Good day. Founders raising capital at the seed stage have had to work harder, according to data from pitch-deck review startup DocSend Inc.

The venture-backed company analyzed pitch decks of 175 startups that were raising seed-stage funding in 2019 and discovered that founders contacted more investors and received fewer meetings, and that it took founders nearly two months longer to raise rounds in 2019 compared with 2015. Founders better able to demonstrate product and revenue traction had an easier time raising capital.

Despite the challenges, the average amount of seed capital raised globally was up roughly 43% in 2019 compared with 2015, according to DocSend.

The results highlight an increasingly competitive seed-stage fundraising environment that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. WSJ Pro reported last month that the pandemic has hit seed financings particularly hard and that first-time entrepreneurs have faced higher barriers.

And now on to the news...

Note: WSJ Pro Venture Capital won't publish a newsletter Monday, in observance of Labor Day in the U.S. We will return on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Betting on frontier tech. Alice Lloyd George, a former investor at RRE Ventures, has established Rogue Capital Partners LP to make early-stage investments in some of the more challenging but promising technological sectors, according to people familiar with the situation, WSJ Pro’s Yuliya Chernova reports.

• Ms. Lloyd George made early wagers on emerging technologies, such as bitcoin and virtual reality. She previously invested in WaveVR Inc., Kindbody and Brud Inc., the creator of computer-generated influencer Lil Miquela, among others. She plans to invest in gaming, VR and other Gen Z-focused entertainment, as well as robotics, space and other “frontier tech.”
   
• “Alice has been at the forefront of frontier tech,” said David Ulevitch, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, who is one of several venture investors backing Ms. Lloyd George’s fund. Rogue Capital Partners is looking to raise $40 million.
   
• The great-great granddaughter of early 20th century British Prime Minister David Lloyd George came to venture capital by way of journalism, geopolitical and investment research.

Crisis experience. Insight Partners has seen its share of market downturns since the software-focused firm was formed in 1995, WSJ Pro's Isaac Taylor reports. So when the coronavirus pandemic started to spread, the New York firm moved quickly and aggressively to position its portfolio, a lesson it had learned in past crises. Insight sought to help the technology companies it backs address both the challenges posed by market disruptions and the potential opportunities it created. The firm has plenty of capital to execute its plans after wrapping up a $9.5 billion fund in April.

Regulating short-term rentals. Cities and towns are tapping artificial intelligence and other technologies to keep tabs on short-term home-rental activity. As the effects of the coronavirus pandemic tear through budgets, some localities hope the tools can identify tax-revenue opportunities.

Funds

Xfund raised $120 million for its third fund to continue investing in university-based entrepreneurs. The early-stage venture firm was founded in 2012 as a collaboration between Harvard University, New Enterprise Associates and Breyer Capital. The Palo Alto, Calif.- and Cambridge, Mass.-based firm recently participated in funding rounds for 401(k) plan provider Guideline and fertility products startup Natalist.

China Creation Ventures secured $116 million for its second fund, according to a regulatory filing. The Beijing-based firm’s portfolio includes credit evaluation provider IceKredit Inc., intelligent driving startup Cowarobot and robotic arm maker Hitbot.

People

Advanced Micronutrition, provider of a food program that supports gut health, appointed Faith Son as chief executive. She was previously group vice president and head of global marketing and innovation at PureCircle. Advanced Micronutrition is backed by KEEN Growth Capital.

Exits

Digital marketer Episerver Inc. agreed to acquire peer company Optimizely for an undisclosed amount. In June 2019, San Francisco-based Optimizely raised $105 million in equity and debt funding from Goldman Sachs Private Capital Investing, Accenture Ventures and Bridge Bank. Insight Partners purchased a majority stake in Nashua, N.H.-based Episerver in 2018 in a deal that valued the company at $1.16 billion.

Lodo Therapeutics Corp., a startup that identifies natural compounds directly from microbial DNA in soil, acquired Hibiskus BioPharma Inc., developer of a novel small-molecule cancer therapy, for an undisclosed sum. Lodo is based in New York and is backed by investors including Arch Venture Partners, Alexandria Venture Investments, Pfizer Inc., AbbVie Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co. Hibiskus was established with support from Spartan Innovations and Red Cedar Ventures.

Rain Therapeutics Inc., a Newark, Calif.-based developer of small molecule therapeutics for patients with cancer, closed a $63 million Series B round led by Boxer Capital. New investors Cormorant Asset Management, Samsara BioCapital, Janus Henderson Investors and Logos Capital also participated in the funding, along with existing backers including BVF Partners and Perceptive Advisors.

Miracor Medical SA, a Belgian developer of technology for the treatment of severe cardiac diseases, completed a €24 million ($28.4 million) Series E round from investors including Yonghua Capital, Earlybird, Noshaq, Quest for Growth, SFPI-FPIM and SRIW.

Conversica Inc., a Foster City, Calif.-based provider of intelligent virtual assistants for businesses, raised $20 million in Series D funding. Hollyport Capital led the round, which included participation from previous investors Providence Strategic Growth, Toba Capital and Savano Capital Partners.

ENvizion Medical, a Tel Aviv-based provider of feeding tube placement devices, picked up an $18 million investment from the Technion Venture Capital fund and others.

Cloudentity Inc., a Seattle-based provider of application security and authorization services, landed $13 million in Series A financing. ForgePoint Capital led the round, and was joined by WestWave Capital. Sean Cunningham, managing director at ForgePoint, will join the company’s board.

Hypatos, a Germany- and Poland-based startup whose technology automates financial document processing, snagged a €10 million ($11.8 million) investment from Blackfin Tech, Grazia Equity, UVC Partners and Plug & Play Ventures.

Moteefe, a London-based ecommerce platform for the on-demand production of merchandise, secured an $11 million funding round. New investor BGF led the financing, which included participation from existing backers including Gresham House Ventures and Force Over Mass Capital.

Demodesk, a San Francisco- and Munich-based startup providing an online meeting tool for sales and customer service teams, nabbed an $8 million Series A round. Balderton Capital led the investment, with participation from Target Global.

PeaTos, a Los Angeles-based snack brand containing peas and other natural ingredients, raised $7 million in Series A financing led by Jackson Springs Management Partners and Connetic Ventures. Greg Pearlman of Jackson Springs joins the board.

ThruWave Inc., a Seattle-based 3-D imaging startup, was seeded with a $6.4 million investment. E14 Fund and Ubiquity Ventures led the round, with additional participation from Root Ventures, Blue Sky Capital, WRF Capital, Tsingyuan Ventures and In-Q-Tel.

Aspinity, a Pittsburgh-based startup developing ultra-low-power analog machine learning processors, secured a $5.3 million Series A round. Anzu Partners led the investment and was joined by Amazon’s Alexa Fund, Birchmere Ventures, Mountain State Capital and Riverfront Ventures. Jimmy Kan, principal at Anzu, joined the board.

• Apple delays privacy change amid app publishers’ concerns
   
• Chief executives face rising accountability for cyber lapses
   
• Facebook to limit political ads week before election, label premature calls
   
• Cable, satellite operators place new bets on 5G airwaves
   

• Rocket Lab secretly launched its very first satellite, ‘First Light’ (TechCrunch)
   
• The Linux Foundation became a force in enterprise technology. Is that a problem? (Protocol)
   
• Bill Ackman says he held early talks to take Airbnb, Stripe public (Bloomberg)

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, Tomio Geron, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

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