant issuance was announced in several parts between August 2018 and January 2019), The We Company had raised nearly $6.8 billion in prior equity and debt funding.
• Crunchbase News covered the deal when it was announced.

Grab

Grab, a ride-hailing platform offering transportation in shared and private car rides, as well as motorbikes, is based in Singapore.

• The company raised $350 million in the latest tranche of an extended Series H round, formally announced on January 7th. Tokyo Century led the deal.
• Grab was founded in June of 2012. Prior to the company’s multi-part Series H round (the first part of which closed in June 2018) Grab had raised at least $4.135 billion in VC, PE, and debt financing.
• Crunchbase News covered Grab’s never-ending Series H round back in December 2018. Between the first tranche from June 2018 and the last (for now?) $350 million raised in January, Grab has raised at least $3 billion in its Series H round.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias