Alphabet spinoff SandboxAQ raised $500m while Alphabet unit GV helped provide $193m for Aera Therapeutics and $520m for Curie.Bio.
Fund
Curie.Bio, the US-based operator of a venture capital firm and startup studio for pharmaceutical startups, has raised $520m in capital from limited partners including internet technology group Alphabet’s GV unit. Its other backers include Arch Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz.
Public markets
Xiao-I, a China-based conversational AI technology developer backed by chipmaker Intel and automotive manufacturer Geely, has set a range of $6.80 to $8.80 for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange expected to consist of 6 million American depositary shares. Pricing those shares at the midpoint would raise $46.8m at a market value of roughly $570m.
M&A
Mint Songs, a US-based, musician-focused NFT marketplace backed by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and blockchain game producer Dapper Labs, has been acquired by music streaming platform Napster for an undisclosed sum.
Funding
SandboxAQ, a US-based provider of quantum computing simulation software that was spun off by internet and technology group Alphabet, has raised $500m in funding. The cash came from investors including former Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt as well as Time Ventures, Breyer Capital and T. Rowe Price.
| Company | Company description | Sector | Country | Round | Deal size($m) | Deal date | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aera Therapeutics | Genetic medicine developer | Healthcare | US | A & B | 193 | 16/02/2023 | Alphabet (GV); Arch Venture Partners (lead), Lux Capital |
| Merchant Money | SME-focused business finance provider | Financial | UK | N/A | 138 | 14/02/2023 | Barclays Bank; Quilam Capital |
| Avilar Therapeutics | Developer of extracellular protein degradation treatments | Healthcare | US | Seed | 75 (updated) | 16/02/2023 | Sanofi (Sanofi Ventures), Astellas (Astellas Venture Management); RA Capital Management, Medical Excellence Capital |
| Disc Medicine | Haematologic disease treatment developer | Healthcare | US | N/A | 62.5 | 14/02/2023 | Access Industries (Access Biotechnology); Bain Capital (Bain Capital Life Sciences) (lead), OrbiMed |
| Descope | Passwordless authentication platform developer | IT | US | Seed | 53 | 15/02/2023 | Dell (Dell Technologies Capital); Lightspeed Venture Partners, GGV Capital, TechAviv, Cerca, Unusual Ventures, Silicon Valley CISO Investments, George Kurtz, John Thompson, J Ventures |
| VivaCity | Automotive sensor manufacturer | Transport | UK | N/A | 42 | 16/02/2023 | EnBW (EnBW New Ventures) (lead); Foresight Group, Gresham House (Gresham House Ventures) |
| Superplastic | Synthetic character creator | Media | US | A | 40 (updated) | 15/02/2023 | Amazon (Alexa Fund), Alphabet (GV), Kering, Sony, Kakao, Animoca Brands, Kakao, Line Friends; Craft Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Scribble Ventures, Day One Ventures, Betaworks, The Chainsmokers, Sean Qiao Ventures, Scott Belsky, Scooter Braun, Justin Timberlake, Jared Leto, Index Ventures, Hakeem Seriki, Trac, Galaxy Interactive, EOS VC Fund, Bossanova Investimentos, Tiny Capital, Shrug Capital, Proton Enterprises, Kevin Weil, Global Village, Founders Fund, Evolution VC Partners |
| Spiffy | On-demand car wash service | Transport | US | C | 30 | 15/02/2023 | Shell (Shell Ventures), Goodyear (Goodyear Ventures), Mann+Hummel; Edison Partners (lead), Tribeca Venture Partners, Bull City Venture Partners, Idea Fund Partners, Trog Hawley Capital, Attinger, Private Access Network |
| Elo Life Systems | Plant-based ingredient developer | Industrial | US | A | 24.5 | 15/02/2023 | Novo Holdings (co-lead); AccelR8 (co-lead), DCVC Bio (co-lead) |
| Third Wave Automation | Autonomous forklift manufacturer | Industrial | US | N/A | 15 | 15/02/2023 | Qualcomm (Qualcomm Ventures), Zebra Technologies |
| Hygea Medical | Oncology treatment technology developer | Healthcare | China | D | 14.6 | 15/02/2023 | Unifortune; In Capital (lead), Banyan Pacific Capital, HuaJin Capital, MeiHong Fund, Gaorong Capital, HaoYue Capital |
| Macrolux | Endoscopic diagnostics technology developer | Healthcare | China | A | 14.5 | 16/02/2023 | Legend Holdings (Legend Capital) (lead) |
| Alongside | Cryptocurrency market index platform | Financial | US | Seed | 11 | 15/02/2023 | Coinbase (Coinbase Ventures); Andreessen Horowitz (lead), Franklin Templeton Investments, Village Global, Not Boring Capital, unnamed angel investors |
| AdalFi | Digital lending infrastructure provider | Financial | Pakistan | N/A | 7.5 | 16/02/2023 | Royal Group (Chimera Ventures) (co-lead), Fatima Group/Gobi Partners (Fatima Gobi Ventures); Cotu Ventures (co-lead), Zayn Capital, unnamed angel investors |
| Ironblocks | Blockchain-native cybersecurity platform | IT | Israel | N/A | 7 | 15/02/2023 | Samsung (Samsung Next); Collider Ventures (co-lead), Disruptive AI (co-lead), ParaF, Quantstamp, Balaji Srinivasan, Calvin Liu, Alan Leung, Nimrod Lehavi, Fos Finance, Lluis Pedragosa |
| Bibak | Reusable food container distributor | Industrial | France | N/A | 6.4 | 14/02/2023 | MAIF (MAIF Impact); Founders Future, Seed One, Notus Technologies, Swen Capital Partners (Blue Ocean Fund) |
| Thatch | Healthcare benefits platform developer | Healthcare | US | Pre-seed & Seed | 6 | 15/02/2023 | Alphabet (GV) (co-lead); Andreessen Horowitz (co-lead), Lux Capital, Quiet Capital, Not Boring Capital, American Cancer Society (BrightEdge) |
| MotionMiners | Industrial IoT technology developer | IT | Germany | A | 5.3 | 13/02/2023 | PwC (PwC Germany) (lead) |
| Ottometric | Provider of validation technology for advanced driver assistance systems | Transport | US | Seed | 4.9 | 14/02/2023 | Grupo Proeza (Proeza Ventures) Goodyear (Goodyear Ventures); Rally Ventures (lead), Automotive Ventures, Trucks VC, Reinforced Ventures, Collaborative Fund |
| Capsule | AI-equipped video editing software provider | Media | US | Seed | 4.8 | 14/02/2023 | Bloomberg (Bloomberg Beta); Human Ventures, Swift Ventures, Tiferes Ventures, Behind Genius Ventures, Array Ventures |
| Aura Network | NFT adoption software provider | IT | Vietnam | Pre-A | 4 | 15/02/2023 | Coin98 (co-lead); Hashed (co-lead) |
| Alpaca.Lab | Operator of driver dispatch platform Aircle | Services | Japan | A1 | 1.9 | 16/02/2023 | Dirbato; NKC Asia, Okinawa Development Finance Corporation, XTech Ventures |
| Trace.Space | Provider of AI-powered product development software | IT | Latvia | Pre-seed | 1.5 | 14/02/2023 | Nebular; Fiedler Capital (lead), Tiny VC, Foreword VC, Charlie Songhurst, Change Ventures |
| Fondo | Accounting platform provider | Financial | US | Pre-seed | 1.2 | 14/02/2023 | GMO (GMO VenturePartners); Y Combinator, Liquid2 Ventures, Transmedia Capital |
| PorterLogic | Provider of low-code supply chain management software | Services | US | N/A | N/A | 15/02/2023 | Microsoft/Green Bay Packers (TitletownTech) |
| Machina Labs | Specialised sheet metal product manufacturer | Industrial | US | N/A | N/A | 15/02/2023 | Yamaha Motor (Yamaha Motor Ventures |
| RevBio | Developr of dental bone adhesive biomaterial | Healthcare | US | N/A | N/A | 14/02/2023 | Pacific Dental Services |
| Artists, Writers & Artisans (AWA Studios) | Comic book publisher | Media | US | N/A | N/A | 16/02/2023 | Fremantle |
