Another sign the VC reset is here, the science of startup valuation, week’s 10 top deals, and more - June 6, 2022

June 6, 2022 [VC funding is falling, but not at every stage]( Global venture funding last month was $39 billion, Crunchbase data shows, marking the first month in more than a year when it dropped below $40 billion. The May figure is well below the $70 billion VC funding peak reached in November 2021. But while late-stage and technology growth investing has been most severely impacted, seed funding remains surprisingly robust. [Who raised big rounds in a slow week for large VC deals]( In another possible sign of a weakening venture market, big venture rounds were hard to come by last week: Only five startups in the U.S. had raises of $100 million or more. The largest was a $725 million round to a Michigan-based financial services company that says it grew revenue from $38 million to $3.5 billion in the past eight years. [Another workforce training unicorn raises big bucks]( Australia-based Go1, an online hub for workforce training, said it raised more than $100 million in its latest funding round. The round comes amid a boom period for global investment in startups developing tools and platforms focused on upskilling and reskilling workers. [The science of startup valuation]( You may have heard that startup valuation is more art than science, but that’s not necessarily true, argues startup consultant Dan Gray. Just because the process is qualitative doesn’t mean the methodology is unscientific. He walks us through the process of arriving at a defensible valuation for both early- and late-stage private companies. [What are VCs backing at Series A? Here are 5 hot areas]( Even as U.S. venture funding falls from peak levels, things are still far from slow. So far this year, investors have poured more than $16 billion into Series A rounds alone. As usual, the lineup of funded companies is mesmerizingly diverse, touching on spaces from virtual reality to mimic hallucinogenic mind trips to portable nuclear microreactors. [Despite market slowdown, these big investors stayed active in May]( Just like April, May saw only a half dozen firms invest in 10 or more deals announced in the month—down from May 2021, when 10 firms took part in double-digit numbers of rounds. This all comes on the heels of Tiger Global seeing losses for the year hit 52%. [Stable of unicorns tops 1,300 companies]( There are now more than 1,300 billion-dollar private companies on [The Crunchbase Unicorn Board]( for the first time, with the addition of dozens of new entrants last month. But when some of the most valuable startups in the world will finally exit remains an open question. [5 reasons your startup needs an SDR]( Sales is one of the most important aspects of any business, but it can be challenging for startup companies to invest in sales initiatives. Despite these challenges, there are a number of things startup owners can do to improve their chances of generating sales. In this article, we share 5 reasons why your startup needs an SDR and how to recruit one. Limited-Time Promo Close out the quarter strong with Crunchbase Pro - now 20% off with code CLOSEOUTQ2 [Redeem Offer]( [Crunchbase ROI Calculator]( [See the number of new accounts Crunchbase can add to your funnel with our advanced prospecting ROI calculator powered by Crunchbase data.]( [Calculate]( Crunchbase Pro: Searches and Lists Name Type Entries [Investments in the past year in insurance companies using AI/machine learning]( Funding Rounds 103 [Venture investments in SaaS companies in the last 6 months]( Funding Rounds 818 [Cloud services companies recently funded]( Funding Rounds 150 [More Featured Searches and Lists]( [Check out our Crunchbase solutions here]( – prospecting tools made for everyone Recent Investments [CityFibre]( [4.9B GBP]( / [Debt Financing]( CityFibre operates as an independent provider of fiber infrastructure in secondary cities. Categories: Infrastructure • Network Hardware • Telecommunications Founders: [Greg Mesch]( Investors: [UK Infrastructure Bank]( (Lead), [ABN AMRO Bank]( [BBVA]( [+ 8 more]( [Vizgen]( [$85M]( / [Series C]( Vizgen is a biotech company that develops solutions for next-generation spatially resolved, single-cell transcriptomics. Categories: Biotechnology • Health Care • Medical Founders: [George Emanuel]( [Jiang He]( Investors: [ARCH Venture Partners]( (Lead), [Blue Water Life Science Advisors]( (Lead), [David Walt]( [+ 4 more]( [Chainguard]( [$50M]( / [Series A]( Chainguard provides solutions to make the software supply chains secure by default. Categories: Cloud Security • Developer Tools • Enterprise Software • Open Source • Security Founders: [Dan Lorenc]( [Kim Lewandowski]( Investors: [Sequoia Capital]( (Lead), [Amplify Partners]( [Banana Capital]( [+ 5 more]( More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Transition Bio]( $50M / [Series A]( [Northpond Ventures]( [Yummy]( $47M / [Venture Round]( [Anthos Capital]( [LatchBio]( $28M / [Series A]( [Coatue]( [WAX]( $10M / [Venture Round]( [OKX Blockdream Ventures]( [Neemans]( 400M INR / [Series B]( [Sixth Sense Ventures]( [pumpumpum]( 154M INR / [Venture Round]( - [1Kosmos]( Unknown / [Venture Round]( [Gula Tech Adventures]( [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Turning Point Therapeutics]( Pending acquisition by [Bristol Myers Squibb]( for $4.1B More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Level5 Tools]( [Worthington Industries]( $55M [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( Upcoming Tech Events [Voice Tech Summit Americas - Las Vegas]( July 27 - 28, 2022 in Las Vegas Voice Tech Summit Americas - Las Vegas is a 2-Day Conference and Exhibition designed to bring together 500+ of America’s prominent brands. 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