Greentech and clean energy are popping industries on the San Francisco tech scene, and a slew of companies in these fields and others pulled in gargantuan funding rounds last year. These rounds have led to hiring sprees, tech innovations and more that will likely carry into 2023.
With the year’s largest round going toward autonomous cars, read up on San Francisco’s top tech funding rounds of 2022.
Largest Bay Area Tech Funding Rounds of 2022
- Cruise
- TeraWatt Infrastructure
- Verily
- Flexport
- Intersect Power
- Ultima Genomics
- SB Energy
- Anthropic
- Eikon Therapeutics
- Nextracker
#10. Nextracker: $500 million, February 2
With a new investment from parent company Flex, Nextracker can enhance its solar energy solutions. Nextracker sells hardware and software to help large solar energy installations track the sun to improve solar efficiency. As of February, the company had a 550-person headcount with about half of its employees based in Fremont.
#9. Eikon Therapeutics: $517.8 million, January 6
Hayward-based Eikon announced its hefty Series B raise of $517.8 million at the top of 2022. The biotech company uses microscopy, engineering and automation to fuel drug discovery and development and create new medicines. Eikon said the round would help it industrialize its live-cell imaging platform. T. Rowe Price Associates participated in the Series B round.
#8. Anthropic: $580 million, April 29
Anthropic works to build systems that make artificial intelligence more reliable and explainable. The company raised a $580 million funding round for its research platform. Keeping an eye out for safety issues, Anthropic said it would invest in exploring the predictable scaling properties of machine learning systems.
#6 (tied). SB Energy: $600 million, March 7
Headquartered in Redwood City, SB Energy develops utility-scale solar, energy storage and tech solutions. The company announced back in March a strategic equity investment from Ares Management Corp that would help SB Energy power innovation and deploy its clean energy offering at scale.
#6 (tied). Ultima Genomics: $600 million, May 31
Gene sequencing specialist Ultima Genomics emerged from stealth with a $600 million raise last spring. The company’s technology can provide researchers with a more cost-effective method of analyzing data for large populations while developing therapies. The Newark-based tech unicorn is backed by the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures.
#5. Intersect Power: $750 million, June 28
For businesses in the retail and wholesale energy sectors, Intersect Power develops low-carbon solutions for electricity, fuels and more. The company raised a growth round led by TPG Rise Climate to scale its portfolio of renewable energy solutions. Intersect Power said in June it planned to invest its capital in entering green hydrogen production and other new sectors.
#4. Flexport: $935 million, February 7
Flexport pulled in $935 million for its logistics platform in a Series E round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners. The round brought the company’s valuation to over $8 billion. Flexport’s software helps retailers and manufacturers arrange ocean and airfreight shipments. To date, the company has secured $2.2 billion in venture funding.
#3. Verily: $1 billion, September 9
With $1 billion from investors including its parent company Alphabet, Verily said it would expand its health solutions in areas such as evidence generation, healthcare data platforms, research and care. Down the line, Verily may also invest in strategic partnerships, global business development and acquisitions.
#2. TeraWatt Infrastructure: $1 billion +, September 13
Operating in the clean energy space, TeraWatt Infrastructure develops charging stations for electric vehicle fleets. Its Series A investment from Vision Ridge Partners and others capped out at more than $1 billion. In September, TeraWatt Infrastructure said the capital would help fuel development and expansion as the company grows its network of charging centers.
#1. Cruise: $1.35 billion, February 1
Autonomous vehicle company Cruise opened its driverless robotaxi service to the Bay Area public back in February. The company also pulled in a $1.35 billion investment from SoftBank Vision Fund to expand both its team and service area. Its latest raise is an extension of a previous round from SoftBank back in 2018, in recognition of the company’s commercial deployment.
