A new low for global monthly funding, March 8, 2023

Plus, top investors return for encore, Salesforce VCs chase AI, and more March 8, 2023 [New low: Global monthly funding dips below $20B]( Global monthly funding fell to $18 billion in February 2023. Not since February 2020 has global funding dipped below $20 billion in a single month. Meanwhile, funds continue to raise record amounts. What gives? [Salesforce and its venture arm join AI craze]( The bots are coming for [Salesforce]( cash now, with the CRM giant’s venture arm launching a new $250 million generative AI fund. The firm will start with four AI companies: [Anthropic]( [Cohere]( Hearth.AI and [You.com](. [January’s top investors lead February pack]( Last month, just two firms participated in more than 10 announced rounds — [Y Combinator]( and [Gaingels](. And this pair led in February as well, with Y Combinator taking part in 12 deals and Gaingels weighing in with 10. Still, those deal numbers look a bit low compared to the heady days of February 2022. [The Megadeals Leaderboard: Track $100M+ rounds]( Keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2023 with our 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. [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? [The Lead List: 4 high-growth companies to sell to in March]( The Lead List analyzes buy signals from up-and-coming companies to help you fill your pipeline with new opportunities. Here’s who you should be targeting this month. [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 [Corporate venture capital investors in AI companies in the last year]( Investors 172 [Seed and venture investments in construction companies in the past year]( Funding Rounds 225 [Telemedicine companies that have raised funding]( Companies 285 [More Featured Searches and Lists]( [Check out our Crunchbase solutions here]( – prospecting tools made for everyone Recent Investments [Abound]( [500M GBP]( / [Venture Round]( Abound is a consumer lending financial firm that provides personal loans. Categories: Consumer Lending • Financial Services • FinTech • Lending • Personal Finance Founders: [Dr Michelle He]( [Gerald Chappell]( Investors: [GSR Ventures]( [Hambro Perks Ltd.]( [K3 Ventures]( [Palmetto Clean Technology]( [$150M]( / [Venture Round]( Palmetto is a clean energy marketplace, streamlining the process and lowering the cost for homeowners from renewable sources. Categories: Clean Energy • CleanTech • Consumer Software • Energy • Software Founders: [Christopher Kemper]( Investors: [TPG Rise Climate Fund]( (Lead) [Hamilton Lane]( [$52M]( / [Post-IPO Equity]( Hamilton Lane is a private market investment firm that serves institutional and private wealth investors worldwide. Categories: Business Development • Financial Services • FinTech • Insurance • Wealth Management Founders: [Leslie Brun]( More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Plus One Robotics]( $50M / [Series C]( [Scale Venture Partners]( [Shoulder Innovations]( $42M / [Series D]( [Gilde Healthcare]( [Unitary]( $8.0M / [Seed Round]( [Ian Hogarth]( [AnPac Bio-Medical Science]( $5.0M / [Post-IPO Equity]( - [Relai]( $4.5M / [Venture Round]( [Ego Death Capital]( [Abound]( Unknown / [Debt Financing]( - [SOCi]( Unknown / [Debt Financing]( - [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Bozzetto Group]( Pending acquisition by [Aimia]( for $328M More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Travel Compositor]( [Travelsoft]( Unknown [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( Upcoming Tech Events Accelerator Deadlines Date Accelerator Location Mar 13, 2023 [Tastech by Sigma]( San Pedro Mar 15, 2023 [FoundersBoost New York]( New York [More Upcoming Deadlines]( Don’t see your event? Reach out to us at events@crunchbase.com. #{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.