Why Series B numbers could be a bad omen, March 7, 2023

Plus, startup goes from $5B to almost worthless, $601M for AI-driven lending, and more March 7, 2023 [Series B investment tanks and that’s a bad sign of things to come]( When technology and biotech valuations began to tumble last year, U.S. Series B funding held up at first. That’s no longer the case. In recent months, Series B funding to U.S. startups has fallen sharply. So far in 2023, investment is on track to come in at the lowest quarterly level in more than three years. [Autonomous trucking upstart Embark gasses out]( Just 16 months after San Francisco-based [Embark]( went public through a SPAC merger at a target initial market capitalization of $5.16 billion, the trucking upstart is laying off most employees and winding down operations. What went wrong? [AI-driven lender Abound scores $601M]( Wow, that’s a lot of money. But when AI is involved, that seems to be the case lately. [Abound]( a consumer lending startup based in the U.K., announced on Monday it raised a whopping $601 million in both debt and equity to fuel the “open banking” industry. We unpack what that means. [Chaos Industries lands $70M as defense tech heats up]( There’s nothing chaotic about this startup’s recent raise. Defense and critical industry technologies Chaos Industries closed a $70 million Series A led by [8VC]( — becoming the latest startup with a focus on defense tech to close a significant round. [First unicorn from Egypt joins the board in February]( Five companies joined [The Crunchbase Unicorn Board]( in February, including Cairo fintech [MNT-Halan](. Four startups also raised funding last month at increased valuations since 2021, with two reaching decacorn status for the first time. [Tech jobs: These recently funded clean energy startups are hiring]( Want to save the world? Tap into the long-term promise of the cleantech sector. This week, we look at open roles such as “forest carbon scientist” at funded enviro-minded startups from our [Crunchbase]( database. [The Megadeals Leaderboard: Track $100M+ rounds]( Keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2023 with our new curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies. Powered by Crunchbase’s comprehensive data, this leaderboard is updated weekly as companies raise large rounds. [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 [Recently closed companies that raised more than $50M]( Companies 336 [Recently funded companies from the MidWest]( Companies 423 [Gaming companies funded in the last 6 months]( Companies 236 [More Featured Searches and Lists]( [Check out our Crunchbase solutions here]( – prospecting tools made for everyone Recent Investments [Bumble]( [$314M]( / [Post-IPO Secondary]( Bumble is a social networking platform focused on making romance, friendship, and business connections. Categories: Dating • Internet • Mobile Apps • Social Network Founders: [Whitney Wolfe Herd]( [OYA Renewables]( [$145M]( / [Debt Financing]( OYA Renewables is a renewable energy provider. Categories: Energy • Renewable Energy • Solar [Standard Robots]( [600M CNY]( / [Series C]( Standard Robots is a robotics company that offers flexible industrial logistics solutions. Categories: Industrial • Industrial Automation • Logistics • Robotics • Software Founders: [Yongkun Wang]( Investors: [Xiaomi]( More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Span.IO]( $84M / [Venture Round]( - [Oats Overnight]( $20M / [Series A]( - [Caracol]( 11M EUR / [Series A]( [CDP Venture Capital]( [Athletic Brewing]( $9.1M / [Venture Round]( - [Fazz]( $5.3M / [Venture Round]( [Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group]( [Kabaun]( 75K EUR / [Grant]( - [Kabaun]( 75K EUR / [Debt Financing]( - [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Zelto]( Pending acquisition by [GENIEE]( for $70M More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Yuehe Kang]( [Rain Med]( 26M CNY [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( #{Rails.configuration.daily.cb_url} Discover innovative companies and the people behind them. [Follow Us on Crunchbase]( [View Jobs on LinkedIn]( [Follow Us on Twitter]( [Like Us on Facebook]( 564 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94104 © 2023 Crunchbase Inc. All rights reserved. [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( [Unsubscribe]( from Crunchbase Daily.