Participated · Equity · Sep 2022

Xeneta operates a crowdsourced data and analytics platform covering sea and air freight that lets shippers compare and model market pricing. The company aggregates over 300 million data points from several hundred of the world’s biggest shipping companies and reports more than $40 billion in procurement on the platform to date. Its feed is active and updates in near real time, with a current data split of roughly 70% sea and 30% air. Customers include Electrolux, Unilever, Nestlé, Zebra Technologies, Thyssenkrupp, Volvo, General Mills, Procter & Gamble and John Deere. Xeneta does not book shipping itself; it focuses on providing intelligence to freight forwarders and shippers. The company says combined procurement across air and sea totals between $600 billion and $900 billion depending on season, and it plans to use new funding to expand datasets and customers across more global routes. Xeneta provides live and historical ocean and air freight-rate benchmarking and market analytics to liner-shipping stakeholders. The company uses a digitised, crowdsourced approach and its dataset comprises over 280 million contracted container and air freight rates covering more than 160,000 global trade routes. Xeneta offers a global container pricing index and aims to bring freight pricing transparency to the $300B international container and air freight trade industry. Clients include General Mills, Volvo, John Deere, Amer Sports, Rockwell Automation, and CEVA Logistics. Founded in 2012 and based in Oslo, the company plans to use the new funding to scale operations, develop commercial and technical partner channels, expand into new geographies, and build an in-house data analyst team to deliver market insights. The company reported a valuation of over $130M and total capital raised to date of $49M. Xeneta operates a platform that benchmarks ocean freight prices using crowdsourced data from shippers and freight forwarders. The service provides market intelligence and real-time average pricing across roughly 160,000 global trade routes. Xeneta has crowdsourced over 23 million shipping prices to underpin its pricing insights. Customers include Kraft Heinz, Electrolux, Continental, Thyssenkrupp, Akzo Nobel, Brother International and other leading suppliers in the automotive, chemical and retail industries. The company says new capital will fund continued global expansion and product development. Xeneta aims to increase transparency in the traditionally opaque $200 billion-plus container shipping market. Xeneta offers a crowdsourced price-comparison service for sea freight that lets companies share the prices they receive and compare them to market averages and 'best of class' benchmarks. The platform uses big data analytics to provide market intelligence on port-to-port lanes and help shippers make better logistics decisions. Typical users are companies doing about $20 million per year in container shipping, and Xeneta's database now represents over $3 billion in annual freight spend. The company claims market intelligence for more than 50,000 port-to-port combinations, up from just over 1,000 in less than two years. Xeneta plans to use the new capital to accelerate product innovation and growth, unlocking more value from its data and adding premium features. It positions itself as a transparency solution in a global sea freight market it estimates at $200 billion. Xeneta operates a SaaS platform that leverages crowdsourcing to provide reporting tools for sea freight pricing. The platform allows freight buyers to compare their prices against market averages and best-performing rates. The company was founded in 2012 by Patrik Berglund, Thomas Sørbø and Vilhelm Vardøy and is based in Oslo, Norway. Xeneta received an investment from Point Nine Capital; the amount of the funding was not disclosed. Previously the company raised €1.2m in a round led by Creandum with participation from Alden. No revenue, user metrics, valuation or other operating metrics were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Series J · Apr 2022

VerSe Innovation is the parent company of Dailyhunt and the short-video app Josh, operating a large vernacular news aggregation and content platform. Dailyhunt claims over 350 million monthly active users, while Josh reports 68 million daily active users and 139 million monthly active users. The company focuses on scaling vernacular reach and multimedia offerings across its products. VerSe said proceeds from its latest financing will be used for general corporate purposes, supporting business growth and expansion. The Bengaluru-based startup has raised over $1.5 billion to date and was most recently valued at $5 billion in a round led by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. In FY23 VerSe reported revenue of Rs 1,809 crore (up 57% YoY) and losses of Rs 2,059 crore. VerSe Innovation operates Dailyhunt (a multi-language news aggregator), Josh (a short-video app) and PublicVibe, and has built a significant adtech business to monetize users outside India’s largest cities. Josh reports over 150 million users, 50 million content creators and more than 80 billion plays per month; Dailyhunt has over 350 million users and PublicVibe serves over 5 million monthly active users. The company monetizes through advertising (with 400 advertisers integrated end-to-end and roughly 50% enterprise advertisers), influencer-led commerce, curated shopping lives, and contextually shoppable videos. VerSe says creators sell goods on the platform and the firm is experimenting with web3 ideas (tokens/NFTs) to expand monetization. The startup plans to deepen AI/ML capabilities across its apps, launch additional apps, and remain focused on growth in the Indian market. Financially, the company has raised substantial capital and says the new funding plus reserves provides runway for several years. VerSe Innovation operates Dailyhunt, a multi-language news and content aggregator, and Josh, a short-video app. Josh has amassed over 115 million monthly active users, including 56 million daily users, while Dailyhunt reports over 300 million monthly active users. The company is backed by Google and Microsoft. VerSe is building a family of apps focused on serving users in scores of local languages and plans to replicate that approach as it expands into international markets. It also plans to invest in broadening its AI/ML stack to offer more personalized user experiences. The startup's valuation has more than doubled in the past five months, having been valued at over $1 billion in its Series H and is reported to be nearing $3 billion in the new round. VerSe Innovation operates Josh, a short-video platform that supports 12 languages and DailyHunt, a local-language news aggregator. Josh, launched in July 2020, has crossed over 50 million downloads and positions itself as "for-Bharat, by Bharat." DailyHunt aggregates local-language content from newspapers and websites and also provides free TV streaming in multiple local languages. The Bengaluru-based company plans to use new funds to augment local-language content, develop its content creator ecosystem, and invest in AI and ML. It achieved unicorn status in December after raising $100 million from Google, Microsoft, and AlphaWave at a valuation above $1 billion. The most recent round adds another $100 million from the Qatar Investment Authority and Glade Brook Capital Partners.

Led · Series C · Feb 2022

Volta Trucks is closing a Series C extension as it prepares to begin production and customer deliveries in early 2023. The company is raising an approximate €60 million extension to the C round; interest from potential customers, partners and investors is described as strong ahead of product start. In spring the company received a larger financing of about €240 million. The C-extension values Volta Trucks at a €525 million pre-money valuation, roughly 20% higher than the post-money valuation after the spring round. Existing owners are participating in the extension; one investor who joined in the spring has more than doubled its investment and will take a large portion of the extension. Byggmästare Anders J Ahlström Holding AB is committing about €6.5 million to the extension. The company disclosed the information on 21 October 2022. Volta Trucks develops the Volta Zero, a purpose-built all-electric commercial freight vehicle designed for urban distribution with enhanced visibility and lower emissions. The first model is a 16-tonne truck with a 150–200 km electric range and 220-degree visibility from a centrally seated driver. Volta plans 7.5- and 12-tonne derivatives and an eventual 18-tonne model. Its go-to-market includes both truck sales and a trucking-as-a-service offering, and it has a confirmed pre-order book exceeding €1.2 billion for more than 5,000 vehicles. The company is investing the new funding into engineering, prototype verification, production operations and pilots in London and Paris. Production is planned at a facility in Austria with targets of 5,000 vehicles in 2023, 14,000 in 2024 and up to 27,000 in 2025. The Series C values the company at just over $490 million and the company has raised over $325 million to date. Volta Trucks develops electric trucks aimed at city and last-mile logistics, positioning its vehicles to eliminate CO2 emissions and address other logistics-sector challenges. The company has recruited industrial partners including Proterra (its battery supplier) and Agility (a large global logistics firm). Volta has attracted investor interest and completed a recent oversubscribed equity raising, signaling continued external support for its product and commercial plan. The company’s activities and partnerships were presented as progress by existing investors, though management and investors note the business carries commercial and financial risks. Public company disclosures about the financing were released on 16 September 2021.

Participated · Equity · Feb 2022

Founded in 2012 by Rico Andersen and Martin Hegelund, Ageras began as an online marketplace matching small businesses with accountants and bookkeepers and has evolved into a fintech with a comprehensive cloud-based software product. The company employs approximately 250 people and serves over 300,000 active European small businesses. Its platform integrates invoicing, accounting, payroll, banking and finance into a single financial cockpit. Ageras has pursued growth through M&A, acquiring technology to expand its product faster than building from scratch. Management says M&A will remain integral to its strategy as it targets market leadership and an eventual IPO. Financially, Ageras reached positive EBITDA for the first time in 2023 and reported a record ARR of €41 million, up from €27 million in 2022. Ageras began in 2012 as a marketplace matching SMEs with accountants and has expanded into a suite of cloud-based financial tools that the company describes as a single “cockpit” for invoicing, accounting, payroll and banking. Its product line includes Zervant, Billy, Tellow (accounting), Kontist (banking) and Salary (payroll), and in late 2021 the group launched an embedded fintech service to provide financing through its software. The company says its solutions have been used by more than 1 million small businesses across Europe and the U.S. and that it is trusted by over 100,000 paying customers; it now operates as a roughly 350-person company. Ageras has moved into the broader $420 billion fintech market with its integrated SME offerings. Going forward the company is prioritizing strategic acquisitions to add mission‑critical features and expand market positions. Ageras evolved from an online accountant marketplace into a full-stack financial cockpit that integrates accounting, payroll, invoicing and embedded financing for small businesses. Its platform includes cloud-based products such as Zervant, Billy, Tellow and Salary, and its embedded fintech offers financing powered by proprietary accounting data. The company says its software powers more than 1 million SMEs and it employs about 250 people across Europe and the U.S. Ageras reports strong organic growth, high retention rates and has expanded via several strategic acquisitions, including Zervant. Management plans further geographic expansion in Scandinavia, Germany, France and the United States and intends to pursue additional M&A to broaden its fintech and software suite. The group positions itself to capture a multibillion-dollar SME market by deepening product usage as customers scale. Ageras is a Copenhagen-based company that provides accountancy software and solutions to SMEs and accounting firms. Founded in 2012, it bootstrapped for five years before Investcorp acquired a majority stake. The company operates in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and the US. According to Crunchbase, Ageras has made two acquisitions: Billy APS and Tellow. Ageras raised $73 million from Lugard Road Capital to fund further growth and expand its accountancy tools abroad. Management says the investment will help the firm capitalise on rising demand for automated business tools.

Participated · Equity · Feb 2022

Ageras Group, founded in 2012 and based in Copenhagen, builds a single cockpit that integrates invoicing, accounting, payroll and banking for micro-businesses. The company has grown via acquisitions, adding accounting software Billy and Tellow, payroll software Salary, invoicing software Zervant, and Berlin-based neo-bank Kontist. Earlier this year it raised €30 million from a group of European and American investors. On the back of the Kontist acquisition, Ageras secured €35 million in growth capital financing from CIBC Innovation Banking. The new capital is earmarked to drive its strategic acquisitions pipeline and expand its suite of software tailored to small businesses. Leadership says the funding will target companies with best-in-class products that either cement market position or add mission-critical features for all customers. Ageras Group provides a centralized financial cockpit and subscription-based accounting and fintech services for small businesses, integrating invoicing, accounting, payroll and financing. Its product suite includes cloud-based accounting software Zervant, Billy and Tellow and payroll software Salary, and it has integrated acquisitions such as Zervant and Salary. The group launched an embedded fintech service in late 2021 that offers financing to customers, with credit decisions based on proprietary accounting data. Ageras says it serves more than 1 million SMEs across Europe and the U.S. and employs about 250 people. The company cites strong retention rates, high organic growth and growth via acquisitions, and plans to continue aggressive M&A and expand further in Scandinavia, Germany, France and the United States. Ageras operates a dual-purpose platform combining an online marketplace that matches SMEs with accountants and an in-house bookkeeping/accounting software stack (Meneto) augmented by acquisitions. The company has acquired Danish product Billy and Dutch product Tellow to expand its software offering. Ageras reports having passed 340,000 users across Denmark, the U.S., Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany. Founded in 2012 and initially bootstrapped, it later attracted investors including Investcorp (which took a majority stake in 2017) and Rabo Bank. The business has emphasized recurring revenue and R&D as drivers of growth. Management plans to use new funding to expand into additional countries, new customer segments and add more services via organic growth and acquisitions.