Good day. Last week, we asked how firms are managing soaring valuations in investing strategies.

• Sinewave Ventures founding partner Yanev Suissa said offering value-add services such as help with branding might incentivize entrepreneurs to compromise on valuation, but not by much. “Yes you can move earlier, but the best approach is probably to find and lasso the deal before the competition begins,” Mr. Suissa said.
   
• Initialized Capital general partner Alda Leu Dennis said the firm is adapting to the changing market, but has maintained discipline around its underwriting criteria and ownership percentages. In addition, Ms. Dennis said public company valuations are also going up, paving the way for them to also apply higher multiples when investing. “Luckily, the public market valuations of technology companies have been generous and so we can [compare] private companies to higher multiples when engaging in our underwriting exercise,” Ms. Dennis said.

This week’s question: What lessons are firms taking from the string of recent mega-profits that some firms are set to score from long-awaited high-profile exits?

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

And now on to the news...

Q&A with NEA. New Enterprise Associates managing general partner Scott Sandell spoke with WSJ Pro about the first quarter’s trends and what he sees ahead for the industry. NEA was an active investor in early 2021, participating in deals such as a $3.4 billion funding round for Robinhood Markets Inc. and a $1 billion round for Databricks Inc.

WSJ Pro: How are you guys navigating this high rise of valuations—are you pulling back on new deals and maybe shifting more to follow-on deals or even seed deals?

Mr. Sandell: Well, I think what you just said is the normal reaction, right, which is that if you’re a multistage firm and you see late-stage valuations go up, you go early. That playbook used to work pretty well in other cycles I’ve participated in. But early-stage valuations have gone up too at this point, so I don’t feel like there’s value based on stage really anywhere in the market.

Read more excerpts of the interview.

Blackstone Group Inc.’s growth investment arm is betting on a cybersecurity startup that uses artificial intelligence to detect and mitigate hacker attacks while they’re happening, WSJ Pro’s Laura Kreutzer reports. Backing the company through its Blackstone Growth strategy, the firm led a $130 million investment in Vectra AI Inc., a cloud-based cybersecurity technology company that uses AI to help organizations detect and counter cyberattacks within their networks while the intrusions are in progress. The investment valued the San Jose, Calif., company at about $1.2 billion.

• Existing investors in the company, including TCV, formerly known as Technology Crossover Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Accel also participated in the round, according to the company.

Wayne Ting, Lime’s chief executive officer, said the company will start with 100 mopeds in Queens, Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, with the aim of increasing to 500 vehicles in the weeks ahead. The company expects to expand to the Bronx soon after that.

Funds

San Francisco-based growth-stage investor Founders Circle Capital closed its third fund with $355 million in commitments. To date, the fund has backed companies including Robinhood, GitLab, Databricks, Attentive, StockX and Docusign.

Endeit Capital raised €250 million ($303 million) for its third fund, which will support companies accelerating Europe’s digital transformation. The firm has offices in Amsterdam and Hamburg.

CVS Health launched a $100 million venture capital fund focused on digital healthcare companies that are anchored in CVS Health's core strategy.

People

FUSE, which invests in Pacific Northwest-based business-to-business technology startups, named Brendan Wales as the firm’s third founding general partner. He previously spent nine years at e.ventures.

Austin, Texas-based Next Coast Ventures said Adam Rogers has joined as a partner. He was previously chief technology officer and chief executive of Ultimate Software.

On-demand last-mile delivery provider Dolly appointed Scott Porad as chief technology officer. He was previously vice president of product engineering at 98point6. Dolly’s investors include Unlock Venture Partners and Maveron.

Exits

International Business Machines Corp. agreed to acquire Turbonomic, a provider of application resource management and network performance management software, for an undisclosed amount. Boston-based Turbonomic has raised funding from investors including Bain Capital Ventures, General Atlantic, Globespan Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Iconiq Capital.

Materialise is acquiring additive manufacturing software developer Link3D for an undisclosed amount. AI Capital invested in a $7 million funding round raised by Link3D in 2019.

Software development tool provider SmartBear is adding application stability and error monitoring technology with an agreement to purchase Bugsnag Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Vista Equity Partners and Francisco Partners have equal ownership stakes in Somerville, Mass-based SmartBear. Bugsnag is backed by investors including GV, Matrix Partners and Benchmark.

Paxos, a New York-based regulated blockchain infrastructure platform, closed a $300 million Series D round at a valuation of $2.4 billion. Oak HC/FT led the investment, which included participation from previous backers Declaration Partners, PayPal Ventures, Mithril Capital, Senator Investment Group, Liberty City Ventures, WestCap Group and others.

TravelPerk, a Barcelona-based business-travel startup, raised $160 million in Series D equity and debt financing. Greyhound Capital led the round, with additional support from existing investors including Kinnevik, Felix Capital, Target Global, Spark Capital, Heartcore Capital, DST Global and LocalGlobe.

Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc., a Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based developer of gene therapies for debilitating and life-threatening genetic disorders, emerged from stealth with $140 million in funding, including a $50 million Series A round from Versant Ventures and Westlake Village BioPartners. The company also secured $90 million in equity upfront, in addition to potential future option, development and commercial milestone payments, in connection with a multi-year strategic collaboration with AbbVie.

Modern Meadow Inc., a Nutley, N.J.-based company that uses biofabrication to create sustainable materials, secured $130 million in Series C financing and appointed Anna Bakst as chief executive. Key Partners Capital led the round, with participation from Astanor Ventures, Horizons Ventures and Cape Capital. Ms. Bakst succeeds Andras Forgacs, and previously held positions at Kate Spade, Michael Kors and Donna Karan International.

Wasabi, a Boston-based startup offering cloud storage to businesses, grabbed $112 million in Series C funding led by Fidelity Management & Research Co. The new round roughly triples the company’s valuation since a $30 million round last May that was led by Forestay Capital.

Sera Prognostics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company focused on improving maternal and neonatal health by providing pregnancy biomarker information to doctors and patients, completed a $100 million Series E round from Anthem Inc., Blue Ox Healthcare Partners, Vivo Capital, aMoon Fund, Parian Global and others.

Alchemy, a San Francisco-based blockchain developer platform, snagged $80 million in Series B funding, giving the company a $500 million valuation. Coatue Management and Addition led the round, which included contributions from DFJ Growth, K5 Global, the Chainsmokers, Stanford University, Coinbase, Pantera Capital, SignalFire and Communitas Capital.

OpenClassrooms, a Paris-based provider of online education-to-employment programs, picked up $80 million in Series C funding. Lumos Capital Group led the investment, which saw additional participation from GSV Ventures, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Salesforce Ventures, General Atlantic and Bpifrance. Victor Hu, co-founder and managing partner of Lumos Capital, will join the board.

Solidia Technologies, a Piscataway, N.J.-based startup helping manufacturers produce building and construction materials using low-carbon cement and concrete, fetched $78 million in funding and named Bryan Kalbfleisch as chief executive. Imperative Ventures and Zero Carbon Partners led the round and were joined by CPP Investments, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, PIVA Capital, OGCI Climate Investments and others. Mr. Kalbfleisch joins Solidia from Summit Materials.

ElasticRun, an India-based provider of physical and digital services to small retail stores, raised a $75 million Series D round co-led by Prosus NV's ventures arm and Avataar Venture Partners, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Vivid Money, a Berlin-based personal banking and investment app, nabbed €60 million ($73 million) in Series B funding, bringing the company’s valuation to €360 million ($436 million). New investor Greenoaks Capital Partners led the round, which included participation from existing backer Ribbit Capital.

Locusview Inc., a Tel Aviv- and Chicago-based digital construction management platform for utilities, landed $64 million in Series A financing led by Israel Growth Partners.

Merama, a Latin America-focused ecommerce startup founded in December, secured $60 million in equity and $100 million in debt financing at a valuation of more than $200 million. Valor Capital, Monashees Capital, Balderton Capital and Triplepoint Capital were the investors. The company has headquarters in Mexico City and São Paulo.

• Amazon’s profit run continues, bolstered by sustained demand
   
• Elon Musk’s war on regulators
   
• Marketers plan study to shine light on the murky business of automated ad buying
   
• Video: Watch China launch the first module for its new space station
   
• WSJ.com turns 25

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.