Enterprise Weekly #461: Market Reflections, Selling a Technical Product, and More
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This week, we’re reflecting on two pivotal anniversaries that marked significant turning points in the enterprise software landscape as we know it today.
On March 13, 2020, the COVID lockdown initiated a work-from-home revolution and pulled forward tech budgets. This propelled us into peak investing years - funding was flowing, valuations were soaring, and a new generation of enterprise software built for a remote-first world emerged.
On March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, setting off a banking crisis and a downshift in the venture market. See 10 charts on the banking meltdown by
here.So where are we today? The market seems to have settled into a new normal:
Funding: 2023 funding hit a 6-year low as VCs became increasingly cautious investing their dry powder. While we continue to see some startups chasing astronomical valuations (especially in AI), NYC enterprise software has generally returned to pre-pandemic norms. Additionally, many big name VCs have thrown in the towel during these challenging times (not to mention the shutdown of OpenView), making it more important than ever for founders to consider who they’re fundraising from and the long-term impacts this decision will have on their company. See Jon’s post on incentives and biases of various Seed investor models here.
Seed: Seed became a bright light amidst later-stage fundraising declines, keeping pace with 2021’s peak and outperforming broader US Pre-Seed and Seed trends.
NYC: NYC continues to flourish as it’s the epicenter of the 'suits and hoodies' community where startups can spend meaningful in-person time with Fortune 500 customers to build trust, learn about budgeted use cases, and ultimately close deals.
Looking to the future, one thing remains true: regardless of market fluctuations and hype cycles (again, hello AI), founders must adhere to fundamentals and concentrate on addressing tangible customer pain points.
That's why, at Work-Bench, we built a robust GTM playbook library to help founders conquer early tactics. Read our latest playbook on “Technical Founders Selling Technical Products,” which walks through the 5 critical stages of sales.
📚 Read more news:
Business Insider: Inside Startupland's 'Shroom Boom'
The New Yorker: Among the A.I. Doomsayers
📚 Read more (th)reads:
Company: Arthur
Role: Senior Product Manager
Technology: AI Monitoring & Explainability
Funding: $60.3M from Work-Bench, Index Ventures, Acrew, Plexo Capital, Homebrew
🌟 Company of the Week 🌟
StackOne raises $3.6M led by Episode 1
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • London, UK
Co-Founders: Romain Sestier (CEO), Guillaume Lebedel (CTO)
Eyris raises $3M led by Red Cell Partners
Risk / Security • Pre-Seed • Washington, DC
OpenMeter raises $3M led by Y Combinator, Haystack and Others
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Synch raises $3M led by AltCap and Haystack
Sales / Marketing • Seed • New York, NY
The New Club raises $3.1M led by Sierra Ventures and Afore Capital
Future of Work • Venture • San Francisco, CA
Codezero raises $3.5M led by Ballistic Ventures
Risk / Security • Seed • Vancouver, Canada
Key raises $4.3M led by Felicis
Future of Work • Seed • Palo Alto, CA
Cogna raised $4.8m led by Hoxton Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • London, United Kingdom
Louisa AI raises $5M led by Palm Drive VC, Evolution VC, and Others
Sales / Marketing • Seed • New York, NY
appCD raises $6M led by Thomvest Ventures, Westwave Capital, and Others
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Steadybit raises $6M led by Paladin Capital Group
Risk / Security • Series A • Solingen, Germany
Theia Insights raises $6.5M led by Unusual Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Cambridge, United Kingdom
Big Sur AI raises $6.9M led by Lightspeed
Sales / Marketing • Seed • Mountain View, CA
Fluent raises $7.5M led by Hoxton Ventures and Tiferes Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • London, United Kingdom
RapidCanvas raises $7.5M led by Accel
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Austin, TX
DBOS raises $8.5M led by Engine Ventures
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • Cambridge, MA
Brevian raises $9M led by Felicis
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Sunnyvale, CA
HData raises $10M led by Buoyant Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Birmingham, AL
Relish raises $10M led by Volition Capital
Future of Work • Series A • Newbury, Ohio
Pienso raises $10M led by Latimer Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Arlington, VA
Prescient AI raises $10M led by Headline and CEAS Investments
Sales / Marketing • Series A • Miami, FL
SuperAGI raises $10M led by Newlands VC
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Newark, DE
BotGuard OÜ raises $13.1M led by MMC Ventures
Risk / Security • Series A • Tallinn, Estonia
Metaplane raises $13.8M led by Felicis
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Boston, MA
Efficient Computer raises $16M led by Eclipse Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Pittsburgh, PA
Formalize raises $16M led by BlackFin Capital Partners
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series A • Aarhus, Denmark
Axion Ray raises $17.5M led by Bessemer Venture Partners
Risk / Security • Series A • New York, NY
Adaptive ML raises $20M led by Index Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Paris, France
Reach Security raises $20M led by Ballistic Ventures
Risk / Security • Series A • Sunnyvale, CA
Topsort raises $20M led by Upload Ventures
Sales / Marketing • Series A • San Francisco, CA
Cognition AI raises $21M led by Founders Fund and Elad Gil
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series A • New York, NY
Cayosoft raises $22.5M led by Centana Growth Partners
Risk / Security • Private Equity • Columbus, OH
Ema raises $25M led by Prosus Ventures, Accel, and Section 32
Collaboration / Productivity • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Remofirst raises $25M led by Octopus Ventures
HR Tech • Series A • San Francisco, CA
Multiverse Computing raises $27M led by Columbus Venture Partners
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • San Sebastián, Spain
Nanonets raises $29M led by Accel India
Collaboration / Productivity • Series B • San Francisco, CA
Argyle raises $30M led by Rockefeller Asset Management
HR Tech • Series C • New York, NY
Healthee raises $32M led by Fin Capital, Glilot Capital Partners, and Group11
HR Tech • Series A • New York, NY
Sweet Security raises $33M led by Evolution Equity Partners
Risk / Security • Series A • Tel Aviv, Israel
TheyDo raises $34M led by Blossom Capital
Future of Work • Series B • Amsterdam, Netherlands
Defense Unicorns raises $35M led by Sapphire Ventures and Ansa Capital
Risk / Security • Series A • Colorado Springs, CO
Eye Security raises $39M led by JPMorgan Growth Equity Partners
Risk / Security • Series B • The Hague, Netherlands
Baseten raises $40M led by IVP and Spark Capital
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series B • San Francisco, CA
Unstructured raises $40M led by Menlo Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series B • San Francisco, CA
Ocient raises $49.4M led by Greycroft and OCA Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series B • Chicago, IL
Dtex Systems raises $50M led by CapitalG
Risk / Security • Series E • San Jose, CA
Taalas raises $50M led by VC Pierre Lamond and Quiet Capita
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Toronto, Canada
Todyl raises $50M led by Base10 Partners
Risk / Security • Series B • Denver, CO
Physical Intelligence raises $70M led by Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Others
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • San Francisco, CA
RapidSOS raises $75M led by BlackRock
Future of Work • Series C • New York, NY
Claroty raises $100M led by Delta-v Capital
Risk / Security • Venture • New York, NY
Nozomi Networks raises $100M led by Mitsubishi Electric and Schneider Electric
Risk / Security • Series E • San Francisco, CA
Together AI raises $106M led by Salesforce Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Venture • Menlo Park, CA
Axonius raises $200M led by Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners
Risk / Security • Series E • New York, NY
Applied Intuition raises $250M led by Lux Capital, Elad Gil and Porsche
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series E • Sunnyvale, CA
Wiz raises $300M led by Thrive Capital, Lightspeed, G Squared and Others
Risk / Security • Series D • Tel Aviv, Israel
Crane NXT acquires OpSec Security for $270M
Risk / Security • Acquisition • Lancaster, PA
Wiz acquires Gem Security for $350M
Risk / Security • Acquisition • New York, NY
Cloudflare acquires Nefeli Networks for an Undisclosed Amount
Collaboration / Productivity • Acquisition • Berkley, CA
Cycode acquires Bearer for an Undisclosed Amount
Risk / Security • Acquisition • Cambridge, MA