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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.
The week saw the second-biggest raise of the year, as Anduril Industries’ monster raise ranks behind only xAI’s massive $6 billion in May. Aside from that, the week saw some big rounds from cybersecurity, travel and of course, biotech.
1. Anduril Industries, $1.5B, defense: Anduril Industries matched its own record for the largest defense tech round ever. The Costa Mesa, California-based startup locked up a $1.5 billion Series F that values the company at $14 billion — a 69% jump from the $8.5 billion valuation it received after its massive $1.5 billion Series E in late 2022. The round was co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital. The company will use some of the new proceeds for the development of Arsenal-1 — a more than 5 million-square-foot production space designed to produce tens of thousands of autonomous military systems annually. After a slow start to the year, funding to defense tech startups has picked up dramatically in the past few months. Just last month, Helsing, which develops artificial intelligence software for defense, raised approximately $489 million in funding led by General Catalyst that values the company at $5.4 billion. After Anduril’s huge round, defense tech startups now have raised $2.5 billion in 2024, per Crunchbase data. Last year, such startups collected only $2 billion total.
2. Groq, $640M, semiconductor: AI semiconductor and software startup Groq started the week off with a bang when it announced it had locked up a $640 million Series D round at a valuation of $2.8 billion. The round was led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. The Mountain View, California-based firm is helping develop ways to optimize AI and lessen the vast amount of computing power that is currently needed to do that. The new round almost triples the company’s valuation from its Series C in 2021. Founded in 2016, the company has raised $1 billion, per Crunchbase.
3. Abnormal Security, $250M, cybersecurity: Abnormal Security closed a $250 million Series D that now values the San Francisco-based cybersecurity startup at $5.1 billion. The new round was led by Wellington Management. The new valuation is a more than 28% uptick from the $4 billion valuation Abnormal got when it raised a $210 million Series C led by Insight Partners back in May 2022. Founded in 2018, Abnormal looks to stop attacks and find compromised accounts across email and connected applications through leveraging machine learning and AI to understand human behavior. The startup has raised nearly $546 million total, per the company. Abnormal also says it recently surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue. After a down 2023, cybersecurity startups are once again seeing the cash. In the second quarter of 2024, cyber startups saw a robust $4.4 billion invested, according to Crunchbase data. The dollar figure represents a 63% increase from Q1, which saw $2.7 billion roll to startups in 173 deals. It was the best quarter for funding in the sector since Q1 2022 and a 144% increase from Q2 2023.
4. Flyr, $225M, travel: Travel startup Flyr raised $225 million in equity and $70 million in debt in a new funding round. The equity portion was led by WestCap and reportedly values the startup at $900 million. The Santa Monica, California-based startup develops software for the travel industry, such as airlines. Founded in 2013, the company has raised $482 million, per Crunchbase.
5. IDRx, $120M, biotech: The big biotech raise this week went to a Plymouth, Massachusetts-based startup. IDRx, a clinical-stage biotech developing cancer treatment with precision therapies, raised a $120 million Series B led by Commodore Capital, RA Capital Management and Blackstone multiasset investing. Founded in 2022, the company has raised $242 million, per Crunchbase.
6. DevRev, $100M, artificial intelligence: Palo Alto, California-based DevRev, which develops AI for customer support and other uses, raised $100 million from Khosla Ventures and other investors. The round reportedly values the company at $1.15 billion. Founded in 2020, the company has raised $150 million, per Crunchbase.
7. Shinobi Therapeutics, $68M, biotech: Shinobi Therapeutics, a South San Francisco, California-based biotechnology company developing immune evasive iPS cell therapies, raised a $68 million Series A extension from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Yosemite. Founded in 2023, Shinobi says it has raised $119 million.
8. MBX Biosciences, $64M, biotech: MBX Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision peptide therapies for the treatment of metabolic disorders, announced a $63.5 million Series C financing led by Deep Track Capital. Founded in 2019, the Carmel, Indiana-based company has raised more than $238 million, per Crunchbase.
9. Muon Space, $57M, space: Mountain View, California-based Muon Space, which designs and operates low-earth orbit satellite constellations, raised a $56.7 million Series B funding led by Activate Capital. Founded in 2021, the company has raised nearly $92 million, per Crunchbase.
10. Red Queen Therapeutics, $55M, biotech: Red Queen Therapeutics came out of stealth with a $55 million Series A from Apple Tree Partners. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company develops antiviral treatments.
Big global deals
While the biggest raises came from the U.S., there was a large AI round in Asia
- China-based artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI raised a $300 million venture round.
Methodology
We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of August 3 to August 9. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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