Back to work from the July 4th fireworks, it’s time for another monthly roundup of the venture capital world. June saw an unusual preponderance of hundred-million-dollar deals as well as unexpected moves by new players.
Fenqile, a Chinese online-shopping site, which also offers users micro-loans to buy things, tops the list with its latest round of $235 million led by Huasheng Capital. Huasheng is a venture capital unit of China Renaissance Partners, which just recently led a walloping $1 billion round in Chinese O2O real estate startup Lianjia in April.
E-commerce was a VC hotspot in June. Three of the top 10 investments went into e-commerce startups, all exceeding $100 million. Artificial intelligence, software and cloud computing were also some of the investors’ favorite buzzwords.
Twitter Ventures, which walked away from a potential acquisition deal of music streaming startup SoundCloud two years ago, turned around and invested $70 million in the same company, which raised a few eyebrows and made multiple headlines. It was the largest round SoundCloud has raised yet.
Here are the 10 biggest venture capital funding activities in June:
1) Lead Investor: Huasheng Capital
Startup: Fenqile
Industry: E-Commerce, Financial Services
Funding Amount: $235 million, Series D
Valuation: ~$3 billion
2) Lead Investor: Goldman Sachs Investment Partners
Startup: SMS Assist
Industry: Cloud-Based Platform, Management Software
Funding Amount: $150 million, Series D
Valuation: $850 million
3) Lead Investors: Invus
Startup: Thrive Market
Industry: E-Commerce
Funding Amount: $111 million, Series B
4) Lead Investors: Continuity Fund (Y Combinator), Cascade Investment, Baillie Gifford, Allen & Company
Startup: Ginko Bioworks
Industry: Biotechnology
Funding Amount: $100 million, Series C
5) Lead Investors: Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, Insight Venture Partners
Startup: Cylance
Industry: Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security
Funding Amount: $100 million, Series D
Valuation: $1 billion
6) Lead Investor: China Mobile Innovative Business Fund
Startup: Liepin
Industry: Recruiting Platform
Funding Amount: $100 million, Series D
7) Lead Investors: Northern Light Venture, New Horizon
Startup: Beibei.com
Industry: E-Commerce
Funding Amount: $100 million, Series D
Valuation: $1 billion
8) Lead Investor: Data Collective
Startup: Tradeshift
Industry: Software, Cloud Computing
Funding Amount: $75 million, Series D
9) Lead Investor: Twitter Ventures
Startup: SoundCloud
Industry: Music
Funding Amount: $70 million, Series E
Valuation: $700 million
10) Lead Investor: Naspers
Startup: Udemy
Industry: Education Tech
Funding Amount: $60 million, Series D
Click here to see May’s Top 10 VC Investments