Crypto-corn herd growing despite funding slowdown, the latest cultured meat unicorn, and more - April 21, 2022

April 21, 2022 [Despite growth, crypto-corn sector not immune to macro trends]( Crypto sometimes seems like the darling of venture capital—impervious to a slowdown as rounds and valuation only go up. That’s proving untrue for 2022, according to Crunchbase data. [New unicorn Upside Foods to commercialize cultivated meat this year]( Upside Foods has raised a $400 million Series C round, bringing its valuation to more than $1 billion and speeding up the path to commercialization of its cultured meat products. Temasek and Abu Dhabi Growth Fund led the round. [Convoy hauls in $260M at $3.8B valuation as supply chain tech booms]( The past couple of years exposed many flaws in the global and domestic supply chains—and investors have taken note that it is an industry ripe for disruption. Seattle-based Convoy is the latest company in the sector to raise big money at a bigger valuation—as the digital freight network closed a $260 million round. [This 4/20, cannabis investors face a mixed bag of results]( Cannabis-related investing continued to be popular over the last 12 months although publicly traded companies experienced poor stock performance. [Chipotle unveils $50M early-stage VC fund]( Fast casual restaurant chain Chipotle unveiled its new $50 million venture fund this week. The fund, Cultivate Next, will invest in seed to Series B stage companies and be financed solely by Chipotle. [Want to exercise your stock options? Read this first.]( Factors abound when considering if and when to exercise your stock options. In the spirit of tax season and a pent-up IPO pipeline, we talked to some equity experts on what employees should keep in mind when making decisions around their equity. [The Emerging Unicorn Board: Meet the next billion-dollar startups]( We’ve launched [The Crunchbase Emerging Unicorn Board]( a curated list, powered by Crunchbase’s data, of fast-growth private companies that are on the path to achieve unicorn valuations. We have more than 300 companies on the list so far that are on the cusp of billion-dollar valuations. See who they are and help us identify other emerging unicorns for our new list. [8 sales qualification questions to identify high-intent leads]( Knowing the right questions to ask and when to ask them can help you gauge how likely a lead is to convert. In this article, we’ll look at eight essential sales qualification questions to help you identify which leads are most likely to convert so you can focus your efforts and close more deals. Crunchbase Pro: Searches and Lists Name Type Entries [India-based funding rounds in the past 6 months]( Funding Rounds 624 [Investments in cannabis companies in the past year]( Funding Rounds 152 [Food and beverage companies with $10+ venture rounds in the last year]( Companies 315 [More Featured Searches and Lists]( [Check out our Crunchbase solutions here]( – prospecting tools made for everyone Recent Investments [Tessera Therapeutics]( [$300M]( / [Series C]( Tessera Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that focuses on a new category of genetic medicines. Categories: Biopharma • Biotechnology • Genetics • Life Science • Therapeutics Founders: [Geoffrey von Maltzahn]( [Jacob Rubens]( Investors: [Abu Dhabi Investment Authority]( [Alaska Permanent Fund]( [Altitude Life Science Ventures]( [+ 9 more]( [BioXcel Therapeutics]( [$135M]( / [Post-IPO Debt]( BioXcel Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on drug development that utilizes novel artificial intelligence. Categories: Artificial Intelligence • Biopharma • Biotechnology • Health Care Founders: [Vimal Mehta]( Investors: [Oaktree Capital Management]( [Qatar Investment Authority]( [Fortress Information Security]( [$125M]( / [Series C]( Fortress Information Security is a cyber risk mitigation company that redefines traditional risk management. Categories: Computer • Cyber Security • Network Security • Risk Management • Software Founders: [Alex Santos]( [Peter Kassabov]( Investors: [Goldman Sachs Asset Management]( (Lead), [Alex Santos]( [American Electric Power]( [+ 6 more]( More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [SEON]( $94M / [Series B]( [Institutional Venture Partners]( [BlockApps]( $41M / [Series B]( [Liberty City Ventures]( [Demostack]( $34M / [Series B]( [Tiger Global Management]( [Financepeer]( $31M / [Series B]( [QED Investors]( [NUE Life Health]( $23M / [Series A]( [Obvious Ventures]( [BioXcel Therapeutics]( $5.0M / [Post-IPO Equity]( - [WorkIndia]( $1.5M / [Debt Financing]( [BlackSoil]( [Slurrp Farm]( Unknown / [Venture Round]( [Anushka Sharma]( [NUE Life Health]( Unknown / [Debt Financing]( [Western Technology Investment]( [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Dyneema]( Pending acquisition by [Avient]( for $1.5B More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [OMEGA Engineering]( [Arcline Investment Management]( $525M [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( #{Rails.configuration.daily.cb_url} Discover innovative companies and the people behind them. 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