This is a monthly newsletter that introduces some of the most active investors in US-based companies, highlights some of their most interesting investments, and includes some odds and ends on who invested in what. This is a special feature. See February’s most active startup investors here.
No single investor truly dominated March as no company broke double digits in terms of the number of investments made in US-based startups.
But checks were being written and U.S. startups were raising money, as more than a dozen companies and accelerators each made at least six deals.
In the end, General Catalyst took the top spot with nine deals, followed by several large companies with just one or two.
General catalysts, 9 sales
General Catalyst has been somewhat quiet in recent months, participating in just 13 deals involving U.S.-based startups between December and February. But last month, General Catalyst Corp. led the way, participating in nine such deals. This is the most for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company in a single month since last November.
These deals also included leading or co-leading several decent-sized rounds.
The company is part of the $53 million Series A of Woburn, Mass.-based nonflammable rechargeable battery developer Alcim Energy and Palo Alto, Calif.-based AI healthcare agent developer Hippocratic AI. Co-led a $1 million round.
The company also led a $30 million Series B for Boston-based anxiety treatment startup Instride Health.
Alumni Ventures, 8 sales
Alumni Ventures returns to this list as one of two companies that completed eight deals with US-based startups last month.
This includes a huge $80 million Series A in Los Angeles-based CarbonCapture, a climate technology startup developing direct air capture devices that remove COâ‚‚.
Despite continuing to bet on US-based startups this year, the Alumni Association has significantly reduced the pace of its investments compared to last year. In the first three months of last year, the company participated in 55 announced deals involving U.S. startups.
In the first three months of this year, that number dropped to just 21 cases.
Liquid 2 Ventures, 8 deals
Liquid 2 Ventures has never been on this list, but it’s a nearly 10-year-old company based in San Francisco. It also has star power. Co-founded by San Francisco 49ers great and NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana.
The company’s eight deals related to U.S. startups in March were the most for the company in a single month since September 2022.
Early-stage investment firms primarily participated in seed rounds, but some companies did participate in seed rounds, such as San Francisco-based Interlune’s $15.5 million round. The startup aims to extract helium-3 from the moon and transport it to Earth for use in national security, quantum computing, medical imaging, and fusion energy markets. The startup was founded by former leaders of Jeff Bezos’ space exploration startup Blue Origin.
That said, Liquid 2 Ventures also participated in a massive $53.2 million Series C led by Boston-based Overjet’s March Capital. The startup uses AI to help interpret his X-rays and verify dental insurance claims. This is a major issue that often causes friction between dentists, payers, and patients, and can reduce the time allotted for treatment.
Also worth noting:
methodology
This is a list of investors who participated in the most rounds involving US-based startups. This does not include incubators and accelerators, as their investment amounts may fluctuate.
Related books:
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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