“What glitters is not always gold.”
“Size doesn’t always matter.”
The same songs keep playing from a squeaky record player off of broken records (in this case, last year’s inflated funding deals). Since we’re following VC news, research, and more, we thought we’d provide you with a few metaphors and insights for the week:
First off, Q1 2023 VC funding deals stats are out; yes, deals were down. But don’t despair because early stage funding is not driven by bargain hunting. So if you know how to hustle, manage your money, and are through the weeds to profitability (cash basis + you can pay yourselves), there’s hope for finding funding (or a buyer). At least you’re not a unicorn.
Secondly, according to a recent Crunchbase article, the most important metric to an award occurring in 2023 is not needing the money:
“At the end of the day, the metric that arguably matters most for startups seeking to raise capital and negotiate terms is the one that is hardest to reach: Demonstrating that you don’t need the money.
Sure, it would be nice to grow faster, and to build out the core product. But if you can get by for a while with what you’ve got, it certainly aids the negotiating leverage.” – Crunchbase.
Some notable trends this week:
- This week’s deals, while fewer, had many in the double and triple digits, highlighted in this week’s Top 5 VC Deals.
- Some of this week’s well-known funders (HSBC, BNY Mellon, Sequoia Capital) are still in the deal funding game, despite what the press may say about 2023 deal funding (these people are in the know).
- This week’s #3, TerraPay, has a partial funding award from The U.S. Government (let that sink in a bit).
Drum roll please, here are this week’s Top 5 VC Deal….
1Quantexta
$129M, Series E | Equity | UK | FinTech | GIC, Warburg Pincus, Dawn Capital, British Patient Capital, Evolution Equity Partners, HSBC, BNY Mellon, ABN AMRO, AlbionVC | https://www.quantexa.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“When it comes to making the right decisions for your organization, more is possible with the right data, in the right context. Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform gives customers the ability to understand their data by connecting siloed systems and visualizing complex relationships…”
2LayerZero
$120M, Series B | Equity| Canada | Blockchain | a16z crypto, BOND, Christie’s, Circle Ventures, OKX Ventures, OpenSea Ventures, Samsung Next, Sequoia Capital | https://layerzero.network/
LinkedIn Overview:
“We’re building LayerZero, an omnichain interoperability protocol.”
3TerraPay
$100M, Series B | Equity | UK | Payments | IFC, Prime Ventures, Partech Africa, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) | https://www.terrapay.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“Headquartered in The UK (London), TerraPay believes that the smallest payment deserves a borderless journey as safe as the largest. The company has been building an ever-expanding payments highway that empowers businesses to create transparent customer experiences with an uninterrupted, secure, and real-time global passage for every payment, however small or large…”
4Fourthline
$54.4M | Equity | Netherlands | FinTech | Finch Capital| https://www.fourthline.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“Fourthline is one of the fastest growing providers of digital identity technology. We offer best-in-class Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions throughout the customer lifecycle, preventing fraud at industry-leading accuracy, conversion, and compliance levels…”
5Zamp Finance
$21.7M, Seed | Equity | SF | WealthTech | Sequoia India, Southeast Asia, Dara Khosrowshahi, Marcelo Claure, Tony Xu | https://www.zamp.finance/
Website Overview:
“Diversify your company’s cash in U.S. Treasury Bills…”
