Adobe Cancelled $20B Deal With Figma & Startups / VCs Will Struggle In 2024

🗞️ TODAY’S MAJOR UPDATES

• Figma Gets $1Billion Free Funding after Adobe's $20B Deal Cancelled

• Nikola (EV Startup) founder, Trevor Milton sentence to Prison for False Claim Over Companies Capability

• IT budgets should increase in 2024, but it still could be tough going for startups

• Featured Article: Marc Andreessen: Understand "Onion Theory Of Risk" To Raise Funding For Your Startup

• What do you think: What's Your Outlook On M&A Opportunities In 2024?

Adobe Has Called Off Its $20 Billion Acquisition of Figma, Why?

Adobe has called off its $20 billion acquisition of Figma due to regulatory concerns in the EU and the UK, sparking fears of a negative impact on startup exits.

However, data shows that the majority of startup deals are significantly smaller, with a median exit value of $64.5 million in the U.S. in 2023, suggesting that the Figma case may not represent a broader trend in the startup exit market.

Despite high-profile cancellations, big-ticket acquisitions like Databricks' $1.3 billion deal with MosiacML and Visa's $1 billion acquisition of Pismo continue to occur without regulatory issues.

But at least there's one small happy point for Figma- they get $1 billion reverse termination fee from Adobe because the deal didn't happen. So 1 billion free funding for Figma! More Here

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PS. We will share the Venture Daily Updates too, this would be additional content. So you will receive two full packed newsletters content on above mentioned days. Need your opinion!

💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES

Octopus Energy, a London, UK-based clean energy tech company, raised €800M in funding. The round, which valued the company at $7.8bn (£6.2bn), saw participation from Origin Energy, Tokyo Gas, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Generation Investment Management. More Here

Enphyr, a Hong Kong-based provider of a Layer 2 solution safeguarding data privacy and enhancing blockchain capabilities that is built on the Ethereum network, raised $1M in Seed funding; at a $10 million valuation. The round was led by Waveslab Ventures with participation from private investors. More Here

Woola, a Tallin, Esonia-based packaging company, raised €2.5M in funding. The round was led by Metaplanet and followed by Future Ventures and Lemonade Stand along with new angel investors. More Here

Metagood, a blockchain technology and digital assets company, announced the successful completion of a $5 million series seed funding round aimed at advancing its Osura marketplace, focused on art within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Spearheaded by Sora Ventures, the series seed round saw participation from key investors including ACTAI Ventures, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, UTXO Management, London Real Ventures, and Peach.xyz, among others. More Here

KAID Health, a Boston MA-based maker of the artificial intelligence-enabled Whole Chart Analysis platform, raised an undisclosed amount in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $9M, saw participation from Activate Venture Partners, Martinson Ventures, Boston Millennia Partners, Brandon Hull, and KAID Health’s Board of Directors. More Here

Biorithm, a Singapore- Cambridge, MA-based women’s health medtech company, raised $3.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Adaptive Capital Partners and SEEDS Capital. More Here

1440 Foods, a NYC-based portfolio of sports and active nutrition brands, received an investment from Bain Capital Private Equity, in partnership with existing investor and operator 4×4 Capital. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Fortress Investment Group. More Here

Strike Graph, a Seattle, WA-based Trust Operations (TrustOps) platform for operating and measuring security & compliance, raised $8.5m in funding. The round was led by BAMCAP with participation from existing investors Madrona and Information Venture Partners, and Rise of the Rest. Jim Sheward, partner at BAMCAP, joined the board.

Meltwater, media monitoring and active in business intelligence using AI and big data analytics techniques, is picking up a new investor. Verdane, a Norwegian private equity firm that earlier this year closed a $1 billion+ fund to make investments in scaling tech companies, is taking an 11% stake in Meltwater, at a company valuation of €542 million ($592 million), valuing the stake at around $65 million. More Here

Encellin, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that is developing cell encapsulation platforms to treat endocrine disorders, raised a $9.9 million round led by Khosla Ventures, with additional investment from Y Combinator. More Here

Lolli, a bitcoin and cashback rewards application, has raised an $8 million Series B round. The Series B round was led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Sfermion, Ulta Beauty’s Prisma Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, ZebPay’s CEO Rahul Pagidipati, 2 Punks Capital, MZ Web3 Fund and others. More Here

/Reach, a social-fi innovation company to ‘fix Crypto Twitter’, raised $1m in seed funding on chain in less than 24 hours. Backers included a number of public facing figures including Seedphrase, Zeneca, Pranksy, Gmoney, Dingaling, and Mooncat2878. More Here

Urban Sports Club, a Berlin, Germany-based platform for sports and wellness, raised €95m in funding. The round was led by Verdane, with participation from existing investors such as HV Capital and ProSiebenSat1. More Here

Aether Fuels, a Chicago, IL and Singapore-based advanced climate technology company, raised US$8.5m in pre-Series A financing via convertible notes. The global syndicate included JetBlue Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) division of JetBlue, as well as TechEnergy Ventures (the CVC division of the Techint Group), Doral Energy Tech Ventures (the CVC division of Doral Energy), Foothill Ventures, and existing investor, Xora Innovation. More Here

Luma Vision, a Dublin, Ireland- and Munich, Germany-based developer of a novel four-dimensional (4D) cardiac imaging and navigation platform, raised $22M in Series A3 funding. The round added participation from new investors Atlantic Bridge Growth Fund and Bayern Kapital, and was led by existing investors EQT Lifesciences, ABV Uni Fund and imec.xpand. More Here

Lingrove, a San Rafael, CA-based composite materials company, raised $10M in funding. The round was led by Lewis & Clark Agrifood and Diamond Edge Ventures, with participation from Bunge Ventures and SOSV. More Here

💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

IT budgets should increase in 2024, but it still could be tough going for startups: In 2024, startups face ongoing challenges as economic signals improve but capital flow tightens. Analysts predict IT spending growth (6.8% by IDC, 8.2% by Gartner), offering potential for startups targeting enterprise buyers. Investors emphasize the need for startups to demonstrate immediate ROI and significant improvement, particularly in productivity and workflow, amid a competitive market and cautious budget allocations by enterprises. More Here

Turnspire Capital Partners, a NYC-based private equity firm, closed Turnspire Value Fund II, L.P. , at $275m in capital commitments. Backers in Fund II included a diverse group of high-caliber institutional investors across North America and Europe, including corporate and public pension funds, endowments and foundations, asset managers, funds of funds, and family offices as well as high-net-worth individuals. More Here

Pivotal Life Sciences, a global investment firm dedicated to investing in companies involved in healthcare innovation seeking to improve patient outcomes, closed Pivotal bioVenture Partners Fund II, at $389m. Fund II will continue Pivotal bioVenture Partners’ core strategy of investing in companies based in North America and Europe developing innovative and impactful therapeutics. More Here

𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLE

Marc Andreessen: Understand "Onion Theory Of Risk" To Raise Funding For Your Startup

Only 1% of founders successfully raise venture capital funding while 99% struggle, you know - what’s the one-line difference between the two of them?

Well, it all boils down to understanding the relationship between risk and cash. You see, those savvy 1% founders get it – they truly grasp how risk and cash flow intertwine. So What’s the Onion Theory Of Risk & How Can It help to raised fund for your startup? … Read More Here

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💡 STARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

Acquisition

IBM is doling out €2.13 billion ($2.3 billion) to acquire a duo of data integration assets from Germany-based enterprise software company Software AG. The all-cash deal will see IBM take ownership of StreamSets, a data integration platform that Software AG had acquired just last year, and WebMethods, which Software AG bought for more than $500 million back in 2007. More Here

Alteryx, an Irvine, California-based software company developing data science and analytics products, announced that it’s agreed to be acquired by private equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners in a deal worth $4.4 billion. More Here

Snowflake acquires Samooha, a startup with a "cross-cloud" data collaboration suite, expanding its capabilities with a secure "data clean room" platform. Samooha receives undisclosed cash/stock and benefits from Snowflake's technical infrastructure. More Here

ERP Logic, a Dallas, Texas-based SAP and cloud solutions provider, has been rebranded as Nobl Q and has acquired Jeevan Technologies, a Chennai, India-based IT services and consulting company with a significant presence in the US at an undisclosed amount. More Here

Coupang, a global retailer, announced plans to acquire the business and assets of Farfetch Holdings plc, a London, UK-based online luxury company. This acquisition positions Coupang as a leader in the $400 billion global personal luxury goods segment. More Here

ABN AMRO acquired BUX, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based newobroker. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The transaction is subject to approval by the regulator and is expected to be finalised in 2024. It is estimated to have a minor impact on CET1 capital ratio. More Here

Layoffs

Udaan, Indian Business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce company laid off 100 to 120 employees, about 10% of its workforce, days after raising $340 million in a funding round. More Here

People

Nikola (EV Startup) founder, Trevor Milton was sentenced to four years in prison for securities and wire fraud after making false claims about the company's capabilities, leading to a 99% stock value loss. The case underscores challenges faced by electric vehicle start-ups, with others like Lordstown Motors and Faraday Future also facing scrutiny and financial difficulties. The rise of such companies, fueled by investor enthusiasm and SPAC mergers, has resulted in substantial losses and legal actions, highlighting the risks associated with the electric vehicle market. More Here

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) secured a court order imposing fines on Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao, totaling $2.85 billion for money laundering. Zhao will pay $150 million, while Binance must disgorge $1.35 billion in ill-gotten fees and pay an additional $1.35 billion penalty. The charges involve violations of anti-money laundering laws, sanctions laws, failure to report suspicious transactions linked to terrorism, and involvement in transactions related to child exploitation and ransomware proceeds. More Here

🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

OpenAI is enhancing internal safety measures with a new safety advisory group to oversee and recommend actions on potential catastrophic risks posed by AI models. The updated "Preparedness Framework" outlines risk evaluation criteria, with high-risk models facing deployment restrictions and critical risks halting further development. A cross-functional Safety Advisory Group will review and advise, introducing checks to prevent high-risk decisions without board awareness. More Here

📰 TODAY’S MUST READ ON: STARTUP, TECH & VC

• 10 VC Firms Hiring From Scout To Partner Role Read More (VC Jobs)

• How Can One Build Conviction Over An Idea? By Sam Altman Read More (Startups)

• How Y-Combinator Started By Paul Graham? Read More (Venture Capital)

🤔 WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Previous Poll: 46.67% readers thinks that VC cash will bounce back and valuation will increase. But Based on current economic trends and historical VC cycles, I think there will caution environment for 2024 startup funding. While a full recovery might be unlikely, a "Steady Climb" scenario with measured investments and focus on sustainable growth looks most probable.

The 2023 M&A market took an unexpected turn, and as we look ahead to 2024, uncertainty lingers. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the potential for exciting deals in the next year.

That’s It For Today! Will Meet You Tomorrow!
Happy Tuesday! 🥂

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team