Asia Pacific Daily News - Focus on Asia-Pacific Development, Daily News Express, Scholar Creation Center

Hello and welcome back to

Equity

, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

What a week. Are you still standing? Did you make it? If you are upright and typing, congratulations, you’re top-decile. If you’re reading this from bed, that’s fine too. We understand.

The week was so busy that we actually ran a bit long this week, with lots left on the cutting room floor. So, with the full team aboard this week (

Danny

, Natasha

, Chris

, Alex

), we got into the following:

Niche raised $35 million in a Series C
for its one-stop shop for college searchers. We talk about the edtech company’s growth, confusing past, and how its B2B strategy is especially attractive in our new normal.
Duolingo raised $10 million from General Atlantic
, a move that was more opportunistic than out of necessity for new cash, the company claims. It also is based in Pittsburgh, which had the whole trio excited.
Bonsai, which has a fantastic name, raised $1.5 million for 1-on-1 peer tutoring
. We talk about the small round, and why conservatism is a good thing in this sector.
To cap off our edtech coverage, we’re starting to see sector momentum turn into actual dollars and deals
.
Figma raised $50 million at a reported $2 billion valuation
, a small figure compared to its new pricetag. a16z led the new investment, which came just over a year following Figma’s Series C. That prior round valued the firm at around $440 million (post-money), so Figma just glowed up by about 4.5x between rounds. Not bad.
Catalyst raised $25 million Series B led Spark
, not long after it closed a Series A worth $15 million that Accel had led. The customer success industry is growing in importance as startups and larger companies double-down on selling more to existing clients as net-new logos become harder to scrape together.
Stash raised $112 million led by LendingTree
, adding to the wave of savings-and-investing-focused services that are seeing a boom in demand (and, therefore, investor interest) as the economy falters.
Particle Health raised money to make healthcare data easier to access
, because sharing (in some cases) is caring.
Plantible made us talk about aquafaba
, the liquid found in chickpea cans, for way too long.
A host of new funds were locked down this week, including OMERS Ventures putting together $750 million
, Kickstart closing $110 million
, and Zetta Venture Partners snagging $180 million for AI-focused investing
.
Then there was the bad news. Layoffs at Lyft
, possible layoffs at Uber
, and cuts at TripAdvisor
. But, as Natasha reported, some folks are working to undo some of the damage that the layoffs are causing
.