Move into pole position with these four growth drivers

Hello from the UK! This week I’m in my second home of London (I’m a dual US and UK citizen) for the SVC2UK Summit participating in several events throughout the week and meeting with scale CEOs and female founders. If you’re here and part of the event, please reach out and let me know. I’d love to meet you!

💡 THIS MONTH: Reaching critical mass with key growth tactics

For the month of November, we are covering growth motions. Each week, we will highlight different growth tactics that can help your startup reach critical mass.

If you're just coming across the Startup Advocate for the first time, here's a quick recap of how it works (skip ahead if you already know the drill):

The first week of every month, we set a theme for the month with a longer-form article on our AWS Startups blog. We cover key topics that are fundamental to each stage of a startup's lifecycle. We started with idea creation and validation and each week we progress through to IPO and exit. This month, the theme is network effects as essential drivers of growth for most business models. You can check out the main article for this month below and last week’s installment here.

For the rest of the month, we take a closer look at one aspect of the broader theme as well as investor and founder spotlights on the topic. As always, each Startup Advocate gives you a full rundown on key events, resources, early-stage startup deal flow, new funds, new venture investment hires and appointments, and AWS Startups job postings.

We love celebrating the movers and shakers in the startup world! More importantly, we love supporting startups by helping them build on AWS while improving access to the capital and contacts they need to succeed! We hope you'll join us each week by sharing insights, resources, and tools on the monthly topic in the comments section or via direct message that will help elevate the entire startup ecosystem.

💡THIS WEEK: Move your startup into pole position with these four growth drivers

There is a wide range of growth loops, flywheels, and tactics to reach critical mass some of which are more effective at different stages of your startup's trajectory, so it’s important to test which ones might work best for your startup early on.

This week, we’ll be focusing on the Racecar Growth Framework, which was developed by Lenny Rachitsky. If you’re not already subscribed to his newsletter, I encourage you to subscribe today. His growth framework explains different ways a startup can grow—and how/when to implement each type of growth for maximum effectiveness. It’s helpful to keep these growth strategies in mind as you begin your journey. You will also want to refer to them later on if you feel that it’s time to refresh your startup’s growth plan and when your company’s growth has plateaued.

Types of growth:

• Growth engines
• Kickstarts
• Turbo boosts
• Lubricants
• Fuel
• Mid-stage growth accelerants

Growth Engines are the first and most essential part of your growth plan. Think of them as the building block for your company’s entire growth strategy. You want your growth engine to be self-sustaining, so it can continue building without added input. You will likely want to employ all growth tactics mentioned here at different stages of your company’s growth and some will likely run in parallel.

There are four different types of growth engines we are focusing on: Virality, SEO, Paid ads, and Sales.

• Virality: Users sign up and spread the word and refer their friends, thus creating growth without the company having to do anything apart from serving users and customers well so that they continue to come back and refer others. This growth method is especially effective for consumer-focused startups, but viral content can also create awareness and growth for B2B and other businesses. Virality combined with the layering of network effects can generate powerful flywheels contributing to growth, traction, and ultimately product market fit. Getting the first users to sign up is the cold start challenge we discussed last month while discussing network effects. Check out some of the tactics below to attract the first users that you should super serve to get them coming back and talking about your product with everyone they know.
• SEO: The company and/or its users create content, others discover the content online, and then they become users and eventually create their own content that can help drive low-cost growth. SEO can take time to index on search engines and generate traffic to your site. Depending on which words you’re leading with, the market can be noisy and difficult to break through. Your website, blogs, and other channels should be an essential component of your content and growth strategy at each stage, but the clearer you are from the start, the more you’ll have to work with and the more traffic you’ll get as time goes on.
• Paid ads: With this growth engine, the company will run ads, people will see them and some will become users, and the money gained from these new users will then be used to run more ads. Paid media can become an efficient accelerant when you’re seeing success with other organic growth tactics and when you’ve amassed enough capital to experiment and invest. What ads perform well and which platforms and channels are most effective at reaching and converting your target audience can vary widely as can the cost, so it’s good to hire or work with experts in this area if you don’t already have extensive experience. Algorithms, pricing, and tactics change often. Most of the big consumer-facing brands have significant budgets and rigorously refined CAC-to-LTV ratios to ensure growth.
• Sales: Here, your company will have salespeople working to sign up new users, the new users will generate income, and the income will be poured back into increasing your team of salespeople. SaaS and enterprise startups often lead with Sales as their primary growth engine. As the founder or cofounder regardless of your actual functional skillset and experience, you’re ultimately responsible for driving sales at the beginning until you can bring on results-oriented sales leaders.

Kickstarts are most effective in the very beginning, as many of them can’t be efficiently scaled. However, some of them may still become part of your ongoing strategy throughout the lifespan of your business or utilized at key junctures. If you’re looking to acquire your very first users, these methods are invaluable. Here are some of the most-used Kickstarts:

• Share your company/product with people you know (friends, family, and colleagues, etc.), because these are people who want to see you win. You may not need to offer incentives for them to act as ambassadors, but as you grow you may want to develop an ongoing commercial relationship that may include commissions or other non-monetary forms of appreciation and compensation and expand this out to affiliate programs.
• Email, call, and DM strangers about your company/product. You’ll want to avoid spam and follow professional protocols, but you should be your biggest evangelist for your company and tell everyone you meet how what you've got to offer may benefit them.
• Meet your audience on their turf such as discord and Reddit and other online platforms, communities that meet in the URL or IRL such as stores, malls, offices, campuses, etc. There’s no shame in the game of promoting your company if you can connect in targeted and authentic ways. The saying goes, “No one likes to be sold to, but everyone wants to buy.” The more tarted and contextual your approach in these places where your ideal customer resides, the better your awareness and conversion will be over time.
• Hire/ask influencers to spread the word. Influencers can be expensive to hire, so do what you can to build relationships with influencers who want to share your product/service because they genuinely love it and want their followers to hear about it from them first.
• Do press including interviews with targeted sites or local media before moving on to national and international media outlets, write op-eds and other articles, guest spots on podcasts, etc. if you can land them. Press can be hard to land in the early days, but not impossible if you’re doing something novel that the media outlet thinks its audience wants to know about. You can hire a contractor or agency to help with this. I started developing my media database over 20 years ago and many of these journalists have become friends over time. They can provide invaluable insights and recommendations about how and how to pitch. The more you can do to create and tailor the story uniquely for them and their audience, the more likely they are to engage and share your story. My experience as a senior executive at the BBC and Viacom taught me innumerable ways to get positive media attention. It’s important to think of how you want the story to land and work back from there. Think about what message you want people to both receive and their motivation to share the story. Consider your long-term narrative when developing your short-term stories that create the story arch for your company that contributes to awareness and adoption and ultimately increases the perceived value of your company.
• Create shareable content including, but not limited to blog posts, newsletters, podcasts, tweets, videos, etc. There are lots of platforms, agencies, freelancers, and interns that can help with this if you're not a natural Hemmingway. Sometimes it's best to go niche and specific until you build up an audience and can go more general. Think quality over quantity. My background in media and content has meant that content has always been a big part of my growth strategy regardless of the sector of the startup.
• Make physical ads (bumper stickers, flyers, signs, etc.). These can be costly or not. For example, one of the ways that many people learned about the San Francisco AWS Startups Loft was through a chalkboard outside a nearby cafe. Think of guerilla tactics and canvassing that might work for the type of customers you want.
• Throw events that attract the right attendees in ways that land your message and convert your call to action.
• Show up on a new platform before your competitors and grow awareness and audience before they arrive.

Turbo boosts can be used to help your business grow at any point in your journey. Like Kickstarts, they are not necessarily self-sustaining and therefore are most optimal for growth at both strategic and opportunistic points in time.

Examples include some of the growth tactics mentioned above: creating content that goes viral, press coverage, organizing events, reaching out to an influencer and asking them to mention your company, giving an interview in blogs/podcasts/newsletters, and instigating some sort of highly engaging interactions, etc.

Lubricants keep things working smoothly. Lubricants will vary from company to company, but you can experiment with increasing conversion, retention, brand awareness, activation/customer success, and prices. Ultimately this is about continuous improvement and increased efficiency. These are often growth motions that form part of your core operations.

If you need additional Fuel, look at creating content, tapping users, and investing additional capital.

Mid-stage growth accelerants can include adding channel partners, expanding your geographic reach, and increasing your product or service offerings. Depending on how much capital you’ve raised and the velocity of your growth, acquisitions of smaller companies can be a way to grow your customer base, revenue, IP, or talent although this is typically reserved for later-stage growth. Oftentimes acquisitions of smaller companies come from having a pre-existing working relationship of some kind, so get to know your partners well to identify these opportunities.

The big picture: How to use these growth engines

1. In the beginning, focus on expanding your Growth Engine via Kickstarts and Turbo boosts
2. After that, focus on Lubricants. Add in some Turbo boosts here and there
3. If you feel like you’re where you want to be in terms of scale, it might be a good time to look into Mid-stage accelerants
4. After that, start looking at additional growth engines. While doing so, don’t neglect the ones that are achieving results! Keep it going with Lubricants.

Implementing these methods will most likely take some trial and error, but they've proven to work for my startups and many others time and time again. You can read more about Lenny Rachitsky’s Racecar Growth Framework here and Reforge founder/CEO Brain Balfour shares his take—along with a handy visual—here. If you’re looking for more growth inspiration check out how these startups #ProveWhatsPossible here.

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS

November 8 at 10:00 am AET | Getting Started with AWS Cloud Essentials

Learn how to get started with the AWS Cloud. You'll explore the AWS Cloud architecture and services in the Compute, Storage, Database, Networking, and Security categories. You'll also learn how to build and validate your understanding of the AWS Cloud and advance your skills. (Delivered in English.)

November 8 at 10:00 am AET | AWS Technical Essentials Day

In this introductory virtual event, you will learn about AWS products, services, and common solutions. You will learn the fundamentals of identifying AWS services so that you can make informed decisions about IT solutions based on your business requirements. (Delivered in English.)

November 8 at 11:00 am CET | AWS Discovery Day-Machine Learning Basics

Are you interested in machine learning, but not sure where to start? Join us for this session with an AWS expert and demystify the basics. Using real-world examples, you’ll learn about important concepts, terminology, and the phases of a machine-learning pipeline. Learn how you can unlock new insights and value for your business using machine learning. (Delivered in French.)

November 14-18 | Austin Startup Week

Started in 2011, Austin Startup Week is a celebration and showcase of everything entrepreneurial in Austin. Each year, we bring entrepreneurs, local leaders, and friends together to connect, collaborate and grow through our educational tracks, mentor office hours, startup showcases, and networking mixers.

December 1 | Black Founders Demo Day - Tech Basel, Miami, FL

At the intersection of culture and capital, you’ll find Black Founders Demo Day! Twelve Black & Brown founder-led companies from all over the country will showcase their business by displaying their products or services to potential customers, as well as pitching onstage to a panel of active venture capital investors. Attendees can also get in on the action by investing through Wefunder’s equity crowdfunding in real-time.

December 9 at 9:00 am Pacific | Angel Club AMA with Angel Gambino + Cat Hernandez

Cat Hernandez Middleton is a former operator and current people-first investor who is passionate about supporting a diverse set of early-stage founders as they build mission-driven companies that are changing the world for the better. She is a Partner and founding team member of The Venture Collective and in her spare time works closely with the People Tech Partners, W Fund, and ADP Ventures. RSVP and extend the invitation to join this conversation with Angel and Cat! 

Click here for more events.

😇 MEET AN ANGEL CLUB MENTOR

Angel Club is an inclusive membership community for underrepresented angel-stage founders and angel investors. Angel Club provides access to seasoned mentors, monthly events, a robust resource library, investor and media databases, and more. Join Angel Club or email hello@angelclub.com for more info.

Jayme Johnson is CEO of Worthy Marketing Group, a boutique agency she founded in 2011 that supports top entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and coaches with the launch of their brands, nonfiction books, and online programs.

Angel Club Members can register for a 1:1 mentor session with Jayme as part of their membership.

❓ASK AN EXPERT

The AWS Startup Loft exists to support your startup journey. Start and grow with a wealth of resources, exclusive webinars, and free 1:1 sessions with an AWS startup expert.

🧰 STARTUP RESOURCES

• Apply for up to $100k in free AWS credits & utilize startup resources and training with AWS Activate
• AWS Startup Programs
• Product-led Onboarding, How to Turn New Users into Life-long Customers
• How to Build a High-Performing Growth Team

🔗 JOBS TO BE DONE

AWS is hiring for literally thousands of roles! If you or someone you know is on the job hunt, make sure to take a look here. If you see something that’s a fit, send your resume to hello@angelclub.com and I can pass it along to the hiring manager.

➡️ Account Manager, Startups

➡️ Account Executive, Startups

➡️ Startup Account Manager, Singapore, AWS Startups

🍾 CELEBRATIONS

NEW DEAL FLOW: Check out who’s investing in your sector!

Tel Aviv startup Apply Design, which describes itself as “the fastest and simplest way to virtually stage your property, at an unmatched price point,” raised a $3.3 million round. The deal was led by Urban Innovation Fund, Cathexis Ventures, Goodwater Capital, and Y Combinator. More here.

The Alpharetta, Ga.-based supply chain security software company Arnica has raised a $7 million seed round. The deal was co-led by Joule Ventures and First Rays Venture Partners. More here.

The New York-based business banking technology provider Lama AI has raised a $9 million seed round. The deal was co-led by Viola Ventures and Hetz Ventures, with participation from Foundation Capital and SixThirty. More here.

The robotics and material sciences company PaintJet, which is based in Nashville, Tn., raised a $3.5 million seed round. The deal was led by Dynamo Ventures, with participation from MetaProp, Pathbreaker Ventures, and Builders VC. More here.

Topline Pro, the New York startup formerly known as ProPhone, raised a $5 million seed round. Bonfire Ventures led the round, with participation from TMV and BBG Ventures. More here.

Chinese startup Zebralabs, which is creating virtual celebrities that fans can interact with via VR/AR technology, raised a $5 million round. The deal was co-led by NetDragon and Sumitomo. More here.

The San Francisco biotech startup HI-Bio, which is short for Human Immunology Biosciences, has raised a $120 million round. Arch Ventures, Monograph Capital, and Jeito Capital all pitched in, as well as other anonymous institutional investors. More here.

Australian startup Samsara Eco, which breaks down plastic with the help of its enzyme-based technology, has raised a $54 million AUD (approximately $34.7 million USD) Series A round. Breakthrough Victoria, Temasek, Assembly Climate Capital, DCVC and INP Capital all invested. Main Sequence was an early backer, and Woolworths Group’s W23 and Clean Energy Finance Corporation also chipped in. More here.

Richmond, Va.-based HR tech startup Fringe, which helps companies offer personalizable perks and benefits to employees, has raised $17 million. The funding round was led by Origin Ventures and Felton Group. More here.

Virtual behavioral health startup Valera Health, which is based in Brooklyn, Ny., raised a $44.5 million round. The deal was led by Heritage Group with participation from Cigna Ventures and Horizon Healthcare Services. Previous investors Windham Ventures, AXA Venture Partners, Aquiline Technology Partners, Trinnovate Ventures, Figure Eight Investments, Watershed VC, and Alsora Capital also pitched in. This brings the total amount of capital the company has raised to $71.4 million. More here.

Bay Area-based KYC orchestration platform AiPrise has raised $2 million in seed investment funding. Y Combinator and Okta Ventures led the round. Restive Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, TwentyTwo Ventures, and Wedbush Ventures also chipped in. More here.

Battery and energy management startup Auto Motive Power, which is based in New Delhi, raised a $4.3 million Series A extension at a $34 million pre-money valuation. This brings the total size of the Series A funding to $11.1 million. Hella Ventures and the Ecosystem Integrity Fund both invested. More here.

The Tel Aviv-based crypto wallet firm Braavos has raised a $10 million round. The deal was led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Road Capital, BH Digital, DCVC, Crypto.com, Matrixport, and Starkware. More here.

The Bangalore, India-based fintech startup Decentro has raised a $4.7 million Series A round. The deal was led by Rapyd Ventures with participation from Leonis VC and Uncorrelated Ventures. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $6.4 million. More here.

The digital gifting platform Givingli, which is based in Los Angeles, raised a $10 million Series A round. The deal was led by Seven Seven Six, bringing the total amount of capital the company has raised to $14 million. More here.

Trucking analytics startup GoodShip, which is based in Seattle, raised a $2.4 million round. The deal was led by FUSE, with Cercano Management, Flexport Fund, Innovation Endeavors, Sope Creek Capital, and Kindergarten Ventures chipping in. More here.

The Austin-based mortgage tech platform Haven has raised $8 million in series A funding. The deal was led by Fifth Wall, with participation from 1Sharpe, RWT Horizons and Fidelity. More here.

The Tampa, Fl.-based digital payments network iink Payments has raised a $3 million seed round. The deal was led by Grand Ventures, with Springtime Ventures, Simplex Ventures, Motivate Venture Capital, and Green Egg Ventures also chipping in. More here.

The Singapore-based, Fireblocks-powered crypto custodian RakkaR Digital raised a $10 million seed round. The funding came from Siam Commercial Bank's SCB 10X unit. More here.

The New York-based retirement planning startup Retirable has raised $6 million in seed funding. The round was led by Primary, with participation from Vestigo Ventures, Diagram, Portage and Primetime. More here.

Jersey City, Nj.-based startup RoboBurger, which has created the world’s first 100% autonomous robotic burger chef, raised a $10 million seed 2 funding round via Promethean Investments. More here.

Boston startup Software Defined Automation, which is devoted to innovating factory automation, raised $10 million in seed funding. Insight Partners led the deal, with participation from Baukunst VC, Fly Ventures, and First Momentum. More here.

London-based startup SURI, which is creating a carbon-neutral sustainable sonic toothbrush, raised $2.3 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Hambro Perks and JamJar Investments. More here.

Boston startup Vizit, which uses their AI software to help brands select the best visual content to market themselves, raised a $10 million Series A round. The deal was co-led by Infinity Ventures and Brand Foundry Ventures. eGateway Capital, Lakefront Partners, and Lubar & Co. also pitched in. More here.

The Singapore-based digital family office platform Arta Finance, which was cofounded by former Google executive Caesar Sengupta, has raised over $90 million across seed and Series A funding rounds. Investors include Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, and Coatue. Over 140 entrepreneurs also participated, including Eric Schmidt, Betsy Cohen and Ram Shriram. More here.

Baltimore startup Galen Robotics, which has created a robot that can help surgeons while they perform ear, nose, and throat surgeries, raised a $15 million Series A round. The round was funded by Ambix Healthcare Partners. More here.

The San Francisco-based MLOps platform Galileo raised an $18 million Series A round. Battery Ventures led the deal, with participation from The Factory, Walden Catalyst, and FPV Ventures. So far, the company has raised a total of $23.1 million. More here.

Seattle-based startup Momento, the self-described “world’s fastest cache,” has raised $15 million in seed funding. The deal was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with The General Partnership and many individual investors, including Marianna Tessel and Neha Narkhede pitching in. More here.

The New Haven, Ct.-based startup Protein Evolution, which is working to eliminate plastic waste, raised a $20 million round. Investors included Collab US, New Climate Ventures, Eldridge, Nextrans, and Good Friends. More here.

Brooklyn startup Roam, which is creating a virtual HQ platform for remote workers, raised a $30 million Series A round. IVP led the deal at a $90.5 post-money valuation. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $40.6 million. More here.

Crypto startup Tharsis Labs, which created the blockchain Evmos, raised $27 million. The token sale was led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Galaxy Digital, Huobi, HashKey Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, and Asymmetric. More here.

Austin startup Way, which provides a software platform that manages brand activations, raised a $20 million Series A round. The deal was led by Tiger Global, with participation from MSD Capital. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $20 million. More here.

The VR behavioral therapy platform Floreo, which is based in Washington, D.C., raised a $10 million Series A round. Tenfore Holdings led the deal, with Felton Group, the Autism Impact Fund, and the Disability Opportunity Fund chipping in. More here.

The Baden-Baden, Germany-based startup Flowers Software, which helps SMBs automate manual processes and manage their workflows, raised a $3.2 million seed round. The deal was led by La Famiglia, with participation from LEA Partners and Collective Ventures. More here.

The San Francisco-based startup Heylo, which helps individuals handle payments, communication, and more when organizing group experiences, raised a $1.5 million seed round. Worklife Ventures co-led the deal and Precursor Ventures pitched in. More here.

The London-based startup Howbout, which has developed a social planning app to help simplify get-togethers, raised a $2.2 million round. ACF Investors and assorted angels all participated. More here.

San Francisco startup Metrist, which helps IT teams manage outages among their many cloud services, raised a $5.5 million seed round. Heavybit and Morado Ventures both invested. More here.

NFT lending protocol NiftyApes raised a $4.2 million seed round. Variant and FinTech Collective co-led the deal, with participation from Robot Ventures, Polygon, Coinbase Ventures, The LAO, and FlamingoDAO. More here.

The Calabasas, Ca.-based company TAGS Commerce, formerly known as Boost, emerged from stealth and announced a $3.5 million pre-seed round. XRC Labs, Gaingels, Not Boring, and Tiny Capital all invested. More here.

The Austin-based gut health testing company Tiny Health raised a $4.5 million seed round. The deal was led by TheVentureCity, bringing the total amount Tiny Health has raised to $4.5 million. More here.

London startup Travtus, a tech company that uses machine learning to streamline multifamily property management, raised a $4 million seed round. RET Ventures led the deal. More here.

The U.S. and China-based electric-bike maker Aventon is raising a funding round. Sequoia Capital China is leading the deal at a post-money valuation of $590 million. More here.

The Chicago supply chain management technology company project44 raised an $80 million round at a $2.7 billion valuation. The deal was co-led by Generation Investment Management and A.P. Moller Holding, with participation from CMA CGM, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, TPG, Emergence Capital, Chicago Ventures, Sapphire, 8VC, Sozo Ventures, and Omidyar Technology Ventures. In total, the company has raised $897.5 million. More here.

The Cambridge, Ma.-based biotechnology company Concerto Biosciences raised a $23 million Series A round. Safar Partners led the deal, with participation from Horizons Ventures and M Ventures. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $26 million. More here.

The Paris-based startup Fintecture, which is looking to upgrade B2B payments, raised $25.3 million in Series A funding. Target Global, Eurazeo, RTP Global, Samaipata, Allianz Trade, and Société Générale all invested. In total, the company has now raised $32.7 million. More here.

The Providence, R.I.-based healthcare analytics startup Intus Care, which is using data to transform elder care, raised a $14 million Series A round. The deal was led by Deerfield Management, bringing the total the company has raised to $19.5 million. More here.

New York startup meez, a recipe management app for chefs, raised an $11.5 million Series A round. Craft Ventures led the deal, with participation from Struck Capital, FJ Labs, AME Cloud Ventures, and Moving Capital. In total, the company has raised $18.3 million. More here.

The San Francisco cloud-based procurement platform Oro has raised a $25 million Series A round. The deal was co-led by Norwest Venture Partners and B Capital. XYZ Venture Capital and Array Ventures also invested, along with others. More here.

Ethical lender Plend, which is based in London, raised a $44 million seed round in debt and equity. Active Partners led the deal, with participation from Velocity Juice, Sivo, and existing investors Ascension, Tomahawk VC, DD Venture Capital, and Haatch. More here.

Israeli startup Revuze, which generates consumer insights using AI-based natural language processing technology, raised a $12 million round. The deal, which was led by PSG, brings the total the company has raised to $24 million. More here.

New York startup Runwise, formerly known as Heat Watch, raised a $19 million Series A round. Fifth Wall led the deal, with Rudin Management, SOJA Ventures, The Strykers, MCJ Collective, Derive Ventures, Helium-3, Silence VC, The Cannon Project, and Waterman Ventures chipping in. To date, the company has raised $24 million. More here.

Portugal-based startup Smartex, which is bringing smart tech to fabric manufacturing, raised a $24.7 million Series A round. The deal was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Build Collective, with H&M Group, DCVC, HAX, Spider Capital, Momenta Ventures, Bombyx Capital Partners, and Fashion for Good pitching in. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $27.6 million. More here.

The crypto wallet interoperability and messaging platform WalletConnect raised a $12.5 million Series A round. Shopify, Coinbase Ventures, ConsenSys, Circle Ventures, Polygon, Uniswap Labs Ventures, Union Square Ventures, 1kx, HashKey, and Foresight Ventures all invested. More here.

The Washington, D.C. and San Francisco-based technology startup Alethea, which detects and mitigates disinformation, misinformation, and social media manipulation, raised a $10 million Series A round. It was led by Ballistic Ventures. More here.

The New York crypto startup Centrifuge raised a $4 million round. Coinbase Ventures, BlockTower, Scytale, and L1 Digital all invested, bringing the total the company has raised to $15.8 million. More here.

Denver startup Exer Labs, which uses apps to assess patient mobility, raised a $6.5 million round. The deal was led by Backstage Capital, Life Extension Ventures, Morado Ventures, Oceans Ventures, Operator Partners, Signia Venture Partners, Anne Wojcicki, and David Ko. More here.

Perishable shipping company Grip, which is based in Miami, came out of stealth with a $2 million pre-seed round. The deal was led by Soma Capital and Western Technology Investment. More here.

The New Jersey startup Guaranteed, which is delivering tech-enabled home hospice care, raised a $6.5 million seed round. BrandProject led the deal, with participation from Precursor, Springbank, Lakehouse, and Cake Ventures. More here.

New York travel startup Hoken raised a $9 million seed round. Streamlined Ventures led the deal, with participation from BY Venture Partners. More here.

InterPrice Technologies, a New York-based treasury capital markets funding platform, raised a $7.3 million Series A round. Nasdaq Ventures and DRW Venture Capital co-led the deal, with participation from Bowery Capital. This round brings the total amount the company has raised to $9.8 million. More here.

San Francisco startup Mozart, which helps game developers integrate Web3 gaming experiences, raised a $3 million pre-seed round. Arcanum Capital, AG Build, Future Perfect Venture, and SaxeCap all invested. More here.

The Davis, Ca.-based agri-food technology company NuCicer has raised a $7 million additional seed investment round. Leaps by Bayer led the deal, along with Lever VC, Blue Horizon, and Trellis Road, who had all invested previously. More here.

The San Francisco-based resale tech company startup Treet raised a $3.5 million seed round. First Round Capital led the deal, with participation from Bling Capital, Techstars, Interlace, Alante Ventures, BAM Ventures, and BBG Ventures. This brings the total amount the company has raised to $6.4 million. More here.

The global sustainability data provider Util, which is based in London, raised a $6 million seed round. The deal was led by Eldridge. Other investors included the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE), the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE Global Markets), and Oxford Science Enterprises. More here.

The Mountain View, Ca.-based startup Aro Homes, which uses machine learning to create modern, carbon-negative homes, raised a $21 million Series A round. Innovation Endeavors led the deal, with participation from Western Technology Investment, and Stanford University. More here.

Chicago startup Loop, which is working to transform freight invoicing, emerged from stealth with a $6 million seed round. Susa Ventures and 8VC co-led the deal, with participation from Garrett Camp and Ryan Graves. More here.

San Francisco NFT platform Courtyard raised a $7 million seed round. The deal was led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from Y Combinator, OpenSea Ventures, VaynerFund, Brink’s, and Cherry Ventures. More here.

San Francisco startup FlowForge, which uses the low-code, visual programming tool Node-RED to help companies update legacy IoT systems, raised a $7.2 million seed round. Cota Capital, Westwave Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, and Open Core Ventures all invested. More here.

Los Angeles startup Playgig, which is looking to create free, cross-platform games, raised a $10.85 million seed round. March Gaming led the deal, with participation from Paramark, Aream, and Gaingels. More here.

Vesto, a treasury management startup, raised a $2.8 million seed round. Contrary Capital led the deal, with participation from Susa Ventures, SV Angel, and Coalition. More here.

The New York-based hearing aid technology company Yes Hearing raised a $10 million Series A round. Blue Heron Capital led the deal, with participation from Primetime Partners, Ensemble Innovation Ventures, Maccabee Ventures, and Gaingels. More here.

💸 MONEY MOVES

Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop mogul whose portfolio already includes fashion, media and spirits, is purchasing licensed marijuana operations in three states for up to $185 million. If U.S. and state regulators approve the deal, it could be the start of the country’s biggest Black-owned and licensed cannabis company. More here.

👏🏻 NEW FUNDS: Applauding the latest funds investing in startups!

Blackbird Ventures is the largest Australian VC fund ever after closing its latest fund with $1 billion in capital commitments. The fund’s most well-known investment is Canva. More here.

CoinFund, a crypto VC firm, is hoping to raise $250 million for seed investments. This comes only three short months after launching a separate $300 million venture capital fund. More here.

As part of the Mozilla Builders startup incubator program, Mozilla has created a new $35 million VC fund called Mozilla Ventures. Mozilla Ventures will target early-stage startups. More here.

Ali Partovi’s venture firm, Neo, is raising $140 million for its third flagship fund. Another $60 million will be raised for an opportunities fund. More here.

The San Francisco-based lab OpenAI, which created AI systems like GPT-3 and DALL-E 2, has launched Converge. This new program will provide approximately ten different early-stage AI startups with $1 million each, as well as access to OpenAI tech and resources. Converge will be financed by the OpenAI Startup Fund. More here.

Misfits Gaming Group, the global esports gaming company, is launching a $20 million creator fund. The fund is aimed at helping creators and influencers bring projects that are “innovative, creative, ambitious, and sustainable” to life. More here.

Remember to reach out to advisors that can help you build your team, business, or fund. Learn all about how to source and leverage advisors and customize these templates to start reaching out today!

AFTER HOURS:

🎵 Listening to - Love is Letting Go by Ashe (feat. Diane Keaton) - the blending of these two women’s voices is so beautiful and Diane’s first major release as a recording artist outside of Broadway casts.

🥰 Inspired by - I’m always obsessed with black rooms and these beauties leave me drooling.

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Make it a great week!

With grit, grace, and gratitude,

Angel