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Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2023 with our new curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The Crunchbase Megadeals Tracker.

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

The week felt slow news-wise, but it actually did provide a handful of pretty big rounds. While they may not have come from some of the bigger names in the tech startup landscape — although one large round did go to a well-known AI startup — they were big nonetheless. We are heading into the final slow weeks of summer, so it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.

1. Abcuro, $155M, biotech: Biotech took three of the top five spots last week and it takes the top spot this week. Newton, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biotech startup Abcuro raised a $155 million Series B financing co-led by Redmile Group and Bain Capital Life Sciences. The company is developing therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer through precise modulation of specific T and NK cells. Founded in 2015, the company has raised nearly $215 million, per Crunchbase.

2. Teamshares, $124M, fintech: While the thought of an employee-owned business may be appealing to a retiring small-business owner, it can sometimes be difficult in practice. New York-based Teamshares raised a fresh $124 million Series D this week led by QED Investors to help with that. The company buys small businesses from retiring owners with the goal of making them 80% employee-owned within 20 years — providing the companies with new leadership, financial education, equity management software and financial products. The startup has grown from four companies with $10 million in revenue in January 2021 to 84 companies with over $400 million as of July. Founded in 2019, Teamshares says it has raised $245 million.

3. Pivotal Commware, $102M, telecommunications: Radio access networks startup Pivotal Commware locked up a $102 million Series D round led by Gates Frontier and Tracker Capital. The Bothell, Washington-based company’s Pivot 5G repeaters are able to extend the wireless coverage area of RANs. The company may be most famous for having Bill Gates as one of its early backers. Founded in 2016, the company has raised $201 million, per Crunchbase.

4. (tied) Anthropic, $100M, artificial intelligence: It seemed like the AI frenzy had calmed down slightly from when it was in overdrive during the spring. However, perhaps that was just a brief summer respite. This week, Anthropic — a ChatGPT rival with its AI assistant Claude — raised a $100 million round from SK Telecom, as South Korea’s largest telco looks to grow its AI-related telecommunications business. As part of the deal, the San Francisco-based AI startup will build a large language model customized for telcos. In the last 16 months, Anthropic has raised more than $1.4 billion, including a $450 million Series C led by Spark Capital in May. Founded in 2021, the company already has raised $1.6 billion, per Crunchbase.

4. (tied) BitGo, $100M, crypto: It was just a year ago that digital asset investment firm Galaxy Digital called off its proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of crypto custody firm BitGo — severing what would have been one of the largest deals in crypto history. Fast-forward to this week and Palo Alto, California-based BitGo was able to lock in an even higher valuation from investors, raising a $100 million Series C at a $1.75 billion valuation. The company did not disclose who participated in the round, outside of saying it was “new, outside strategic investors.” Previous investors include Valor Equity Partners, GS Growth and Redpoint Ventures. The round, however, is eye-catching considering how few nine-figure raises there have been this year in crypto. BitGo’s is only the sixth such round in a down year for crypto funding. Founded in 2013, the company has raised nearly $170 million, per Crunchbase.

6. ClassWallet, $95M, fintech: Miami-based ClassWallet, which offers a purchasing and reimbursement platform for public funds, raised a $95 million round led by Guidepost Growth Equity. Founded in 2014, the company has raised nearly $102 million, per Crunchbase.

7. Rondo Energy, $60M, energy: Alameda, California-based Rondo Energy, a maker of energy storage batteries, raised $60 million from several investors, including Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. Founded in 2020, the company has raised $82 million, per Crunchbase.

8. Helm.ai, $55M, autonomous driving: Menlo Park, California-based Helm.ai, a software developer for autonomous driving and automation of robotics, closed a $55 million Series C led by Freeman Group. Founded in 2016, Helm.ai has raised $102 million, per the company.

9. Aether Bio, $49M, machine learning: Menlo Park, California-based nanoscale machinery company Aether Bio raised a $49 million Series A led by Natural Capital and Unless. Founded in 2017, the company has raised $49 million, per Crunchbase.

10. Mitra Chem, $40M, battery: Mountain View, California-based Mitra Chem, a producer of lithium-ion battery materials, announced it reached a $40 million first close of a $60 million Series B funding round led by GM. Founded in 2021, the company has raised $87 million, per Crunchbase.

Big global deals

While there were a lot of big, nine-figure rounds that went to U.S.-based startups, the largest round of the week happened abroad.

• Ireland-based TechMet, a critical minerals investment company, raised a $200 million venture round.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of August 12 to August 18. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman