From PitchBook:
1Q in Review: VCs are fixated on the future of moving people and things
Since the calendar turned to 2019, many people in the tech world have been busy speculating on whether Lyft really would beat Uber to the public markets and pondering how the two ridehailing unicorns have revolutionized personal transportation. In the meantime, VCs have been pouring billions of dollars into businesses that are at the helm of tackling the challenges around the future of transit and freight....MORE
In the first quarter of this year, VCs invested close to $27 billion in US-based startups across all industries, per the PitchBook Platform. Out of roughly 1,880 deals, four of the five largest ones went to companies that are working toward moving humans or goods from point A to point B. From a freight-forwarding business that operates through air, ocean rail and truck to a space rocket company, the deal sizes range from $500 million to $1 billion. (Only one other company, Clover Health, has hit the lower end of that range for a VC deal this quarter, raising half a billion dollars in January.)
SoftBank's Vision Fund has invested in the top two venture rounds of 2019 thus far. The Japanese conglomerate already played a big role in advancing the urban transportation industry in 2018, becoming the single largest shareholder in Uber and committing $2.25 billion to GM subsidiary Cruise Automation. This year, SoftBank has, so far, invested heavily in the transport of both things and people, and what the future of those industries could look like.
Here's a look at four of the largest VC deals of 1Q 2019 for companies based in the US.
1. Flexport
Software-centric freight-forwarding startup Flexport took the top spot with a reported $1 billion round in February. Led by SoftBank and its Vision Fund, the funding boosted the company's valuation to an estimated $3.2 billion, per reports, and vaulted it into the unicorn class of 2019. Existing investors Founders Fund, DST Global, Cherubic Ventures, Susa Ventures and SF Express also participated. Flexport was launched in 2013 and has expanded its global footprint to almost 110 countries so far. The Bay Area business claims to be the 11th-largest freight forwarder by ocean volume on the world's largest shipping lane, the Transpacific Eastbound.
2. Nuro
Nuro, a developer of robotic delivery vehicles, raised a $940 million round from SoftBank's Vision Fund in February. The funding reportedly valued the business at $2.7 billion and marks a tenfold increase for the Bay Area business when it raised a $92 million Series A at a valuation of $250 million in 2017. Nuro partnered with Kroger last June to test a driverless grocery delivery service in Arizona, and soon after the February fundraise, the company announced that it had expanded its partnership with the retail giant to launch in Houston. The company was founded in 2016 by former Waymo engineers Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu.
3. Aurora
Autonomous vehicle business Aurora secured over $530 million in a Series B led by Sequoia and including participation from Amazon, Lightspeed, Shell and T. Rowe Price. The funding valued the Palo-Alto business at more than $2.5 billion, per Bloomberg....
If interested see also yesterday's "Rising Stars in Transportation and Logistics" and for Flexport:
Logistics: "The unsexiest trillion-dollar startup"
Shipping/Logistics: Softbank Is Reportedly Leading a $500 Million Round in Flexport
