Third Time's The Charm

SoftBank Looks to Raise Money Through Vision Fund 3, Australia's Venture Market Sees Post 2021 Correction and an Enterprise Software Startup Scores Big From a New Round.

Author

Adam from VC Brags
February 07, 2023

Welcome Shareholders,

In this daily edition of the Brags Newsletter, we'll cover the latest on the dismal state of SoftBank's flagship investments, Australia's Venture Market Seeing a 30% Decline, and an enterprise software company getting a boost from its Series A.

So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy!

Venture Today 👏

  • Technology Investor SoftBank reported a loss of $5.52 billion in the third quarter, with investments from Fund 1 and 2 Imploding.

At its peak, SoftBank was investing $20 billion in a single quarter, but the firm has pulled back on investments to between $300 and $500 million per quarter. The bulk of the loss came from the vision fund division, despite SoftBank gradually selling off stakes in various investments. SoftBank had 348 investments at the end of 2022, of which 311 were private companies.

The Vision Fund's Biggest Losses include a $9 billion loss from a $12 billion investment in Chinese Ride-Hailing firm Didi, a $3.1 billion loss from its $3.2 billion investment in flexible workplace WeWork, and a $500 million loss on Fintech startup Paytm. With only $6.5 billion left to spend on new investments, SoftBank could look to raise commitments either for fund two or look to raise money for fund three.

  • Venture Capital Investments in Australia Experienced a Significant Decline of 30% Following a Record-Breaking Year in 2021.

All in All, 712 Australian Startups raised $5.1 billion collectively in 2022, compared to $7.38 billion being raised from 731 rounds in 2021.

Six Australian startups reached unicorn status, but that is likely to change starting this year since many startups are at risk of falling below the $1 billion valuation achieved. Sector-wise, fintech startups raised the most capital from venture investors at $0.91 billion, while enterprise software companies followed a close second, attracting $0.84 billion in capital.

Startup of the Day

  • Enterprise Software Company Flox has raised $16.5 million through a funding round led by New Enterprise Associates

Other investors in the round included DE Shaw, Addition, and Hetz, and angel investors, including GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke, Snyk founder Guy Podjarny, and Sotheby's CTO James Turnbull. The new round brings the total funding for the startup to $27 million to date.

Flox primarily focuses on making it easier for enterprises to use Nix, an open-source tool for creating reproducible builds and deployments. The startup is currently building a repository of curated packages while also adding collaboration and enterprise features on top.

Memes and Other Things

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