New unicorn stampede happening in early rounds, Joro’s Sanchali Pal offers advice, and more - January 25, 2022

January 25, 2022 [Unicorns minted in earlier rounds, valuations skyrocket]( Not only were new unicorns minted at a breakneck pace in 2021, but they were created in early-stage funding rounds at an unprecedented rate. While nearly [600 new unicorns were minted]( last year, about 18 percent were companies reaching that status after an early-stage funding round—defined as seed, Series A or Series B, according to Crunchbase data. [Joro’s Sanchali Pal offers advice as solo female founder]( In this latest update to our [Something Ventured]( series, we talk with [Joro]( founder [Sanchali Pal]( about her experiences as a solo, female, first-time founder. She tells us increasing funding to underrepresented founders “requires a lot of support from entrepreneurs for each other, being honest with each other, being helpful to each other, and paying it forward to other founders, especially founders who might not look like you.” [7 benefits of income share agreements for founders]( In this guest commentary, [William Stringer]( CEO and co-founder of [Chisos Capital]( shares the pros and cons of income share agreements for founders. [Wisk locks up $450M, ConstructSecure Raises $96M]( Mountain View, California-based [Wisk]( a developer of self-flying air taxis, closed a $450 million funding round from [The Boeing Company](. In other news, [ConstructSecure]( a platform for managing construction capital projects, raised $96 million in growth capital, led by [Summit Partners](. [SaaS sales: Your guide to success]( Software as a service, or SaaS, has rapidly taken off in recent years—and with its increasing popularity, comes a different sales approach. In this article, we’ll dive into the basics of SaaS sales and share a few sales tips to ensure success. [What’s driving the spike in VR/AR investment]( Last year’s fourth quarter was unlike any other as far as venture interest in the VR/AR space. Nearly $1.9 billion of venture capital rolled into startups in the virtual and augmented reality software and hardware space—more than any quarter ever, according to Crunchbase data. But it’s not just Facebook’s transition to [Meta]( and the metaverse that’s driving investor interest. [Keep up with the Crunchbase News Briefing]( To keep up on breaking news throughout the day, check out the Crunchbase News Briefing. This continuously updated daily feature on our main news site has summaries of notable funding announcements, IPOs, M&A, and other happenings in the startup world [Enhance Your Sales Team’s Prospecting]( [Crunchbase Enterprise is an all-in-one prospecting solution. Download this product overview sheet to learn how to close more deals without the headache.]( [Download Now]( Crunchbase Pro: Searches and Lists Name Type Entries [Venture investments in Real Estate companies in the last year]( Funding Rounds 341 [Healthcare companies that raised $20M+ in the last 3 months]( Companies 241 [Series A funding in the last 3 months]( Funding Rounds 578 [More Featured Searches and Lists]( [Check out our Crunchbase solutions here]( – prospecting tools made for everyone Recent Investments [Swiggy]( [$700M]( / [Venture Round]( Swiggy is a food delivery platform that brings food from neighborhood restaurants directly to customers' doors. Categories: E-Commerce Platforms • Food Delivery • Mobile Apps Founders: [Nandan Reddy]( [Phani Kishan Addepalli]( [Rahul Jaimini]( [Sriharsha Majety]( Investors: [Invesco]( (Lead), [Alpha Wave Global]( [ARK Impact]( [+ 11 more]( [OfficeSpace Software]( [$150M]( / [Private Equity Round]( OfficeSpace Software is a cloud-based platform that provides workplace management solutions for companies. Categories: Information Technology • Real Estate • Software Founders: [Ashkon Sabet]( [Shamim Sahba]( Investors: [Vista Equity Partners]( (Lead) [First Foundation]( [$150M]( / [Post-IPO Debt]( First Foundation provides integrated investment management, wealth planning, consulting, trust, and banking services. Categories: Banking • Financial Services • Insurance • Wealth Management More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Lendis]( 50M EUR / [Debt Financing]( - [BenchSci]( 63M CAD / [Series C]( [Inovia Capital]( [Lendis]( 30M EUR / [Series A]( [Circularity Capital]( [Exergyn]( 30M EUR / [Series A]( [Lacerta Partners]( [Zuper]( $13M / [Series A]( [FUSE]( [AGROWAVE]( $2.0M / [Seed Round]( [Aroa Ventures]( [Globalization Partners]( Unknown / [Private Equity Round]( [Vista Equity Partners]( [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Element Materials Technology]( Pending acquisition by [Temasek Holdings]( for $7.0B More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Accell Group]( [Kohlberg Kravis Roberts]( $1.8B [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( #{Rails.configuration.daily.cb_url} Discover innovative companies and the people behind them. 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