Dealmaker by The Information Staff

Two times/week

Dealmaker

By The Information Staff

Reporters Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof tell you what’s coming next, who’s winning—and who’s losing—in the high-stakes world of startup investing.

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Recent Editions

Harvey co-founders Winston Weinberg and Gabe Pereyra. Photos via Harvey.

Why Sequoia Is Doubling Down on Harvey

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jan 16, 2025 2:32pm PST

Sequoia Capital is planning to double down on Harvey, which uses artificial intelligence to automate work for lawyers, less than two years after first investing in the startup. The reason probably has something to do with its revenue growth.Harvey expects to raise about $300 million at around a $3 billion valuation in a round led by Sequoia... Sequoia Capital is planning to double down on Harvey, which uses artificial intelligence to...

Jamie Hodari. Photo via Industrious.

The Anti-WeWork Makes Good; Plaid Considers M&A Push

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 14, 2025 3:50pm PST

Visitors to Bryant Park in New York would have had a confusing sight on Tuesday afternoon: Hundreds of startup workers throwing graduation caps into the air and then ice skating in green gowns. That was the celebration cooked up by Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari to memorialize the sale of his co-working startup to $38 billion real estate... Visitors to Bryant Park in New York would have had a confusing sight on Tuesday afternoon:...

Fazal Merchant. Photo via Wiz.

Wiz Completes Piece of IPO Puzzle

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 9, 2025 3:13pm PST · 1 comment

Five-year-old Wiz, a $16 billion–valuation startup that sells cloud cybersecurity software to large companies, has always had a flair for the dramatic. A few years ago, CEO Assaf Rappaport declared it the fastest-growing software company ever. In 2023, it openly mulled a takeover of larger, publicly held SentinelOne. And last year Wiz told its... Five-year-old Wiz, a $16 billion–valuation startup that sells cloud cybersecurity software to...

Michael Grimes on Tech Markets; A Chart on Megadeals

Michael Grimes on Tech Markets; A Chart on Megadeals

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 7, 2025 3:41pm PST · 1 comment

Michael Grimes on Tech Markets; A Chart on Megadeals

Michael Grimes on Tech Markets; A Chart on Megadeals

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 7, 2025 3:41pm PST · 1 comment

We’re in a new year, but the major headline in venture capital is the same: It’s all about megadeals for artificial intelligence startups. Lightspeed Venture Partners is expected to lead a $2 billion round of funding for Anthropic at a $60 billion valuation, Stephanie confirmed. The new funding, at a higher valuation than we reported four... We’re in a new year, but the major headline in venture capital is the same: It’s all about...

Photo by Getty

Startup Deadpool

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jan 2, 2025 3:04pm PST · 3 comments

I first met Peter Johnston, the founder of consumer social website Polywork, in 2022 when he had just raised $28 million from former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and other investors. Johnston was eager to tell me how Polywork would connect people with different professional opportunities, such as a coder who wanted to make angel investments or a... I first met Peter Johnston, the founder of consumer social website Polywork, in 2022 when he had...

Photo by Getty

A Battery Ventures Buyout Shows VC-to-PE Path

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 31, 2024 2:13pm PST

Here’s a deal scoop to wrap up the year: RetailNext, a 17-year-old startup that sells smart cameras to bricks-and-mortar retailers for measuring foot traffic, sold earlier this month to multistage investment firm Battery Ventures, people familiar with the matter said. The transaction might sound small, but it could have bigger implications for... Here’s a deal scoop to wrap up the year: RetailNext, a 17-year-old startup that sells smart...

Art by Clark Miller

Where Is Venture Capital Going in 2025?

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 26, 2024 2:00pm PST

Dealmakers, it’s been a history-making year. OpenAI raised $6.6 billion, the largest venture capital fundraise in history—only to have Databricks beat that record with its $10 billion haul in December. Then there were the acqui-hires, topped by Google paying $2.7 billion for the talent and technology behind Character AI.But the year wasn’t... Dealmakers, it’s been a history-making year. OpenAI raised $6.6 billion, the largest venture...

Photo via Getty.

What Happens to VCs’ Forgotten Startup Toys?

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 24, 2024 2:01pm PST · 1 comment

Photo via Getty.

What Happens to VCs’ Forgotten Startup Toys?

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 24, 2024 2:01pm PST · 1 comment

The gifting season is upon us, with kids and adults alike tearing into their new toys and gadgets while must-have presents from just a few years before sit forgotten. Venture capitalists can probably relate. In the tech world, we’re wrapping up year two of VCs splurging on shiny new artificial intelligence startups. AI startups to automate... The gifting season is upon us, with kids and adults alike tearing into their new toys and gadgets...

John Locke, left, and Arun Mathew. Photo via Accel

Accel Shrinks Its Growth Fund, Bucking Trend to Go Bigger

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 19, 2024 10:35am PST

Accel, a blue-blood of Sand Hill Road, is thinking smaller.The firm publicly filed Thursday that it has raised $1.35 billion for its latest growth fund to invest in mature startups. That’s nearly a quarter less than the $1.75 billion it raised for its last growth fund in 2021.The smaller fund is a tacit admission by one of the industry’s leaders... Accel, a blue-blood of Sand Hill Road, is thinking smaller.The firm publicly filed Thursday that...

Photo by Getty

The Under-the-Radar Investors That Wrote Massive Checks to Databricks

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 17, 2024 3:31pm PST

Many of the investment firms that wrote some of the largest checks into Databricks’ record-smashing $10 billion fundraising haul announced Tuesday are among the tech world’s best known venture names, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital and Insight Partners.Then there’s an investment giant that is expected to wire at least $300 million to... Many of the investment firms that wrote some of the largest checks into Databricks’...

President-elect Donald Trump. Photo by Getty.

The Tech Insiders Who Could Join Trump’s Orbit

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 12, 2024 4:37pm PST

The list of venture capitalists and Silicon Valley insiders joining the next presidential administration is growing. Just this week, President-elect Donald Trump named Jacob Helberg, an adviser to Palantir Technologies and husband to Keith Rabois, a Khosla Ventures managing director, as a top economic policy and trade official. Helberg follows... The list of venture capitalists and Silicon Valley insiders joining the next presidential...

Photo via Getty

CoreWeave’s IPO Prep Kicks Into Gear; Is SpaceX’s Valuation Rational?

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 10, 2024 3:21pm PST

Photo via Getty

CoreWeave’s IPO Prep Kicks Into Gear; Is SpaceX’s Valuation Rational?

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 10, 2024 3:21pm PST

The big venture-backed initial public offering this week is a bit like meat and potatoes—it’s filling but not all that exciting. ServiceTitan, the Bessemer and Battery Ventures-backed software seller to electricians and plumbers, is expected to price its IPO Wednesday and begin trading on Nasdaq on Thursday with a market capitalization somewhere... The big venture-backed initial public offering this week is a bit like meat and potatoes—it’s...

Tomasz Tunguz. Photo via Flickr/Collision.

Why One Enterprise Investor Is Newly Exuberant on Crypto

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 5, 2024 3:26pm PST · 2 comments

Silicon Valley’s holiday party season is in full swing. But instead of having endless conversations about artificial intelligence, I’ve been bombarded by venture capitalists with renewed excitement for cryptocurrency startups. To sum up the mood: One startup founder made a toast when Bitcoin crossed $100,000 on Wednesday. Investor Tomasz... Silicon Valley’s holiday party season is in full swing. But instead of having endless...

When Databricks Will Be As Big as Snowflake; A Sleeper Fintech IPO Candidate

When Databricks Will Be As Big as Snowflake; A Sleeper Fintech IPO Candidate

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 3, 2024 3:42pm PST · 2 comments

Ali Ghodsi is taking aim at giants. The Databricks CEO is no longer just sniping at $60 billion competitor Snowflake, but has ambitions for his company to be as big as $300 billion Salesforce, according to Jon Victor’s profile on the everywhere-at-once computer science professor. Reading the piece, I couldn’t help but think about the... Ali Ghodsi is taking aim at giants. The Databricks CEO is no longer just sniping at $60 billion...

Michelle Volz. Photo via Andreessen Horowitz.

Andreessen Horowitz ‘Dynamism’ Partner to Launch Solo Fund

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 26, 2024 3:18pm PST

More new venture managers are trying to raise new funds, bucking a slump in venture capital fundraising. The latest: Michelle Volz, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz on the American Dynamism team, is leaving the firm and raising her own fund to invest in the same type of startups, according to a person with direct knowledge of the fundraising... More new venture managers are trying to raise new funds, bucking a slump in venture capital...

Together AI, Lambda Extend Funding Rush; Singapore to Back Wiz

Together AI, Lambda Extend Funding Rush; Singapore to Back Wiz

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Sri Muppidi · Nov 21, 2024 4:47pm PST

Together AI, Lambda Extend Funding Rush; Singapore to Back Wiz

Together AI, Lambda Extend Funding Rush; Singapore to Back Wiz

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Sri Muppidi · Nov 21, 2024 4:47pm PST

We’ve spent more than a year covering back-to-back financings of artificial intelligence startups. There’s no sign that trend is letting up, at least for startups that compete with major cloud providers by renting out servers with chips made by Nvidia, whose quarterly earnings report this week showed the AI party is still going strong.Together... We’ve spent more than a year covering back-to-back financings of artificial intelligence...

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi and ServiceTitan CEO Ara Mahdessian. Photos via Flickr and ServiceTitan.

Databricks’ $8 Billion Ask; ServiceTitan IPO Winners

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 19, 2024 3:00pm PST · 2 comments

Good afternoon from Las Vegas, where I’m writing this newsletter from a hotel room with a Strip view of the Encore, the hotel where bankers, investors and tech executives will slide from meeting to meeting at Goldman Sachs’ annual private tech confab. Say hi if you’re there. (I’ll be one of the many bald guys roaming around, but I’m younger than... Good afternoon from Las Vegas, where I’m writing this newsletter from a hotel room with a Strip...

Forward's CarePod. Photo via Forward.

The Unicorn Hangover Lingers; Ben Horowitz’s Post-Election Sniping

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Jon Victor · Nov 14, 2024 3:46pm PST

Another day, another multibillion-dollar valuation for a generative AI startup! Today it’s Synthesia, a video-generation startup that’s near a $2 billion price tag in a round led by New Enterprise Associates, we scooped Thursday. Given the firehose of AI deals, it’s easy to forget that plenty of startups aren’t as lucky – and could be... Another day, another multibillion-dollar valuation for a generative AI startup! Today it’s...

Photo via Getty

An Inside Round for Accel; What's Next for Databricks

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 12, 2024 3:21pm PST

Venture capital firms have a lot of money to invest but relatively few maturing startups have proven their worth. So firms are doubling down on the startups they see as winners—which is sending valuations soaring, sometimes in just a few months.The latest example: Cyera, a cloud cybersecurity firm, is finalizing a deal to raise new funding from... Venture capital firms have a lot of money to invest but relatively few maturing startups have...

J.D. Vance. Photo via Getty

A Venture Capitalist Heads to the White House

By Kate Clark · Nov 7, 2024 3:00pm PST

J.D. Vance. Photo via Getty

A Venture Capitalist Heads to the White House

By Kate Clark · Nov 7, 2024 3:00pm PST

A venture capitalist is stepping into one of the highest offices in the U.S.—the vice presidency—but whether he’ll be a friend or foe to Silicon Valley is still unclear. Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance should know what helps startups and their investors, thanks to his five years working in venture capital. During that time, he made early-stage... A venture capitalist is stepping into one of the highest offices in the U.S.—the vice presidency—...