Djibouti bets on e-mobility, Ramp secures $478m in funding... This week in VC

Your weekly Venture Capital recap is here!

Quick News

• a16z promotes Jennifer Li to GP to invest in Infrastructure with $1.25 bn of the massive $7.20 bn the firm recently raised. Jennifer is the 27th GP at a16z and the 4th GP on the Infrastructure team. She achieves this feat while still in her early 30s.

• US based Lazard partners with French VC Elaia creating Lazard Elaia Capital; ¾ owned by Lazard and ¼ by Elaia. This partnership could see Lazard clients investing up to €1 bn with tickets ranging between €30-40 m.

State of Venture Capital

Seed

Allen Control Systems (USA) - $12m: Iron dome defence for drones

Specialized in creating autonomous defence systems, specifically autonomous turrets for passive drone detection, fire control via software and training data generation. The company raised $12m from Craft Ventures, Rally Ventures and Forum Ventures.

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OnePay (Colombia) - $1.3m: Chat-based payments for South America

Solution that makes the collection of payments easier by allowing customers, friends and family to make payments via chat bot on WhatsApp. The 6-person company raised $1.3m from QAPU Ventures, Broom Ventures and other undisclosed investors.

Series A

Clazar (USA) - $10m: Marketplace for SaaS companies

Go-to-market platform designed for SaaS companies to sell their software and receive offers from buyers. The platform enables co-selling between companies and their partnership ecosystem to increase pipeline. The company raised $10m from Ridge Ventures, Ensemble VC, the General Partnership, Saurabh Gupta and Twin VC.

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Finmid (Germany) - $38m: Turning marketplaces & platforms into lenders

Lending infrastructure provider helping companies with B2B buyers and sellers remove short-term financial obstacles through deferred payments for buyers and instant payouts for sellers. The company raised $38m from Blossom Capital, Earlybird VC and Maximilian Tayenthal.

Series B

Sports Illustrated Tickets (USA) - $20m: Marketplace for ticket reservations

Ticket reservation platform with no fees designed for fans to gain access to face-value tickets for concerts, sports events and more. Sellers can list their reservation for fans to lock in face-value tickets. The company raised $20m from Ava Labs and Trinity Capital BDC.

Series C 

Two Chairs (USA) - $72m: Making it easier to find the right therapist

Mental health platform specializing in pairing patients with their ideal therapists thanks to a research-backed process. Patients dive into a 45-minute initial discovery session to align goals with a therapist’s specialties. The company raised $72m from Amplo, Fifth Down Capital and other undisclosed investors.

Series D

Ramp (USA) - $478m: Helping companies spend less

All-in-one financial operations platform designed for companies to spend less thanks to automated expense management, corporate card and spend management, accounting management and automation. The company raised a massive $478m from Sands Capital, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Greylock, Thrive Capital, 8VC, Lux Capital, Definition and General Catalyst.