Startups: “How high can you grow?”
Like ‘high jumpers’ in sports, the goal is to keep raising the bar (and clearing it). VCs often raise the bar, not considering funding a startup unless it’s already making $5M to $10M in revenue. Let’s face it: It’s an easy way to ‘weed out’ the winners from the losers, but is it?
In 2024, a trend is emerging: private investors outside VC (think family, friends, and newly introduced people with $) seeking to get in on early-stage startup action are writing checks (BIG checks). Now more than ever, ‘planting the seeds’ makes more sense regarding viable startup opportunities when proof of concept is solid but revenue is below VC requirements.
Like planting a garden (rich organic soil, water, sunshine), the new seed funding philosophy is based on “How high can you grow?” instead of “How much revenue have you made?”
Some notable trends this week
- The week was ‘crickets;’ only a few deals
- Foreign deals dominate
- Payments continue to be hot, with banks funding payment startups
Up next are this week’s top 5 VC deals…
1Bilt Rewards
$200 M Capital| Equity | NYC | Payments | General Catalyst, Eldridge, Left Land Capital, Camber Creek, Prosus Ventures | https://www.biltrewards.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“Bilt Rewards is the first-ever rewards program that allows renters to earn points on rent and builds a path towards homeownership…”
2Silverfort
$116M, Series D, Capital| Equity | Israel | Fintech | Brighton Park Capital, Acrew Capital, Greenfield Partners, Citi Ventures, General Motors Ventures, Mao Investments, Vintage Investment Partners, Singtel Innov8 | https://www.silverfort.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“Silverfort is the Unified Identity Protection company that pioneered the first and only platform, enabling modern identity security everywhere. By connecting to the silos of the enterprise identity infrastructure, Silverfort unifies identity security across all on-prem and the cloud environments…“
3BillingPlatform
$90M, Capital | Equity| Colorado | Payments | FTV Capital | https://billingplatform.com/
LinkedIn Description:
“BillingPlatform is an agile, cloud-based monetization platform that automates quote-to-cash processes, with a concentration on billing…“
4Polymer Labs
$23M, Series A, Capital| Equity | NYC | Blockchain | Blockchain Capital, Maven 11, Distributed Global, Coinbase Ventures, Placeholder, Digital Currency Group, North Island Ventures, Figment Capital | https://www.polymerlabs.org/
LinkedIn Description:
“Polymer is advancing the state of web3 interoperability by building a universal modular IBC router chain and expanding the IBC network. Come join us and build an open and permissionless web3 future!“
5Safty
$12.3M, Capital |Equity | Denmark | Fintech | Upfin, Jacob Dahl | https://www.safty.io/
LinkedIn Description:
“The leading provider of actionable data insights for fintech companies. At Safty, we’re driven by a relentless commitment to transform the financial industry through innovative technology and data-driven insights…“
