Last week was a busy one for Bay Area-based tech companies, but then again, when is it not? Companies across industries brought in huge amounts of capital, from fintech to fraud compliance, web3 and more. This is the Built In SF weekly refresh.
Flexport raised $935M. Logistics unicorn Flexport is close to solidifying its status as a decacorn following its latest raise. The company grabbed an astounding $935 million in fresh financing to continue scaling in the face of record growth. The Series E was led by VC giants Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners with a strategic investment from Shopify. [Built In SF]
Apple Music acquired AI Music. Apple’s latest acquisition could lead to some changes for the company’s music streaming platform. Last week, the tech giant announced that it acquired AI Music. The platform uses its namesake technology to create soundtracks with royalty-free music. There’s no word on how much Apple paid to acquire the startup. Gizmodo speculates that the tech giant could incorporate AI Music’s tech to create soundtracks for Apple TV+ shows, workout music for Apple Fitness+ or background tracks for marketing material. [Gizmodo]
SF Tech Quote of The Week
Alchemy secured its status as a decacorn. Founded in 2017, Alchemy has quickly become a titan in the Web3 space and the company has the capital backing to prove it. Alchemy closed its $200 million Series C-1 round last week. The round, co-led by Lightspeed and Silver Lake, sent the company’s valuation soaring to $10.2 billion. Following the raise, the company plans to invest in its product and expand the size of its team. The crypto giant is mounting a major hiring effort and currently has 60 roles up for grabs. [Built In SF]
Watershed got its horn. The greentech startup’s $70 million Series B round, co-led by Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins, sent its valuation soaring to $1 billion. Watershed’s software helps businesses plan and implement climate programs. The software can help enterprises assess the impact of clean power projects, access and invest in carbon removal and more. Watershed counts Twitter, Airbnb, DoorDash and Shopify among its long list of clients. The company is now hiring for 16 open roles spanning multiple departments. [Watershed]
Cortical Ventures launched with $50M. The VC firm, which intends to fund entrepreneurs in the AI space, has made eight investments and has participated in three financing rounds to date. NeoCybernetica, hOS and SeMI Technologies each received a financial lift courtesy of Cortical. [PR Newswire]
Sardine grabbed $19.5M. The AI-led platform provides users with real-time fraud scores based on their identity, device and behavioral patterns from the very moment they open their account. Following its latest raise, Sardine plans to expand its market reach and increase its headcount. The company is now hiring for over 20 roles spanning its product, operations and engineering teams, to name a few. The Series A round was led by Andreessen Horowitz. [Built In SF]
