Sequoia

Dating app Bumble sold in $1.9 billion deal after value plummets

Also SMH Business

Sequoia put $60 million into WhatsApp before its boom. Years later, Facebook agreed to buy the messaging app for $19 billion

A retrospective on Sequoia Capital's roughly $60 million backing of WhatsApp across several rounds, and Facebook's $19 billion buyout of the messaging app, which TechCrunch estimated returned about fifty times the firm's investment.

Also wired.com·SmartCompany

Sierra Raises $950M at $15B, Locking 40% of the Fortune 50 Into Its Agent Platform Before the Labs Go Direct

Analysis of Sierra's $950 million raise at a $15 billion valuation with Tiger Global and GV at the lead, weighing its revenue multiple, Fortune 50 customer lock-in, and competition from OpenAI and Anthropic's ventures.

Lightspeed $9B Raise: $4.5B Flagship, AI Focus

Analysis of Lightspeed Venture Partners' 2026 close of three funds totalling nine billion dollars, its backer base, AI allocation, portfolio outcomes and comparisons with other big venture firms.

Startmate hauls 19 ANZ founders to San Fran for first time since the pandemic

Startmate brought its 2026 intake to San Francisco for investor meetings and a Demo Day hosted by Stripe; Melbourne alumnus Fluency's Accel-led US$6 million seed round is recalled.

OpenAI's $122B Raise at $852B Valuation: IPO Rehearsal [2026]

Analysis of OpenAI's record Series F close, its investor lineup, revenue climb, valuation scepticism, earlier rounds, employee share sales, and its path toward a possible public listing.

Bret Taylor's Sierra raises nearly $1 billion months after last capital push

Sierra, the enterprise AI agent firm started by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, has banked a $950 million Series E with Tiger Global and Google Ventures at the helm, plus Benchmark, Sequoia and Greenoaks.

Also TechCrunch Venture·aivy.com.au·cmswire.com·theaiworld.org·faq.com.tw·groundy.com

Once close enough for an acquisition, Stripe and Airwallex are now going after each other

Airwallex co-founder Jack Zhang recounts turning down Stripe's billion-dollar buyout, describes building a licensed global payments network, and argues the Melbourne fintech can now challenge Stripe directly.

Sequoia's new leaders raise about $7 billion for firm's biggest bets

Bloomberg-sourced report says Sequoia's incoming co-leaders have gathered roughly seven billion dollars for a new vehicle backing large, often AI, companies; the piece also covers leadership changes and Wiz's sale to Alphabet.

Sequoia Capital Raises $7 Billion Fund for AI and Late-Stage Investments

Sequoia Capital has closed about $7 billion for a fund backing late-stage AI companies in the US and Europe, the first big fundraise since Alfred Lin and Pat Grady took over as co-stewards.

Also economictimes.indiatimes.com

Xbow Raises $120 Million, Hits $1 Billion Valuation in AI Cybersecurity Push

Xbow, a startup using AI for cybersecurity, has closed a $120 million round co-led by DFJ Growth and Northzone at a valuation topping $1 billion, with five other investors participating.

Crunchbase Predicts: 15 Companies That Could Go Public In 2026 As The IPO Market Gains Momentum

Crunchbase's 2026 forecast lists fifteen late-stage companies it deems probable or very likely IPO candidates, profiling each with past raises, valuations and secondary sales; Australia's Canva makes the list.

Gabby and Hezi Leibovich-backed Fingertip acquired by rival Linktree – and will close

Linktree has bought Melbourne rival Fingertip and will shut it down in 2026, with its cofounders joining; the piece also recaps Linktree's earlier acquisitions and the Leibovich brothers' failed ventures.

Also Dealroom·Forbes Australia

Puralink dredges up $2.3m seed round for autonomous pipe robot

Sydney robotics startup Puralink has raised $2.3m in seed capital, with Peak XV leading and several local funds and angels joining, to commercialise its leak-detecting robot for pipes.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia

Investment Update: Harvest B

Breakthrough Victoria is putting $2 million into protein technology company Harvest B, joining a $5.6 million pre-Series A round with Mandalay VC leading and several other backers.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany

Klarna's IPO Pops — $1.4B Raise, Sequoia Wins | NewsLab

Klarna went public on the New York Stock Exchange; most of the $1.4 billion offering came from holders selling stock, with Sequoia the biggest seller and only a small slice newly issued.

Sierra Raises $350M, Now a $10B AI Enterprise Startup

Sierra has announced a $350 million Greenoaks-led round at a $10 billion valuation. The enterprise AI agent company previously took money from Sequoia, Benchmark and Greenoaks.

Also Crunchbase News·cmswire.com·groundy.com

The IPO Market Is Opening Up. These 14 Companies Could Be Next.

Crunchbase News profiles 14 venture-backed companies its predictive models flag as likely IPO candidates, from Stripe to Sierra Space, recapping their funding histories, valuations and financial milestones.

Also Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia

Canva hits $42B valuation in secondary sale, joining Figma in pre-IPO spotlight

Canva launched an employee share sale valuing the design software firm at $42 billion, led by Fidelity with JPMorgan's asset arm joining, ahead of a planned IPO; US rival Figma listed last month.

Also Crunchbase News·stratechery.com·Crunchbase News

Airtree Ventures closes $650M fund with international backing, fueling ANZ startup growth

Sydney venture firm Airtree has completed the close of its fifth fund at $650 million, drawing backing from US institutional investors and Australian superannuation funds, with allocations set for early and growth stages.

Beewise, Inc. Secures $50 Million in Series D Funding to Advance Bee Conservation Technology

Startups Weekly: Different paths on the road to liquidity

Weekly roundup covering several startup acquisitions, a clutch of venture rounds across AI and other sectors, a Clay employee share sale, and Marathon Venture Capital's new fund close.

Australia's AI Moment: Build, Lead, or Fall Behind

Galileo Ventures argues Australia risks missing the AI revolution, proposes a five-pillar national investment strategy, and announces Fund II to back AI founders, citing its Fund I portfolio and Airtrunk's sale as evidence.

The one that got away: After paying $230 million for Catch, Wesfarmers is shutting it down

Wesfarmers is closing Catch, the online retailer it bought for $230 million in 2019, citing local ecommerce competition; the story also recalls Catch's venture backers and Little Birdie's $30m stake, pause and rescue.

Also Startup Daily

Airtree Ventures Raises $650M for Two New Funds

Dealroom, citing the Financial Review, reports Airtree Ventures has raised $650m across two fresh funds, within a global venture-fundraising tally approaching $241b in which Sequoia's $17b is the largest.

Deals in brief: HongShan raises RMB 18 billion fund, Partior and Miridih secure funding, four China deals, and more

KrASIA roundup: HongShan closes an RMB 18 billion fund, Partior and Miridih raise Series B rounds, Packworks gets a government grant, four Chinese startups raise, and Nika.eco, Validus and Airs Medical win funding.

Antler just invested $1.575 million in pre-Seed funding in 7 startups, from edtech to deep tech. Here's who they are

Antler's Australian arm announced $225,000 pre-seed investments in seven startups at its Portfolio Spotlight event, alongside a new Google Cloud partnership, with residency applications open.

Also SmartCompany

Linktree launches features to schedule and archive links

Linktree adds scheduling and archiving tools plus video fetching. The Australian firm also hired a chief product officer and two AI leads, and last year bought Koji and Bento.

Linktree gobbles up and kills off competitor Koji

Linktree has bought and will shut down rival Koji, acquiring it from parent GoMeta for an undisclosed sum. The article also recaps Linktree's earlier Bento purchase and its past funding rounds.

Linktree acquires link-in-bio platform Koji in its second investment of the year

Linktree has bought rival link-in-bio service Koji from owner GoMeta for an undisclosed sum, its second such purchase of 2023 after acquiring Sequoia-backed Bento in June; Koji's product sunsets in January.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture

DOG'S BREAKFAST: Pet Circle's $75m raise from US VC a rare highlight for Australian startups amid a 42% fall in funding for September quarter

Cut Through Ventures' quarterly analysis shows Australian startup funding down 42% year-on-year at A$739 million over 77 deals, with Pet Circle's $75 million Series D from Prysm Capital the period's largest round.

Also SmartCompany·RenewEconomy·@AuManufacturing

Learn how to raise money over dinner

WA venture fund Purpose Ventures stages a discounted founders' dinner on preparing for investment, backed by a state industry fund program and featuring WA founders; the event has since sold out.

Airwallex and OurCrowd partner to make it easier to invest in global startups

Payments platform Airwallex has teamed up with venture investing platform OurCrowd, letting investors back global startups in local currencies; since February over a third of OurCrowd's FX flow has run through Airwallex.

5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed In April: Organic Computers, Recycling Chopsticks And Separating Waste

A monthly Crunchbase roundup of five overlooked venture rounds, including raises by ChopValue, Australia's Cortical Labs, Harvey, Sepura Home and Ebb Carbon, with lead investors and amounts for each deal.

Also Crunchbase News

Ignition Lane's Great Big Annual Wrap

Ignition Lane's year-end review of 2022 tech news: shifting VC sentiment, record Australian fund raises, grocery delivery failures and shutdowns, local M&A, crypto fallout, awards, and global stories from Twitter to ChatGPT.

Also AgFunderNews

Ignition Lane's Wrap: the state of Cloud, VC advice, Tiger stripes, cattle class crypto, M&A fires up

Weekly tech wrap: cloud-market trends, Tiger Global's cheques into Stake, Shippit and Carma, new VC funds, several acquisitions, grocery delivery startups Send and Quicko collapsing, and Elaine Stead joining M8 Ventures.

Also Startup Daily

‘Move-to-earn’ Solana app StepN is latest crypto gaming craze

Profile of move-to-earn fitness app StepN, founded in Adelaide, covering its Sequoia-backed seed round, a later Binance investment, rapid user growth, token economics, and Axie Infinity's struggles.

Cascade raises $40 million to disrupt the consultancy industry

Cascade has landed a $40 million Series A led by Telescope Partners, with Five V and Carthona joining; proceeds follow a $5 million seed and target product and global growth.

Also Techboard

Sydney startup Cascade raises $40 million Series A to rethink business strategy

Cascade, a Sydney strategy-execution software company, has closed a $40 million Series A led by Telescope Partners with Five V and Carthona Capital, to fund product development and expansion into North America and Europe.

Also SmartCompany·Techboard

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: The Great Reengagement, backing Web3, riding the markets & the big local raises

Ignition Lane's weekly tech roundup: AirTree raises $700m across three new funds, dozens of Australian startups announce rounds, a wave of acquisitions including Block completing its Afterpay buy, plus Web3 commentary and US market moves.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily