Workforce Whirlwind

Layoffs Hit VCs, Greycroft Gets a Boost With its $980 Million Raise, and M3ter Looks to Reprice Enterprise Software Spending.

Author

Adam from VC Brags
April 27, 2023

Welcome Shareholders,

In this daily edition of the Brags Newsletter, we’ll cover how a fintech venture firm makes cutbacks to streamline its growth. Also, a venture firm raises close to a billion dollars to power early-stage and growth firms, and a startup raises money to reshape the software pricing landscape.

So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy!

Venture Today 👏

  • Fintech-focused venture firm Anthemis said that it had recently let go of 28% of its workforce or 16 employees as part of a restructuring process.

London-based Anthemis stated that the decision aimed to align the company with current market conditions and position it for future growth, while considering its strategic priorities. Prior to these layoffs, the firm had seen the departure of Investment Principal Jillian Williams in 2021, who left the firm to join Cowboy Ventures (she had served in this role since July 2016).

Established in 2010, Anthemis currently manages $1.5 billion in assets. In late 2021, the firm revealed it had secured $700 million in new funds, which would be allocated through a diverse strategy spanning from its venture studio to its venture growth fund. Recently, other venture capital firms have also downsized; notably, Backstage Capital reduced its staff from 12 to three last June after halting new investments. However, such large-scale layoffs remain uncommon in the industry.

Who’s Raising?

  • Venture Capital firm Greycroft said that it had successfully raised $980 million through two funds dedicated to investing in early-stage and growth-oriented companies.

The venture firm's recent fundraising is its largest since its 2006 founding, and will support investments in consumer and enterprise startups. Greycroft Partners VII will invest cheque sizes of between $500,000 and $5 million, while Greycroft Growth IV, will commit between $10 and $35 million for each funding round. Based in New York and Los Angeles, Greycroft manages over $3 billion in capital.

The venture firm has invested in over 250 startups since its inception, including in prominent portfolio investments like Acorns, Arthur AI, Branch, Bumble, Fetch, Flutterwave, HealthVerity, Icertis, Scopely, Semrush, and Yeahka. The firm primarily invests globally in early-stage and high-growth companies, ranging from $500K to $50 million, with investments spanning 32 US states and 17 countries.

Startup of the Day

  • London-based M3ter, which helps companies streamline their software expenses through usage-based pricing solutions, has just raised $14 million in a Series A led by Notion Capital with participation from Insight Partners, Union Square Ventures, and Kindred Capital.

The company aims to utilize the fresh capital for US expansion, where most of its clientele resides, while also developing a new data science product called Cost Allocator. M3ter, established in 2020, debuted in 2021 with a product assisting software businesses in metering their services for partners.

As companies increasingly seek cost management, M3ter highlights the growing appeal of usage-based pricing over traditional monthly SaaS models. M3ter's cloud infrastructure platform integrates with companies' existing systems through an API, connecting to various points such as billing, payments, and invoicing to enhance SaaS usage metering.

Fresh Finds

  • Chatscout's Chat-GPT-powered shopping assistant enables e-commerce brands to provide a personalized, human-like conversation experience for customers, allowing them to ask questions, browse products, and receive tailored recommendations.

  • Chatscout offers the ability to adjust the assistant's tone and language to align with a brand's unique voice, ensuring a consistent shopping experience that resonates with customers.

  • Chatscout's search delivers accurate results even for vague queries, making it easier for customers to find what they're looking for and reducing drop-off rates in online stores.

Memes and Other Things

The Headlines

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