Eastern Promise

Silicon Valley VCs Seek Middle Eastern Fortunes, Asahi Kasei Launches $100 Million Green Fund, and Alphabet Invests in AlphaSense.

Author

Adam from VC Brags
April 12, 2023

Welcome Shareholders,

In this daily edition of the Brags Newsletter, we’ll cover how Silicon Valley VCs are looking to the Middle East as funding dries up, Asahi Kasei Bets on a greener future with a $100 million fund, and a startup looks to transform financial summarisation with its new funding.

So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy!

Venture Today 👏

  • Silicon Valley investors are exploring the Middle East to forge lasting relationships with sovereign wealth funds amidst a severe venture funding shortfall.

Leading technology VCs, including Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, and IVP, have sent executive teams to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar in recent weeks. Amid an economic downturn affecting traditional backers, VCs are visiting the Gulf region, where officials and young royals seek to diversify their economies beyond oil by investing in booming tech sectors like artificial intelligence.

Silicon Valley executives, including Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz, attended Jeddah's Formula One event at the personal invitation of Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia's $620 billion PIF sovereign wealth fund, marking his second visit in six months. PIF's venture arm, Sanabil, has partnered with around 40 US venture firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Craft Ventures, Insight Partners, and 9Yards Capital.

Who’s Raising?

  • Japanese Chemical Firm Asahi Kasei has launched a $100 million Care for Earth Fund to support carbon neutrality by focusing on investments in early-stage startups globally.

The fund will target resolving environmental challenges in areas like hydrogen, energy storage, carbon management, and bio-based chemicals over 5 years until fiscal 2027.

Targeting carbon neutrality by 2050, the company intends to decrease its GHG emissions and encourage new businesses through the investment framework, while also transforming its material sector portfolio by engaging in carbon-neutral ecosystems. Since its inception in 2008, Asahi Kasei's corporate venture capital arm has made investments in over 50 startups worldwide, including the US, Europe, China, and Japan.

Startup of the Day

  • CapitalG, Alphabet's late-stage VC arm, recently led a $100 million investment in corporate data firm AlphaSense, valuing the company at $1.8 billion.

The recent flat financing follows a $225 million investment in June, led by Goldman Sachs and Viking Global Investors, which doubled the valuation from a 2021 round involving the same investors. The funding is expected to help AlphaSense improve its technology to take advantage of the recent advances in generative AI.

AlphaSense is developing a its software to auto-summarize financial documents, enabling customers to quickly extract key points. Although historically difficult for AI, summarization has substantially improved due to advancements in large language models. Founded in 2011, AlphaSense currently generates over $100 million in annual recurring revenue. AlphaSense is developing methods to generate precise summaries with footnotes, ensuring users can trace information sources.

Fresh Finds

  • AI-driven sales guidance: Pod analyzes winning pipeline trends to recommend optimal engagement strategies, helping sellers efficiently close deals.

  • Personalized email generation: Pod creates tailored email copy based on context, product, and stakeholder, saving hours spent on routine correspondence.

  • Streamlined knowledge synthesis: Pod compiles relevant deal information and provides actionable recommendations, while automating data entry and intuitively organizing workflows for seamless CRM management.

Memes and Other Things

The Headlines

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