Energy startups are BOOMING, Hedgehog is making shrooms a mainstream food

News in VC this week

• Contour Venture Partners based in New York City has closed $42 million for its fifth tech fund.

• ETF Partners raises €285M for climate tech startups aimed at supporting climate tech startups that promise quick, impactful solutions to climate challenges​

• VC firm OpenseedVC, which supports operators in Africa and Europe starting their own companies, has reached the first close of its $10 million fund

Sustainable energy is booming

👉️ Sonia Health (USA) just raised a $3.4m seed and is looking to connect!

⚡️ 1 liner about the startup:

“Sonia is an AI-assisted therapy app that conducts full voice and text based therapy sessions, making mental health care accessible for anyone, anywhere, and anytime.”

🏆️ Early wins:

Sonia was part of Y Combinator’s W24 batch where they made progress through work with startup peers and world-class mentors.

The initial version of the app was launched less than 8 months ago but they’ve already gotten thousand of patients conduct crucial therapy sessions with Sonia. The feedback has been very positive and the team has set its goal to ‘make as many people as happy as possible - at scale’.

Sonia is now expanding worldwide and is looking for partnerships with mental health providers from all over.

💰️ What will funding be used for?

Alina Taratorin, Growth Engineer at Sonia, said funds will be used to grow the team and train models to make the product as effective as possible.

📲 Interested in learning more? Reply to this email and we’ll connect you to the founders!

Seed

Hedgehog (USA) - $8m - Making shrooms mainstream
Food

Organic mushrooms intended for culinary use. The company's mushrooms are known for their meaty umami flavor and diverse culinary potential with low-calorie sources of fiber, protein, and antioxidants, enabling consumers and restaurants to enhance their dishes. The company raised $8 million in seed funding led by R7, with participation from Cavallo Ventures, Climate Capital, Soma Capital, UpHonest Capital, Converge Venture Partners, Pear, and Haystack Fund.

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CodeGPT (USA) - $5m: AI assistants for developers
AI & SaaS

Plug-and-play software designed to provide developers with a set of AI assistants seamlessly who assist in pair programming for Visual Studio Code and offer the ultimate data privacy, giving companies full control over their data and privacy. CodeGPT closed on $5 million in funding led by Manutara Ventures, with participation from other undisclosed investors. The company's post-money valuation is $4.5 million.

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Cluby (Finland) - $3.12m: Loyalty services for restaurants
SaaS & MarketingTech

Membership platform intended to provide consumer services. The company's platform offers low-budget marketing tools for restaurants, cafes, and nightclubs in the city, enabling customers to explore new places and get benefits. The company raised €2.9 million in seed funding led by Vendep Capital, with participation from Wolt, Pekka Koskinen, and other investors. The funds will be used to expand across Europe, bringing its expertise and tools to a broader audience.

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Dubme (Spain) - $1.08m: Payment transfer for investment firms
AI & SaaS

AI-powered professional dubbing platform designed to help content creators and media companies extend their reach by publishing content in new languages. The platform offers features like professional dubbing, seamless integration, voice emotion and authenticity, accent control, lip sync, and more. Dubme raised €1 million in pre-seed funding from Boost Capital Partners, Bonsai Partners, and Enisa National Innovation Company. The funds will be used to continue to expand its range of solutions.

Series A

StatusPro (USA) - $25.75m: Bringing data & VR to football training sessions
VR & SportsTech

Sports technology company combining data with augmented and VR for training purposes. The company aggregates data to create three-dimensional simulations of how every single player performed during every NFL game, which are then transformed into a VR headset for players to practice. The company raised $25.75 million in Series A venture funding led by Google Ventures, with participation from Haslam Sports Group and 37 other investors. The funds will be used to broaden development into new sports titles, enhance its modes and features, and further improve its technology.

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ReJoule (USA) - $53m: Extending battery lifespan
CleanTech & Manufacturing

Battery diagnostic platform designed to reduce battery testing time from hours to minutes. The company's system is fast, accurate, and easy to use, testing batteries for second-life applications and next-generation testers that test batteries in-vehicle during first life. This enables equipment manufacturers to reduce battery waste and save costs by promoting a sustainable and circular economy. The company closed on $5 million in funding from undisclosed investors.

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Myricx Bio (UK) - $114m: Precise cancer cell targeting
Oncology

Precision medicines intended to unlock the potential of N-myristoyl transferase as a therapeutic targe resulting in specific cancer cell killing, enabling patients to receive treatment for a wide range of diseases, including cancer and viral infections. The company raised $114 million in Series A venture funding led by Abingworth and Novo Holdings, with participation from Lilly Capital and 4 other investors. The funds will be used to build out the company's proprietary N-Myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payload platform and advance the pipeline of NMTi-ADCs through clinical proof of concept targeting clinically validated tumor-associated antigens.

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eAgronom (Estonia) - $25m: Farms are going online
AgTech & SaaS

Online farm management system designed to plan, manage, and analyze agricultural activities in one place. The company's system also handles non-farming activities such as following grant rules, writing reports, keeping track of inventory and logistics, performing difficult computations, providing a real-time overview of task progress, and automatically propagating stock changes across the platform. eAgronom raised €10 million in funding led by Swedbank, with participation from SmartCap, Icos Capital, and Soulmates Ventures. The funds will be used to expand the company's presence in key markets and scale its participation in various sustainable farming programs.

Series B

Hebbia (USA) - $130m: Bringing AI automation to all businesses
AI & SaaS

SaaS platform designed to build artificial agents that complete end-to-end tasks. The company's platform helps to ingest structured and unstructured data across multiple files and formats, retrieves information when prompted, and delivers answers with citations in a spreadsheet-like format, enabling businesses to integrate full workflow automation with LLMs. The company raised $130 million Series B funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Google Ventures, Index Ventures, and Peter Thiel, putting the company's pre-money valuation at $610 million.

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Eneida.io (Portugal) - $11.29m: Transforming traditional energy grids
IoT, AI & CleanTech

Analytics platform designed to optimize the condition and operation of grid-critical assets. The platform combines smart sensor networks with data analytics to eliminate uncertainty by predicting how people will produce and use energy, enabling clients to live in a clean neighborhood with a reliable, secure, and affordable energy supply. The company raised €10.5 million funding led by Junction Growth Investors and Santander Asset Management, with participation from 6 other investors.

Series C 

Route (USA) - $40m: Another competitor arrives on the mental health tech space
Logistics & SaaS

Robotics technology designed to support weed elimination with advanced farming methods. The company specializes in designing robust, intelligent robots with autonomous and deep learning technologies focused on removing unwanted plants, enabling farmers and cultivators to optimize crop yield. The company raised $56 million in funding led by Sozo Ventures and S28 Capital, with participation from NVentures and 8 other investors. The funds will be used to expand sales regions in North America, optimize and scale manufacturing, develop new software and hardware products, and launch into international markets.

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No Series C deals in Europe this week 😞