SpaceX Blasts Off; Biotech Startup Resilience Locks Up Huge Round

This is a monthly feature that runs down the month’s top 10 funding rounds in the U.S. 

There’s been a lot of talk about the slowing pace of venture capital. While the stats seem to indicate this year will not be like the record-shattering fundraising numbers put up last year, June still seems to show some strength—albeit anecdotally. Five VC-backed U.S. startups raised rounds of a quarter-billion dollars or more, and investors spread their money across a vast array of sectors from space travel to AI to farming. In fact, the only sector to see two startups in the top 10 was biotech.

Let’s review the biggest deals of June. We’ll start with a man who can’t stay out of the news:

1. SpaceX, $1.7B, space travel: Elon Musk was in the news a lot in June. If it wasn’t for the neverending drama surrounding his potential Twitter purchase, it was for Tesla reportedly laying off employees. In between, his “other company”—SpaceX—raised $1.68 billion, although the Hawthorne, California-based company apparently was looking to raise $1.725 billion. News broke in May the company was looking to raise at least $1.5 billion—according to The Wall Street Journal. SpaceX has now raised around $9.5 billion, according to Crunchbase data.

2. National Resilience, $625M, biotech: While most people know of SpaceX, San Diego-based National Resilience may be a little more under the radar. However, the biotech company has now raised two rounds of $600 million or more in about 10 months. Resilience, an end-to-end biopharmaceutical manufacturing and development firm, raised a $625 million Series D in June after closing a previously unannounced $600 million Series C last August. The company develops therapeutics in its 10 facilities across North America. Although it did not announce who specifically participated in the round, it said it included “venture capital funds, public mutual funds, pension funds, biopharma companies, sovereign wealth funds and private family offices, among others.” The company says it has now raised more than $2 billion in equity since being founded in 2020.

3. Electrify America, $450M, electric vehicle charging: With the current prices at the pump, it’s no surprise a provider of fast electric vehicle recharging made this list. Reston, Virginia-based Electrify America raised a $450 million equity investment at a post-money valuation of $2.45 billion. Siemens, through its financing arm Siemens Financial Services, invested a “low triple-digit million” dollar amount in the round and became a minority stakeholder. In addition, the Volkswagen Group said it will increase its original capital investment of $2 billion through 2026 in Electrify America. The company has big goals, expecting to expand to 1,800 charging stations and more than 10,000 ultra-fast chargers in the U.S. and Canada by 2026.

4. Wonder, $350M, food delivery: Marc Lore’s food delivery startup Wonder gets the fourth spot this month after The Wall Street Journal reported that the New York-based startup raised a $350 million round led by Bain Capital Ventures at a $3.5 billion valuation. Wonder operates a network of food trucks from which consumers can order through a mobile app. The truck then drives near the customer’s home and prepares the food fresh. Lore knows retail as he previously served as CEO of retail giant Walmart’s e-commerce division.

5. Little Leaf Farms, $300M, farming: Agtech is having a moment with investors right now, and Devens, Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms is the latest in the space to see some significant funding. The company closed a $300 million equity financing led by TPG’s The Rise Fund. The startup expects to open its fourth hydroponic greenhouse—helping to make its lettuces accessible to more than half of the country’s population by 2026. Its lettuce is grown under glass and uses up to 90% less water than field-grown greens, according to the company. Founded in 2015, the company has now raised $435 million, according to Crunchbase data.

6. AlphaSense, $225M, artificial intelligence: Searching on the internet can be hard. AlphaSense is trying to make it better—at least when it comes to searching for structured and unstructured market analysis and business intelligence. The New York-based company raised a $225 million round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Viking Global, valuing the company at $1.7 billion. That is nearly double the company’s value after its $180 million Series C in September. The $225 million number includes a “substantial debt investment from funds and/or accounts managed by BlackRock,” the company said in a release. Founded in 2011, AlphaSense has raised $520 million, according to Crunchbase.

7. Knock, $220M, fintech: The New York-based home-buying app closed a  $220 million round led by the Foundry Group in June. Knock’s app lets people move fast to buy a home—allowing existing homeowners to get the cash they need before they even sell their current home. Founded in 2015, Knock has now raised a total of $900 million of debt and equity, according to the company.

8. Upstream Bio, $200M, biotech: Waltham, Massachusetts-based Upstream Bio locked up a $200 million Series A led jointly by OrbiMed and Maruho to continue its development of therapeutics for allergic and inflammatory diseases. The biotech company—the second on this list—is developing an antibody that could be useful to those with asthma.

9. Electric Hydrogen, $198M, cleantech: While venture funding may have slowed this year, investors seem keenly interested in cleantech startups that can help companies cut emissions. This month, Boston-based Electric Hydrogen closed a $198 million Series B—a mix of equity and venture debt—led by Fifth Wall Climate Tech. The round also consisted of an impressive list of strategic investors such as Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Honeywell and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Electric Hydrogen has created its own patented approach to electrolysis—the process of producing hydrogen from electricity and water—designed for industrial applications. The cleantech and clean energy sectors saw a record $10.1 billion invested in VC-backed startups last year, and $5.5 billion already has come into the market this year, according to Crunchbase data.

10. Guild Education, $175M, edtech: Denver-based upskilling platform Guild raised $175 million in a Series F funding round led by Wellington Management that values the company at $4.4 billion. Even Oprah Winfrey invested. The company helps upskill frontline workers—something that has become popular as teaching current employees new skills can be lucrative to the employee and cheaper than recruiting for the employer. Founded in 2015, the company has raised more than $553 million, according to Crunchbase data.

Big global deals

Three of the five largest rounds globally in June went to startups outside the U.S.

• London-based software consultancy and developer The Access Group closed a round worth more than $1.2 billion from existing shareholders Hg and TA Associates.
• London-based fintech firm SumUp closed a venture round worth approximately $622 million.
• Paris-based EcoVadis, which allows companies to assess the environmental and social performance of their suppliers, closed a $500 million private equity round.

Methodology

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

Illustration: Dom Guzman