PreIPO INTELLI™ Weekly Insights | Series 34
Friday, May 26, 2023 | Volume 1 Series 34 | Recent Funding Overview, JP Morgan making its own AI, and a recap of acquisitions in 2023
Greetings and Happy Friday to all! As yet another week swiftly passes, we are thrilled to present the latest batch of news and updates through the esteemed INTELLI™ Newsletter. We have a summary of some recent startup funding, news on JP Morgans upcoming investment AI tool, and an overview of acquisitions in 2023.
🔎 Recent Funding Recap
Novisto - $20 million in Series B funding
Industry: ESG data management provider
Overview: Novisto, an ESG data management provider, has secured $20 million in Series B funding led by Inovia Capital. As an enterprise software provider, Novisto focuses on enhancing corporate sustainability management. Its platform empowers organizations to derive value from their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies, data, and reporting. The funding round includes participation from Portage Ventures, SCOR Ventures, and existing investors White Star Capital and Diagram Ventures. With the funding, Novisto aims to strengthen and enhance its ESG data management solutions, supporting the growing development of ESG tech stacks.
Sekoia.io - €35 million in Series A funding
Industry: European cybersecurity firm
Overview: Sekoia.io, a European cybersecurity firm, has raised a record-breaking €35 million in Series A funding for its XDR platform. Specializing in cybersecurity consulting, Sekoia.io offers an eXtended Detection & Response (XDR) platform that detects cyberattacks in real-time. The funding round features participation from Banque des Territoires, Bright Pixel (formerly Sonae IM), Omnes Capital, Seventure, and BNP Paribas Dévelopement. This significant funding amount marks a record for a European cybersecurity company in a Series A round. With the raised capital, Sekoia.io aims to further enhance its XDR platform and expand its market presence, solidifying its position as a leading cybersecurity firm.
Incredo (formerly DouxMatok) - $30 million in Series C funding
Industry: Food-tech company
Overview: Incredo, formerly known as DouxMatok, has raised $30 million in Series C funding to support its enhanced sugar commercialization efforts. As a food-tech company, Incredo specializes in developing proprietary technology that enriches the sweetness of sugars without any aftertaste, allowing for a significant reduction in sugar consumption while maintaining the full "sugar experience." The Series C funding round is led by dsm-firmenich Venturing and Sienna Venture Capital. Notable participants include strategic commercial partners like Ferrero, as well as new investors such as Teseo Capital. The funding will be utilized to drive research, development, and commercialization efforts for Incredo's flagship product, Incredo® Sugar.
Stride - US$2 million in seed funding
Industry: Cleantech startup
Overview: Stride, a Vietnamese cleantech startup, has raised US$2 million in seed funding to drive its sustainable solutions. The company is dedicated to developing and providing innovative technologies and solutions that promote sustainability across various industries. The seed funding round enables Stride to kickstart its operations and scale its business activities. With the raised capital, Stride plans to enhance its product development, expand its customer base, and strengthen its market presence in the cleantech sector. The funding will also contribute to supporting the company's mission of fostering environmental sustainability and creating a positive impact on the planet.
SkorLife - $4 million in seed funding
Industry: Indonesian fintech startup
Overview: SkorLife, an Indonesian fintech startup, has secured $4 million in seed funding backed by Hummingbird Ventures and QED Investors. The company specializes in providing innovative financial technology solutions to empower individuals and businesses in Indonesia. The seed funding round will enable SkorLife to further develop its fintech products and expand its reach in the Indonesian market. With the support of Hummingbird Ventures and QED Investors, SkorLife aims to enhance financial inclusivity, improve access to financial services, and drive economic growth by leveraging the power of technology in the fintech space.
Sastrify - $32 million in Series B funding
Industry: SaaS procurement platform
Overview: Sastrify, a SaaS procurement platform, has successfully secured $32 million in Series B funding to fuel its global expansion. The platform streamlines the management of SaaS tools for finance and tech teams, automating tasks such as renewal dates and supplier communication. The funding round is led by Endeit Capital, with contributions from Simon Capital, HV Capital, FirstMark Capital, and TriplePoint Capital. With the raised capital, Sastrify plans to expand its team in the United States and Europe and accelerate product development, catering to the needs of mid-market and enterprise customers. Sastrify aims to provide its clients with a significant return on investment (ROI) while minimizing their effort.
🪙 JPMorgan is developing an AI service for investment advice
JPMorgan Chase is developing a software service similar to ChatGPT that utilizes disruptive artificial intelligence to assist customers in selecting investments. The company has applied for a trademark for the product called IndexGPT. IndexGPT will leverage cloud computing software with artificial intelligence to analyze and tailor securities to meet customer needs. The success of OpenAI's ChatGPT technology has prompted widespread adoption of artificial intelligence across industries, including finance. While other banks have tested similar technologies internally, JPMorgan aims to be the first to offer a GPT-like product directly to customers. The filing specifies that IndexGPT will utilize the same AI flavor as ChatGPT, powered by Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models. JPMorgan's move raises concerns among financial advisors about potential job displacement. The bank declined to comment. Despite fears, technology disruption in the advisory sector has not significantly materialized. JPMorgan, with its substantial team of data scientists and machine-learning engineers, is actively exploring various applications of GPT technology in its operations to deliver value for the firm. Read more about their plans here.
🤝 Notable tech Acquisitions in 2023
Despite a slowdown in the latter part of 2022, there was an 8% increase in mergers and acquisitions involving 1,837 enterprise software companies compared to the previous year, according to Hampleton Partners. The share of acquisitions made by private equity firms dropped to 36%, the lowest in six years, due to rising interest rates that discourage debt-leveraged deals. However, private equity firms were responsible for two significant acquisitions in 2023: Silver Lake's $12.5 billion purchase of Qualtrics and Thomas Bravo's $8 billion deal for Coupa Software.
Based on the number of deals up until September 2022, Hampleton Partners predicted a 19% increase in merger activity for the full year compared to 2021, with larger deals and higher valuations. A survey by Morrison Foerster revealed that 80% of private equity firms and 71% of corporates expect tech M&A deal volumes to rise in the next 12 months. The survey also indicated that AI would be the hottest market sector for deals, with 51% of respondents expressing interest, followed by the cloud sector favored by 31%.
Here are some notable tech mergers and acquisitions from this year:
January:
Dell acquired Cloudify to reenter the cloud software business.
McKinsey purchased Iguazio, a developer of machine learning operations platforms.
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise acquired Pachyderm, a provider of data pipeline automation tools for machine learning development.
IonQ acquired Entangled Networks, a software optimization tools developer for quantum computers.
Thirdera acquired SilverStorm Solutions, expanding its ServiceNow solutions reach in Europe.
February:
Thomas Bravo acquired Coupa Software for $8 billion, with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority taking a minority stake.
Rocket Software acquired Key Resources, strengthening its mainframe security capabilities.
Quantexa acquired Aylien, a natural language processing firm specializing in risk management and market insight.
March:
Silver Lake acquired Qualtrics for $12.5 billion, with SAP remaining a go-to-market partner.
Quantive purchased OKR consulting firm AuxinOKR to support enterprises using its strategy execution platform.
Matrix SCM acquired Security Watchdog from Capita, consolidating its employment screening services.
April:
Ciphr acquired Marshall E-learning to enhance its diversity and inclusion training offerings.
As always, stay tuned for more updates and insights from the team at INTELLI™.