Cleerly Pumps Up Large Round; Carmot Leads Biotech’s Big Week

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

Startups related to biotech and health care dominated the week, with five companies in that sector raising $50 million or more. Investors also continued to be enamored with the emerging Web3 space, minting a new unicorn while more than doubling the value of another.

1. Cleerly, $223M, medical: New York-based heart disease diagnosis startup Cleerly announced earlier in the week it raised $192 million—then apparently found another $31 million lying around a few days later to close a $223 million Series C. The round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates and T. Rowe Price Investment Management and Fidelity Management and Research Co. Cleerly plays at the intersection of two hot sectors—AI and health care. Its AI-enabled technique to evaluate heart disease allows physicians to more easily identify plaque buildup in the walls of the heart arteries. Founded in 2017, Cleerly says it has now raised $279 million.

2. Carmot Therapeutics, $160M, biotech: Another health care-related startup tops the list, this time Berkeley, California-based Carmot Therapeutics, which raised a $160 million Series D led by The Column Group. The clinical-stage biotechnology company is developing therapies focused on metabolic disease—like diabetes and obesity—and cancer. Founded in 2008, the company has raised nearly $235 million, per Crunchbase data.

3. Aptos Labs, $150M, blockchain: Just four months after closing a $200 million investment from Tiger Global, Coinbase Ventures and FTX Ventures, whch valued the company at $1 billion, Palo Alto, California-based Aptos Labs decided to double down. The Web3 startup, founded by ex-Meta employees, closed a $150 million Series A led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto at a more than $2 billion valuation. Aptos is creating a Layer 1 system blockchain, meaning it will not sit on Ethereum or another network, but will be its own decentralized network. The company is looking to build off of key elements of the Diem blockchain and its smart contract language—Meta’s Stablecoin project that was shuttered earlier this year. Investors are looking at all things Web3 right now, and companies like Aptos are certainly benefiting.

4. Kitchen United, $100M, food: Ghost kitchens are big right now. Chefs want a space to cook, but not an expensive full-service restaurant lease. Enter a company like Kitchen United, which provides tech and real estate for cooks to work on their to-go cuisine and reach paying customers. The Pasadena, California-based company locked up a $100 million Series C that included a wide range of investors—from Kroger to B. Riley Venture Capital to two-time NFL Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning. Kitchen United currently has about 200 operational kitchens in places like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The company will use the new cash to expand further. Founded in 2017, Kitchen United has raised approximately $175 million, per the company.

5. Spotnana, $75M, travel: We are still a long way away from what “normal” was in 2019, but there are signs the travel industry is getting closer to that spot. After funding dipped to VC-backed travel startups during the pandemic in 2020, last year it picked up again—and that has continued into this year. This week, New York-based travel tech startup Spotnana closed a $75 million Series B led by Durable Capital Partners. Founded in 2020, the company has now raised more than $116 million, according to Crunchbase data.

6. Enko Chem, $70M, agtech: Enko Chem, the Connecticut-based crop health company, raised a $70 million Series C funding led by agrochemical company Nufarm. Founded in 2017, Enko says it has now raised $140 million.

7. Unstoppable Domains, $65M, crypto: Web3 startup Unstoppable Domains closed a $65 million Series A led by Pantera Capital at a $1 billion valuation. The company offers NFT domains that give people control of their digital identity. Founded in 2018, the fully remote company has raised $72 million to date, according to Crunchbase data.

8. Vicinitas Therapeutics, $65M, biotech: South San Francisco-based biotech startup Vicinitas Therapeutics locked up a $65 million Series A co-led by a16z and Deerfield Management. The company is developing a protein stabilization platform to develop therapeutics in cancer and genetic disorders.

9. Replay, $55M, biotech: San Diego-based Replay, a genome writing company, launched with $55 million in seed financing led by KKR and OMX Ventures.

10. Three companies tied for the 10th spot, as San Francisco-based Elation Health, San Diego-based Cordial, and Milpitas, California-based Nanosys all raised $50 million this week.

Big global deals

Even though deals were not huge in the U.S. this week, four of the top five deals were domestic. However, the week’s biggest fundraise came from Spain.

• Madrid-based advertising startup Seedtag closed a private equity round worth approximately $255 million.

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of July 23-29. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman