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Katzenberg’s Firm WndrCo Adjusts as Market Slows
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Good day. A torrid two years for venture-capital fundraising and investments have given way to a deep freeze. Case in point: Jeffrey Katzenberg’s venture firm WndrCo, which has slowed its investment pace while it raises a new fund.
Mr. Katzenberg, the former Hollywood executive who founded DreamWorks SKG, said his venture firm started to raise a new fund in March, just as the Russian invasion of Ukraine threw global markets into confusion.
“Talk about being unlucky,” he said, during an interview last week on the sidelines of the Collision tech conference in Toronto. Citing regulatory restrictions on marketing, he declined to provide more details about the fundraising. The process is likely to take longer now than the firm had expected, he said.
His venture firm focuses on companies in cybersecurity and an area he defines broadly as “the future of work.”
WndrCo raised a $591.5 million fund in 2017, which was marked by the high-profile failure of short-form video production company, Quibi. The fund has since gone on to invest in companies like workflow app-maker Airtable, cybersecurity firm Aura and password management software company 1password.
The venture firm started to pull back on investing last year because valuations had jumped too high, he said. He declined to give numbers but said the rate of investment last year was roughly half of the 2020 pace. The rate has fallen further this year.
“We’ve been convservative over the past 12 moths,” he said. “But this is also the moment of greatest opportunity. We are truffle hunters. We’ve got to go find the truffles.”
And now on to the news...
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Tether faced regulatory pressure last year and has been a hot topic at recent cryptocurrency events.
PHOTO: ORE HUIYING/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Tether shorted. Short sellers have been ramping up their bets against tether, the world’s largest stablecoin, amid a broad market selloff that has called into doubt the financial health of some crypto companies, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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In the past month, more traditional hedge funds have executed trades to short tether through Genesis Global Trading Inc., one of the largest crypto brokerages for professional investors.
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These trades are worth “hundreds of millions” of dollars in notional value, said Leon Marshall, Genesis’s head of institutional sales. He declined to be more specific.
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Genesis, which doesn’t take a view on tether, said the short trades are almost exclusively put on by traditional hedge funds in the U.S. and Europe, while crypto firms—especially those based in Asia—have been happy to facilitate the other side of the transactions.
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$7.76 Billion
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The amount of sales Amazon.com is projected to reach during its July 12-13 Prime Day event, 17% more than last year, according to research firm Insider Intelligence.
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Period-Tracker Apps Aim for Anonymity Following Court Decision
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Developers of period trackers and fertility apps are working on ways to anonymize user data in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, WSJ reports. Millions of women use services such as Flo, Clue and Apple’s Health app to help them become pregnant, avoid pregnancy or know when their next period is due. The court’s decision brought more attention to the services, which hold sensitive data that could be used against people in states where abortion may be criminalized. Creators of some of those apps are now seeking ways to ensure that they don’t have specific information to share about their users in the first
place.
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Taiwan’s GlobalWafers to Invest $5 Billion in New Texas Plant
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GlobalWafers Co., a Taiwan-based technology company, unveiled a plan on Monday to build a $5 billion factory in Sherman, Texas, to manufacture silicon wafers, a key material used in the production of semiconductors, WSJ reports. The investment, which would receive U.S. government support should Congress pass pending legislation, will contribute to a U.S. effort to boost domestic production of advanced semiconductors and reduce reliance on imports by supplying materials to companies such as Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. These leading semiconductor manufacturers have pledged significant investments in new U.S. factories to make chips to meet
strong demand, and to relieve shortages that have disrupted production of a range of products, including automobiles.
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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.
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Funds
Majority Black-owned MaC Venture Capital raised $203 million for its second seed-stage fund. The new vehicle’s limited partners include Fairview Capital, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Goldman Sachs, ICG Advisors, Illumen Capital, the MacArthur Foundation, StepStone, Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois and the University of Michigan. The firm closed its inaugural fund last year with $110 million in commitments.
True Wealth Ventures closed its second fund at $35 million to continue investing exclusively in women-led companies. The Austin, Texas-based firm raised $19.1 million for its debut fund back in 2018. To date, the new fund has invested in Aeromutable, De Oro Devices and Flourish.
Layer Three Ventures, a Web3 investment fund and accelerator, has launched and is targeting $30 million for its first fund.
People
Evommune Inc., a developer of medicines for inflammatory diseases, appointed Gregory S. Moss as chief corporate strategy and legal officer. He will also serve as corporate secretary and chief compliance officer. Mr. Moss was most recently at Kadmon Holdings Inc. Andera Partners, LSP and Pivotal bioVenture Partners provided Evommune’s $83 million Series A round last year.
Exits
Blockchain intelligence provider TRM Labs Inc. purchased CSITech, a provider of crypto investigations and training services. Terms weren’t disclosed. In December, San Francisco-based TRM Labs said it raised a $60 million Series B round from investors including Tiger Global Management, Amex Ventures, Citi Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Jump Capital and PayPal Ventures.
Hospitality-management software developer Cloudbeds acquired guest engagement services provider Whistle for an undisclosed amount. In November, San Diego-based Cloudbeds said it landed $150 million in Series D funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
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Unizen, a cryptocurrency exchange, picked up a $200 million commitment from Global Emerging Markets.
Pave, a San Francisco-based real-time compensation platform, scored a $100 million Series C round and acquired Advanced-HR from Morgan Stanley. Index Ventures led the investment, with Partner Mark Goldberg joining the board. Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator Continuity, LocalGlobe, Craft Ventures, Original Capital, Backend Capital, Contrary Capital and others also invested in the round.
Gloat, a New York-based talent marketplace platform, fetched $90 million in Series D funding. Lead investor Generation Investment Management was joined by Accel, Eight Roads Ventures, Intel Capital and Lumir Ventures in the round.
Cyolo, a Tel Aviv-headquartered identity-based network access startup, completed a $60 million Series B round led by National Grid Partners.
WorkMotion, a Berlin-based human resources services provider, landed $50 million in Series B funding. Canaan led the round, which included participation from GR Capital, Heliad Equity Partners, Activant Capital, Picus Capital and XAnge.
Incredibuild, a Tel Aviv-based software development acceleration platform, secured $35 million in Series B financing. Hiro Capital led the round, which saw additional support from Insight Partners.
Centerline Biomedical Inc., a Cleveland-based startup whose technology provides improved visualization and guidance in endovascular procedures, completed a $33 million Series B round. Cleveland Clinic led the investment, which included contributions from GE Healthcare, RIK Enterprises, JobsOhio, Jumpstart Ventures and G2 Group Ventures.
Cordio Medical, an Israel-based medical speech processing provider, grabbed an $18 million investment from Ceros Financial Services and Peregrine Ventures.
Veritonic, a New York-based audio analytics and research platform, closed a $7.5 million Series A round. Lavrock Ventures led the funding, which included support from Progress Ventures, Greycroft, Lerer Hippeau and Newark Venture Partners. Daniel Hanks from Lavrock Ventures will join the board.
AI Squared Inc., a low-code artificial intelligence integration startup, was seeded with a $6 million investment. New Enterprise Associates led the round, which saw participation from Ridgeline Partners.
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An inflatable character promoted the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs alongside last week’s NFT.NYC conference. PHOTO: MILO HESS/ZUMA PRESS
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