SoftBank Deal Drought Leave Startups Starved

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In this daily edition of the Brags Newsletter, we'll cover the latest on SoftBank's Deal Decline, A VC's dual funds seeing a large influx in commitments, and a startup looking to overhaul anti-fraud systems across banks and financial companies. So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy!

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Venture Today 👏

SoftBank Q4 Deal Shortage Leaves Startups Scrambling

• SoftBank, which is the world's largest technology investor, made the fewest bets in the last quarter of 2022 as valuations plummeted and startups geared up for a funding winter.

At its peak, SoftBank invested as much as $30 billion in 90 startups in just a single quarter. By comparison, the investor saw its deal flow dry up significantly in the fourth quarter of 2022, participating in just eight rounds, totaling funds invested of $2.1 billion.

The slowdown is the first time that SoftBank's deal flow has fallen to single digits since the Vision Fund launched in May 2017. Part of the reason for the slowdown is that SoftBank's Vision Funds have generally underperformed other VCs. The Vision Fund unit reported a loss of $7.2 billion in the September quarter after previously losing $17 billion in the prior quarter.

Who's Raising?

NEA Strikes Gold with $6.2 Billion Raise for Dual Funds

• Venture Firm NEA has raised $3.05 billion for its 18th early-stage fund and 3.18 billion for a new growth equity fund.

Along with the new raise, the 45-year-old venture fund is also looking to apply to be a registered investment advisor, which would give the firm the same status as other storied VCs like Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank, and Sequoia.

NEA GPs said that they have been contemplating launching separate funds to target specific sectors since the mid-1990s but instead chose to stick with a one size fits all approach through a single opportunity fund. The firm cited huge demand for dedicated strategies, stating that its growth equity deal performance between 2010-20 yielded an IRR of 36%, supporting plans for a dedicated vehicle.

Startup of the Day

Inscribe's Anti-Fraud Efforts Receive $25M in Funding

• US Fraud Detection startup Inscribe said it raised $25 million in its series B round, which was led by Threshold Ventures.

The round also saw participation from Crosslink Capital, Foundry, Uncork Capital, Forum Ventures, and other angel investors, bringing the company's total capital raised to $38 million to date. San Francisco-based Inscribe, which was founded in 2017, uses technology to automate document reviews and improve fraud detection for financial companies., helping improve their efficiency and reducing operating costs.

Inscribe said that it would use the new capital to further develop its fraud detection capabilities and introduce risk intelligence innovations. The company claims to have had a stellar year in 2022, with Annual Recurring Revenue growing 3x, while monthly usage has seen a 4x increase.

Memes and Other Things

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