Each month, this introduces some of the most active investors in US-based companies, highlights some of their most interesting investments, and includes some odds and ends on who spent what. This is a special feature. See the most active startup investors of 2023 here.
Even though it's a new year, it appears that no investors are willing to invest heavily in many U.S.-based startups.
The only non-accelerator investor, Andreessen Horowitz, made more than 10 deals in January.
Many companies completed deals in January, but most were in the four to five deal range or less. And one of his companies that does business with US-based startups on this list isn't even in the US.
We'll see if the big players pick up the pace as the year progresses, but let's take a look at the companies we invested in in January.
Andreessen Horowitz, 15 sales
It wasn't that long ago that Andreessen Horowitz was making headlines for slowing down his investment pace after publishing his much-talked-about Techno-Optimist Manifesto.
Well, maybe Marc Andreessen's company was just being optimistic and gearing up?
After making just four investments in U.S.-based startups in November, a16z made nine investments in December and 15 deals last month for all investors, according to Crunchbase data. led. Since the second half of 2022, the company has exceeded this figure only once, with 16 deals in September last year.
Of course, last month's deal count included leading a $75 million round for Mountain View, Calif.-based Q&A website Quora, its first funding since 2017. The company raised new funding for AI-related reasons. Poe, his AI chat platform.
Andressen Horowitz didn't stop at developing AI. He also led a $43 million Series B for Luma, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company that helps users develop 3D models using AI, and unicorns as investor interest in all AI technologies. At Valuation, he co-led voice AI startup Eleven Labs' $80 million Series B. It remains at an all-time high.
Sequoia Capital, 7 Sales
A pretty steep drop to No. 2 on this list, Menlo Park, Calif.-based giant Sequoia Capital made seven deals in the first month of the new year.
While seven deals in the U.S. may not seem like a lot, it's actually the highest number the company has made since March of last year.
Sequoia has raised a $35 million Series A round and a $5 million Led the seed round.
The company also participated in the aforementioned Eleven Labs deal, and was part of one of this month's most talked about rounds, a $140 million series for Redwood City, Calif.-based school bus startup Zum. Led by GIC, it joined E at a valuation of $1.3 billion.
Through its proprietary AI-powered platform, Zum seeks to help school districts increase efficiency and reduce costs in managing their bus fleets.
Novo Holdings, 6 transactions
This may be the first time Denmark-based company Novo Holdings has appeared on this list, and that's okay. This list requires that the funded startup, not the investor, be located in the United States.
The life sciences investor participated in six transactions in the U.S. last month, leading or co-leading five of them. This includes a $100 million Series A round with co-led New York-based Oncusp Therapeutics and a $75 million round with lead Cleveland Diagnostics. ing.
Interestingly, Novo made only eight US-based deals in the entire last year.
Also worth noting:
- GV, Arch Ventures Partners and Alumni Ventures were next on the list with five deals each.
- The two companies already mentioned topped all companies in led or co-led rounds. Andreessen Horowitz led with six deals led or co-led, followed by Novo with five.
- BlackRock topped the list of January's largest led or co-led rounds thanks to its Recurrent Energy deal. The investment giant has invested $500 million in Recurrent, an Austin, Texas-based utility-scale solar power generation and energy storage project development, ownership and operation platform.
- Y Combinator was the top investment incubator and accelerator in January with 10 deals.
methodology
This is a list of investors who participated in the most rounds involving US-based startups. This does not include incubators and accelerators, as their investment amounts may fluctuate.
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Illustration: Dom Guzman
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