Dear Readers,
Hej, Hello, Bonjour.
Better late than never. Here’s your first Growth Weekly, with some of the (very randomly selected) most interesting deals last week. Enjoy the read!
This Week’s Grower
🏆 The Top Deal
Kindbody (US - NY), raised $25 million from J.P. Morgan Chase's business unit focusing on employer-sponsored healthcare, Morgan Health.
Kindbody offers virtual and in-person services, including egg freezing, contraception care, gynecological care, fertility testing, and virtual wellness and coaching services in the U.S.
Why It’s a Grower
Large problem: infertility is a major and global health issue, affecting 1 out of 6 adults worldwide, according to the WHO.
Male sperm count is decreasing at c. 2.6% per year according to a study, with the authors describing their results as yet another “canary in the coalmine”.
Females are increasingly delaying pregnancies (the US median age for motherhood reached 30 last year), while female fertility significantly starts to significantly decrease around 31-32 years old (cf. chart below, courtesy of the BFS):
Complex (meaning, then, expensive and stressful) healthcare journeys: infertility has root causes with men and women, meaning both partners trying to conceive need to be examined by a qualified health practicioner to elaborate a treatment plan.
The Background
Aside from saving failing U.S. banks (and probably the world) from the raging dumpster fire of yet another banking crisis, J.P. Morgan has been rather quietly ramping up its investments in the healthcare segment lately.
It launched Morgan Health in 2021, allocating $250 million to a business unit that looks (and quacks) more like a corporate investment arm than anything else.
And, pssst, if you were an employer like J.P. Morgan, with roughly 300,000 (mainly white-collar) employees and could do with a good idea or two on how to get a better bang for your (very expensive) healthcare buck and make a bit of money in the process, you would do it, wouldn’t you?
Morgan Health is investing into US healthcare growth businesses that primarily focus on reducing healthcare costs for employers while improving outcomes for employees. Aside from Kindbody, they put some $$$ to work into:
Centivo (US, NY) - an affordable health plan built specifically for self-funded employers. The company announced a c. $81 million (of which $51m in equity and $30m of debt) Series B in July 2022 led by Maverick Ventures and B Capital Group, joined by Morgan Health.
Embold Health (US, TN) - a matching tool that enables employees to find and compare the best care providers for a given health need. The company announced a $23 million Series B led by Echo Health Ventures in December 2021, also joined by Morgan Health.
Vera Whole Health (US, WA) - a company operating health centres, under LBO from CD&R since April 2021, then merged with Castlight (a healthcare journey management platform) and renamed apree health (You still with me? Take a deep breath). The company received $50 million from Morgan Health in August 2021.
Other Growers
Lots of Israeli businesses raising this week!
The Very Personal Podium (VPP)
🥇Foretellix (Israel) - a startup building software solutions to develop, test and certify automated driving systems. Raised a $43 million Series C led by Woven Capital (growth fund of Toyota), with NVIDIA, Artofin VC, MoreTech, Nationwide, Volvo Group VC, and Jump Capital.
Pros: strong ADAS adoption growth with Tesla and EV manufacturers imposing it as standard, mounting regulatory requirements for OEMs deploying ADAS.
Cons: small pool of customers with likely small margins.
🥈Nomba (Nigeria) - a payment service management platform for African businesses. Raised a $30 million pre Series B led by Base 10 Partners, with Partech, Khosla Ventures, Helios Digital Ventures and Shopify.
Pros: very underpenetrated market (41m solopreneurs and 73k SMBs in Nigeria alone), prior team experience from building Kudi and pivoting.
Cons: attacking cash and educating small/micro business owners on the benefits of online payments is very hard.
🥉Innovaptive (India) - a SaaS platform connecting frontline maintenance workers and warehouse operations with back office software (e.g. SAP and IBM Maximo EAM). Raised a $26 million Series B from Vista Equity Partners and Tiger Global Management.
Pros: vital infrastructure piece for e-commerce and logistics players.
Cons: competitive market, low differentiation.
The Notable Others
Healthy.io (Israel) - provides solutions for easier at-home urine testing (and proves Vespasian right yet again). Raised a $50 million Series D led by Schusterman Family Investments, with Aleph and others.
Novidea (Israel) - a CRM solution built on Salesforce for insurance brokers, MGAs and coverholders. Raised a $50 million Series C led by Battery Ventures, with Israel Growth Partners, Cross Creek Advisors, KT Squared, and JAL Ventures.
ARTHEx (Spain) - a biotech conceiving a microRNA drug for myotonic dystrophy type 1. Raised $46 million Series B led by Columbus Venture Partners, with the European Innovation Council (EIC) and others.
Ace Turtle (India) - a business acquiring licenses of international brands to distribute them online in India, Singapore and Malaysia. Raised a $34 million Series B with Vertex Growth, SBI, Farglory, Lesing Nine, Stride, Tuscan Ventures, Trifecta Capital and InnoVen Capital.
Adasky (Israel) - a producer of Long Wave Infrared sensors, which help ADAS and other vision-based systems to operate more reliably. Raised a $30 million from Gentex, a maker of… ADAS systems.
Pando (India) - a supply chain management solution leveraging AI. Raised a $30 million Series B led by Iron Pillar and Uncorrelated Ventures, with Nexus Venture Partners, Chiratae Ventures and Next47.
ODAIA (Canada) - an AI-powered commercial insights SaaS platform for pharma companies. Raised a $25 million Series B led by Monograph Capital and Threshold Ventures, with BDC Capital, Flint Capital, Graphite Ventures, Wittington Ventures, and StandUp Ventures.
Hackajob (UK) - a tech recruiting platform. Raised a $25 million Series B led by Volition Capital, with Foresight Group, AXA Venture Partners and British Business Bank.
SmartAC (TX, US) - a startup selling devices to monitor AC systems and prevent breakdowns. Raised a $22 million Series B from undisclosed investors.
1touch.io (CT, US) - offering a sensitive data intelligence solution. Raised $14M in Series B led by Neotribe Ventures, with National Grid Partners, Ocean Azul Partners and Jerusalem Venture Partners.
Snoonu (Qatar) - quick commerce super-app in Qatar. Raised a $12 million Series B from Qatar Development Bank.
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Grow safe,
Alex
Great first piece, looking forward to the next ones!