Good day. The year’s first quarter is in the books and signs suggest fundraising figures could notch a high mark once the full-quarter data is published.

Metrics from pitch-deck sharing platform DocSend point to more deal making. Investor activity on the platform is up nearly 60% since the start of the year, and links created by founders to pitch decks rose roughly 41%, according to Chief Executive Russ Heddleston.

Data on related sectors also point to a robust first quarter. The value of global merger and acquisitions set a first-quarter record at $1.3 trillion and private-equity deals reached $249 billion, double from a year earlier, according to a report from analytics firm Refinitiv.

Reports that detail venture’s fundraising environment in full are ahead. In the meantime, whether the exit market will keep pace going forward and if reopenings dampen the shutdown-induced surge of interest in technology are looming questions.

And now on to the news...

Genome-editing instrument. Startup Inscripta Inc. has raised $150 million in new venture capital to roll out a genome-editing instrument that could help researchers in healthcare and other industries biologically engineer new products, WSJ Pro’s Brian Gormley reports.

• Scientists use new genome-editing techniques to make precise changes to the genetic code to study gene function and genetically program microbes to produce specific compounds.
   
• Genome editing is typically a manual and labor-intensive process. Inscripta has developed an instrument that sits on a lab benchtop and automates genome editing.
   
• Inscripta raised the financing to expand the rollout of its instrument and has GeneMill, a synthetic-biology foundry at the University of Liverpool, as a commercial customer.

Over the past year, the stock market has been deluged with newly public electric-vehicle startups that raised money by pitching plans for rapid growth, WSJ reports. Months into their lives on the public markets, a set of these companies are missing targets, adding costs and, in one case, upending major parts of a business model. Last Monday, aspiring electric car and truck maker Canoo Inc. told investors it was abandoning or scaling back numerous key aspects of the strategy laid out when it raised $630 million last year. On Tuesday, five-year-old electric-vehicle battery maker Romeo Power Inc. said it expected that revenue for the year would be no more than $40 million. That is far shy of the $140 million projected when it raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors last year.

Providence Strategic Growth Capital Partners is pitching investors on a new $4 billion fund, according to people familiar with the fundraising, which would make it the investment firm’s largest fund should it reach that target, WSJ Pro reports. The new fund, called PSG V LP, would be double the size of predecessor Providence Strategic Growth IV LP, which closed with $2 billion in September 2019. Providence Strategic Growth is the former growth-equity arm of media and communications-focused firm Providence Equity Partners. The Boston-based firm expects to hold an initial closing for the new vehicle by the end of June, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Funds

Anthos Capital seeks to raise $1.5 billion for its fifth fund, according to a regulatory filing. The firm recently participated in funding rounds for banking platform Railsbank, fintech startup Attunely Inc. and education money saving app UNest.

Rocky Mountain region investor Next Frontier Capital closed its third fund at $80 million, or $10 million above its original target. To date, Next Frontier Venture Fund III LP has invested in  Bonusly, Claravine, Viris Detection Systems, Emmersion, Advisr, Demoflow, Everyone Social and Blocky. The Bozeman, Mt.-based firm raised $38 million for its preceding fund in 2018. In addition to the new fund close, Next Frontier appointed Latham Turner and Kirsten Suddath as operating partner and senior associate, respectively. Mr. Turner previously held positions at Samsara and Rigetti Computing. Ms. Suddath joins the firm from Blackhorn Ventures.

People

ColdQuanta Inc., a developer of technology for secure quantum communications and computing, appointed Rushton McGarr as chief financial officer. He previously held the same position at FullContact. Boulder, Colo.-based ColdQuanta in November raised a $32 million Series A round from Global Frontier Investments, LCP Quantum Partners, Maverick Ventures and Foundry Group.

Peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace Turo named Charles Fisher as chief financial officer. He was most recently executive vice president, corporate finance and development at Charter Communications. San Francisco-based Turo is backed by investors including August Capital, Canaan Partners, GV, Shasta Ventures and Trinity Ventures.

Exits

Bank of America bought healthcare payment and technology company AxiaMed for an undisclosed sum. Santa Barbara, Calif.-based AxiaMed was backed by investors including Health Enterprise Partners and Nashville Capital Network.

Digital banking and lending services provider Q2 Holdings Inc. acquired ClickSwitch, a digital account switching service for financial institutions and fintechs, for an undisclosed amount. Minneapolis-based ClickSwitch was backed by Commerce Ventures and Point72 Ventures.

Getty Images agreed to purchase free online photograph marketplace Unsplash for an undisclosed amount. Unsplash is backed by investors including Accomplice and Real Ventures.

dLocal, a Uruguayan payments provider for emerging markets, landed a $150 million funding round at a $5 billion valuation. Alkeon Capital led the investment, which included participation from BOND, D1 Capital Partners and Tiger Global Management. In addition to the financing, dLocal appointed Sumita Pandit as chief operating officer. She replaces Jacobo Singer, who has been promoted to president. Ms. Pandit was previously managing director and global head of fintech investment banking for J.P. Morgan. Prior to joining dLocal, Mr. Singer led product and engineering teams at AstroPay.

Alloy Therapeutics, a Boston- and U.K.-based drug discovery platform, closed a $75 million Series C round led by 8VC, Presight Capital and Peter Thiel. New investors including Mubadala Capital, Founders Fund and Gaingels also participated in the funding, along with existing backers Luma Bio-IT, Alexandria Venture Investments and Ulysses Diversified Holdings.

Catalant Technologies Inc., a provider of on-demand consulting services, picked up a $35 million investment led by Morningside Group. Additional investors in Catalant include ZX Ventures, Highland Capital, General Catalyst, Salesforce Ventures, Mark Cuban, 40North Ventures, SJF Ventures and Goldfinch Partners.

imToken, a Singapore-based crypto wallet startup, completed a $30 million Series B round. Qiming Venture Partners led the investment, which included additional support from IDG Capital, Breyer Capital, HashKey, Signum Capital, Longling Capital and SNZ.

Aneira Pharma Inc., a San Diego-based developer of a hair growth product for people experiencing hair loss, grabbed a $25 million investment from Valkyrie Group.

Windfall Data Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of consumer financial data, secured $21 million in Series A financing. En Pointe led the round, which included contributions from EPIQ Capital Group, Bonfire Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Cherubic Ventures and ValueStream Ventures.

PlayShifu, an early learning toy startup with offices in Sheridan, Wyo. and India, fetched $17 million in Series B funding. Inventus Capital India led the round, with participation from Inflexor Ventures, Chiratae Ventures and Bharat Innovation Fund.

Inbrain Neuroelectronics SL, a Barcelona-based startup developing a personalized neurological therapy for epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, nabbed $16.8 million in Series A funding. Asabys Partners and Alta Life Sciences co-led the round, which included support from Vsquared Ventures, TruVenturo and others.

Second Closet, a Toronto-based self-storage startup, collected a 20 million Canadian dollar ($16 million) round of funding. Whitecap Venture Partners led the investment, and was joined by Intact Ventures, MIG and Cowie Capital Partners.

Medxoom, an Atlanta-based health benefits platform, snagged $8 million in funding. Castellan Group led the round, which saw participation from Las Olas VC, TTV Capital and others. Sean Smith, founder of Zelis Healthcare, will join the board.

Kinta AI, a San Francisco-based startup focused on optimizing complex factory floor planning and operations, raised $5.5 million in Series A funding led by Lachy Groom’s LGF and Mo Koyfman’s Shine Capital.

Genius Guild, an Atlanta-based business creation platform investing in Black-led startups, scored a $5 million investment from Pivotal Ventures, Impact Seat, First Close Partners and others.

• Facebook staff fret over China’s ads portraying happy Muslims in Xinjiang
   
• Ghost kitchens will keep appearing on your delivery app, even as the pandemic eases
   
• California wine companies see opportunity in IPO boom
   
• Tesla kicks off 2021 with 184,800 vehicles delivered

• Largest homebuilder emerges as unlikely startup kingmaker (The Information)

This newsletter was compiled by Marc Vartabedian 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.

Follow us on Twitter: @wsjvc, @ychernova, @BrianPGormley, @marcvarta.