Good day. Last week, we asked what venture fund managers are hearing from limited partners with regard to raising new capital.

• Bradley Tusk, co-founder and managing partner of Tusk Venture Partners, said his firm luckily finished raising a fund by the end of the first quarter. “Our LPs have been incredibly steady and many of them see the opportunity now to buy in at much lower valuations and end up with higher multiples. But whether you’re a VC raising a new fund or a founder raising a new round, it’s a much tougher environment.”
   
• Suzanne Norris, managing partner at Victress Capital, said: “For the LPs that are still actively investing in new funds, we have seen them take more time to diligence the current portfolio. Understanding how the VC team works with their companies in a downturn ensures they are driving growth while managing cash in this uncertain environment.”
   
• Lauren Kolodny, founding partner at Acrew Capital, said that market conditions mean that some LPs need to moderate their capital deployment as they navigate their own liquidity, portfolio allocations and investor dynamics. She added: “Demand for this asset class is not going away.”
   
• Yanev Suissa, founder and managing general partner at SineWave Ventures, said that many LPs are concerned that some managers have been shortsighted and relied on valuation growth over business growth. “At the same time, they recognize this new vintage of venture should perform very well given a drop in round prices.”

This week’s question: Is the current crypto downturn just a bump in the road or is this “crypto winter” the start of a more permanent rethinking by investors about the sector?

Please email responses to marc.vartabedian@wsj.com.

Note: Our newsletter won't publish on Monday, Independence Day in the U.S.

And now on to the news...

Tougher terms. Startup founders say venture-capital investors are offering tougher terms as companies attempt to raise money amid economic uncertainty and a broad selloff in tech stocks, Steven Rosenbush reports for The Wall Street Journal. Valuations are sharply lower than they would have been last year, according to entrepreneurs who gathered at the Collision tech conference that drew 35,000 attendees in Toronto last week.

• “We’re raising a Series A right now,” said Dejan Mirkovic, chief executive and co-founder of Goose Insurance Services Inc., a Vancouver-based startup with an app that people use to find, get quotes for and buy insurance.
   
• “The issue is that the market has a lot of capital to deploy, but everyone’s a little gun-shy,” Mr. Mirkovic said last week in Toronto. “A 30 percent haircut right now is what we’re seeing,” he said, referring to the decline in startup valuations from their peak.

Enjoy Technology Inc., a retail technology company started by former Apple Inc. retail strategist and chief executive of J.C. Penney Ron Johnson, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, citing difficulties raising new capital in a difficult fundraising market for tech firms, WSJ Pro reports. The filing came less than a year after the company went public through a merger with Marquee Raine Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company. Enjoy said it has reached an agreement to sell most of its assets to device insurance company Asurion LLC, which has agreed to provide a $55 million loan to fund the company through bankruptcy. Enjoy said it would accept a higher offer and it expects that Asurion’s bid will be sufficient to pay all secured and unsecured creditors in full.

Trucking company Schneider National Inc. is looking to expand its role in chemical distribution through an investment in a startup that is building an online marketplace for industrial raw materials, WSJ reports. The Green Bay, Wis.-based carrier led a Series A funding round for ChemDirect Inc. that will give Schneider a minority stake in the business and make the trucking company a key logistics connection for the digital operation.

Federal authorities gave SpaceX permission to link a range of vehicles to its satellite-internet service, a win for the company as it seeks to broaden its customer base, WSJ reports. The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday allowed the Elon Musk-led company to begin operating Starlink, as its internet unit is called, on everything from airplanes and boats to RVs, according to an order from the FCC. The authorization covers both consumer and business vehicles.

Join us on July 19 for a members-only virtual event to discuss portfolio management in turbulent markets with industry specialists and journalists from WSJ Pro Private Equity. The event will feature two panel discussions–one on how limited partners are adapting to current market conditions, the other looking at trends in the secondaries market. You can register here.

Funds

Peterson Ventures, which is focused on software-as-a-service and digital commerce investments, raised more than $140 million across its fourth core fund and first opportunity fund. Peterson Ventures IV LP will continue to invest up to about $2.5 million into startups at the seed and pre-seed stages, while the opportunity fund will write follow-on checks for select portfolio companies.

New York-based Web3 investor Reciprocal Ventures closed its second fund with $68.5 million in commitments. To date, the new vehicle has invested in over 20 companies, including Blockdaemon, which was recently valued at $3.25 billion.

ScaleX Ventures secured $35 million for its first fund, which is more than double the original target, to make seed and Series A investments in business-to-business startups focusing on the Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, and Turkey. So far, the Amsterdam-based firm has backed companies including Invidyo, Locomation and Cerebra through the fund.

People

Code Ocean Inc., provider of a digital lab platform for computational scientists, appointed Andy Keane as chief operating officer. He was previously at Nvidia. In May, Code Ocean said it raised a $16.5 million Series B round co-led by Battery Ventures and M12.

SVT Robotics, whose software accelerates and simplifies the integration and deployment of robotics, named Griffin Chronis to the post of chief technology officer. He was previously at Salesforce. In November, Norfolk, Va.-based SVT Robotics said it closed a $25 million Series A round led by Tiger Global Management and Prologis Ventures.

Exits

Publicly-traded agricultural sciences company FMC Corp. agreed to acquire pheromone research and production startup BioPhero ApS for about $200 million. Copenhagen-based BioPhero is backed by DCVC Bio, FMC Ventures, Syngenta Group Ventures and Novo Holdings.

ReSource Pro, a provider of business process services for the insurance industry, acquired insurtech startup towerIQ for an undisclosed amount. Private-equity firm Kelso & Co. purchased a majority stake in ReSource Pro in December. Hyperplane Venture Capital, Vestigo Ventures and Clocktower Technology Ventures previously backed towerIQ.

Pure Harvest Smart Farms, a United Arab Emirates-based sustainable agriculture startup, picked up a $180.5 million funding round from investors including Metric Capital Partners, IMM Investment and The Olayan Group.

Evolved By Nature, a Medford, Mass.-based creator of molecules from natural silk protein for use in markets including apparel, personal care and medicine, closed a $120 million Series C round. Teachers’ Venture Growth and Senator Investment Group led the investment, which included participation from Mousse Partners and others.

Zilch, a London-based buy now, pay later service, added $50 million in Series C funding, bringing the round total to $160 million. In November, the company said Ventura Capital and Gauss Ventures led the initial Series C tranche at a valuation of $2 billion.

Snowplow, a London-based startup that generates granular behavioral data for use in artificial intelligence, secured $40 million in Series B financing. Lead investor New Enterprise Associates was joined by Atlantic Bridge Capital and MMC Ventures in the round.

April Tax Solutions Inc., a New York-based personal income tax platform, snagged $30 million in Series A funding from Treasury, QED Investors, Nyca Partners, Team8, Euclidean Capital and Atento Capital. Lowell Putnam will join the company’s board.

Modular Inc., an artificial intelligence developer platform, landed a $30 million investment from GV, Greylock, SV Angel and others.

Vita Mojo, a London-based restaurant software startup, fetched $30 million in funding. Battery Ventures led the round, with General Partner Morad Elhafed and Principal Zak Ewen joining the company’s board.

Cleartrace, an Austin, Texas-based carbon and energy management software startup, grabbed a $20 million investment. ClearSky led the round, which included contributions from Brookfield Renewable, EDF Energy North America, Tenaska and Exelon.

Omeda Studios, a London-based game studio, nabbed $20 million in Series A funding. Haveli Investments led the round, which saw participation from GFR Fund, Possible Ventures and Progression Fund.

TaskHuman, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based digital coaching platform, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Led by Madrona Venture Group, the round included additional support from Impact Venture Capital, RingCentral Ventures, Sure Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, Gaingels, PeopleTech Angels, Propel(x) and Zoom Ventures.

aware, a Berlin-based health data startup, was seeded with a $15 million investment led by Lakestar and Cherry Ventures.

WiredScore, a New York-based startup that assesses, certifies and improves digital connectivity and smart technology in homes and offices, obtained $15 million in Series B funding. Lead investors Beringea, Cushman & Wakefield and Crow Holdings were joined by Taronga Ventures, Fifth Wall, Bessemer Ventures and Jona Capital in the round.

• Tencent, ByteDance implement fresh layoffs amid China’s economic pains
   
• Niantic lays off 8% of its workforce and stops some projects
   
• Tech giants pour billions into AI, but hype doesn’t always match reality
   
• Big pharma won’t bail out battered biotech
   
• European, U.S. groups fire salvo of privacy complaints against Google

This newsletter was compiled by 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.

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