Welcome Shareholders,

In this daily edition of the Brags Newsletter, we'll cover how a group of venture firms are coming together to save Silicon Valley Bank, Flat6Labs branches out into new territories, and Stripe Lowers valuation and raises funds in a volatile market.

So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy!

Venture Today 👏

VCs Unite to Give Silicon Valley Bank a Lifeline

• A number of Venture Capital firms are devising a plan to preserve parts of Silicon Valley Bank to help it continue to serve clients in the technology sector.

Over a dozen VC firms, including General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, and Khosla Ventures, have been discussing ways to allow SVB to continue offering to lend, invest, and provide advisory services to companies and executives in the tech sector since late last week.

The group is considering creating a consortium with Apollo Global Management to bid for portions of SVB. They have also discussed receiving funding from other buyout houses and Credit Suisse First Boston, led by Michael Klein, who is providing advice on structuring the deal.

Who's Raising?

Flat6Labs Takes on Africa With New Investment Fund

• Flat6Labs, the 11-year-old VC which has primarily targeted startups in the Middle East and North Africa region, is now launching a new $95 million fund targeting East and West Africa.

Prior to launching the fund Flat6Labs has invested in more than 100 startups to date and has over $100 million in assets under management. Flat6Labs has established country-specific funds and accelerator programs with partners in seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Lebanon. Previous partners in their funds include the International Finance Corporation, MSME Development Agency, Egypt Ventures, and Egyptian American Enterprise Fund.

The venture firm said that its new fund is sector agnostic, with investments made in startups across the fintech, health tech, logistics, clean tech, retail, and e-commerce sectors. The fund's cheque sizes will be between $150,000 and $400,000, with follow-on investments of up to $500,000 to support the startups.

Startup of the Day

Stripe's Valuation Takes a Hit, But Investors Still Bet Big on Payments Platform

• Payments Processor Stripe cut its valuation from $95 billion two years ago to $50 billion while raising $6.5 billion in a funding round led by existing and new investors.

Stripe said that it would use $3.5 billion in funding to cover a large tax bill associated with stock granted to employees and the rest to provide exit liquidity to employees. Stripe was valued at $95 billion after its last raise in March 2021.

Venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, MSD Partners, and Thrive Capital led the latest funding round, with new investors like Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, Goldman Sachs Asset and Wealth Management and Temasek also participating. Stripe, which said that it did not need outside capital to run its business, plans to postpone its Initial Public Offering to 2024 due to the current market conditions.

Memes and Other Things

Beware Founders

How was today's newsletter?

Give us your honest opinion. We really don't mind.

• Awesome 👏 

• Mid 🧐 

• Cramer 🤡