After 10 rounds of at least $100 million were reported last week, investors had one other strong week, with greater than a half-dozen startups posting similar gains. Like last week, the rounds were split across several industries, including energy, healthcare and artificial intelligence. Is the big growth round coming back? Or is this a two-week aberration?
1. Character$675 million, artificial intelligence: The indisputable fact that the biggest round of the week went to an AI robotics company is not surprising, but how much it could raise is not surprising. A personality from Sunnyvale, California supposedly raised a massive round of $675 million at an initial valuation of around $2 billion. Big investors in the round include: Jeff Bezos‘ Browse investments AND Nvidia among others. The company is developing artificial intelligence robots that it hopes will have the opportunity to perform hazardous jobs and ease labor shortages. Founded in 2022, the company has raised $754 million on Crunchbase.
2. Climbing elementsUSD 162 million, batteries: Just five months ago, Ascend Elements made the list with a massive $460 million Series D round, led by: Decarbonization partners — partnership between Black Rock AND Temasek focusing on firms operating in the field of decarbonization – Temasek AND Qatar Investment Authority. Well, this week, the Westborough, Massachusetts-based startup continued that round with a $162 million investment from investors including Simply Atmosphere, Clearvision ventures AND Iron gray. Ascend is a manufacturer of sustainable materials for electric vehicle batteries. Founded in 2015, the company has now raised $1.7 billion on Crunchbase.
3. (certain) Restrict$150 million, health care: Artificial intelligence is having a major impact on healthcare and the financing of healthcare startups. Abridge, which creates artificial intelligence-based clinical documentation tools, is the latest startup in this field with a strong track record. The Pittsburgh-based startup raised $150 million in Series C funding, which it led Partners of the Lightspeed enterprise AND Redpoint’s ventures. New round supposedly values the company at roughly $850 million. Founded in 2018, the company has raised nearly $208 million, on Crunchbase.
3. (certain) Antor’s energyUSD 150 million, energy: Speaking of Decarbonization Partners, the New York-based partnership led Antora Energy’s $150 million Series B round this week. The Sunnyvale, California-based startup uses renewable energy to heat coal-fired units. The gathered heat is then delivered to large industrial consumers. The company also produces a thermal battery. Founded in 2017, Antora has raised $230 million for the company.
5. Hornblower Group$121 million, free time: Strategic value partners acquired a majority stake in Hornblower, a New York-based travel services company. The M&A agreement also provides Hornblower with a latest funding infusion of $121 million from funds managed by SVP and Crestview Partners, which retained a minority stake in the company. Hornblower also announced reshuffles at some of its units, including an attempt to sell its overnight cruise business. There’s clearly a lot going on.
6. Recognize$102 million, artificial intelligence: While most startups have not seen much investor interest so far, Recogni seems to have bucked the trend. The San Jose, California-based company, which develops an AI inference chip for each generative artificial intelligence and the automotive industry, raised $102 million in Series C funding, co-led by: Celeste’s capital AND GreatPoint ventures. While the company has its roots in designing chips that help autonomous vehicles detect objects, it is also currently exploring the artificial intelligence market. The company’s accelerator chip uses real-time data from trained models for forecasting purposes – all while consuming less power, the company claims. U.S. semiconductor financing has declined in recent quarters despite demand for latest chip designs, driven by industries akin to artificial intelligence and automotive. Last yr, such startups brought in just $1.2 billion in 66 deals — according to Crunchbase data — after earning greater than $2 billion in 2022. Only a trickle of deals have been made this yr.
7. Own laboratories$100 million, blockchain: Seattle-based Eigen Labs, creator Own layer for staking Ethereum, raised a round value $100 million a16z cryptocurrency. Founded in 2021, the company raised $164 million, on Crunchbase.
8. HadrianUSD 92 million, production: Down report, this round actually ended in December but was never actually formally announced. Hawthorne, California-based Hadrian raised a $117 million Series B, including $25 million in debt. RTX venturesthe enterprise arm of major defense contractor RTX (formerly Raytheon) I a16z, took part in the round. The company builds “highly automated precision component factories” primarily to produce components for the space and defense industries. Founded in 2020, the company has raised nearly $217 million, on Crunchbase.
9. Borderline drugsUSD 80 million, pharmaceuticals: South San Francisco, California-based Frontier Medicines, a startup exploring therapies against terminal disease targets, has raised $80 million in Series C funding, co-led by: Deerfield Management Co. AND Droia Ventures. Founded in 2018, Frontier says it has raised $235.5 million.
10. ClumiusUSD 75 million, data backup: As risks and regulations increase, the data backup industry grows. After reportedly quadrupling its ARR last yr, Clumio locked $75 million in Series D led by Sutter Hill’s ventures. The Santa Clara, California-based startup provides data backup and recovery services for firms using the public cloud. Founded in 2017, Clumio has now raised $261 million for the company.
Great global offers
Despite the large domestic rounds, the largest was the AI round from across the Pacific.
Methodology
We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by US-based firms over a seven-day period from February 17 to February 23. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could also be a slight delay as some rounds are reported late in the week.