|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Neo Turned a $150 Million Fund Into $1.2 Billion
|
|
By Yuliya Chernova, WSJ Pro
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good day. Neo’s returns are leaving the rest of the crowd in the dust.
The San Francisco-based venture firm, led by Chief Executive Ali Partovi, has made early bets on coding tools company Cursor, prediction-markets operator Kalshi and other startups whose valuations have been on a tear lately.
That has pushed the value of Neo’s first and second funds far above industry averages, demonstrating a widening gap between high performers and everyone else in today’s venture market.
Neo 1.0, its 2018 fund that raised $82.4 million and invested in 50 startups including Kalshi, had an audited fair value of $778 million at the end of December, according to financials shared by the firm. That is 7.5 times invested capital, on a net basis after deducting fees, compared with the median multiple of 1.6 for funds in the 2018 vintage, according to Carta, which tracks private markets data.
Neo 2.0, its 2021 fund that raised $150 million and backed 80 startups including Cursor, grew to about $1.18 billion in gross value by the end of December, according to audited financials. That is 6.5 times invested capital, on a net basis, compared with 1.04 times for the median 2021 venture fund on Carta. The 2021 vintage in general has been underperforming.
“The top 5% is racing away from the middle. That’s happening in startups and it’s happening in funds,” said Peter Walker, who runs the insights team at Carta. “The really fast acceleration of company growth is limited to a very narrow slice, a more narrow slice than it was in 2021.”
Read the rest of the article at this link.
|
|
|
And now on to the news ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei DAVID DEE DELGADO/GETTY IMAGES
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mythos preview. Anthropic is taking steps to arm some of the world’s biggest technology companies with tools to find and patch bugs in their hardware and software. The company is making a preview model of its new AI model, called Mythos, available to about 50 companies and organizations that maintain critical infrastructure, including Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet-owned Google and the Linux Foundation.
|
|
|
|
|
248,655-plus
|
|
The number of miles the Artemis astronauts flew from Earth, farther than any human had gone previously.
|
|
|
|
|
A-Street Collects $675 Million From Walton Family, Lego Foundation
|
|
|
A-Street, a multistage investor backed by the Walton family, has raised $675 million to invest in education, adding to its backers the Lego Foundation, a charitable group and part-owner of Danish toy maker Lego Group. A-Street Fund II so far has collected some $675 million, said co-founder and Managing Director Marc Sternberg. A former Walton Family Foundation professional and New York City Department of Education executive, Sternberg launched A-Street in 2021 with Tom Kuo, who had previously worked with Berkshire Partners, General Atlantic and Goldman Sachs. Sternberg said the firm continues to hold conversations with other potential Fund II backers.
|
|
Sapphire Fund-Investing Team Decamps for LGT
|
|
|
The core team at Sapphire Partners, the venture-fund investing arm of Sapphire Ventures, is departing the firm and joining LGT Capital Partners. Beezer Clarkson, Laura Thompson, Nate Leung, Dan Clayton, and two associates are in the process of moving to LGT, according to Tori Robertson, senior director of marketing and communications at Sapphire Ventures.
-
Sapphire will continue to manage and deploy more than $2 billion in fund investments under the leadership of Nino Marakovic, chief executive and partner at Sapphire Ventures, Robertson said.
-
“As our direct investing business has become increasingly focused on the generational opportunity in enterprise AI, we’ve made a deliberate decision to operate as a specialist firm, aligning our capital, team and brand around that core. As a result, we’re focusing our fund strategy on early-stage managers building the next generation of companies in that ecosystem,” Marakovic said in a statement.
-
With headquarters in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland, LGT has more than $110 billion in assets under management. The new hires will help the firm strengthen its presence in the U.S. across primaries, secondaries and co-investment. — Yuliya Chernova
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Funds
Physical economy-focused investor Eclipse raised $720 million for its Fund VI and $591 million for its Early Growth Fund III, bringing the firm’s total assets under management to approximately $10 billion.
People
Early-stage business technology-focused Rally Ventures appointed Liz Benz as an operating partner. She most recently served as chief sales officer at Jamf.
Anti-ransomware platform Halcyon appointed Dave Hannigan as field chief information security officer. He most recently served as vice president and chief information security officer at Nubank.
|
|
|
|
|
Firmus, an Australia-based AI infrastructure startup, picked up a $505 million strategic equity investment at a $5.5 billion post-money valuation. Coatue led the funding, which included participation from Nvidia.
Hermeus, an El Segundo, Calif.-based developer of unmanned aircraft for defense, closed on $350 million in Series C financing, including $200 million in equity. Khosla Ventures led the round, which saw participation from Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, RTX Ventures, Bling Capital and In-Q-Tel. The new investment brings the company’s post-money valuation to $1 billion.
Aria Networks, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based AI-native network built to maximize token efficiency, scored $125 million in funding from investors including Sutter Hill Ventures, Atreides Management and Eclipse.
Modus, an AI-driven audit technology platform, raised $85 million in seed and Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Membrane Technology Research, a Newark, Calif.-headquartered developer of membrane-based gas separation systems serving the petrochemical, natural gas and refining industries, raised $27 million in Series B funding led by Climate Investment.
NeuBird AI, a Redwood City, Calif.-based developer of agentic AI for production operations, landed a $19.3 million investment. Xora Innovation led the round, which included participation from Mayfield and others.
Golden Analytics, a business intelligence platform, emerged from stealth with $7 million in seed funding from investors including New Enterprise Associates and Madrona.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elon Musk announcing the Terafab project in Austin, Texas, last month. UNCREDITED
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
