Would you spend $1,000 a month on a luxury fashion service? | Equity Podcast

This episode is sponsored by Morgan Stanley atwork visit morganstanley.com Assessment to get your free transaction Readiness assessment [Music] Today hello and welcome back to equity The Tech runch podcast where we unpack The numbers and the Nuance behind the Headlines today is January 17th 20 24 And this is Alex Welcome to our Wednesday show where we dig into the Critical startup ADV Venture Capital Stories from the week thus far as a Reminder this is our new format so Comments and feedback please to equity Poot techcrunch.com if you want and if You were a big fan of the interviews we Used to do every Wednesday don't worry We're still doing them just on a bit More of an ad hoc basis but we have a Couple in the can and a couple more Coming that you are going to love all Right right on the show this morning we Have a bevy of funding rounds including Very interesting transactions from verus Electra and fancy and then to close out We have a new fund investing in fintech And cyber security and what's going on In one of the most interesting Venture Capital markets in the World first on the docket this morning Verus raises $25 million for AI based Tools to help companies tackle the Software spend that's the tech runch

Headline what does it mean well verdice Is a startup that is building tools to Help its customers track and understand Their software spend it provides Analytics into how their employees are Using that software and even provides Notes on compliance the idea here is That it wants to help you save money so Verdis will also help its customers Control their cloud computing spend Itself why is this cool well it uses Ai And other Advanced Tech to save Companies money it's it's a neat idea Idea and one that I think has shown in Market demand thanks to the success of Other startups like ramp but even more Veris is cool because it shared enough Financial data that we are actually Excited about its growth Tech Run's Ingred London reports that vertices Annual recurring revenues are now in the Double digit Millions with ARR growing Sevenfold in 2023 yep that's the kind of growth Venture capitalists absolutely adore so It's not a huge shock that it raised More money if you rewind the clock Verdis previously raised a $26 million Round which means that its new round is Roughly the same size as its prior Transaction the new funding was led by 83 North and besser Venture Partners Which also co-led the London based Startups previous round now a very

Curious thing that we should consider About series a and later transactions we Should think about them in terms of Their revenue multiple now we often Compare a company's Revenue to its Valuation but rarely ly to its latest Round size so for example if verdis is At $15 million worth of ARR to make up a Figure its round was 1.66 times its Current Revenue I wonder if that's like The average for a series b or if it Actually feels a little bit low I'm not Sure but it's a new way to think about How big that round Is next up EV charging startup Electra Secures $330 million I love this round Electra which is building a network of Charging stations in France and other European countries according to our own Raman da is now flush with ample New Capital but don't presume that this $330 Million monster round is just debt with A little bit of equity tacked on nope According to our reporting it's entirely An equity transaction that makes it one Hell of a series B of course installing EV charging stations is a bit more Expensive than simply riding software so The dollar amount does have some logic To it but it's still a lot of money and What is Electra going to do with all its New capital well it currently has 172 Charging stations installed and is Rolling out another 105 now each

Charging station has several charging Points so the 172 stations that are Already in the market have nearly a Th000 individual charge points according To our reporting so I presume the money Will go to building that out more Notably all of electric Chargers are so Called fast charging impl that they are Rapid and could perhaps charge a premium To EV users on the go I need to learn More about how these are priced but That's my idea now here in the US there Are a number of companies working on EV Charging stations you may have heard of Startups like EV passport but one issue That we have in the states is the sheer Size of our country and its very Frequent lack of population density if You don't know what I mean just drive Across North Dakota Europe is a little Bit different which could help a company Like Electra get to the density it needs To make its service make sense no matter I love seeing a massive round with Venture participation going to Green Infra it gives me that tiny tiny glimmer Of hope so who put the capital in well It was pggm a Dutch pension fund service Provider as well as BPI France's large Venture fund those were the lead Investors and it also saw participation From prior investors including iip Eiffel Investment Group R green invest And

Alliance next up build a rocket boy a Game Studio from former Grand Theft Auto Developer raises $110 million have you Ever played a title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise well a company built by One of its former lead developers just Raised nine figures in a massive series D now the company in question build a Rocket boy is working on several titles That have yet to see the light of day But Tech reports that one could look a Little bit like Roblox while another Focuses on quote story driven action Adventure end quote certainly the first Title ever in the history of gaming to Have that Focus now build a rocket boys Series D was led by new york-based Investment Firm Red Bird Capital Partners with participation from net EAS Games Galaxy interactive Endeavor Alignment growth with line Partners GT Partners among others quite the list but It's hard to count up to 110 million Build a rocket boy is based in Edinburgh Which I think is pretty pretty cool and Even more I love seeing gaming companies Raise money because it implies that at Least some capital is Flowing to art at The same time a series D is very serious Late stage Capital so investors must Really dig what build a rocket boy is Cooking up the question is will Consumers agree when these titles hit The market well I'll let you know cuz I

Will give them a try is your company Planning to go public or conduct a Shareholder liquidity program within the Next 18 to 24 months did you know that Proactively planning for your next Private company liquidity event or IPO Can help you maintain greater control Over timelines and outcomes Morgan Stanley at work believes that when you Have the right technology and systems in Place working in harmony leading up to a Transaction you can prepare and execute With more accuracy and ease visit Morganstanley.com Assessment to connect with their issuer Strategy and Excellence team for a free Assessment to find out if your company Is transaction ready again that's Morganstanley.com Assessment to get your free assessment [Music] Today now to our Quick List onara raises 30 million euro to help track how you Are sleeping onera sells Sleep Diagnostic and monitoring technology to Help clinicians conduct studies on Consumers in their own homes much better To do at home I think than a sterile lab Given how large the Sleep Market is and How poorly some of us snooze it's a Pretty cool idea the Dutch company has Now raised 55 million euro in total and Companies that promise a better night's Rest like eight sleep our big business

So I presume that there is a lot of Demand for what onera offers as well Next on our list weix raises $23.6 Million to develop smart radios for Frontline workers this one took me a Minute to understand everyone has a Smartphone now so what's the need for Advanced 2-way radios for Frontline Workers well if you want to ensure that Communication amongst staff is quick and Secure and measurable demanding that They use a personal device is actually a Terrible solution so enter wex's Hardware and software products and I'll Just say this who doesn't love a Hardware Story moving right along the former Founder of fancy is back in the market With a company called long story short This one took me even longer to figure Out than the two-way radio thing here's The question would you pay $1,000 a Month to get access to a curated Collection of goods for sale now Personally I would not but long story Short is betting that consumers will so Once you are vetted and approved and pay You'll get access to about 50,000 hand Selected luxury products okay that's Cool but here's my question is this why Consumer Debt is rising so quickly and To close out our startup notes this Morning excite which is spelled Xyt it's a startup that helps hardware

Oems and their Channel Partners build Subscription services for devices it Just raised a $20 million series a led By Intel Capital with Samsung next along For the ride and it also picked up a $10 Million deadline from Black Rock to help Customer customers make the transition To subscription models this could be Very popular although I'm not sure all Of us are going to be stoked that the Next time we buy some Hardware we don't Actually own It put the startups aside put on your Venture Capital vest because it's time To talk about money and we're starting With tomfest Ventures they are popping Into 2024 with a new $250 million fund And the promotion of two of their Partners to managing director roles Today vest Ventures deploys Capital According to Tech runch in the areas of Financial and real estate technology Cyber security cloud and AI dat infra I Think you could fit any startup in the World under one of those umbrellas Anyways the new $250 million in capital Commitments brings the firm's total Assets under management to $750 million Evidence that you don't have to raise a Billion dollars in your third fund Elsewhere Tech runes Annie and janja Reports that African investors are Growing to fill a gap left behind by VCS From other areas that have pulled back

Since the implosion of the 20121 era Venture Capital bust that's good news For a burgeoning startup scene that saw Its capital inflows sharply contract in Recent Years that is our show for this fine Wednesday morning don't forget Interviews on Equity aren't going Anywhere we have a great chat with alen Lee from Cowboy Ventures coming your way In the meantime we are Equity pod over On X and threads and if you are a Tik Tok person well we are Tech runch pods Over there we'll talk to you soon we're Back on Friday see You Equity is hosted by myself Editorinchief of Tech runch Plus Alex Wilhelm and Tech wrench 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 techren AUD your products thank you so much for Listening and we'll talk to you next Time