The Consumer Roundup #53
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Hey Friends,
Hope you all having a great week. I’m excited for what we’re planning at Expo West and SXSW. If you’re going to be at either of those two conferences, feel free to reach out. It would be great to meetup. Also, if you’re in LA next week – we have our coffee event. Here’s more info –
☕️ DTC Morning Coffee - Los Angeles, CA
📆 When? January 31st 8am-11am PST
It’s been awesome partnering with Cole Shapiro on these event since Spring 2023. I’m excited to kick off the New Year with this one.
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Now on to the latest fundraising news in the world of consumer –
🛍️Consumer Brands / Inventory-Based Businesses🛍️
Lightship, the company that is building electric travel trailers and RVs, raised a $34 million Series B led by Obvious Ventures and Prelude Ventures with participation from Allegis Capital, THOR Industries, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Congruent Ventures, HyperGuap, and Alumni Ventures - Lightship
The Mediterranean Food Lab, a Israel-based flavor specialist company that works with alternative meat producers to create great tasting products, raised a $17 million Series A led by Gullspång Re:food, with participation from PeakBridge, Arancia International and FoodBridge - Alt Meat
Granata Bio, a biopharma company focused on women’s health and infertility, raised a $14 million Series A led by GV (Google Ventures), with participation from CooperSurgical, Gedeon Richter, Alumni Ventures, Amboy Street Ventures, Vibe Bio - FemTech Insider
Eastside Golf, a black-owned golf lifestyle brand, raised a $3.4 million seed round led by EP Golf Ventures - Sportico
Land Moto, the electric motorcycle company, raised $3 million led by a special purpose venture vehicle called Nunc Coepi Ventures - TechCrunch
Freja, the British-based bone broth brand, raised $2.54 million from Active Partners, Founders Capital, Syndicate Room, Mint Ventures as well as Paul Polman, Giles Brook, and Joanna Jensen, Sally Preston, soccer superstar Harry Kane and Olympic Gold medalist Alistair Brownlee- The Grocer
NEXT Life Sciences, that is developing a male contraceptive that could be an alternative to vasectomies, raised a $2.5 million seed round led by The Family with participation from Transform VC - Axios
Eurazeo, a French private equity firm, buys a minority stake in Ex Nihilo, a French perfume brand - WWD
💻Consumer Technology💻
Build A Rocket Boy, the Scotland-based gaming studio founded by one of the lead developers behind Grand Theft Auto, raised a $110 million Series D led by RedBird Capital Partners, with participation from NetEase Games, Galaxy Interactive, Endeavor, Alignment Growth, Woodline Partners and GTAM Partners - TechCrunch
Myrealtrip, the Korea-based traveltech startup that helps travelers book tours, activities, restaurants, local transportation, hotels and accommodations globally, raised a $56.7 million Series F co-led by BlueRun Ventures Korea and IMM Investment - TechCrunch
Forta, the AI-powered parent training program to help kids with autism learn through personalized therapy, raised a $55 million Series A that was led by Insight Partners with participation from Exor Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and the founders of 23&Me, Curative, Forward, Flexport, Warby Parker, Prelude Fertility, Harry’s and Allbirds - Tech Funding News
Carmoola, the U.K.-based fintech platform that is making it easy to finance a car, raised $19.69 million led by QED Investors with participation from VentureFriends, InMotion Ventures, the investment arm of JLR (Jaguar Land Rover), New York-based investors AlleyCorp, and Kyiv-based u.ventures - Finextra
Talofa Games, the gaming studio that’s building fitness games that get you moving with their first game being Run Legends, which is a competitive social fitness game, raised a $6.3 million seed round led by Chamaeleon spearheaded the round with contributions from A16Z Games Speedrun, Basis Set Ventures, Insight Partners, 1Up Ventures - VentureBeat
The Realest, a marketplace that authenticates sports and music merchandise, raised a $4.6 million seed round led by led by KB Partners - Sports Business Journal
Tandem, a fintech app that’s designed to help couples manage their personal finances, raised a $3.7 million round led by Corazon Capital - TechCrunch
💸M&A💸
100 Thieves, the premium lifestyle brand and gaming organization, sells Juvee, their energy drink brand, to Sprecher Brewing Company, which produces craft sodas. This marks Sprecher’s expansion into the energy drink category - Business Wire
🔻Bankruptcies🔻
ZestMoney, the eight year old India-based buy now pay later payment platform that enables consumers to pay for ecommerce purchases, is shutting down. The company was once valued at $450 million and raised over $130 million - TechCrunch
🔻Layoffs🔻
Wayfair, the ecommerce furniture retailer and marketplace, announced it would lay off 1,650 employees, which is 13% of its staff - Reuters
🗞️Developing News🗞️
Flexport, the logistics and supply chain management company, is raising $260 million from Shopify - The Information
Reddit, the social news and discussion site, is seeking to IPO in March and sell 10% of its shares. Reddit was previously valued at ~$10 billion in a funding round in 2021 - Reuters