Most-Active US Investors In August: Alumni Ventures Tops The List In Slow Month

3 months ago 21

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This is a monthly feature that runs down some of the most-active investors in U.S.-based companies, looks at some of their most interesting investments, and includes some odds and ends of who spent what. See July’s most-active startup investors here.

August seems to have been a slow month all the way around.

Funding overall was down for the month, and in the U.S. no investor consummated very many deals.

Alumni Ventures was the only VC firm to break double digits in the number of deals for the month and even that was just barely (with only 10 deals).

Let’s take a look at the quartet of firms that led the way in a slow month

Alumni Ventures, 10 deals

New Hampshire-based Alumni Ventures led the pack this month with 10 deals.

While Alumni usually invests in smaller earlier-stage rounds, it was a larger round that caught our eye this month as it participated in New York-based Cents’ $40 million Series B led by Camber Creek. The startup has developed a business management platform for the laundry business — including laundromats, dry cleaners and even shared laundry rooms — which seems like a very specific niche but one that doesn’t go out of style.

The firm also participated in rounds for AI startups such as hospital automation software startup Clarium AI and decentralized AI network Sahara AI.

Andreessen Horowitz, 9 deals

Andreessen Horowitz comes in tied for second on the list this month. Few firms have been as consistent as the Menlo Park, California-based giant. In the last four months, it has participated in 39 deals involving U.S.-based startups.

Last month, the firm’s most notable deal was likely one it led — an $80 million Series B for San Francisco-based startup Story Protocol. The startup’s blockchain network allows IP owners to store their IP on the platform, embedding terms to use it — such as licensing fees — into smart contracts. Basically, the blockchain aims to ensure owners are compensated when their IP is used.

The new round reportedly values the company at $2.25 billion.

General Catalyst, 9 deals

Massachusetts-based General Catalyst also took part in nine deals, including leading the previously mentioned Clarium AI deal.

General Catalyst led two big rounds last month, which included a $150 million Series C for AI-powered coding assistant Codeium that values the Mountain View, California-based startup at $1.25 billion. Codeium’s platform uses generative AI models trained on public code to give developers suggestions for building apps, and can support dozens of programming languages.

The firm also led a $120 million round for Massachusetts-based Re:Build, which provides support for companies interested in industrial manufacturing.

Khosla Ventures, 7 deals

Khosla Ventures picked up the pace a little after a couple of slow months in which it only made a combined seven investments in U.S.-based startups. It matched that total in August.

The biggest round the firm took part in (involving a U.S.-based company) last month was co-leading a $100 million round for Palo Alto, California-based DevRev, which develops AI for customer support and other uses. The round reportedly values the company at $1.15 billion.

Also notable:

Robot Ventures and Sequoia Capital came in next on the list with six deals each.
General Catalyst led the way in most led or co-led deals in August with four.
Founders Fund and Sands Capital led the list for number of rounds led or co-led with the highest dollar amounts thanks to co-leading Anduril Industries’ massive $1.5 billion Series F that valued the company at $14 billion.
Y Combinator once again was the top investing incubator and accelerator with 16 deals in July.

Methodology

This is a list of investors which took part in the most rounds involving U.S.-based startups. It does not include incubators or accelerators due to the fluctuations their investment numbers can have.