This is a weekly column about the five biggest funding rounds of the past week.

In the past week, we have seen a downturn in venture capital financing and none of the rounds have crossed the $200 million mark. 
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank could lead to delays in some venture capital deals.

Let’s take a closer look at the top 5 venture capital deals of the past week.

Gravie, $179M

Sector – Insurance.
Gravie, a company focused on developing health benefits for employers, is looking to help this market and has raised a $179 million investment led by General Atlantic to do so. The Minneapolis-based company plans to use the new investment to develop its flagship health plan, called Comfort, as well as other expansion plans. Gravie currently works with more than 1,200 companies across the country. The company was founded in 2013 and has raised more than $340 million since its inception.

Character.ai, $150M

Sector – Artificial Intelligence.
A new unicorn in artificial intelligence emerged this past week. Character.ai of Palo Alto, California, became the newest unicorn in AI after closing a $150 million Series A and a $1 billion valuation led by Andreessen Horowitz. The startup allows people to create their own personalized AI chatbots using language models and deep learning algorithms. The AI companions created can help users compose emails, serve as a study buddy, brainstorm ideas and perform a variety of other activities. Character.ai joins the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic and Adept AI, AI startups that received big rounds this year.

Amogy, $139M

Sector – clean technology.
Clean tech and climate technologies continue to be popular with investors, who turned their attention to emissions-free ammonia power this week. Amogy, which is developing just such energy, closed a B-1 series and raised $139 million in funding led by SK Innovation. The new investment will allow the Brooklyn-based startup to begin producing ammonia energy technology and bring its first product to market. In January, the company unveiled an ammonia-powered semi-truck, and later this year it plans to showcase a new zero-emission ammonia-powered tugboat. If all goes well with this vessel, the company expects to have its first commercial offering next year. The company was founded in 2020 and has raised more than $200 million since its inception.

Artera, $90M

Sector – Healthcare.
Prostate cancer is a common cancer, especially among men as they age. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 13 male Americans out of 100 get prostate cancer in their lifetime, and about 2-3 of them die. Artera, a San Francisco-based company, aims to fight this. The startup uses artificial intelligence for cancer testing and personalized treatment. It has raised a $90 million round to support distribution of its core prostate cancer test from investors including Coatue, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Walden Catalyst Ventures, Time Ventures, Breyer Capital and The Factory, as well as several angel investors including Mark Benioff. The company was founded in 2021 and this is the first investment round since its inception.

Apprentice.io, $65M

Sector – Biotechnology.
New Jersey-based Apprentice.io, maker of a drug development platform, closed a $65 million investment led by new investor Iconiq Growth. The company was founded in 2014 and has raised $207 million since inception.

---

We’ve summarized last week’s results and hope you found the information useful. Stay tuned for more information.