Good day. Biotechnology startups are beginning 2022 with a flurry of deal making in the gene-editing field as they seek to apply the new technology to a growing number of diseases.

New gene-editing tools could enable scientists to fix disease-causing genetic errors and create novel medications. Gene-editing startups Mammoth Biosciences and Arbor Biotechnologies have struck deals with drugmakers Bayer AG and TCR2 Therapeutics, respectively, while Kyverna Therapeutics, a startup developing autoimmune-disease treatments, has teamed up with publicly traded gene-editing concern Intellia Therapeutics Inc.

Kyverna aims to cure autoimmune disorders by preventing certain immune cells from orchestrating an attack on the patient’s own tissue. It is devising treatments, called CAR-T, that use patients’ own immune cells. With help from Intellia, Kyverna also aims to develop CAR-Ts derived from the cells of healthy donors. These off-the-shelf therapies could make CAR-T less costly and more accessible.

Kyverna intends to use gene editing to help these cells be accepted by the patient’s immune system. Currently, CAR-Ts are used to treat cancer. “We think it’s time to start looking carefully [at] whether this can be applied to patients with autoimmunity,” Chief Executive Dominic Borie said.

And now on to the news...

Outside capital. Citadel Securities is set to receive its first outside investment in a deal valuing the electronic-trading firm majority-owned by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin at around $22 billion. Venture-capital firm Sequoia Capital and cryptocurrency investor Paradigm have agreed to invest $1.15 billion in the Chicago-based firm, the company told The Wall Street Journal.

• Citadel Securities is managed separately from Citadel, the $43 billion hedge fund on which Mr. Griffin built his fortune. Founded in 2002, Citadel Securities has grown into a global giant that trades equities, options, futures, bonds and other assets, handling about 27% of the shares that change hands in the U.S. stock market each day, according to its website. Much of that volume comes from processing trades for online brokerages such as Robinhood Markets Inc.
   
• The deal will give Citadel Securities capital to continue expanding globally, the company said, and could be a precursor to an initial public offering for the business. There is no guarantee the firm will go ahead with a listing, and there are no plans to launch one imminently.

Owl Ventures, a firm focused on the education-technology sector, raised more than $1 billion in new funds for global investments, bringing the firm’s total assets under management to more than $2 billion, WSJ Pro’s Isaac Taylor reports. The firm closed on $640 million for Owl Ventures Fund V, $270 million for Opportunity Fund II and roughly $100 million in special purpose vehicles. Fund V will be used for investments in companies across early, growth and late-stage rounds, and the opportunity fund will focus on later stage and growth investments in the firm’s current portfolio companies. Tory Patterson, a managing director for Owl Ventures, acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic has expanded the edtech sector but also said there is more driving the industry’s momentum. 

Project44, which develops supply-chain analytics software for shipping and logistics companies, said it raised $420 million in a funding round that values the company at $2.2 billion, WSJ Pro’s Marc Vartabedian reports. The deal was yet the latest instance of investors placing big bets on tech startups that might smooth the global supply-chain snarls that have racked companies and their customers. Venture investors committed a record $24 billion to supply-chain tech companies based in North America and Europe through the third quarter of last year, a nearly 60% jump from all of 2020, according to analytics firm PitchBook Data Inc. A crop of these startups, including Chicago-based project44, offer software platforms from which logistics companies can oversee and manage their goods as they navigate supply chains around the world.

Funds

Kleiner Perkins raised $1.8 billion across two new funds to continue investing in the consumer, enterprise, fintech, digital health and hardtech sectors, with plans to increase investments in crypto and decentralized technologies. Alongside the new funds, Kleiner Perkins promoted Annie Case and Josh Coyne to partner. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Ms. Case worked in product and business operations roles at Uber. Mr. Coyne joined Kleiner Perkins in 2017, and was previously at Qatalyst Partners.

New York-based early-stage investor TMV closed its second fund at slightly above its $60 million target, with $64 million in commitments. The fund will focus on the care economy, financial inclusion, future of work, logistics and sustainability.

People

BlockFi, a wealth-management platform for crypto investors, appointed Deborah Barta as the company’s first chief operating officer. She joins the company from Mastercard. Jersey City, N.J.-based BlockFi is backed by investors including Bain Capital Ventures, Valar Ventures, Kenetic Capital, Avon Ventures, Pomp Investments and Tiger Global Management.

Data integration startup Stardog named Taylor Roberts as chief financial officer. He was most recently CFO at MarginEdge. Arlington, Va.-based Stardog is backed by investors including Contour Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures, Boulder Ventures and Presidio Ventures.

StoreDot, a provider of battery charging technology for electric vehicles, named David Lee as chief science officer. He joins the company from the Evergrande NEV Global Battery Research Institute. Israel-based StoreDot recently held the first close of its Series D round of up to $80 million from VinFast, bp ventures and Golden Energy Global Investment.

Exits

Collaborative learning startup 360Learning acquired learning-management system Looop for $20 million in cash and shares. Last year, Paris-based 360Learning landed a $200 million growth investment led by Sumeru Equity Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Silver Lake Waterman.

Bolt, a ride-hailing, e-scooter and e-bike rental, and food delivery provider, scored a €628 million (about $714 million) investment valuing the company at €7.4 billion ($8.4 billion). Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Management & Research Co. led the round.

Qonto, a Paris-based fintech startup, raised €486 million (about $552 million) in Series D funding. A blog post on the company’s website did not include investors. Previous backers of Qonto include Tencent Holdings, DST Global, Valar Ventures and Alven Capital Partners.

GoStudent, a Vienna-based online tutoring startup, secured €300 million ($341 million) in Series D funding, giving the company a €3 billion ($3.4 billion) valuation. Prosus led the round, which included participation from Deutsche Telekom, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Tencent Holdings, Dragoneer Investment Group, Left Lane Capital and Coatue Management.

Brex Inc., a San Francisco-based startup offering spending cards and other financial services to businesses, raised $300 million in Series D2 financing led by Greenoaks Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures. The company also appointed Karandeep Anand to the post of chief product officer. He most recently led Meta’s business products group. Brex has raised a total of $1.2 billion from investors and is currently valued at $12.3 billion.

BigPanda Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of event correlation and automation technology for businesses, picked up a $190 million investment led by Advent International and Insight Partners. Eric Noeth, partner at Advent, will join the company’s board. BigPanda has a valuation of $1.2 billion.

Tul, a Bogota-based e-commerce marketplace that optimizes the construction material supply chain for hardware stores across Latin America, secured $181 million in Series B financing. 8VC and Avenir led the round, which included additional support from Monashees, Lightrock, Coatue Management, Tiger Global Management, Foundamental and others.

Pentera, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity startup, landed $150 million in Series C financing, bringing the company’s valuation to $1 billion. Lead investor K1 Investment Management was joined by Evolution Equity Partners, Insight Partners, Awz Ventures and Blackstone in the round.

Envoy, a San Francisco startup that helps companies reopen safe and flexible workplaces, snagged a $111 million Series C round led by Brookfield Growth. Existing backers Menlo Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Initialized Capital and Haystack Management also participated in the funding, along with new investors including Seven Seven Six, Triple Point Capital and Elad Gil.

Placer.ai, a Los Altos, Calif.-based location analytics and foot traffic data provider, closed a $100 million Series C round at a $1 billion valuation. Josh Buckley led the investment, which included contributions from WndrCo, Lachy Groom, MMC Technology Ventures, Fifth Wall, Array Ventures and others.

Viridi Parente Inc., a Buffalo, N.Y.-based lithium-ion battery storage technology developer, grabbed nearly $95 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at $700 million. Existing investor B. Thomas Golisano, founder of Grand Oaks Capital, led the round, with additional participation from National Grid Partners.

eFishery, an Indonesian aquaculture startup, closed a $90 million Series C round. Temasek Holdings, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sequoia Capital India led the funding, which included support from Northstar Group, Go-Ventures, Aqua-Spark and Wavemaker Partners.

Novo, a Miami-based small-business banking platform, fetched $90 million in Series B funding at a $700 million valuation. Stripes led the investment, which saw participation from Valar Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Rainfall Ventures and BoxGroup. Saagar Kulkarni, a partner at Stripes, will join Novo’s board.

AskNicely, a provider of customer experience software for service businesses, completed a $32 million Series B round. Five Elms Capital led the round, with Partner Ryan Mandl joining the board. Nexus Venture Partners and Blackbird Ventures also invested.

• Refurbished iPhone seller Back Market hits $5.7 billion valuation
   
• London Stock Exchange and Aflac invest in pricing service BondCliQ
   
• GM takes aim at Carvana, Vroom with used-car website
   
• Federal judge rejects Facebook’s request to dismiss FTC’s latest antitrust lawsuit
   
• New Intel CFO to help steer chip maker’s finances through turnaround
   
• Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama to hold second union vote

This newsletter was compiled by Marc Vartabedian, Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

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