Young unicorns kept raising in 2022, maybe startups need to lose money, and more - February 17, 2023

February 17, 2023 [Young unicorn funding still strong despite 2022 VC pullback]( Startup valuations may have taken a hit last year, but young unicorns didn’t lose all their luster in venture circles. Some investors minted early-stage unicorns faster than any other year aside from the record-breaking numbers of 2021. We dig into the data. [Hey startups, you want to be hip? Lose more money]( “Growth at any cost,” once a common mantra for venture-backed startups, now sounds like a curse. These days, such companies are told to raise margins and pinch pennies to conserve precious runway. Sounds sensible, but has anybody changed the world that way? [How to build a company-first team to tackle regulations]( Nearly every company will eventually want to shape the policy and regulatory environment around its business, and the first step is a strong team to pursue change. [Spencer Hawes]( of [Runway Strategies]( sets out a blueprint for crafting a team that puts the company mission first. [The Crunchbase Emerging Unicorn Board]( See our curated list of global private companies that are on the path to achieving unicorn status. This list is updated regularly as companies reach a valuation of $500 million or more but less than $1 billion. [Inside candy company Mars’ massive pet tech portfolio]( [Mars Inc.]( maker of some of the best-known candies in the world, is also the world’s largest pet food company and one of the most active investors in pet tech. That puts it in a pretty sweet position: Crunchbase data shows funding to pet tech startups jumped 156% between 2020 and 2021 to $1.7 billion and had its second-best year yet in 2022 — when VC funding to most sectors jumped off a cliff. [Why embedded fintech is a bright spot in today’s market]( The next wave of innovation may very well be marked by embedded fintech — financial services integrating into the flow of commerce at the source of where transactions are happening. Here’s why. [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 [True Venture investments in the last year]( Companies 61 [Fundings in Brazilian Startups over the last 90 days]( Funding Rounds 56 [Recruiting platforms that have raised more than $10 million]( Companies 230 [More Featured Searches and Lists]( [Check out our Crunchbase solutions here]( – prospecting tools made for everyone Recent Investments [ImmunityBio]( [$50M]( / [Post-IPO Equity]( ImmunityBio is an offshoot of Soon-Shiong's NantWorks conglomerate, developing molecular-level cell-based treatments for diseases. Categories: Health Care • Health Diagnostics • Therapeutics Founders: [Patrick Soon-Shiong]( [Apkudo]( [$38M]( / [Series C]( Apkudo helps companies managing connected devices to maximize device value, minimize labor costs and reduce e-waste. Categories: Artificial Intelligence • E-Commerce Platforms • Operating Systems • Robotics • Supply Chain Management Founders: [Benno Leslie]( [Josh Matthews]( Investors: [Closed Loop Partners]( (Lead), [Piper Sandler]( (Lead), [Grotech Ventures]( [+ 4 more]( [Skin + Me]( [10M GBP]( / [Series B]( Skin + Me is a D2C brand providing personalized skin treatments for feel-great skin. Categories: Health Care • Pharmaceutical • Therapeutics Founders: [Horatio Cary]( [James Mishreki]( [Mike Passey]( [Philip Wilkinson]( [Rachel Jones]( Investors: [Octopus Ventures]( (Lead) More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [T2 Biosystems]( $12M / [Post-IPO Equity]( - [Hippo Video]( $8.0M / [Venture Round]( [Dallas Venture Capital]( [Axion Ray]( $7.5M / [Seed Round]( [Amplo]( [VenWiz]( 69M INR / [Series A]( [Sorin Investments]( [klikit]( $270K / [Seed Round]( - [Ubreathe]( 15M INR / [Angel Round]( [Namita Thapar]( [Machina Labs]( Unknown / [Venture Round]( [Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley]( [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Wyatt Company]( Pending acquisition by [Waters Corporation]( for $1.4B More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [MarineTraffic]( [Kpler]( Unknown [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( Upcoming Tech Events [Hong Kong 2023 Venture Capital World Summit]( February 27 - 27, 2023 in Kowloon City World Series Season 20231 conference in Hong Kong, with Scale up companies, presenting investors, entrepreneurs Accelerator Deadlines Date Accelerator Location Feb 26, 2023 [Upekkha Value SaaS Accelerator]( Dover Mar 13, 2023 [Tastech by Sigma]( San Pedro [More Upcoming Deadlines]( Don’t see your event? 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