The Consumer VC Roundup #40
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Hey Friends,
Hope you all had a great weekend & Happy Halloween!
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On to the fundraising update –
Consumer Technology
YouTrip, the fintech company that offers a multicurrency wallet for consumers, raised $50 million Series B led by Lightspeed Venture Partners - YouTrip
Neon Machine, the video game publisher that is known for the highly anticipated game Shrapnel, raised $20 million led by Polychain Capital - VentureBeat
Opal Camera, the first professional webcam with DSLR technology, raised $17 million Series A led by Founders Fund with participation from Kindred Ventures - PR Newswire
Flash Pack, the tech company that curates trips and travel for solo travelers, raised $6.2 million led by JamJar Investments with participation from PPF Group - Phocus Wire
Node, which lets consumers manage, retrieve and save all of their online interactions, purchases and profiles only on their devices, raised a $2.75 million seed round led by Neotribe Ventures with participation from executives and founders from companies such as Bill Me Later, Boku, Citicards, Facebook, Magento, Meta and PayPal - TechCrunch
Consumer Brands
DIAZ, a Japan-based plant-based meat company that uses whole soybeans to create their product “Miracle Meat”, raised $47.44 million Series C funding that’s a mixture of debt and equity - Vegconomist
PopUp Bagels, the viral bagel startup that has six locations in New York and Connecticut, raised $8 million led by Stripes - FinSMEs
Gozen, the company that is creating lab-grown leather, raised $3.3 million seed round led by Happiness Capital with participation from Accelr8, Astor Management, and SOSV - TechCrunch
Matthew McConaughey starts a tequila brand called Pantalones Organic Tequila - Robb Report
Rhone, the menswear brand, raised it’s Series D via a SPV and buys out L Catterton - Retail Dive
Bankruptcies
Hello Bello, the baby products brand founded by Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy - LA Times
Funds Raising Funds
FounderSix, the celebrity beauty brand incubator that launches influencer-led brands, has raised $12 million KD Capital - BeautyMatter
M&A
Unilever sells 65% of Dollar Shave Club to private equity firm Nexus Capitlal Management - Digital Commerce 360
Steve Madden, the designer and fashion shoe brand, buys Almost Famous, the women’s apparel brand, for $52 million in cash - Globe Newswire
J.M. Smucker sells four of its brands – Bick’s pickles, Habitant pickled beets, Woodman’s horseradish and McLarens pickled onions brands – to TreeHouse Foods for $20 million - Food Dive
Creator Economy
1337 (pronounced Leet), the startup that’s creating AI micro-virtual influencers, raised $4 million from Credo Ventures, GFR Fund, Treble Capital, Roosh Ventures - TechCrunch
eCommerce Infrastructure
Assureful, the startup that uses AI to underwrite insurance coverages for ecommerce brands, raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round led by Markd with participation from Greenlight Re Innovations - PR Newswire