LaunchBay Capital is a venture capital firm that specializes in providing early-stage funding and support to technology startups. The company is focused on helping entrepreneurs build successful companies through capital investment and strategic guidance.

Launchbay Capital

LaunchBay Capital

LaunchBay is a venture firm specialising in FinTech Infrastructure, B2B Software, and AI applications, investing in companies at the point where they have demonstrated product-market fit and are ready to scale. With headquarters in London, UK, and Tel Aviv, Israel, Launchbay has built a global presence with strong connections in the local ecosystems in which the team operates and an active investment and portfolio construction approach.   
Launchbay supports technology companies across three main pillars:
- a flagship access fund for early-stage investments, 
- a growth fund for selected later-stage opportunities, 
and 
- a proprietary digital investment platform that facilitates primary and secondary deals across various stages
Data-driven decision-making is a key aspect, where we utilize algorithms and scoring within the platform to address industry-wide challenges related to access and liquidity.   
Launchbay takes a particular interest in founders with an immigrant background because we recognize the distinct perspective, drive, and ambition that often accompany building successful businesses outside of one's home country. We believe in the success stories of the vision, capabilities, and growth potential demonstrated by founders with this type of experience.

What a varied week in major investment rounds! 

👉 This week we've seen a mix of sectors including AI, biotech, robotics, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, commerce, fintech, transportation, energy, and hospitality - a refreshing return to normality.

In IPO-related news, security firm Claroty is eyeing a potential 2025 IPO, targeting a valuation of $3.5 billion, while currently being valued at $1.8 billion by the Launchbay platform. This presents an interesting opportunity for pre-IPO investors at a notable discount.

Cyera, with its $300 million Series C funding, now boasts a valuation of $1.4 billion. The company's AI technology helps enterprises pinpoint the exact locations of data within their networks to avert unauthorized use.

Monad Labs recently secured $225 million, working on a blockchain layer that's compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), simplifying the transition of apps built for Ethereum.

HYSETCO has raised $218 million, which will fund the addition of 10 hydrogen refueling stations to support its fleet of over 500 hydrogen-powered taxis in Paris.

TORL BioTherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech firm, raised $158 million in its series B2 round.

Commerce startup Flip raised $144 million in a Series B round to offer a social media-style shopping platform where users can explore product video reviews and make purchases.

Guesty, which provides online tools for accommodation management, has secured $130 million in a Series F round. The company's revenue has increased fivefold in the last three years, and it expects to reach profitability later this year.

Platform Science raised $125 million, enhancing connected vehicle solutions through its Virtual Vehicle platform that offers direct access to real-time vehicle data.

Parafin, catering to small businesses with embedded lending solutions, secured a $125 million warehouse facility from Silicon Valley Bank.

Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd., specializing in wind and solar power, raised $117 million. The Sungrow subsidiary now has a valuation of $2.8 billion.

Mews, offering a cloud-based hotel management system out of Prague, raised $110 million in a Series D round, bringing its valuation to $1.2 billion.

Together AI, an open-source generative AI firm, secured $106 million in funding, having launched its Series A just four months ago. The company is now valued at $1.3 billion.

FloQast, which provides workflow automation tools for the CFO’s office, completed a $100 million Series E round, reaching a valuation of $1.6 billion.

#InvestmentTrends #StartupFunding #TechInnovation #IPOWatch #ArtificialIntelligence #Biotech #BlockchainTechnology #CyberSecurity #Fintech #GreenEnergy #HospitalityIndustry #Transportation #Commerce #VentureCapital #BusinessGrowth

Check out Family Office Magazine Spring 2024 Issue (page 45) where Launchbay Capital shared how the secondary market is surging and becoming an attractive investment opportunity, driving valuation and the future of growth investing for family offices. Within, Alan Vaksman highlighted insights on how growing data, awareness and accessibility has driven significant opportunities that can be accessed through tactical investments in private secondary markets. #familyofficemag #familyoffice #familyofficenews #familyofficemagazine #tymurphy #UHNWI #wealth

Read Alan's article here: https://lnkd.in/dgssnyUF

Myths Around Secondary Funds in PE and VC

Secondary funds offer a different pathway for investors to enter PE and VC, and existing investors and other shareholders to get liquidity, but they're surrounded by lack of understanding of their true  function. Some common misconceptions:

👉Myth 1: Secondary Funds Are Second-Rate Investments

One of the most strange myths is that secondary funds are somehow inferior to primary investments. In reality, secondary funds can offer higher returns, especially in growth investing , often with lower risk and shorter holding periods. They provide liquidity in markets that are traditionally illiquid, benefiting both sellers and buyers.

👉Myth 2: Lack of Growth Potential

Another misconception is that secondary funds lack growth potential because they invest in mature assets. These funds identify special situations and undervalued assets with significant upside, thus providing substantial growth opportunities as not only purely dependent on the company growth but also specific price arbitrage. 

👉Myth 3: Only for Distressed Assets

Some believe secondary funds are exclusively for distressed assets or failing ventures. While distressed assets can be part of the mix, most secondary transactions involve healthy, growing companies that are seeking alternative liquidity solutions or portfolio adjustments.

☝️Understanding the nuances is key . The evil is in the detail: specialisation of each fund. Focus, duration , and exit strategy are all key.📈

How to Engage in IPO Bingo This Week?

We're analyzing the secondary market price trends of Reddit and Astera Labs to forecast the potential premium for Rubrik's IPO.

🚴‍♂️ Rubrik has officially submitted a registration statement to the SEC for its forthcoming IPO of Class A common stock. Rubrik delivers a single software platform to manage and protect data in the cloud. Although the exact number of shares and their price range remain undecided, heavyweight financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and Citigroup USA Inc. have been roped in to oversee the offering process. 

🏆 Drawing parallels from the IPOs of Reddit, Inc. and Astera Labs, which saw a considerable surge in value, there's anticipation that Rubrik's offering could command a substantial premium over its present secondary market valuation.

As of today, Rubrik boasts a valuation of $5.5 billion, according to the Launchbay platform's pricing tool, with a valuation-to-revenue multiple of 9. 

In recent private funding news, Wonder, a food delivery company, secured the largest round of funding, amassing $700 million. 

💰 The biotech sector witnessed a flurry of activity last week with numerous noteworthy funding rounds. Mirador Therapeutics debuted with a substantial $400 million in Series A financing, aiming to revolutionize precision medicine with its innovations in genetics and machine learning, specifically targeting chronic inflammation and fibrotic diseases. 

Alumis followed closely, raising $259 million in a Series C round to further its mission of developing oral treatments for immune-mediated diseases. 

Sionna Therapeutics announced securing $182 million in Series C funding, dedicated to the advancement of treatments for cystic fibrosis through the clinical development of small molecules designed to restore the functionality of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein. 

Engrail Therapeutics also made headlines by closing a $157 million Series B round to push forward its clinical development efforts in addressing neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Axonius, a startup specializing in cybersecurity and SaaS asset management, has successfully closed a $200 million Series E extension round. The significance of asset management continues to grow for companies seeking comprehensive visibility into their assets to identify and address security vulnerabilities, risks, misconfigurations, and inefficiencies in cost. 

🚕 Applied Intuition, a trailblazer in software development for autonomous vehicles, recently secured a Series E funding round of $250 million, catapulting the company's valuation to $6 billion. By harnessing the power of generative AI, Applied Intuition aids its clients in developing sophisticated driver-assistance systems and fully automated driving technologies. 

#RubrikIPO #Wonder #BiotechInnovation #MiradorTherapeutics #Alumis #SionnaTherapeutics #EngrailTherapeutics  #Axonius #AppliedIntuition #GenerativeAI



March 2024 Market Insights: Spotlight on Liquidity in Overlooked and Underlooked Sectors

Gen AI companies, early stage companies and non-US companies


#LiquidityInsights #OverlookedSectors #UnderappreciatedMarkets #GenAI #EarlyStageGrowth #GlobalCompanies #March2024Update #LaunchbayInsights #SecondaryTrading #InvestmentTrends #ArtificialIntelligence #FintechInnovation #PaymentSolutions #BidAskRatios #NonUSMarkets #PriceMovements #MarketDynamics

Eyeing Anthropic? We get it.

Still, here are this week’s top AI investments with semiconductors, vertical AI, and non-AI deals.

Amazon has made a significant move by investing an additional $2.75 billion in the AI startup Anthropic, elevating its total investment to an impressive $4 billion. Anthropic led the pack in March as the most traded company on the Launchbay platform.

In another notable development, Celestial AI secured $175 million in Series C funding. The company's pioneering photonic fabric platform aims to revolutionize AI processing by efficiently decoupling computation and storage.

Perplexity AI is on the brink of completing a funding round anticipated to catapult the company into the unicorn status with a valuation close to $1 billion. 

Meanwhile, The Brandtech Group has successfully raised $115 million in Series C funding, leveraging AI to enhance marketing strategies with machine-generated content.

FundGuard attracted $100 million in new funding, employing AI to optimize investment accounting for asset managers.

In the biotech sector, Avenzo Therapeutics has made headlines with a $150 million Series A-1 round, aiming to progress its oncology treatments, including a promising approach for metastatic breast cancer and other advanced solid tumors. 

Observe.AI, a data observation firm, raised $115 million in Series B funding, valuing the company between $400 million and $500 million.

Cybersecurity for small and medium-sized businesses got a boost with Coro securing $100 million in Series D funding. 

Israeli BigID announced a $60 million funding round, valuing the company at over $1 billion as it achieves $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). BigID is at the forefront of developing data security and compliance solutions, recently enhancing its offerings with new data hygiene features for the generative AI data pipeline.

Lightshift Energy (previously Delorean Power) has confirmed a $100 million investment to support its energy storage projects targeting public power, investor-owned utilities, and large corporate consumers in the U.S.

#AIInvestments #Semiconductors #VerticalAI #TechDeals #InvestmentOpportunities #StartupFunding #InnovationFinance #TechTrends #FinancialGrowth #EmergingTech

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