Does valuation = profitability?
This year has seen fewer unicorn births, lower funding awards, and more exits. Amid the noise is the valuation data that may not tell the entire truth about future profitability. Million-dollar deals, high valuation, and one year from funding often differ in layoffs, mergers, and acquisitions (to satisfy debts due).
CB Insights released a report this past week indicating that M&A targets saw a median valuation step-up of 1.4x over their previous round in Q2 2023. But will valuation equal profitability one year out for the many startups we track? Stay tuned…things are getting interesting.
Some notable trends this week:
- Quadruple the awards, but for less $
- Foreign awards are still hot, and U.S. deals cooler
- Protection solutions are needed and fundable
And next are this week’s Top 5 VC Deals…
1Treasury4
$20M, Series A, Capital| Equity | WA | Fintech | WestCap, Cowles Company, Fortson VC, Voyager Capital, Kick-Start Seed Fund, WTB Financial Corporation, Jim DuBois, Chris Growney | https://www.treasury4.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“Treasury4 is an enterprise fintech creating advanced data analytics tools and solutions for corporate finance and treasury professionals… “
2CerfifID
$20M, Series B, Capital| Equity | Texas| Payments | Arthur Ventures | https://www.certifid.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“CertifID helps to create a world without wire fraud. Started after our co-founder was hit by fraud – we’re the only company dedicated to fighting fraud for the real estate industry with an identity verification SaaS platform, insurance, and proven recovery services.“
3Animoca Brands Corporation
$20M, Capital | Equity | Hong Kong | Blockchain | CMCC Global, Kingsway Capital, Liberty City Ventures, GameFi Ventures, Aleksander Larsen, Gabby Dizon | https://www.animocabrands.com/
LinkedIn Description:
“About Animoca Brands Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner and ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification…“
4Binalyze
$19M, Series A, Capital| Equity |Estonia | Fintech | Molten Ventures, Cisco Investments, Citibank Ventures, Deutsche Bank Ventures| https://www.binalyze.com/
LinkedIn Description:
“Binalyze AIR is the world’s fastest and most comprehensive DFIR solution. Our AIR platform securely and automatically collects over 350 digital forensics artifacts in under 10 minutes…“
5AMP
$18.5M, Series A, Capital |Equity | Australia | Wealthtech | Jungle Ventures, Openspace Ventures| https://www.amp.com.au/
LinkedIn Description:
“Beginning in 1849 as the Australian Mutual Provident Society, today AMP Limited is a retail wealth management and banking business supporting approximately 1.5 million customers across Australia and New Zealand…“
