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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.
Biotech and AI had another strong week, as the sectors saw two big nine-figure rounds each — including one for $370 million in biotech. However, there wasn’t much else that was big. That continues a trend we have seen since before Labor Day.
1. Candid Therapeutics, $370M, biotech: Every week there’s a big biotech raise — and this week there’s one that’s really big. San Diego-based Candid Therapeutics launched with a $370 million capital raise co-led by Fairmount Funds Management, TCG Crossover, venBio Partners and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. Candid is developing T-cell engager antibodies to treat inflammatory diseases.
2. Glean, $260M, artificial intelligence: Less than seven months after raising a more than $200 million Series D at a $2.2 billion valuation, the AI-enhanced work assistant and enterprise search startup raised more than $260 million in a Series E funding at a $4.6 billion valuation co-led by Altimeter Capital and DST Global. The Palo Alto, California-based startup hit unicorn status in May 2023 after raising a $100 million Series C led by Sequoia Capital. Founded by former Google engineers, Glean’s generative AI search tool connects with enterprise companies’ applications and databases, and its AI assistant and platform lets users build their own AI apps. Founded in 2019, Glean says it has raised $620 million.
3. World Labs, $230M, artificial intelligence: Spatial intelligence AI startup World Labs launched this week with more than $230 million in total funding. The funding was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, NEA and Radical Ventures. Other investors include Marc Benioff and NVentures, the venture capital arm of Nvidia. It was reported just last month that the Stanford, California-based company had raised a pair of financing rounds two months apart, and that the latest valued the company at over $1 billion. World Labs is co-founded by artificial intelligence pioneer Fei-Fei Li, commonly referred to as the “godmother of AI.” She previously led AI at Google Cloud and is a co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. She has spent much of her time trying to solve the issues surrounding building Large World Models for AI that can perceive and interact with the 3D world.
4. Superluminal Medicines, $120M, biotech: Companies at the intersection of AI and biotech continue to raise massive rounds. Boston-based Superluminal Medicines, an AI-focused biotech startup, closed a $120 million Series A led by RA Capital Management. The company’s platform creates candidate-ready compounds by utilizing a “combination of human understanding, generative biology, chemistry, machine learning and proprietary big data infrastructure.” Founded in 2022, the company has raised $153 million, per Crunchbase.
5. Forterra, $75M, autonomous vehicles: Clarksburg, Maryland-based self-driving technology company Forterra closed a $75 million Series B led by Hedosophia, Moore Strategic Ventures and XYZ Venture Capital. The company focuses on autonomous systems for both the defense and industrial industries. This is the company’s first round with a disclosed amount, per Crunchbase.
6. Second Front Systems, $70M, defense: Wilmington, Delaware-based defense tech startup Second Front Systems closed a $70 million Series C led by Salesforce Ventures 1. Founded in 2014, the company has raised approximately $152 million, per Crunchbase.
7. Inflammatix, $57M, biotech: Inflammatix, a molecular diagnostics company, locked up a $57 million Series E led by Khosla Ventures and Think.Health. Founded in 2016, Sunnyvale, California-based Inflammatix has raised more than $200 million, per the company.
8. Strider Technologies, $55M, productivity tools: Strider Technologies, a provider of strategic intelligence, closed $55 million in Series C funding. With this funding, Salt Lake City-based Strider will continue advancing its AI-driven capabilities into its integrated global intelligence platform, expand operations to new geographies in Europe and Asia, and more aggressively address the public sector market. Founded in 2019, Strider has raised $112 million, per Crunchbase.
9. CSA Medical, $53M, medical device: CSA Medical, a medical device company for the treatment of chronic bronchitis, raised a $53 million Series D co-led by TVM Capital Life Science and Yonjin Venture. Founded in 1993, Boston-based CSA has raised $159 million, per Crunchbase.
10. (tied) Finally, $50M, fintech: Miami-based finally, a startup automating accounting and financial processes, raised a $50 million Series B from PeakSpan Capital and a $150 million credit facility from Encina Capital Partners. Founded in 2018, finally says it has raised $305 million.
10. (tied) SpectraWave, $50M, healthcare: Bedford, Massachusetts-based SpectraWave, a medical imaging company, locked up a $50 million Series B led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC. Founded in 2017, the company has raised nearly $80 million, per Crunchbase.
10. (tied) Tune.FM, $50M, music: Philadelphia-based decentralized music streaming platform Tune.FM received $50 million in capital from Global Emerging Markets. Founded in 2011, Tune.FM has raised $80 million, per the company.
Big global deals
The biggest deal outside the U.S. came from Belgium — which may be a first for this column.
- Biotech firm PanTera, which produces a therapy for personalized cancer treatment and radiopharmaceuticals, raised a Series A worth approximately $103 million.
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 Sept. 7 to Sept. 13. 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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