Softbank's Vision Fund Gain $4 Billion In Q4 & Apps Closing Due to X's API Limits

👋 Hey, Sahil here! Welcome to today’s Venture Daily Digest Newsletter. Every day I quick updates on startup funding, new VC funds and tech in just 5 minutes! Today we have major updates on -

• Third Party App Shut Down As Social Networks like twitter & Reddit tightening API Access.

• Grammarly is laying off 230 employees worldwide to focus on AI enabled workforce.

• Arrival, a Tesla rival valued at $13 Billion filed for bankruptcy in the UK, having never sold a single vehicle.

• Featured Article : How to Talk About Valuation Numbers When Investors Ask?

• What Do You Think?: What triggers the most rapid growth for early-stage startups?

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💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES

Navro (formerly Paytrix), a Dublin, Ireland- and London, UK-based digital payments company, raised USD 14M in funding. The round was led by Bain Capital and Unusual Ventures, and including Motive Partners, with participation from prior investors Fin Capital. More Here

Odyssey, a mushroom-based functional energy beverage maker, raised another $6 million in an equity investment to give it $14 million in total funding from strategic investor Richard Laver from Rocket Beverage Group. More Here

Incident IQ, an Atlanta, GA-based workflow management platform for K-12 school districts, received an undisclosed strategic investment from Cove Hill Partners. More Here

Wrapmate, a Denver, CO-based technology-driven managed marketplace, received a $16M investment from JettyCove. More Here

Myrspoven, a Stockholm, Sweden-based AI software company operating within building optimization, raised EUR 5.4M in funding. The round was led by 4impact capital, Vantaa Energy, and existing investor AMAVI Capital. More Here

Teamfront, an Austin, TX-based provider of business management software, payments solutions, and services, received an undisclosed Growth investment from Mainsail Partners. More Here

Xensam, a Stockholm, Sweden-based technology provider of AI-powered software assessment management solutions, raised $40M in Growth funding led by Expedition capital. More Here

Pixee Medical, a Besaçon, France-based company providing reality navigation technologies for orthopedic surgery, raised $15M in funding. The round was led by Relyens Innovation Santé, UI Investissement, Innovacom, Angelor and Bpifrance. More Here

Soma Global, a Tampa, FL-based company which specializes in cloud-native public safety software solutions, received an undisclosed amount from Greater Sam Ventures. More Here

Pennylane, a Paris, France-based fintech company, raised €40M in Series C funding. Backers included Sequoia Capital and DST Global. More Here

Neurona Therapeutics, a San Francisco, CA-based clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, raised $120M in funding. The round was led by Viking Global Investors and Cormorant Asset Management with participation from new and existing investors, including The Column Group, LYFE Capital, Schroders Capital, Willett Advisors, Ysios Capital Partners, Euclidean Capital, SymBiosis, Alexandria Venture Investments, Berkeley Frontier Fund, Sphera Biotech Master Fund LP, Spur Capital Partners, UCB Ventures, and UC Investments. More Here

Nasdaq Private Market, a NYC- and San Francisco, CA-based provider of liquidity solutions to private companies, their employees, and investors, raised $62.4M in Series B funding. The round was led by Nasdaq with participation from current investors including Allen & Company, Citi, and Goldman Sachs. More Here

Daedalus, a Karlsruhe, Germany-based technology company building factories using AI, raised $21M in Series A funding. The round was led by NGP Capital, with further participation from its existing investors, including Addition and Khosla Ventures. More Here

10Beauty, a Burlington, MA-based creator of a salon-quality manicure machine, raised $38M in equity funding, including a newly closed $17M extension to their Series A led by Shine Capital. Imaginary Ventures, Lerer Hippeau and Red Sea Ventures led their previous funding rounds. More Here

💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

SoftBank's Vision Fund reported a $4 billion gain in Q4 2023, its largest quarterly return in almost three years, driven by ByteDance's increasing valuation and rising stock prices of investments like Didi. Despite a decrease in available capital for Vision Fund 2, SoftBank's performance is on the rebound, with over 90% of portfolio companies having more than 12 months of runway.

IVP, the 43-year-old venture firm known for its late-stage investing focus, is reportedly raising between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion in capital for its eighteenth fund. More Here

Encore Consumer Capital, a San Francisco, CA-based private equity investment firm focused on the consumer products industry, closed Encore Consumer Capital Fund IV, LP, and related vehicles, at $258M. It aims to invest in consumer startups with annual reveneu between $10m to $150M. More Here

Harry Stebbings launches 20PRODUCT, his third and final offshoot fund with $5 million, focused on early-stage startups. The fund, featuring experts from Shopify, Spotify, LinkedIn, and others, aims to disrupt traditional VC models by providing operational expertise to founders with checks starting at $100,000 for pre-seed to Series A, excluding follow-on investments. More Here

𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLE

How to Talk About Valuation Numbers When Investors Ask?

For Founders, you’re raising money from people who have ‘Asymmetric Information.’ As an entrepreneur, it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

Of course, unlike cars, there is no direct comparison across each startup so these are just some general guidelines I tried to cover:

1. What Expectations Do You Have About Valuation?

2. What Was The Post Money On Your Last Round And How Much Capital Have You Raised?

3. The “How much have you raised?”

4. When SHOULD You Name A Valuation Expectation?

5. Turning The Information Tables..…Read More Here

💡 SARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

Acquisition & Exits

CentralReach, a Fort Lauderdale, FL-based provider of Autism and IDD software, acquired Silas, a social and emotional learning (SEL) and solution for PreK-12 general, special, and transition vocational education programs. More Here

Notion has acquired Skiff, an end-to-end encrypted platform offering file storage, docs, calendar events, and email, enhancing its privacy-focused offerings. Skiff's products will be shut down in six months, and users can export or migrate their data to other services. More Here

Layoffs & Shutdown

Grammarly is laying off 230 employees worldwide as part of a “business restructuring,” The layoffs are part of Grammarly’s efforts to advance its focus on “the AI-enabled workplace of the future. More Here

Getaround, a 15-year-old peer-to-peer car-sharing service based in San Francisco that enables car owners to rent out their vehicles to others on an hourly or daily basis, is laying off one-third of its North American staff in order to accelerate its "path to profitability." More Here

Arrival, a once-promising EV maker with a $13 billion valuation, has filed for bankruptcy in the UK, having never sold a single vehicle. Despite initial backing from Hyundai and UPS, the company faced financial struggles, ultimately leading to the decision to sell its assets, including the electric vehicle platform and intellectual property. More Here

Startups & People

After a Delaware judge threw out his $55 billion Tesla pay package, Elon Musk tweeted, "Never incorporate in Delaware." Now comes the news that Neuralink has ditched Delaware and reincorporated in Nevada. More Here

Going Public

Plaid, a fintech startup, has appointed Jennifer Taylor, former Cloudflare CPO, as its first president, signaling a potential move towards an IPO. More Here

🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

In 2023, social networks like Twitter (now X) and Reddit tightened control over their APIs, limiting third-party app experiences and putting a price on user data for AI training. The move led to the shutdown of various third-party clients, sparking mixed feelings among developers. The rise of decentralized networks like Mastodon and Bluesky offers opportunities for third-party app development, but challenges persist as social networks prioritize monetizing and protecting their data. More Here

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

• ​The Sudden Repricing of Startups in Early 2024 by Tomasz Tunguz. Read Here

• ​Is It Mandatory To Calculate An Early Stage Startup’s Valuation To Fundraise? Read Here

• Paul Graham's Advice On How To Come Up With Startup Ideas. Read Here

• Can AI Unlock the Secrets of the Ancient World? Read Here

• Billionaires Build By Paul Graham. Read Here

🤔 WHAT DO YOU THINK?

📬 Newsletter That You Might Be Interested

• Transacted: Get the latest trends and transactions with the Street’s most informative M&A update.

• Techpresso: Get the most important tech news in a free daily email.

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

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team