Goldman Sachs Launched $650M VC Fund & Fintech Founder Faces Fraud Charges Over Hindenburg

🗞️ TODAY’S MAJOR UPDATES

• Intel Launching Independent Gen AI Company, raised Millions.

• Goldman Sachs Asset Management has raised $650 million for its new fund, West Street Life Sciences I.

• Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye, founder of Tingo Group, has been charged with securities fraud in New York.

• MobiKwik, Indian Fintech unicorn, aims to raise up to $120M through upcoming IPO

• Featured Tweet : How Does The Actual Product Market Fit Look?

• What do you think: Which VC firm achieved the highest global DPI for its LPs from 2013 to 2023?

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💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES

EZ Swap, a multi-chain NFT DEX Protocol & Inscription marketplace, raised $500K in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $1M, saw participation from EOS Network Ventures (ENV), IOBC Capital and Momentum Capital. More Here

Diadem Capital, the Buffalo-based fundraising platform, which touts itself as a “warm introduction network,” is building a company, investor and lending matching program in a similar vein to platforms like SeedInvest. It has raised a $600,000 pre-seed round led by Launch NY. More Here

Intel Launched Gen AI Software Company, Articul8 AI, Inc., a Palo Alto, CA-based independent company offering enterprise customers a full-stack, vertically-optimized and secure generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) software platform. It has raised undisclosed amount from DigitalBridge Ventures. More Here

Graviton Biosciences, a NYC-based biotechnology company, raised an undisclosed amount in funding. Enavate Sciences, a portfolio company of Patient Square Capital, made the investment. More Here

Travelport, a Langley, UK-based technology company that empowers travel bookings for travel suppliers, has raised $570m in new equity into the company. Travelport’s owners are now composed of existing equity and credit investors, including Elliott Investment Management, Davidson Kempner Capital Management, Canyon Partners, Siris Capital and other leading institutional investors. More Here

SolarDuck, a Rotterdam, The Netherlands-based offshore solar development company, raised €15m in funding. Backers included Invest-NL, Katapult Ocean, Green Tower, and the Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam. More Here

Radionetics Oncology, a San Diego, CA-based clinical stage radiopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel agents for the treatment of a wide range of oncology indications, raised $52.5M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $82.5M, was led by Frazier Life Sciences, 5AM Ventures, and new investor, DCVC Bio, with participation from Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, and GordonMD Global Investments. More Here

Aqua Security, a Boston, MA- and Ramat Gan, IL-based company which specializes in cloud native security, raised $60M in funding. The funding, an extension of the company’s Series E round, places Aqua’s valuation above $1B. The round was led by Evolution Equity Partners, with participation from existing investors Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and StepStone Group. More Here

Vita Inclinata Technologies, a Broomfield, CO-based company which specializes in intelligent lifting hardware and software for rescue crews and other field safety applications, raised $44M in funding. The round saw participation from 3&1 Fund. More Here

Remix Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing small molecule therapies, raised $60M in funding. The round was led by The Column Group with participation from existing investors Atlas Venture, Foresite Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Arch Venture Partners, Casdin Capital, and Surveyor along with new investors WTT Investment, Willett Advisors, and others. More Here

BioCentriq, a Newark, NJ-based cell-based therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), raised $29.2M in Series A funding. The backers were not disclosed. More Here

Vasa Therapeutics, an Encinitas, CA-based preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for cardiovascular aging, closed a Seed funding of $6M supplemented by $2.3M non-dilutive grant funding. The round was led by Orphinic Scientific and included participation from private investments funds NuFund Venture Group, SeedFolio, and others. More Here

ISSP, a remote provider of an inscription protocol, which operates on the Sui network, raised undisclosed amount from KuCoin Labs. More Here

Robin AI, a London, UK-based provider of an AI-powered legal copilot, raised $26M in Series B funding. The round was led by Temasek. Other investors included QuantumLight, Plural and AFG Partners. More Here

💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has raised $650 million for its new fund, West Street Life Sciences I, focusing on early to mid-stage startups in the life sciences sector. The fund, led by Marc Nachmann, has already allocated $90 million to companies such as Nested Therapeutics and MOMA Therapeutics, emphasizing the transformative potential of technology in healthcare. More Here

Baird Capital, a Chicago, IL-based investment firm focused on B2B technology & services companies, closed its sixth U.S. venture capital fund with a total of $218M. The fund is anchored by Baird and joined by returning and new institutions, foundations, family offices and industry executives. It will be led by investment partners Joanna Arras, Mark Donnelly, Jim Pavlik and Benedict Rocchio. More Here

𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED TWEET

How Does The Actual Product Market Fit Look?

"Product market fit is not just about building something that people want, it’s more about the numbers...."

Paul Graham Shared - The genuine PMF is ‘Your product is gaining traction with profitable usage.’

To achieve this Genuine PMF you only need two components.… Read More Here

💡 SARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

People

Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye, founder of fintech company Tingo Group, has been charged with securities fraud in New York. Accused of inflating the company's finances, he allegedly directed false bank statements to Nasdaq to list Tingo Mobile shares, profiting millions by selling shares at inflated prices from the report by Hindenburg. More Here

Acquisition

Systm Foods, a Newport Beach, CA-based provider of a functional beverage brand platform, acquired HUMM Kombucha, a Bend, OR-based company working in the field of a low and zero-sugar kombucha and gut health beverage category. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. More Here

SonicWall, a Milpitas, CA-based cybersecurity company, acquired Banyan Security, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of security service edge (SSE) solutions for the modern workforce. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. More Here

Layoffs & Exits

Fremont, solar equipment company to layoff 350 employees as industry slows. The company attributed the layoffs to an increase in interest rates and a decision the California Public Utilities Commission made last April to severely cut the amount it pays people who contribute excess energy to the grid. More Here

Superpedestrian, a shared electric scooter startup, is auctioning over 20,000 scooters and equipment from its U.S. operations, following its closure on December 31. The online auctions, scheduled for January 23-26 and January 29-31, include assets from cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City. The company faced financial challenges despite raising $125 million two years ago and had explored funding and merger options before ultimately ceasing operations. More Here

IPO

MobiKwik, Indian Fintech unicorn, aims to raise up to $120M through a fresh issue of shares in its upcoming IPO, omitting the offer-for-sale component. More Here

🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Intel (INTC.O), forming a new independent company around its artificial intelligence software efforts with backing from digital-focused asset manager DigitalBridge Group (DBRG.N) and other investors. More Here

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

• What Does It Take To “Do Things That Don’t Scale” For Your Startup? Read Here (Startups)

• How Do LPs Evaluate VC Fund Performance? Read Here (Venture Capital)

• LPs Doubt Venture Funds’ Startup Valuations Read Here (Venture Capital)

• The Babe Ruth Effect in Venture Capital Read Here (Venture Capital)

🤔 WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Previous Poll: 53.33% readers vote for the 2011-2015 vintage year that has produced highest DPI return for VC fund globally. That’s Right✅. Let me give more context on this -

The 2011-2015 vintage year funds generated a median DPI of 1.54x as of December 2023, meaning they distributed 1.54 times the invested capital back to LPs. This compares to 1.36x for 2006-2010 funds and 1.25x for 2016-2020 funds (as of the same date), indicating a higher proportion of capital returned to LPs from the 2011-2015 vintage.

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Happy Thursday! 🥂

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team