Silicon Ranch Powers Up With $775M, Eikon Scopes Out $517.8M – Crunchbase News

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 funding rounds in the U.S. Check out 2021’s biggest funding rounds here.

Even as we kissed the record year of 2021 goodbye, investors still were not willing to put away their checkbooks. The first week of the new year saw five rounds of more than a quarter-billion dollars each. Biotech was the flavor of the week, accounting for three of the top 10 rounds this week.

1. Silicon Ranch, $775M, energy: With a strong push by the federal government, clean and renewable energy has been top of mind for many investors. Nashville-based Silicon Ranch used that interest to open the new year in grand style, raising $775 million in equity capital led by Manulife Investment Management. The solar project developer is backed by Royal Dutch Shell and offers customized renewable energy, carbon and battery storage solutions for customers across North America. The company said the new cash will be used for “developing new projects, entering new markets and pursuing strategic acquisition opportunities.” Founded in 2011, the energy company has raised $1.2 billion, according to Crunchbase data.

2. Eikon Therapeutics, $517.8M, biotech: As we stated, this was a big, big week for biotech, and no company in the space had a bigger week than Hayward, California-based Eikon Therapeutics. The company closed a $517.8 million Series B financing from nearly 20 different investors, including funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates. The company uses super-resolution microscopy to discover the effects of drugs on live cells. Founded two years ago, the company has now raised more than $668 million.

3 (tied). AGBO, $400M, media: Los Angeles-based AGBO, founded by Joe and Anthony Russo, raked in a $400 million corporate round from Japan-based game developer Nexon for a 38 percent stake in the company. The deal is expected to help give Nexon—known for games such as KartRider and Dungeon & Fighter—a foothold on properties developed by the studio to turn into games. AGBO has produced the Netflix series “Extraction” and has other film and TV projects in development.

3 (tied) Miro, $400M, enterprise software: Investors still seem very intrigued by collaboration tools, especially as many continue to work outside the office. Miro turned that interest not just into a $400 million Series C, but a whopping $17.6 billion valuation. The round was backed by ICONIQ Growth, Accel, Atlassian, Dragoneer, GIC, Salesforce Ventures1
and TCV. The company, with co-headquarters in San Francisco and Amsterdam, had previously only taken in around $76 million in 11 years, according Crunchbase data. Miro plans to use the money to invest in product development and global expansion.

5. OpenSea, $300M, crypto: Based on the way crypto ended 2021, it’s somewhat shocking the first crypto company doesn’t show up on the list until number five. However, New York-based OpenSea made the list after closing a $300 million Series C at a $13.3 billion post-money valuation this week. The round was co-led by Paradigm and Coatue, and also included participation from new and existing investors. Founded in 2017, the company, which serves as a marketplace for crypto collectibles and nonfungible tokens, has now raised a total of $427 million, according to Crunchbase.

6. Petal, $140M, fintech: New York-based credit card provider Petal raised a $140 million Series D led by Tarsadia Investments. The company said in a blog post it rebounded from the challenges of the pandemic and grew its user base by more than 300 percent in the past year.

7. Korro Bio, $116M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Korro Bio, an RNA editing company focused on the development of novel genetic medicines, closed a $116 million Series B financing led by Eventide Asset Management.

8. SalioGen Therapeutics, $115M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based genetic medicine developer SalioGen Therapeutics closed a $115 million Series B co-led by GordonMD Global Investments and EPIQ Capital Group.

9. Labelbox, $110M, enterprise software: San Francisco-based Labelbox raised a $110 million Series D led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The company, whose software helps integrate training data to improve ML/AI model performance, has raised $189 million in venture funding since being founded in 2018.

10 (tied). HUMAN Security, $100M, cybersecurity: New York-based HUMAN Security raised a $100 million growth round led by WestCap. The company, which helps protect companies against bot attacks and fraud, has raised approximately $142 million to date, according to Crunchbase data.

10 (tied). PosiGen, $100M, energy: New Orleans-based renewable energy provider PosiGen closed a $100 million preferred equity financing led by Magnetar Capital’s Energy & Infrastructure group.

Big global deals

Startups outside the U.S. also saw some big rounds, with supply chain software and online car buying solutions leading the way.

• Ottawa-based Assent Compliance, a provider of software used in tracking and improving supply chain sustainability, raised a $350 million financing at a valuation of over $1 billion.
• Malaysia-based Carsome, an online used car platform, raised a $309 million venture round.
• Paris-based PayFit, a developer of payroll tools for small and medium-sized businesses, raised 254 million euros ($287 million) in a Series E at a valuation of around $2 billion.

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of Jan. 1 to Jan. 7. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman