Where is all that a16z money going? | Equity Podcast

This episode is presented by invest Puerto Rico if you believe your business Can go anywhere Puerto Rico is the [Music] Place hello and welcome back to equity The Tech runch podcast where we unpack The numbers and the Nuance behind the Headlines this is Alex and today is April 17th 20 and 24 Welcome to our Wednesday show where we dig into the Critical startup and Venture Capital Stories from the week thus far today on The show we have an absolutely packed List that I'm very excited about we're Going to start with two startup rounds That caught my eye they are in very Different markets an IPO update an 11 Billion Bonanza for space startups two New Venture Capital funds that I think Are both pretty darn interesting and Then to close that Mammoth and and Horowitz Hall let's go First up is a startup that I keep saying Is two chains but actually it's not it's Two chairs and it just raised a series SE let's talk about it so two chairs Started off Life as a startup that Wanted to use a matching algorithm to Connect people to therapists that they Would then see IRL then covid-19 Happened and the whole world went online So the company was forced to reconsider Its face-to-face Focus now the adoption Of the remote first treatment model has

Helped the company grow faster and we Think as well less expensively then it Would have had it continued to emphasize Seen patients in person and the company Says that its Revenue expanded Eightfold In the last 3 years that's the type of Growth that every VC wants to see now Today two chairs has 500 therapists that See patients virtually and that series C I mentioned is worth $72 million and It's a blend of equity and debt now why Does a virtual Therapy Network need debt Well two cheres has an interesting Twist On the therapy startup formula as Tech Reports and I quote CEO Alex Katz says The primary difference between his Company and other virtual Behavioral Health platforms including talkspace and Teledoc owned better help is that two Chairs employs quote the vast majority Of its therapists While most competitors Contract with their clinicians hiring People cost more money if you need more Money debts cheaper than Equity if you Can afford it so that makes a lot of Sense to me and given that my view is That therapy is good and that we could All be a little bit better than we are I Dig this round from saving ourselves to Saving the planet let's talk about quilt A climate tech company that just raised A big series a I love Tim desant he's One of tech wrench's best he covers Climate tech for us and he has an

Absolute soft spot for heat pumps I mean The market does too but Tim does as well Inter quilt which is focusing on you Guessed it heat pumps now Tim writes That heat pumps actually outsold gas Furnaces for the second year running and That homeowners in the US who install Them are eligible for thousands of Dollars in incentives under the Inflation reduction act pretty bullish For heat pumps overall that said the Market still has some issues one of Which is that heat pumps are just Different than from existing heating and Air conditioning setups to give Consumers pause so what quilt wants to Do is offer a sleeker design that can be Installed in more places around the room Than what its competitors offer and in Anticipation of its forthcoming product Introduction quilt raised a massive $33 Million series a led by energy impact Partners and galvanized climate Solutions it's a big series a for this Market and also notably it comes just a Year after it raised an $8 million seed R so investors are pretty bullish on What quilt has cooking my view is this Heating and Cooling are only going to Become more important around the world As our climate changes and the sheer Amount of electricity that we are Spending on indoor climate control is Rising and is getting to be a little bit

Scary so alternative Solutions sound Pretty good though I leave you with a Question why is this startup called Quilt let's leave the early early stage And go all the way to the very end of Startup life and talk about IPOs and we Have two that are coming up first up Rubric which is working on data Management and security and then there's Ibata which is a rewards technology Business now the news this week is that Rubric expects to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange or the nice at a Price of between 28 and $31 per share That's according to a filing it dropped Earlier this week the company is worth About 5.2 billion at the midpoint end of Its anticipated IPO range and that goes Up to about 5.4 billion at the top and That means that this is actually an up IPO from rubrics final private price we Should get more data as the company Looks to list next week but it all looks Pretty good for rubric thus far and then There is ibata which is expected to Price after the Bell today and then Trade tomorrow it filed for a larger Offering earlier in the week boosting The number of shares that will be sold In its IPO though the increase is only From existing shareholders ibata still Plans to sell the same 2.5 million new Shares in the deal more on that Friday When we get some data I love an

IPO what's next in Tech that's not the Right question it's where Puerto Rico More than just a Tropical Paradise it's An Innovations Paradise where startups And Global players coexist in a vast and Vibrant ecosystem where Talent runs deep Highly skilled and bilingual plus the Island offers the most competitive tax Incentives in the US if you believe your Business can go anywhere Puerto Rico is The place find out more at invest pr.org Tech Crunch all right let's put down all Things terrestrial Point our eyes at the Stars and talk about space because NASA Administrator Bill Nelson Has pronounced The agency's 11 billion 15 year mission To collect and return samples from Mars Is insufficient Nelson said that quote The bottom line is an 11 billion budget Is too expensive and a 2040 return date Is too far away we need to look outside The box to find a way ahead that is both Affordable and return samples in a Reasonable time frame this means that They're going to go out and talk to Industry which means startups can take a Bite out of that 11 billion Apple I Think this is awesome I love that NASA Said hey we can't do this we're going to Go out and get help what's out there in The private market and I'm hoping that There are a bunch of startups that have Technology that can accelerate our

Mission to Mars so we can bring back Martian rocks and stare at them here on Earth go get that cash Startups next up Venture Capital news in Three parts first up baybridge Ventures Is Raising $200 million for a new Climate fund this comes at a time when Investors do seem to be quite a bit more Bullish on climate Tech just for example Sosv announced a $36 million deep Tech Fund earlier this week that is going to Be 70% focused on climate then there's New Summit Investments which is raising A $100 million fund and congruent Ventures last year put together a $275 million fund turning down $325 Million in additional LP interest at the Same time so I presume that given that Kind of background baybridge Ventures Should be able to raise its climate fund Pretty quickly if they do and they fill It out will bring that to you at that Time moving along former senior Space X Executive Tom oano is teaming up with SpaceX Alum turn VC AAL aadia and one of Seo's top Finance leaders Spencer Hill On a new Venture called inter logos Capital Tech rench has learned SpaceX of Course is a company that has many Spin-off over the years here's one More but the big VC story this week is That andreon Horwitz has raised $7.2 billion in new funds this was Announced in a post from Ben horrorwitz

Entitled new Funds New Era but if you Know andreon as a place that raises lots Of money it seems like new funds same Era here's the breakdown $33.75 billion For growth Investments the Ft does know That that sum is lower than entri in Horowitz's 2021 era5 billion growth fund But I think the differential makes good Sense 1.25 billion for AI infrastructure $1 billion for AI apps 600 million for American dynamism which is you know Defense Tech and so forth here in the States and then $600 million for gaming Now where's the money for crypto well There isn't actually a need for a new Crypto fund given how big the last entry Hor with's crypto fund was back in 2022 I think the numbers that we just Ran through show how much cheaper growth Investing is today and perhaps most Importantly that andreon horrorwitz Still has the Magic Touch when it comes To fundraising I want to know how though So what we need are some solid leaks on Its last couple of funds performance Because I am so so curious what you have To have as a track record recently to Raise this much money for your next set Of Funds all right friends that is our show For this lovely Wednesday morning of Course Equity is back on Friday with our News Round Table round up we'll kick Through the biggest news including just

What's going on over at Rippling but if You need more from us in the meantime we Are Equity pod over on X and threads I'm Alex I'll talk to you soon Bye Equity is hosted by myself Alex Wilhelm and Tech rench senior reporter Mary an aeto we are produced by Teresa Loans solo with editing by Kell Bryce Durban is our illustrator and a big Thank you to the audience development Team and Henry pette who manages Tech Wrench audio products thank you so much For listening and we'll talk to you next Time