{"id":104,"date":"2018-12-27T04:29:43","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T04:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/27\/the-10-largest-us-venture-rounds-of-2018\/"},"modified":"2018-12-27T04:29:43","modified_gmt":"2018-12-27T04:29:43","slug":"the-10-largest-us-venture-rounds-of-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/27\/the-10-largest-us-venture-rounds-of-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 largest US venture rounds of 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Three U.S. companies raised more than $1 billion in just one funding round in 2018, a year in which\u00a0total deal value for U.S. startups is expected to surpass $100 billion<\/a> for the first time.<\/p>\n

For the most part, it was the usual suspects, and yes, SoftBank was an accessory in many of these rounds. Here\u2019s a look at the 10 largest venture rounds of 2018.<\/p>\n

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The video game Fortnite Battle Royale was the star of the year 2018; more than 200 million players worldwide are registered online. (Photo Illustration by Chesnot\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Given the absolute phenomenon Fortnite became in just one year from its original release, it was no surprise private investors wanted to put money into Epic Games, <\/span><\/a> the company behind it. In October, Epic Games announced a whopping $1.25 billion round at $15 billion valuation from KKR, Iconiq Capital, Smash Ventures, Vulcan Capital,\u00a0Kleiner\u00a0Perkins and\u00a0Lightspeed Venture Partners to continue growing its Fortnite empire. That game alone is expected to bring in $2 billion in revenue in 2018 and reports 200 million registered players \u2014 not too shabby.<\/p>\n

Cary, N.C.-based Epic Games\u2019 monstrous fundraise was a standout in a year when funding for gaming and esports startups really took off. According to Crunchbase<\/a>, global venture investment in the industry increased nearly 75 percent, to $701 million in the first half of 2018. Given Epic\u2019s round, Discord\u2019s<\/a> $150 million infusion of capital this week and several others since June, the second half of 2018 undoubtedly set major records in the space.<\/p>\n

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Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former chief executive officer of Uber Technologies Inc., speaks during the TiE Global Entrepreneurs Summit in New Delhi, India, on Friday, December 16, 2016. Kalanick said the company will introduce Uber <\/span><\/a> Moto across India. Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

One of the largest rounds of 2018 was also one of the first big financings of the year. To be fair, the negotiations behind Uber\u2019s $1.2 billion SoftBank investment<\/a> and much of the press coverage surrounding it came in 2017, but the deal officially closed in January. This deal was monumental for many reasons. First of all, it made Uber founder and former chief executive officer Travis Kalanick a billionaire \u2014 not just on paper \u2014 and it cemented SoftBank\u2019s position as the ride-hailing giant\u2019s largest shareholder.<\/p>\n

The financing brought San Francisco-based Uber\u2019s total raised to date to just over $20 billion at a valuation said to be around $72 billion. Of course, Uber has since privately filed for an initial public offering<\/a> slated for the first quarter of 2019.<\/p>\n

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Juul Labs, the maker of the popular e-cigarette brand that has recently come under fire from health officials over its popularity with young adults, plans to introduce a line of lower-nicotine pods. Photographer: Gabby Jones\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Juul, one of the buzziest companies of 2018, raised $1.2 billion from private investors Tiger Global, Fidelity and more in mid-2018. Then, this month, the developer of e-cigarettes popular among teenagers accepted a $12.8 billion investment<\/a> from the makers of Marlboro that valued it at $38 billion. Not only has Juul\u00a0created significant controversy<\/a> surrounding the ethics, or lack thereof, of its core product and its marketing to the younger generation in a short time, but it has also accumulated value at a clip rarely seen before. Juul, for context, surpassed a $10 billion valuation just seven months after its first round of VC backing \u2014 that\u2019s four times faster than Facebook.<\/p>\n

2019 is poised to be an interesting year for San Francisco-based Juul as it navigates public scrutiny, regulations and the completion of its partnership with Altria Group, which, according to Juul\u2019s CEO Kevin Burns, will \u201chelp accelerate [Juul\u2019s] success switching adult smokers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Magic Leap\u2019s flagship product, the Magic Leap One AR headset, began shipping to consumers this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It wouldn\u2019t be an end of the year round-up of the largest VC deals without any mention of Magic Leap, the extremely well-funded<\/a> virtual reality company. Tucked away in Plantation, Fla., 8-year-old Magic Leap has closed round after round, raising more than $2 billion to develop its hardware and software. The key investors in this year\u2019s big round, which valued the company at $6.3 billion, were Temasek and AT&T, which announced it would become the exclusive \u201cwireless distributor\u201d of\u00a0Magic Leap\u00a0products in the U.S. starting this summer. Magic Leap is also backed by\u00a0Google, Alibaba and Axel Springer.<\/p>\n

Not only did Magic Leap land one of the largest VC deals this year, but it also\u00a0finally\u00a0<\/em>began shipping to consumers its flagship product, the Magic Leap One AR headset. That was a long time coming \u2014 years, in fact. So long, many doubted whether the buzzy headsets would ever see the light of day. Now, the headsets are available to buyers in 48 states<\/a>, though it\u2019s worth mentioning they cost more than two grand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Founder and CEO of Instacart Apoorva Mehta and moderator Megan Rose Dickey speak onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2016 at Pier 48 on September 14, 2016 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings\/Getty Images for TechCrunch)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Instacart <\/span><\/a> has a lofty goal of delivering groceries to every household in the U.S., and it needs a lot of cash to get there. The company has raised VC every year since it completed the Y Combinator startup accelerator in 2012, and 2018 was no different. In October, the service brought in $600 million at a $7.6 billion valuation<\/a> in a round led by D1 Capital Partners. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company has raised $1.6 billion to date from\u00a0Coatue Management, Thrive Capital,\u00a0Canaan Partners, Andreessen Horowitz and several others.<\/p>\n

Instacart <\/span><\/a> CEO Apoorva Mehta told TechCrunch at the time that the startup didn\u2019t really need the capital and that this was more of an \u201copportunistic\u201d battle. The market is hot, after all, and Instacart has ambitious plans to scale and it has a fierce competitor in Amazon to take on. As for an IPO, Mehta said\u00a0\u201cit\u00a0will<\/em>\u00a0be on the horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SoftBank-backed Katerra says it\u2019s brought in more than $1.3 billion in bookings for new construction ranging from residential to hospitality and student housing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

One of SoftBank\u2019s first major bets of 2018 was on construction technology, with an $865 million investment<\/a> in Katerra at a $3 billion valuation out of its Vision Fund. Katerra, <\/span><\/a> a tech startup based out of Menlo Park, develops, designs and constructs buildings.\u00a0At the time of its January fundraise, Katerra told TechCrunch it had brought in more than $1.3 billion in bookings for new construction ranging from residential to hospitality and student housing. Founded in 2015 by three former private equity barons, the company has raised a total of $1.1 billion to date from SoftBank, Foxconn, Greenoaks Capital and others.<\/p>\n

In June, Katerra announced it would merge with KEF Infra<\/a>, an offsite manufacturing technology specialist, and would begin operating in India and the Middle East markets.<\/p>\n

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Yet another SoftBank investment, San Francisco-based Opendoor <\/span><\/a> is also backed by Fifth Wall Ventures, GV, Andreessen Horowitz and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Opendoor\u2019s two big SoftBank-backed investments this year totaled $725 million<\/a>, valuing the company at $2.5 billion. The deal gave SoftBank a minority stake in Opendoor, an online real estate marketplace, and put one of its five managing directors, Jeff Housenbold, on the company\u2019s board of directors. The round brought Opendoor\u2019s total funding to slightly more than $1 billion \u2014 most of which it acquired in 2018, a major year for the company. Founded in 2014, the San Francisco-based startup is also backed by Fifth Wall Ventures, GV, Andreessen Horowitz and more.<\/p>\n

According to TechCrunch\u2019s Connie Loizos, Housenbold had hoped to work with Opendoor co-founder and CEO Eric Wu for some time. \u201cThe minute he joined [SoftBank] he reached out to me and let me know \u2026 saying if there was\u00a0an opportunity to work together, to reach out to him,\u201d Wu said.<\/p>\n

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Uber competitor Lyft expanded aggressively in 2018, raised hundreds of millions in additional venture capital funding, and filed confidentially to go public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Lyft <\/span><\/a> managed to stay quite busy this year. Not only did the ridesharing company raise a $600 million round at a $15.1 billion valuation<\/a>, it also acquired bike-share operator Motivate<\/a> and filed confidentially to go public<\/a>. Founded in 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer, the company has long competed with Uber, and will continue to do so as the pair race to the public markets in early-2019. Lyft, much smaller than Uber and only active in the U.S. and Canada, has raised nearly $5 billion in venture backing from KKR, Mayfield, Didi Chuxing, Floodgate and others.<\/p>\n

San Francisco-based Lyft has spent much of the last two years expanding rapidly across the U.S. market, as well as pursuing its\u00a0autonomous vehicle<\/a>\u00a0ambitions.<\/p>\n

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Automation Anywhere raised a monstrous $550 million Series A in 2018, with support from the SoftBank Vision Fund.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The only surprise to make this list is Automation Anywhere, <\/span><\/a> a 15-year-old provider of robotic process automation. The company raised a total of $550 million in Series A funding<\/a>, a large chunk of which came from the SoftBank Vision Fund, as well as NEA, General Atlantic and Goldman Sachs. The round valued Automation Anywhere at $2.6 billion. According to PitchBook, this was the first round of institutional backing for the San Jose, Calif.-based company.<\/p>\n

In a conversation with TechCrunch, Automation Anywhere CEO Mihir Shukla said they were attracted to SoftBank because of Masayoshi So \u2014 the CEO and founder of SoftBank: \u201c[He} has a vision and he is investing in foundational platforms that will change how we work and travel. We share that vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA \u2013 SEPTEMBER 06: Peloton Co-Founder\/CEO John Foley speaks onstage during Day 2 of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 at Moscone Center on September 6, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White\/Getty Images for TechCrunch)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Peloton\u2019s <\/span><\/a> growth exploded in 2018 as it launched its $4,000 treadmill, doubled down on original fitness streaming content and raised an additional $500 million in equity funding at a $5 billion valuation. The New York-based startup, often referred to as the \u201cNetflix of fitness,\u201d\u00a0has raised nearly $1 billion in venture capital funding in the six years since it was founded by John Foley. It\u2019s backed by\u00a0\u00a0L Catterton,\u00a0True Ventures, Tiger Global and others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely Peloton will take the public markets plunge in 2019<\/a> much like Uber and Lyft. Foley earlier this year told The Wall Street Journal that though he doesn\u2019t have any concrete plans, 2019\u00a0\u201cmakes a lot of sense\u201d<\/a>\u00a0for its stock market debut.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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