Metrics That Matter for Product and Growth

Metrics That Matter for Product and Growth

💡THIS MONTH: Reaching critical mass with key growth tactics

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 (November is Growth Motions) 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.

For the rest of the month, we take a closer look at one aspect of the broader theme each week (last week’s article is here) 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: Metrics That Matter for Product and Growth

Last week, I enjoyed meeting smart mobility innovators, investors, and startups in LA and am grateful to be at home in Detroit this week visiting friends and family for Thanksgiving, even though this will be my first one since my father and stepmother passed earlier this year.

I wish everyone joyful gatherings — especially those who are grieving those who can't join. ❤️ 🩹

As you may know, we’re using November to talk about growth motions. Last week, we went over How to Use Product-Led Growth as Rocket Fuel. Today, we’ll be covering the metrics that matter for product and growth, including which metrics to use, how to activate your users and the measurements you need to be taking to focus on monetization.

Product and growth metrics can help you make key decisions on how to grow bigger faster and where to expand more quickly. They can help you define and redefine your product roadmap over time. By observing and measuring the right metrics, you can:

  • Better understand how users discover, interact with, and get value from your product
  • Use this information to create a plan that will keep them coming back that will help you scale the business as you progress.

Which metrics do I measure?

First, look at the typical lifecycle of a user who becomes a loyal customer. You can measure how effective your marketing efforts are by the number of new registrations or signups you get—as well as how much it costs to acquire a new accepted or qualified lead. These metrics will help you determine your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

If early indicators show that certain channels—such as organic social media—are cheap, but require too much time/effort to acquire users, then you may want to divert attention to more efficient channels that convert better. Sometimes even costly channels that convert well quickly are important at different points in time. The important thing is to make intentional choices that are data-driven after you've run experiments based on your intuitive hypothesis. What you choose to measure and which metrics you select to define your success will become the barometer of the health of your business. I've come across innumerable startups that have either relied on metrics that are meaningless in assessing the performance of the business and conversely others that thought they were failing when in fact they were simply focused on the wrong metrics.

Activating your users

Unfortunately, most new apps lose their entire user base of acquired users within the first month. (Terrible, right?) To beat the odds, focus on activating users who are getting value quickly. The more engaged your users are early on, the easier it will be able to retain them. One way to engage them is to build in network effects in highly contextual ways.

A small, dedicated cohort is key

As an angel investor, I often look at the engagement rates of early-stage startups as an indicator of potential product market fit or traction. A small cohort who loves your product is more likely to give you free word-of-mouth marketing than a large group of less dedicated users.

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Feature stickiness is one of the best ways to determine what your users value most. The aspects they love might not be the ones you anticipated, but the customer is always right. Capitalize on these features!

If you’re unable to engage them, you won’t be able to retain them

It’s important to evaluate your retention and churn rates as well as your customer lifetime value. When you’re looking to monetize, this will help you determine how much money you need to make from each acquired customer in order to make a return. In order to inspire a lasting commitment, you’ll need to find a way to make them want more over a sustained period of time.

Because monetization is the ultimate goal, it’s important to measure:

  • Net new revenue
  • Monthly recurring revenue
  • ARPU average revenue per user

These metrics will help you understand the vitality and sustainability of your business.

Are you ready to grow? Let’s create a baseline and some growth goals and then start measuring!


📅 UPCOMING EVENTS

November 22 at 11:30 am Central | Building a Cloud Career, Presented by AWS Skills Center Seattle

In this webinar, you will learn to identify the next steps in your career journey. You will also learn to identify your goals in a cloud career and how to identify the training you would need to achieve your goals. Delivered in English.

November 22 at 9 am GMT | Adversary Universe World Tour - Manchester

Join CrowdStrike's intelligence and security experts to learn what you need to know, and do, to stop breaches in an ever-changing threat landscape

November 24 at 9 am Pacific | AWS Immersion Day - Take InsightCloudSec for a Test Drive

Our free 4-hour AWS Immersion Days give you the chance to get hands-on with InsightCloudSec in a stand-alone sandbox AWS account.

November 28 - December 2 | AWS re:Invent 2022

For 10 years, the global cloud community has come together at re:Invent to meet, get inspired, and rethink what's possible. Join us again this year in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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 PartnersW Fund, and ADP Ventures. RSVP and extend the invitation to join this conversation with Angel and Cat!

Click here for more events.


⬆️ ⭐ STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

This week, we’re spotlighting KAO Hoteles, a travel and tourism startup based in Mexico currently in the product market fit stage. Marketed as “the best friend of your hotel,” Kao is a team of hospitality enthusiasts who “are dedicated to managing, optimizing and increasing your sales with the best practices in the industry so that you can grow your business with experience and track record in the main leading lodging and technology companies.”

Here, Gonzalo Gomez Mont Landerreche, Kao’s CEO, Nadia Alonso Feregrino, Kao's Head of Operations, and Carlos Martinez Bernal, Kao's Head of Markets, share their tried-and-true growth strategies for startups.

What growth tactics have proven effective for your startup?

  • Focus on strategic markets
  • Product development
  • Data-driven culture
  • Shapeshifting based on customer demands
  • SMART objectives

What growth resources and tools would you recommend to other founders?

  • CRM - control and document all your actions in order to scale
  • RMS - optimize pricing across your distribution channels
  • Semrush - market and competition analysis
  • Klaviyo - understand your customer, including how they buy and manage your campaigns

If you’re looking to learn more about Kao Hoteles, you can follow along on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram.


😇 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.

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Kyle Hermans guides high-performing leaders and organizations to transformative breakthroughs and systemic change - having collectively facilitated, advised, coached, and trained 2,500+ sessions with the senior leaders and executive teams of 300+ Fortune 1000 companies and hundreds more SMEs and Start Up’s across multiple countries and industries, generating new breakthroughs and billions in ROI.

Angel Club Members can register for a 1:1 mentor session with Kyle 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


🍾 CELEBRATIONS

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

GoFreight, which is looking to become the “Shopify of freight forwarding,” raised a $23 million Series A round. The deal was co-led by Flex Capital and Headline, with participation from LFX Venture Partners, Palm Drive Capital, and previous investors Mucker Capital, Cornerstone Ventures, and Red Building Capital. More here.

London-based real-time data startup Quix raised $12.9 million Series A round. The deal was led by MCM Ventures, with additional participation from Project A Ventures and Passion Capital. More here.

Online fraud prevention startup Red Points, which is based in Barcelona, raised a $20.7 million round. IRIS led the deal, with help from previous investors Summit Partners and Eight Roads. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $107 million. More here.

Sydney startup Vow, which describes itself as “Australia’s first cell-based meat company,” raised a $49.2 million Series A round. Blackbird and Prosperity 7 co-led the deal, with participation from Toyota Ventures, Square Peg, Grok, Cavalio, Peakbridge, Tenacious Ventures, HostPlus Super LP, NGS Super, and Pavilion Capital. In total, the company has raised $56 million. More here.

Los Angeles-based startup 222, which has created a social events app, raised over $1.45 million in a pre-seed round. The deal was led by General Catalyst, with Y Combinator, 1517 Fund, Z Fellows, Crescent Fund, and Wonder VC Scout Fund also chipping in. More here.

San Francisco golf startup Loopgolf raised $1.3 million of a $2 million pre-seed round. Fox Ventures, SWS Ventures, and various angels led the deal. More here.

The Cambridge, Ma.-based prescription digital therapeutics startup Luminopia raised a $5.7 million seed extension round. ShangBay Capital led the deal, with Vertical Group, SSI Strategy, and Sony Ventures chipping in. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $17.2 million. More here.

The Mexico City-based pet food startup Pet’s Table raised a $2 million seed round. The deal was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from Goodwater Capital. More here.

The Dubai-based platform for short-term rentals Silkhaus has raised $7.75 million in seed funding. Nuwa Capital, Nordstar, Global Founders Capital, Yuj Ventures, Whiteboard Capital and VentureSouq all participated in the round. They were joined by international family offices and proptech founders. More here.

The climate technology and Web3 startup Thallo, which is based in London, raised a $2.5 million seed round. The deal was co-led by Arcan and Friendly Trading Group 2, with help from Allegory, Cerulean Ventures, and Flori Ventures. More here.

New York startup Zenlytic, which is developing a business intelligence tool for commerce, raised a $5.4 million seed round. Bain Capital Ventures led the deal, with participation from Primary Venture Partners, Correlation Ventures, Company Ventures, Habitat Partners (Red Antler), and the Sequoia Scout Fund. More here.

A $12.5 million Series A round was raised by Atmos, the San Francisco startup that helps consumers to design their dream homes in 3D. The deal was led by previous investor Khosla Ventures, with participation from Keller Williams, Duke Angel Network, Bain Capital co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca, and Figma CEO and co-founder Dylan Field, as well as Bedrock, JLL Spark, Y Combinator, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The company has raised a total of $18.7 million. More here.

The London-based fintech Banked raised a $15 million Series A round. Insight Partners led the deal, with participation from Citi, National Australia Bank Ventures, and Rapyd. This new funding brings the total capital the company has raised to over $50 million. More here.

The Sunnyvale, Ca.-based startup Cloudbrink, which is looking to deliver hybrid access-as-a-service (HAaaS) for hybrid workforces, has come out of stealth with $25 million in funding. Highland Capital Partners and The Fabric co-creation studio co-led the deal. More here.

New York startup EngFlow, which helps its enterprise customers build and test their source code more efficiently, raised an $18 million Series A round. The deal was led by Tiger Global, Firstminute Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz, bringing the total the company has raised to $21.7 million. More here.

San Francisco startup Impulse, which is developing induction stoves that are battery-powered, raised a $20 million Series A round. Lux Capital led the deal, with participation from Fifth Wall, investor Lachy Groom, and Construct Capital. This brings the total the company has raised to $25 million. More here.

Lead-scoring platform MadKudu, which is based in New York and Paris, raised $18 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Felicis, with participation from BGV, Alven, Techstars and other individual investors. This brings the total the company has raised to $27 million. More here.

San Francisco startup MotherDuck, which is working to commercialize open-source DuckDB packages, raised a $35 million Series A round. The round, which was valued at $175 million, was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Madrona, Amplify Partners, Altimeter, and Redpoint Ventures. More here.

The Cambridge, Ma.-based Pickle Robot Company, whose robots help unload trucks, has raised $26 million in Series A funding. Ranpak, JS Capital, Schusterman Family Investments, Soros Capital and Catapult Ventures all invested. More here.

Shanghai and Helsinki-based startup Yahaha, which is creating a gaming platform that is immersive, user-generated, and low-code, raised a $40 million Series A extension. The deal was co-led by Temasek and Alibaba, with participation from 37 Interactive Entertainment. This brings the total the company has raised to $121 million. More here.

The Nairobi-based e-mobility startup BasiGo raised a $6.6 million round. The deal was co-led by Novastar, Mobility54, Toyota Tsusho, and Trucks.vc, bringing the total the ****company has raised to $11 million. More here.

San Francisco startup Butter, which is working to build an operating system for the food supply chain, raised a $9 million Series A round. Gradient Ventures led the deal, with participation from Uncommon Capital and Notation Capital. More here.

Seattle startup CalmWave, which is working to reduce the number of false positive alarms in intensive care units with the help of AI, raised a $4 million seed round. The deal was led by Bonfire Ventures, with Tau Ventures, AI2 Incubator, Seachange Ventures, Hike Ventures, and the PagerDuty co-founders pitching in. More here.

The New York-based startup Impacked, which is looking to build a marketplace for sustainable CPG packaging, raised a $2.5 million seed round. The deal was led by TenOneTen Ventures, bringing the total the company has raised to $3.3 million. More here.

Los Angeles startup Joopiter, which is working to build a digital auction house, raised a $6 million seed round. The deal was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. More here.

A $4.7 million seed round was raised by Payload, a startup that has developed a headless open-source content management system. Gradient Ventures led the deal, with participation from MongoDB Ventures, Y Combinator, SV Angel, Grand Ventures, and Exceptional Capital. More here.

Dubai startup Silkhaus, which is looking to digitize short-term rentals across emerging markets, has raised a $7.75 million round. Nuwa Capital, Nordstar, Global Founders Capital, Yuj Ventures, Whiteboard Capital, and VentureSouq all invested, bringing the total the company has raised to $7.8 million. More here.

Yakoa has raised $4.8 million to continue building tools to help fight NFT fraud. The deal was led by Collab+Currency, Volt Capital, and Brevan Howard Digital, with Data Community Fund, Alliance DAO, Uniswap Labs Ventures, Orange DAO, Time Zero Capital, gmjp, Sunset Ventures, and FAST by GETTYLAB all chipping in. More here.

New York startup Aescape, which is creating automated massage therapy devices, raised a $30 million Series A round. Valor Siren Ventures and Valor Equity Partners co-led the deal, with participation from Fifth Wall, Alley Robotics Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Alumni Ventures, and Kevin Love. More here.

The Palo Alto, Ca.-based application security operations startup ArmorCode raised a $14 million Series A round. Ballistic Ventures led the deal, with participation from Sierra Ventures and Cervin. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $25 million. More here.

The commission-free investment platform baraka, which is based in Dubai, has raised a $20 million Series A round. Valar Ventures led the deal, with participation from Knollwood, bringing the total the company has raised to $25.1 million. More here.

The Cologne, Germany-based machine learning startup Buynomics has raised $13.4 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from LaFamiglia, Seedcamp, Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures, and Tomahawk. More here.

The San Francisco and Tel Aviv-based startup Loops.ai, which offers analytics tool to help product and data teams find ways to grow, raised a $14 million seed round. The deal was led by Scale Venture Partners, with participation from Cardumen Capital. More here.

The Farmington, Ct.-based animal health biologics company Torigen Pharma raised a $13 million Series A1 round. Werth Family Investment Associates and Connecticut Innovations co-led the deal, with participation from Ironwood Capital and Advantage Capital, Emerald Development Managers, Gaingels, Kema Fund, University of Notre Dame, SoGal Ventures, and the UCONN Innovation Fund. This brings the total amount the company has raised to $18 million. More here.

The San Diego startup Valcre, which makes commercial real estate appraisal software, raised a $12.7 million Series A round. Avenue Growth Partners led the deal, with help from Second Century Ventures. More here.

The Gothenburg, Sweden-based Gen Z social hiring platform Adway raised a $10.4 million Series A round. The deal was led by Octopus Ventures, with help from Brightly Ventures and Spintop Ventures, who both invested previously. More here.

A $4.6 million seed round was raised by Boston startup Ayble Health, which provides virtual care for patients with digestible diseases. The round was co-led by Upfront Ventures and M13. More here.

Thai startup Beam, which has created an expedited checkout process for e-commerce in Southeast Asia, raised a $2.5 million seed round. Surge and Sequoia Capital India co-led the deal, with participation from Partech. More here.

The virtual contract research organization Curavit, which is based in Scarsdale, NY, raised a $5 million Series A round. The deal was led by Osage Venture Partners, with participation from Royal Street Ventures and Narrow Gauge Ventures. More here.

A $3.5 million round was raised by the Alamo, CA-based startup The Eighth Notch, which is focused on logistics for last-mile deliveries. The deal was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund. More here.

The investing app Fennel, which gives retail investors ESG data and information about corporate elections, raised $5 million. The money came from individual investors. More here.

San Francisco startup Freshpaint raised a $9.5 million Series A round and $5 million in debt. Intel Capital led the deal. The startup enables businesses to capture and activate customer data across hundreds of integrations without relying too much on engineering. More here.

Israeli productivity AI company theGist raised a $7 million pre-seed round, which was co-led by StageOne Ventures and Aleph. More here.

Vancouver software startup Metaspectral raised a $4.7 million seed round. SOMA Capital, Acequia Capital, and the Canadian government all invested, as did angel investors Jude Gomila and Alan Rutledge, among others. More here.

Web3 gaming monetization platform PlayEmber, which is based in London, raised a $2.3 million pre-seed round. Shima Capital led the deal, with participation from Huobi Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, Hyperithm, Warburg Serres, and Lyrik Ventures. More here.

The Sunnyvale, Ca.-based educational platform Prof Jim raised a $1.5 million round. Hannah Grey, Avalanche VC, and Behind Genius Ventures all invested. More here.

New York startup Relay Commerce raised a $6.25 million seed round to help acquire more e-commerce software businesses. The deal was led by Primary and included Twelve Below, AlleyCorp, and Max Ventures. A $20 million debt facility was provided by TriplePoint Capital. More here.

London startup SigmaOS, which has created a browser that is meant to increase productivity, raised a $4 million seed round. The deal was led by LocalGlobe and included Y Combinator, 7percent Ventures, Moonfire Ventures, Shine VC, TrueSight Ventures, Pioneer Fund, and Venture Together. More here.

Supernova, a startup based in San Francisco that’s looking to bridge the gap between design and development teams, raised a $4.8 million seed round. Wing VC led the deal, with participation from EQT Ventures and Kaya VC. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $11.8 million. More here.

Trading fintech company The Trading Pit, which is based in Liechtenstein, raised a $10.4 million round. The deal was led by Pinorena Capital. More here.

The New York-based online lending software company Zest raised a $4.2 million seed. It was led by GV, with participation from BoxGroup, Character, Operator Partners, Bungalow Capital, and Company Ventures. More here.

Baltimore startup Haystack Oncology, which is developing personalized cancer diagnostic tests, raised a $56 million Series A round. Catalio led the deal, with participation from Bruker, Exact Sciences, and Alexandria Venture Investments, bringing the total the company has raised to $56 million. More here.

A $42 million round was raised by The Applied AI Co., a London startup that is creating software to automate processes within the insurance, pharmaceutical, and healthcare sectors. Goldman Sachs and members of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi royal family invested. More here.

New York and Tel Aviv-based startup Beti, whose platform allows construction companies to supervise and coordinate onsite workflows and worker safety, raised an $11 million round. PSG led the deal, with 97212 Ventures pitching in. More here.

Seattle aerospace company Gravitics raised a $20 million round. The deal was led by Type One Ventures, with participation from Draper Associates, FJ Labs, The Venture Collective, Helios Capital, Chicago Giant Step Capital, Gaingels, Spectre, Manhattan West, and Mana Ventures. More here.

Raleigh, N.C.-based Methodical Games raised a $15 million seed round to continue developing a multiplayer action-adventure game. The deal was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. More here.

Los Angeles startup ReadySpaces, which operates as a warehouse storage provider for small businesses, raised $20 million in debt from backers whose names have not been disclosed. This brings the total the company has raised to $40 million. More here.

A $15 million Series A round was raised by New York startup Resilience Lab, which helps consumers find mental health caregivers. The deal was led by Morningside and Viewside Capital Partners. More here.

The Tampa, Fl.-based managed Robotic Process Automation (RPA) company Rewst raised a $21.5 million Series A round. The deal was led by OpenView, bringing the total the company has raised to $28 million. More here.

A $16 million Series A round was raised by the Los Angeles startup Terzo, which provides an SaaS-based enterprise Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) platform. The deal was led by Align Ventures, with TYH Ventures, Engage Ventures, and Human Capital pitching in. In total, the company has raised $19.5 million. More here.

A $15.5 million round was raised by Paris startup Virgil, which helps homeowners buy a larger home in exchange for equity. Global Founders Capital and Aquasourca invested, as did previous investors Alven, LocalGlobe, and Evolem, bringing the total the company has raised to $17.7 million. More here.

Los Angeles startup Arey, which is dedicated to hair care for aging hair, raised a $4.15 million seed round. The deal was co-led by Female Founders Fund and Greycroft. More here.

Brooklyn-based startup Beam, which is dedicated to helping citizens access government financial aid, has raised a $6.4 million Series A round. The deal was led by Potencia Ventures, with Spring Point Partners, American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, Imaginable Futures, Lumina Impact Ventures, Michelson Runway and Schmidt Futures chipping in. More here.

South San Francisco startup Centivax, which is working to develop “universal” vaccines, raised a $10 million seed round. NFX and the Global Health Investment Corporation co-led the deal. More here.

Dutch startup Cradle, which determines the function of different protein structures and sequences using AI, raised a $5.7 million seed round. The deal was co-led by Index Ventures and Kindred Capital. More here.

A $3 million seed round was raised by JUKE, which creates digital collectibles for consumers. The deal was led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from North Island Ventures and Multicoin Capital. More here.

Palo Alto, Ca., startup Namecoach, which develops tools that help with name mispronunciation, raised an $8 million Series A round. Impact America Fund led the deal, with Authentic Ventures, Metaplanet, Engage.VC, Founders Fund, and Bisk Ventures chipping in. More here.

The San Francisco-based, AI-driven marketing platform Omneky raised a $7.5 million seed extension round. Orbit Ventures and Ethos were among those who invested, bringing the total the company has raised to $10 million. More here.

The data-importing startup OneSchema, which is based in San Francisco, raised a $6.3 million seed round. The deal was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, Elad Gil, and Contrary Capital. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $6.4 million. More here.

The Toronto-based startup Private AI has raised $8 million in Series A funding to grow their "privacy layer for software.” The deal was led by BDC Capital, with participation from GIT1K, Panda Angel Partners, M12, Differential Ventures, Forum Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and Parliament Angels. More here.

An $8 million Series 1 round was raised by San Francisco startup Scoop, which helps hybrid teams stay in sync. Haystack led the deal, with participation from Activate Capital, Audacious Ventures, and G2 Venture Partners. In total, the company has raised $106 million. More here.

A $5 million seed round was raised by Summer International. The startup, which is based in Los Angeles and South Korea, finds influential content creators and helps them incubate new brands. GDP Ventures, Teja Ventures, and Gushcloud International all invested. More here.

New York startup Daylight, which is creating an LGBTQIA+ community-focused digital bank, raised a $15 million Series A round. Anthemis Group led the round, with participation from CMFG Ventures, Kapor Capital, Citi Ventures, and Gaingels, and other investors. This brings the total capital the company has raised to $20 million. More here.

A $4.2 million seed round was raised by Anode Labs, the Austin startup creating a web3 energy grid. The deal was co-led by Lerer Hippeau and Lattice, with participation from VaynerFund, CoinShares, and Digital Currency Group. More here.

An $8.6 million seed round was raised by the startup Narwhal, which has created a popular open-source build system for JavaScript code called Nx. The deal was co-led by Nexus Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, and included GitHub co-founder Tom Preston-Werner, as well as other angel investors. More here.

San Francisco startup Sematic raised a $3 million seed round to create an open-source continuous learning platform. Race Capital led the deal, with participation from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Leonis Capital, and Pioneer Fund. More here.

San Francisco startup Sensible, which is working to make documents as accessible to software as APIs, raised a $6.5 million seed round. Craft Ventures led the deal, with participation from Engineering Capital and Clocktower Technology Ventures. More here.

Web3 startup Virtualness, which is based in San Francisco, raised an $8 million seed round. Blockchange Ventures led the deal, with participation from Polygon Ventures, F7 Ventures, Micron Ventures, Oceans Ventures, and Neythri Futures Fund. More here.

A $5 million seed round was led by Zulu, a Colombian startup that has created a digital wallet for Latin American consumers. The round was led by Cadenza Ventures, with help from Nexo Ventures, Simplex, CMT Digital, and Gaingels. More here.


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

Microsoft, Williams Cos., and Duke Energy Corp are among the investors in a $485 fund raised by the New York venture-investment firm Energy Impact Partners. The company, which was originally targeting $350 million for its EIP Deep Decarbonization Frontier Fund I LP, will invest the money in technologies that help reduce carbon emissions. More here.

The Columbus, Ohio-based venture firm Heartland Ventures has raised $52 million for its second fund. More here.

A $225 million venture capital platform has been launched by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to back early-stage startups in Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and Pakistan. More here.

Techstars, the startup accelerator, is hoping to put together a $300 million fund. More here.

The seed-stage venture firm Fiat Ventures, which is looking to invest in up-and-coming fintech startups, has closed its debut fund with $25 million in capital commitments. More here.

The venture-investing firm SE Ventures, which is backed by Schneider Electric, launched a new €500 million fund, bringing the company’s total committed capital to €1 billion. The new fund, which is equivalent to about $520 million, will help the company foster cutting-edge tech startups. More here.

Early-stage venture firm Index Ventures, which has offices in San Francisco, New York, London and Geneva, has closed a $300 million seed-stage fund. This fund is three times larger than its first seed-stage fund, which closed with $200 million in capital commitments last year. More here


💸 MONEY MOVES

Ryan Davis, who was previously with Pantera Capital, has joined the venture firm Offline Ventures.

Zoe Perret has been promoted to principal at Initialized Capital, the San Francisco-based venture firm. In January 2020, Perrett was hired as Initialized Capital’s strategic operations lead. Before that, she spent over four years at BlackRock.


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:

🎉 Celebrating - The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train is returning to southeast Michigan after the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to its cross-continent tour for three years! The program raises money, food, and awareness for local food banks in communities along the CP network. The train, decorated in Christmas lights, puts on free shows with live music, but people who attend are encouraged to make a generous donation if they’re able.

😳 Watching - Or should I say NOT watching? The beloved “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” won’t air on TV this year. Apple acquired the rights to the "Peanuts" catalog, and will exclusively stream it on Apple TV+ this year. Some good news though: You can stream the special for free from Wednesday, Nov. 23 through Sunday, Nov. 27.

🎵 Listening - As I spend time at home in Detroit this week, I’m all kinds of nostalgic. Gillian Welch’s tribute of I Just Came Home to Count the Memories by John Anderson acts as a beautiful soundtrack.


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FOUNDERS: Do you want to pitch to investors in Angel Club? Fill out this form so that we can learn more about your business, share relevant opportunities, and make introductions.

📢 Have something you want to share in an upcoming edition? Message me here or email info@angelgambino.com.

Make it a great week!

With grit, grace, and gratitude,

Angel

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