What’s happening in travel sector funding, big rounds still around, and more - June 21, 2022

June 21, 2022 [Travel demand is up, but what about funding to the sector?]( For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than two years ago, travel spending surpassed 2019 levels in April 2022. But that doesn’t necessarily mean venture investment in travel companies is keeping up, especially with a recession looming. We take a look at the data. [Last week’s 10 biggest funding rounds: From aerospace to agtech]( Some pretty substantial rounds took place last week, as companies had to raise at least $130 million to get into the top 10. Investors spread their money around again, from space and food truck delivery platforms, to AI and agtech. While venture dollars seemed to slow this spring, the season ended on a strong note for startups. [European investor LocalGlobe rebrands, closes $500M fund]( London-based LocalGlobe has closed on a $500 million fund and changed its name to Phoenix Court Group. The rebrand centers around the firm’s desire to still focus on seed but have vehicles to invest in those startups at all stages. [VC funding to Black-founded startups slows dramatically]( Venture funding to Black-founded startups in the U.S. was $324 million in the second quarter of this year—a steep drop from prior quarters, when investment to those companies had just started to show hopeful signs of progress. [Surviving down rounds]( Founders spin a vision to attract investment dollars, then race to turn that vision into reality. But what if the tide goes out faster than you expected? Russ Wilcox, partner at Pillar VC, provides a crash course on down rounds. [SoftBank’s Vision Fund deals show slowing pace, smaller rounds]( When SoftBank announced last month it will take a more conservative approach to selecting investments, it was another warning shot that the high times of 2021 are over for venture capital. However, SoftBank was slowing its investing even before the declaration—at least in terms of the size of the rounds it participated in, if not the number, according to Crunchbase data. [How to create a competitive sales compensation plan]( Your sales team drives your company’s revenue with its lead generation efforts, and if your compensation plan doesn’t motivate team members to hit their numbers — you might not see business success. [John Schwepker]( vice president of sales at [Abstrakt Marketing Group]( shares tips on how to create a sales compensation plan to drive the sales activity needed to accomplish your goals. 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 [Business Intelligence companies funded in the last 3 months]( Companies 271 [Chatbot ranked companies in Crunchbase]( Companies 139 [Investments in coffee companies in the past 3 years]( Funding Rounds 182 [More Featured Searches and Lists]( [Check out our Crunchbase solutions here]( – prospecting tools made for everyone Recent Investments [Settle]( [$280M]( / [Debt Financing]( Settle is a fintech platform that automates B2B payments and provides working-capital solutions for businesses. Categories: B2B • Financial Services • FinTech • Payments Founders: [Aleksander Koenig]( Investors: [Atalaya Capital]( (Lead), [Citibank]( (Lead) [Rohlik]( [220M EUR]( / [Series D]( Rohlik is a grocery delivery company that offers a 90-minute same-day delivery service. Categories: Delivery Service • E-Commerce • Food Delivery • Grocery Founders: [Marek Sacha]( [Tomas Cupr]( Investors: [Sofina]( (Lead), [Index Ventures]( [Tomas Cupr]( [Scholar Rock]( [$205M]( / [Post-IPO Equity]( Scholar Rock is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and discovers new medicines and treatments for the serious diseases. Categories: Biopharma • Biotechnology • Medical • Therapeutics Founders: [Leonard Zon]( [Nagesh K. Mahanthappa]( [Timothy A. Springer]( Investors: [Invus]( [Polaris Partners]( [Redmile Group]( [+ 1 more]( More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Aerin Medical]( $60M / [Private Equity Round]( [Ally Bridge Group]( [Wahed Invest]( $50M / [Series B]( [Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures]( [Upvest]( $42M / [Series B]( [Bessemer Venture Partners]( [Elevate K-12]( $40M / [Series C]( [General Catalyst]( [Abacus Insights]( $28M / [Series C]( [MultiPlan]( [Onkos Surgical]( $26M / [Venture Round]( - [Koneksa Health]( Unknown / [Grant]( [Michael J. Fox Foundation]( [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Lucid Energy Group]( Pending acquisition by [Targa Resources Partners]( for $3.5B More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Chromatography Research Supplies]( [Trajan]( $43M [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( #{Rails.configuration.daily.cb_url} Discover innovative companies and the people behind them. 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