Good day. As supply-chain issues become dinner table conversation this holiday season, it’s worth examining which venture firms are leading the charge to introduce startup innovation.

This year, venture investors poured $24.3 billion over 628 deals into supply-chain tech startups through Sept. 30, eclipsing last year’s total amount of $15.4 billion, according to a report published last week by analytics firm PitchBook Data Inc., which looked at financings at all stages into supply-chain tech startups that included at least some venture backing. Last year notched 680 such deals.

“Everyone is being impacted by supply-chain disruptions, and that has opened a lot of investors’ eyes to the technology gap in supply chains,” said PitchBook senior analyst Asad Hussain.

Here are the firms that have completed the most financings into supply-chain startups since 2019:

• Alumni Ventures Group
   
• Tiger Global Management
   
• 8VC
   
• Gaingels 
   
• SoftBank Investment Advisers

The venture arms of shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and industrial real-estate firm Prologis Inc. were also among the top investors in the sector, according to the report.

And now on to the news...

Digital health. Vinehealth Digital, a U.K.-based startup seeking to help drugmakers gain a better understanding of cancer patients’ experience with their medications, has raised $5.5 million as it plans to expand in the U.S., WSJ Pro’s Brian Gormley reports.

• Drugmakers aim to collect a variety of data about how their medications affect patients in clinical trials and in real-world settings outside of clinical research. That information can help them develop better treatments or support patients after a drug is launched. Vinehealth, which says it supplies patient-reported outcome data to drugmakers such as Novartis AG, provides a digital alternative to paper surveys that have been used to collect such information.
   
• Vinehealth has developed an app patients use when they join a clinical trial or other research study. Through the app, patients input information on issues such as symptoms and side effects, as well as their diet, exercise and sleep. This information is shared with their consent with their doctor and, in aggregated form, with the pharmaceutical company.

Providence Strategic Growth Capital Partners, or PSG, has returned to the fundraising trail with plans to raise €2 billion, equivalent to about $2.26 billion, to back investments in European software and technology-enabled companies, people familiar with the firm say. The new fund, Providence Strategic Growth Europe II LP, is at least the fourth fund that the Boston-based firm has raised or sought to raise this year as investor appetite for private equity has put the industry on track for a record fundraising year, Preeti Singh writes for WSJ Pro.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s resignation letter included some parting words of caution: Being “founder-led,” he wrote, can be “severely limiting and a single point of failure” for a business, WSJ reports. The advice probably fell on deaf ears. As Mr. Dorsey wrote: “There aren’t many founders who choose their company over their own ego.” And, in another sign that irony is dead, he remains chief executive of payments company Square Inc., soon to be known as Block, which he co-founded in 2009.

Concerns about a new Covid-19 variant are prompting some U.S. businesses to double down on vaccine mandates and to rethink hosting holiday festivities this month, while many others are taking a wait-and-see approach as they look to government agencies for more guidance, WSJ reports. Since the discovery of the Omicron coronavirus variant was disclosed last week, much about it remains unknown. Scientists are racing to determine how it differs from other variants in its spread and response to vaccines, treatments and past infections. The World Health Organization has declared Omicron a “variant of concern,” indicating it carries higher risks than other virus strains. Meanwhile, the U.S. has now found multiple cases of the Omicron variant. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending everyone 18 years old and older get a booster shot after completing a first course of Covid-19 vaccination.

Allegion Ventures raised $100 million for its second fund, double the amount secured for its inaugural vehicle back in 2018. The new fund will continue to focus on technology and software investments in internet-of-things and data security, building analytics, construction lifecycle management and property management. Bobby Prostko, who joined Allegion Ventures in 2018, was named managing director for Fund II.

Isotropic Systems, a provider of satellite antenna technology for mobile and high-throughput satellite applications, named Dara McCann to the post of chief people officer. She previously held positions at O3b and SES Networks. U.K.-based Isotropic Systems is backed by investors including Boeing HorizonX Global Ventures, Promus Ventures, Orbital Ventures and Seraphim Capital.

Everphone, a Berlin-based subscription service that supplies, updates, repairs, replaces and recycles mobile devices for enterprise customers, scored $200 million in Series C and debt financing led by Cadence Growth Capital.

LingoAce, a Singapore-based Mandarin Chinese language learning platform, closed a $105 million Series C round. Sequoia Capital India led the round, which included participation from Owl Ventures and Shunwei Capital. Sequoia India’s Abheek Anand and Owl Ventures’ Ian Chiu will join the company’s board.

Glorify, a London-based worship app for Christians, completed a $40 million Series A round. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, which included contributions from SoftBank Latin America Fund and K5 Global. Individual investors Kris Jenner, Corey Gamble, Michael Ovitz, Michael Bublé and Jason Derulo also participated in the investment.

Simpl, an India-based cardless payment network provider, secured $40 million in Series B financing. Valar Ventures and IA Ventures led the investment, with additional participation from LFH Ventures and others.

Tune Therapeutics Inc., a startup creating epi-therapeutic medicines, launched with $40 million in funding. New Enterprise Associates and Emerson Collective co-led the round, which saw participation from Hatteras Venture Partners, Mission BioCapital and others.

Engage3, a retail pricing analytics software startup based in Davis, Calif., and Scottsdale, Ariz., closed a $30 million Series D round. Arrowroot Capital led the investment, which included support from Sweetwater Private Equity and Black Diamond Ventures. Arrowroot Capital’s Matthew Safaii and Doug Bewsher, managing partner and entrepreneur-in-residence, respectively, will join the board.

Sounding Board Inc., an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based leadership coaching platform, landed $30 million in Series B funding. JAZZ Venture Partners led the round, which included additional support from Canaan, Bloomberg Beta, Correlation Partners, Gaingels and Engage. John Spinale, managing partner at JAZZ Venture Partners, joined the board.

Uniform Systems Inc., a digital experience platform startup, raised a $28 million Series A round. Insight Partners led the funding, which saw participation from Elad Gil and Array Ventures. Teddie Wardi, managing director at Insight Partners, will join the board.

Frontegg, a Tel Aviv-based user-management platform, snagged $25 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round, with Managing Director Praveen Akkiraju joining the board.

Kasada, a New York- and Sydney-based startup that defends against advanced bot attacks, grabbed a $23 million Series C round. Lead investor StepStone Group was joined by Ten Eleven Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Reinventure, Our Innovation Fund and Turnbull & Partners in the funding.

TextUs, a Boulder, Colo.-based text messaging platform for businesses, collected $22 million in Series C financing. Lead investor Eastside Partners was joined by Access Venture Partners in the round.

Nabla Bio Inc., a Boston-based antibody design company, was seeded with an $11 million investment. Co-led by Khosla Ventures and Zetta Venture Partners, the round included participation from Fifty Years, Cantos Ventures and others.

Vinehealth, a London-based digital health platform that seeks to improve the quality of life and outcomes of cancer patients, raised $5.5 million in seed funding. Talis Capital led the funding, which included contributions from Playfair Capital and Ascension.

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• Medical records data offers doctors hope of better patient care
   
• Twitter CEO shakes up leadership team to spur change
   
• All Pinterest wants for Christmas is users

• The inside story of a scorched-earth breakup between two founder friends (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.