Good day. Switzerland-based Privilège Ventures is taking on the funding gap that leaves female startup founders receiving less than male counterparts. This month, the venture-capital firm announced a new fund with 20 million Swiss francs, equivalent to $21.2 million, to invest in European early-stage startups led by women. We discussed the funding gap, which persists despite growing evidence that female-led companies earn more for investors than those led by men, with Jacqueline Ruedin Rüsch, Privilège’s founding general partner.

Why do you think female-led startups perform better than those led by men?

We have seen in our female-led companies that often they are better at executing and better at listening to advice to surround themselves with a management and board team with complementary skills.

Will the fund invest in mixed leadership teams?

We aren’t looking only at all-female teams. It can be one man and one female running the company. It can be the male as CEO and the female as CTO or vice versa. But it has to have a female with a strong ownership stake in the company and the power to decide.

How early-stage is the fund aiming to be?

The idea is to start as early as possible. We are looking at even pre-seed rounds. The idea is the initial ticket will be 250,000 [Swiss francs] and then we will top up for a couple of rounds the best performing companies. The idea is to build up a portfolio of between 15 and 20 companies.

I imagine you’d like to see more funds focusing on investing in female-led companies, but is there a downside since more investors means more competition?

Competition creates a better ecosystem. If you look at Silicon Valley, you have a lot of competition, a lot of funds. The best ones get the best deals, but then they create a better ecosystem. If you have a company building from the seed stage until the exit, you need to have investors that are going to bet along the way. We might bet more on the seed stage, but then you need investors that are going to back series A rounds.

And now on to the news...

Hope springs eternal. Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, thinks he can raise enough money to make users whole, according to people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports. He spent the past weekend calling around in search of commitments from investors to plug a shortfall of up to $8 billion. The efforts have so far been unsuccessful. Before the chapter 11 filing, Mr. Bankman-Fried spoke to companies including rival crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken, plus hedge funds and venture-capital investors in the hope of a bailout, according to people familiar with those talks. FTX’s most recent funding round was in January, when it raised $400 million from a long list of Silicon Valley and Wall Street names, including Tiger Global and SoftBank Group Corp.

The bankruptcy of FTX, one of the highest-valued startups in the cryptocurrency market, is bringing new attention to the corporate governance of these blockchain companies. But venture investors say cultural norms in the crypto market and other obstacles will make oversight difficult to implement, Yuliya Chernova and Angus Loten report for WSJ Pro. “Many crypto entrepreneurs look at governance with disdain,” said Salil Deshpande, general partner at Uncorrelated Ventures, an early-stage investment firm that sometimes invests in the crypto sector.

More:

FTX in Contact With Prosecutors, Bankruptcy May Touch One Million
Binance Chief Changpeng Zhao Scrambles to Shore Up Crypto
BlockFi Prepares for Potential Bankruptcy as Crypto Contagion Spreads

Israeli venture-capital firm OurCrowd is investing tens of millions of dollars to start an artificial-intelligence business in the United Arab Emirates, in the latest sign of deepening commercial ties between the two neighbors after they established diplomatic relations two years ago, WSJ reports.

Energy Impact Partners raised $485 million for a new fund to invest in technologies that help reduce carbon emissions, including corporate capital from companies such as software giant Microsoft Corp., pipeline operator Williams Cos. and electric utility Duke Energy Corp., WSJ Pro reports. The New York venture-investment firm exceeded its $350 million target for EIP Deep Decarbonization Frontier Fund I LP, said Partner Shayle Kann.

Funds

Middle East and North Africa-focused Modus will expand into Sub-Saharan Africa with the launch of a $75 million fund that will invest in artificial intelligence and blockchain technology startups across the continent. The new vehicle will close early next year and will back 45 companies.

Lisbon-based Indico Capital Partners launched a €25 million opportunity fund to invest in the most promising four to five companies from its debut €54 million fund raised in 2019.

People

Startup studio super{set} appointed Jon Suarez-Davis as chief commercial officer. He was previously senior vice president for marketing strategy and innovation at Salesforce.

Data security provider Lacework named Meagen Eisenberg to the post of chief marketing officer. She previously held the same position at TripActions and MongoDB. Last November, Lacework said it landed a $1.3 billion investment from investors including Tiger Global Management, Sutter Hill Ventures, D1 Capital Partners, Altimeter and General Catalyst.

Cybersecurity startup Cyberpion appointed Ido Samson as chief revenue officer. He was most recently vice president of sales at Hysolate. In March, Cyberpion said it secured a $27 million Series A round from U.S. Venture Partners, Team8 and Hyperwise Ventures.

Exits

Opn, a payments company serving Japan and Southeast Asia, will expand into the U.S. with its acquisition of MerchantE. Terms weren’t disclosed. Based in Tokyo, Opn is backed by Toyota Financial Services Corp. and SCB 10X.

Payscale Inc., a provider of compensation data, software and services, is adding dynamic offers and total rewards capabilities with its purchase of Agora Solutions Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Francisco Partners acquired a majority stake in Payscale in 2019. Agora is listed in the portfolios of Better Tomorrow Ventures, Bling Capital and CRV.

WekaIO Inc., a data management provider, scored $135 million in Series D funding. Generation Investment Management led the round, which included participation from 10D, Atreides Management, Celesta Capital, Gemini Israel Ventures, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi Ventures, Key1 Capital, Lumir Ventures, Micron Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, MoreTech Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Nvidia, Qualcomm Ventures and Samsung Catalyst Fund.

Contentstack Inc., a San Francisco-based content experience platform, secured $80 million in Series C financing. Georgian and Insight Partners co-led the round, which saw additional participation from Illuminate Ventures. Georgian’s Emily Walsh will join the company’s board.

Attabotics, a Canada-based 3D robotics supply-chain startup, raised $71.7 million in Series C1 funding. Led by Export Development Canada, the round included participation from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board’s Teachers’ Venture Growth.

Dandelion Energy, a Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based residential geothermal company, closed a $70 million Series B1 round. The corporate venture arm of Lennar and NGP ETP co-led the funding, which included additional support from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, GV, Collaborative Fund and Building Ventures.

Akeyless, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity startup, landed $65 million in Series B funding. NGP Capital led the round, which saw participation from Team8 and Jerusalem Venture Partners.

Descript, a San Francisco-based video and audio editor startup, collected $50 million in Series C funding. Lead investor OpenAI Startup Fund was joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures and Spark Capital in the round.

MotherDuck, a data analytics platform based on open-source database DuckDB, raised $47.5 million across two funding rounds at a $175 million valuation. The $35 million Series A investment was led by Andreessen Horowitz, while Redpoint Ventures was lead investor in the seed round. Additional MotherDuck backers include Madrona, Amplify Partners and Altimeter.

WeaveGrid, a software company building data products to enable rapid electric vehicle adoption, snagged $35 million in Series B financing led by Salesforce Ventures. New investors Activate Capital, Collaborative Fund, Emerson Collective and MCJ Collective also joined the round, along with previous backers Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Coatue Management, Grok Ventures and The Westly Group.

WeGift, a London-based digital rewards startup, completed a £26 million (about $31 million) Series B round. Lead investor Element Ventures was joined by Clocktower Ventures, Volution Capital, CommerzVentures, AlbionVC and SAP in the funding.

Pickle Robot Co., a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of robotic automation systems that unload trucks, fetched $26 million in Series A funding from investors including Ranpak, JS Capital, Schusterman Family Investments and Catapult Ventures. Omar Asali, chairman and chief executive of Ranpak, joined the board.

Cloudbrink, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of connectivity and security technology to hybrid workforces, grabbed $25 million in funding co-led by Highland Capital Partners and The Fabric.

Impulse, a home appliance electrification startup, launched with $20 million in Series A funding. Josh Wolfe at Lux Capital led the round, which included support from Fifth Wall, Lachy Groom and Construct Capital.

• Auto makers shift to lower-cost batteries for electric vehicles
   
• Meta, Lyft, and other tech firms dump office space as they downsize
   
• Activist investor TCI calls on Google parent Alphabet to slash costs
   
• Tesla chair testifies in Elon Musk's compensation trial
   
• Apple’s iPhone 14 satellite emergency SOS is live. You’ll hopefully never use it

• Bling Capital, avoiding crypto bets, pulls in capital for two new funds (TechCrunch)
   
• FTX collapse will reverberate throughout VC world for a long time (Crunchbase News)
   
• Russian software disguised as American finds its way into U.S. Army, CDC apps (Reuters)

This newsletter was compiled by Eric Sylvers 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, Angus Loten, Eric Sylvers and Marc Vartabedian.

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