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Startups Venture

Top Investors In January: Gaingels, Tiger Global And Insight Lead The Way In Investments In US Startups

Illustration of a jar labeled Jan full of money.

This is a new monthly feature that runs down the most active investors in U.S.-based companies, looks at some of their most interesting investments, and includes some odds and ends of who spent what.

The private capital market plowed on in January despite some shakiness in the stock market鈥攁nd the startup investors leading the way in the U.S. likely come as little surprise.

, and had an active January, each with double-digit deal activity. Let鈥檚 look which investors did what and some of their most notable deals last month, according to 附近上门 data:

Gaingels, 24 deals

New York-based , which invests in companies with diverse and inclusive leadership teams, had a busy month, taking part in 24 deals. Those investments include alternative leather company , alternative financing platform , and Japanese snack company .

While all those are interesting, the firm also took part in the $27.5 million seed round of Bellevue, Washington-based , which is building a 鈥渞eusable horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage to orbit spaceplane.鈥 Spacetech had a big year in 2021, but cost has long been something of a concern in the industry since not everyone has the pocketbooks of and . Radian claims that advancements in 鈥渕aterials science, miniaturization and manufacturing technologies鈥 have made its low-orbit spaceplane possible鈥攁lthough no exact timeline for its debut has been revealed.

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Tiger Global, 16 deals

You knew it wouldn鈥檛 take long to turn up on this list. While Tiger made a plethora of investments in the first month of the year鈥攎ore than 40, in fact鈥攐nly about a third were in U.S.-based startups.

While Tiger invests in a lot of sectors, it can get pegged as a software or聽 fintech investor. You usually don鈥檛 think of Tiger investing in, say, a digital farmers market. So maybe that鈥檚 why its investment in Portland-based catches the eye. The company is an online marketplace and delivery service that connects consumers and chefs with local farmers. Tiger led the $75 million round鈥攚hich will buy a lot of granola and organic eggs.

Insight Partners, 15 deals

Similar to Tiger, was busy globally in the first month of 2022, with more than two dozen deals. It also took part in some huge rounds, like those by and 鈥攚hich Tiger also did.

But the Insight round that may be most interesting that went to a U.S.-based company was its participation in 鈥檚 $420 million raise. The Chicago logistics technology company provides visibility into the entire shipment workflow for companies. While that may not sound exciting, it is to investors. Supply chain tech exploded last year due to disruptions caused by the pandemic and workforce issues. The round shows that interest has not waned.

Y Combinator, 14 deals

鈥攁n always active investor鈥攑articipated in 34 rounds in the first month of the year, according to 附近上门 data.

Just like other early investor on this list, Gaingels, the deal that caught our attention is in the space sector. Y Combinator took part in the $2.7 million seed round for Los Angeles-based , a developer of operating systems for spacecraft and complex operations. While so many are concerned with spacecraft and satellites, a modernized operating system for launch operations for these multimillion-dollar missions only makes sense.

Andreessen Horowitz, 12 deals

Since it鈥檚 Super Bowl week, let’s talk about . If you are a football bettor, you know it was always smart to put money on the seven-time Super Bowl champion.

I鈥檓 not sure if is much into sports gambling鈥攊t has invested in fantasy sports app 鈥攂ut it is doing the same. The firm co-led 鈥檚 $170 million Series B last month. The company helps athletes and entertainers launch and promote their NFTs. Both Brady, who is an investor in , and Andreessen Horowitz have been early adopters of crypto, so this seems like a perfect marriage.

Global Founders Capital, 12 deals

鈥檚 participation in Irvine, California-based 鈥 $25 million Series A stands out only because the firm is usually so concentrated on software, fintech and e-commerce. The studio focuses on real-time strategy games for competitive gaming. January was a big month for gaming, with announcing its acquisition of for nearly $70 billion, and 鈥榮 acquisition of mobile gaming company for $12.7 billion. With deals of those sizes, maybe placing a few bets on gaming makes sense.

Accel, 9 deals

made almost two dozen investments last month, and perhaps they would have made more if they had a way to be more productive.

Enter it鈥檚 most interesting investment in January: San Francisco-based . The company has developed an 鈥渋ntelligent calendar system鈥 that uses AI to help users create dedicated blocks of time so they can be more productive. Clockwise itself was productive last month, closing a $45 million Series C led by , but with the help of Accel and other investors.

SoftBank Vision Fund, 9 deals

Similar to Tiger and Insight, also was busy last month, but only about a third of its deals were in the U.S. and spread over a vast field that includes blockchain, enterprise software, agtech and more.

However, maybe the most interesting deal was one that fell outside those typical areas: . SoftBank led the telehealth pharmacy鈥檚 $200 million Series E last month. The company works with doctors and insurance providers to deliver prescriptions to patients鈥 doors. According to 附近上门 data, the company has raised more than $600 million in capital, as it looks to compete with large retail behemoths like that have moved into the space in recent years.

Also notable

  • The next four firms on the list with eight deals each involving U.S.-based companies were , , and .
  • Not surprising, Tiger and Insight led the most rounds involving U.S.-based companies with 11 and 10, respectively.
  • However, it was (along with funds it manages) and that led rounds worth the most. Blackstone and its funds led two rounds totaling $3.2 billion last month, including a $3 billion deal involving Chicago-based sustainable energy provider .
  • D1 led rounds worth $2.6 billion, including the $1.7 billion deal involving Novi, Michigan-based .

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