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09:00 | 15 November 2023

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

We continue our weekly column on the top 5 venture capital rounds of the past week.

The AI craze continues unabated. In the past week, four of the biggest funding rounds are directly related to artificial intelligence and the use of the new technology. These rounds also show how AI is impacting every industry – from data analytics to biotech – and how Nvidia’s tentacles as an investor in the technology are growing.

Databricks, $500 million

Sector: Data.
Databricks, an artificial intelligence data analytics company, has raised more than $500 million in its first series led by funds advised by T. Rowe Price Associates. The deal values the company at $43 billion, up from the previous $38 billion valuation San Francisco-based Databricks received after raising a $1.6 billion Series H in 2021 led by Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global. Nvidia, which has been investing heavily in AI startups recently, also participated in the new round. The company also said it recently surpassed a number of impressive financial milestones, including surpassing $1.5 billion in revenue on more than 50% year-over-year revenue growth in the second quarter ended July 31. Databricks said it added more than 10,000 global customers at the end of the quarter. Since its founding in 2013, Databricks has raised more than $4 billion in funding.

Generate Biomedicines, $273 million

Sector: biotechnology.
Generate Biomedicines is the top biotech startup of the past week for raising a major round. The Somerville, Massachusetts-based startup, which has developed a generative artificial intelligence platform to rapidly invent new drugs, has raised $273 million in Series C funding. The company did not name the lead investor, but mentioned that NVentures, the venture capital arm of Nvidia, was among the new investors. The company was founded in 2018 and has raised nearly $700 million to date.

Lyten, $200 million.

Sector: manufacturing.
Once again, a startup that helps with battery manufacturing is back on the top of the list. Just over a week ago, Ascend Elements of Westborough, Massachusetts, raised a $460 million Series D round. The week before that, Houston-based battery recycling startup Redwood Materials raised a major round of more than $1 billion. Last week, Lyten, based in San Jose, California, raised a $200 million Series B led by Prime Movers Lab. Lyten makes lightweight composites and next-generation IoT sensors, as well as lithium-sulfur batteries. Founded in 2015, Lyten has already raised more than $410 million in Series B funding.

EquipmentShare, $150 million

Sector: Construction.
In April alone, EquipmentShare topped the list with $290 million in funding. This past week, the company raised an additional $150 million to a round led by BDT & MSD Partners. The round now totals $440 million. EquipmentShare, based in Columbia, Missouri, provides equipment and digital solutions to the construction industry, giving companies real-time visibility into job sites and operations, as well as their equipment arsenal. EquipmentShare has more than 185 locations, including additional rental, retail and service locations. Founded in 2014, EquipmentShare has raised approximately $2.5 billion in debt and equity.

Enfabrica, $125 million

Sector: semiconductors.
Investors are opening their pockets to infrastructure startups in artificial intelligence – those that make the hardware, chips and other infrastructure needed for such modeling. This past week was no exception: Enfabrica, which develops networking chips for processing artificial intelligence workloads, completed a $125 million Series B deal led by Atreides Management and including an investment from new investor Nvidia. The company’s chips, based in Mountain View, California, provide the consistent data flow required for modern artificial intelligence workloads. The company plans to use the new cash to expand its research and development capabilities and increase production. The Company plans to use the new cash to expand its research and development capabilities and increase production. Other rounds by infrastructure players include Imbue raising a large Series B of $200 million, bringing the value of its artificial intelligence research lab to $1 billion. The round also included an investment from Nvidia. The day after that, generative AI chip developer D-Matrix closed a $110 million Series B led by Singapore-based Temasek.


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

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