Y Combinator and Gaingels are leading growth capital firms

This is a monthly feature that reviews the most active investors in US-based companies, looks at some of their most interesting investments, and includes details on who spent what. Check out last month’s feature here.

As funding slowed in the second quarter, many of the top U.S. investors also slowed

Startup accelerator Y Combinator and diversity investor Gaingels led the way in June in the number of funding deals announced for US-based startups. However, every company on our list, including the top two, signed fewer deals last month than in June 2021.

However, it was a very different market.

Even with declining numbers, let’s take a closer look at the most active investors in US startups in June and some interesting rounds they’ve been on.

Y Combinator, 18 offers

The Mountain View, Calif.-based accelerator led the way last month with a dozen and a half investments. While that’s a lot, it’s eclipsed by the 29 that Y Combinator achieved in June 2021.

Yet there were still notable cases. The one that caught our eye was one of his smaller investments. Y Combinator participated in a $500,000 seed funding round for Novig, a commission-free sports betting exchange. The startup promises punters the best lines while eliminating traditional sports betting.

How does he do this?

Simple, the New York-based startup allows users to bet directly against the market, removing the traditional middleman role played by sports betting.

Gambling and betting are old industries and difficult to disrupt due to the money involved. However, because of this money, any disturbance can be very profitable.

Gaingels, 17 offers

New York-based Gaingels, which invests in companies with diverse and inclusive management teams, also had a busy month in June, closing 17 deals.

One of those deals included participation in TaskHuman’s $20 million Series B. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup offers a one-on-one digital coaching platform. While some platforms focus on executive training or fitness, what made TaskHuman stand out was the breadth of its offerings.

The platform offers employees professional and personal coaching, which ranges from fitness to family dynamics to leadership coaching. Users can also build their own coaching teams.

Insight Partners, 13 offers

Insight Partners has made a name for itself by investing in enterprise software and technology. That’s why it’s worth noting when investing in technology you’ve never heard of.

“Real-time accent translation” wasn’t something we knew about, but that’s what startup Sanas aims to provide. Insight led a $32 million Series A for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup that uses AI to let users choose which accent they want to use.

The idea is that software can enable speakers to deliver clearer communication through accent correction and also eliminate the unfortunate problem of accent bias.

General Catalyst, 11 offers

Similar to Insight, General Catalyst is normally associated with software investments. That’s why a food delivery deal by the Massachusetts-based company invites a double take.

The company participated in New York-based Wonder’s $350 million funding round at a $3.5 billion valuation. Wonder is a different kind of food delivery service to be sure. It operates a network of food trucks from which consumers can order food through an app. The truck then drives to the customer and prepares the fresh food.

The large companies that took part in the round and the big assessment were probably caused by the identity of its founder, Marc Lore. Lore was previously the founder of Jet and CEO of Walmart’s e-commerce division after the retail giant acquired Jet.

Andreessen Horowitz, 9 offers

No major venture capital firm has embraced crypto and the digital world more than Andreessen Horowitz. Now the venture capital giant wants to imagine what a toy is in this world.

Andreessen Horowitz led a $23 million investment in Miami-based OnChain Studios, the creator of “Cryptoys.” Cryptoys brings NFTs to children as colorful characters that can be part of an innovative platform for games and apps.

The studio also recently signed a multi-year partnership with Mattel – which also participated in this cycle – to bring its toys like Barbie and Hot Wheels to the metaverse.

We’ve come a long way from little plastic toy soldiers.

GV, 9 offers

Access to quality health care is one of the biggest issues for many people in the United States, let alone the world.

GV conducted a tour last month at a startup seeking to help ease some of the financial hurdles.

New York-based Sesame closed a $27 million Series B to help grow its online healthcare market.

While online medical marketplaces aren’t new, Sesame’s is only for patients and doctors. The platform ignores insurance and, in theory, lowers the price of care. The company claims to provide “quality medical care at half the price”. It also enables virtual care at an upfront cost with no surprise billing later.

Removing health care insurance would be a game-changer for a game that desperately needs a change.

Tiger Global, 9 offers

The crypto market has been through a lot lately, but that hasn’t stopped some startups from raising big rounds at even bigger valuations.

San Francisco-based FalconX is a good example. The company raised a $150 million Series D round at an $8 billion valuation from investors including hedge fund giant Tiger Global.

One of the reasons FalconX was undoubtedly appealing to investors is that it taps into the market that has helped validate the biggest market in crypto – large institutional investors. FalconX’s platform allows institutions to access and manage their crypto assets.

The adoption of cryptocurrencies by large institutional firms is one of the main reasons why many believe the digital asset will survive the current “crypto winter” and be a staple of financial markets for the foreseeable future. .

Also note

• Accel, Alumni Ventures, B Capital Group and Sequoia Capital round out the list with eight US-based investments each in June. Interestingly, the alumni invested in 35 US-based deals last June.
• Insight Partners easily outpaced all companies when it came to leading or co-leading US-based rounds for the month. The late-stage growth giant has led or co-led 11 rounds. Battery Ventures and B Capital followed with 6 deals led or co-led.
• No rounds led or co-led by a company totaling $1 billion or more this month. TPG came closest, leading or co-leading two rounds – in Intersect Power and Sauce Labs. However, only the value of the Intersect Power tower, at $750 million, has been disclosed.

Illustration: Dom Guzman