Tuesday 01/09/24 : VCs Wrote Cheques To These Companies | Luke Insider!💡🚀

Massive Fundings

Moonwalk Biosciences, a two-year-old South San Francisco startup that is developing drugs that treat diseases by activating or suppressing genes, raised $57 million in seed and Series A funds led by Alpha Wave Ventures and joined by Arch Venture Partners, Future Ventures, GV, Khosla Ventures, and YK Bioventures. The WSJ has more here.

PerformYard, a 10-year-old company based in Arlington, Va., that provides a collection of software-based retention, staff management and upskilling tools, raised a $95 million round from Updata Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

PhotoRoom, a five-year-old Paris startup that operates a popular AI-powered photo editing platform, is raising between $50 million and $60 million on a pre-money valuation of between $500 million and $600 million, according to TechCrunch, which has more here.

Radionetics Oncology, a two-year-old San Diego startup that is developing small molecule radiopharmaceuticals to treat a broad range of cancers, raised a $52.5 million Series A round co-led by Frazier Life Sciences, 5AM Ventures, and DCVC Bio, with additional funds provided by Crinetics Pharmaceuticals and GordonMD Global Investments. More here.

Second Dinner, the five-year-old gaming studio based in Irvine, Ca., behind Marvel Snap, a digital card game, raised a $100 million Series B round led by Griffin Gaming Partners. VentureBeat has more here. 

Quora, a 15-year-old company based in Mountain View, Ca., that operates a popular question and answer website, has raised a $75 million round from Andreessen Horowitz to build out Poe, an AI chat platform it has developed. TechCrunch has more here.

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Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Anecdotes, a three-year-old Palo Alto startup that aims to streamline governance, risk management, and compliance processes for businesses, raised a $25 million Series B round led by Glilot Capital Partners, with participation from Vertex, DTCP, Red Dot Capital Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, and Shasta Ventures. The company has raised a total of $55 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Conta Simples, a five-year-old São Paulo startup whose software helps its clients manage their expenses and corporate cards, raised a $41.5 million Series B round led by Base10 Partners and including previous investors Valor Capital, Jam Fund, Y Combinator, Big Bets, Broadhaven, and DOMO. TechCrunch has more here.

DigitalOwl, a six-year-old Israeli startup that uses AI to analyze medical records to help with underwriting, claims settlement, and fraud prevention, raised a $12 million from Reinsurance Group of America. The company has raised a total of $38 million. CTech has more here.

Heranova Lifesciences, a one-year-old Boston startup that offers diagnostic tests and therapeutics to detect and treat endometriosis, female fertility, and bacterial vaginosis, raised a $13.5 million seed round. Previous investors Emerging Technology Partners, Pivotal bioVenture Partners China, Sinovation Ventures, and Triwise Capital participated in the round. MobiHealthNews has more here.

Luma, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that is building a generative 3D model that can create detailed 3D objects quickly, raised a $43 million Series B round at a $200 to $300 million valuation, according to TechCrunch. Andreessen Horowitz was reportedly one of the investors. TechCrunch has more here.

Vortexa, a seven-year-old London startup that provides traders, analysts, and freight professionals with data and analytics about the crude oil, refined products, LPG, and LNG industries, raised a $34 million Series C round led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, with Notion Capital, Monashees, Metaplanet, FJ Labs, and Communitas Capital also anteing up. More here.

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Smaller Fundings

Credo, a two-year-old Denver startup that uses AI to analyze digital medical records for healthcare organizations, raised a $5.25 million seed round led by FCA Venture Partners, with previous investors Hannah Grey VC, FirstMile Ventures, and SpringTime Ventures also contributing. More here.

Hi.health, a six-year-old Vienna startup that aims to simplify the reimbursement process for insured individuals, raised a $6.6 million pre-Series A round. Investors included Haymaker Ventures, Fin VC, and Nina Capital as well as previous investors SpeedInvest and Calm/Storm. FinTech Global has more here.

Maalexi, a two-year-old UAE startup that has built a cross-border trade platform for small agribusinesses, raised a $3 million pre-Series A round led by Global Ventures, with Rockstart and Ankurit Capital also taking part. PYMNTS has more here.

Mush Foods, a six-year-old Chicago startup that is creating "alt meat" out of mushroom root blends, raised a $6.2 million seed round led by Viola Ventures, with additional participation from TKH, Siddhi Capital, and Arc Impact. AgFunder News has more here.

WTHN, a five-year-old New York startup that is building a modern holistic wellness brand rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, raised a $5 million Series A round led by L Catterton, with Halogen Ventures also chipping in. Beauty Matter has more here.

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