The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Aledade Rolls Up Huge Round, KoBold Metal Mines Big Money

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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

After a slow week last week, there was a slight pickup in top-dollar rounds, with three hitting nine figures. Health care — or health care-adjacent — companies saw big money, taking three of the four top spots this week, with the second place round minting a new mining unicorn. That’s out of the ordinary, but the venture market has a way of being unpredictable.

1. Aledade, $260M, health care: Health care companies hit it big this week and none bigger than Aledade. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company raised a $260 million Series F led by new investor Lightspeed Venture Partners. The round comes just about a year after it locked up a $123 million Series E. The startup provides doctors’ offices with data analytics software so they can better manage their patients and identify those most at risk. The company plans to use the new cash to beef up its services and technology, possibly with acquisitions. The new funding deal values the company at $3.5 billion, Bloomberg reported. Founded in 2014, the company has raised nearly $678 million, per Crunchbase.

2. KoBold Metals, $195M, mining: What happens when you combine AI with the material needed for lithium-ion batteries and AI? You get big money. Berkeley, California-based KoBold Metals raised a $195 million round this week led by T. Rowe Price, and included a number of big-name investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, and Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The new cash values the climate-tech startup at $1.15 billion. KoBold Metals uses artificial intelligence to mine for valuable metals such as cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium used in the production of batteries for a variety of sectors, including electric vehicles. The startup has built a database about the Earth’s layers and uses algorithms to make predictions about where mineral deposits are around the world. KoBold Metals isn’t new to big rounds. In February 2022, the startup closed a $192.5 million Series B, which included investment from Apollo Projects, Bond Capital, BHP Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Founded in 2018, the company has now raised more than $400 million, per Crunchbase.

3. HighFive Healthcare, $100M, dental: Dental health startups don’t usually make this list, but then again they don’t usually raise $100 million. However, HighFive did just that, closing a $100 million growth investment led by Norwest. The Birmingham, Alabama-based company enables a network of dental offices to centralize their operations — saving money and letting doctors focus on patients and not office operations. The company saw tremendous growth last year, doubling its practice size through acquisitions and organic growth. Founded in 2018, the company has now raised more than $102 million, per Crunchbase.

4. DexCare, $75M, health care: Yes, another health care startup high on the list. Seattle-based DexCare closed a $75 million Series C led by Iconiq Growth. The company’s software helps health systems manage their capacity and appointment booking while getting patients to the care they need. Its platform allows health providers to serve patients faster, and to manage the supply and demand of digital-care access. Founded in 2021, DexCare has raised $146 million, per the company.

5. Attovia Therapeutics, $60M, biotech: Only one biotech in the top five this week — which has become rare, as the space has witnessed some large raises of late. Fremont, California-based Attovia Therapeutics, which is developing biotherapeutics for immune-mediated disease and cancer, raised a $60 million Series A led by Frazier Life Sciences. The company plans to use the new cash to further advance its drug and platform development focusing on immunology and oncology. This is the company’s first outside raise, per Crunchbase.

6. Limble CMMS, $58M, information technology: Lehi, Utah-based Limble, which develops computerized maintenance management software, raised a $58 million Series B led by the growth equity business within Goldman Sachs. Founded in 2015, the company has now raised nearly $77 million, per Crunchbase data.

7. AltPep, $53M, biotech: Seattle-based AltPep, which is developing early disease-modifying treatments and detection tools for amyloid diseases, closed a $52.9 million Series B led by Senator Investment Group. Founded in 2018, the company has raised $76 million, per Crunchbase data.

8. (tied) Empress Therapeutics, $50M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based oral medicine developer Empress Therapeutics closed a $50 million round from Flagship Pioneering. This is the company’s first outside funding, per Crunchbase.

8. (tied) PM Pediatric Care, $50M, health care: Long Island, New York-based PM Pediatric Care, a pediatric urgent care network, locked up a $50 million Series E led by Scopia Capital. Founded in 2005, the company has raised $64 million, per Crunchbase.

8. (tied) Render, $50M, cloud infrastructure: San Francisco-based Render, a cloud provider for application developers, closed a $50 million Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Founded in 2018, the company has now raised nearly $77 million, per Crunchbase.

Big global deals

Despite the big rounds in the U.S. this week, Asia and Europe both had bigger.

• China-based Langlai Technology, a clinical-stage innovative drug research and development company, raised a $500 million round.
• Sweden-based Northvolt, a battery manufacturer for electric vehicles, industrial systems and energy storage systems, raised a $400 million private equity round.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of June 17 to June 23. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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