An electric vehicle charging startup may have raised the biggest round, but the real winners of the week were biotech and drug discovery companies. The list this week is dominated by biotech and health care startups as investors continue to see the value in new and innovative treatments.

1. , $1B, electric vehicle: A San Francisco-based charging startup tops the list this week with a huge Series A of more than $1 billion. Launched out of stealth in May 2021, TeraWatt Infrastructure has built out a network of charging stations for the operation of light- to heavy-duty fleets. The company acquires property in “strategically relevant” locations and helps customers operate EV fleets without the need to own and operate their own infrastructure. The new funding comes from funds managed by and existing investors and , and will be used for further development and expansion, including the buildout of a growing portfolio of charging centers. The round is the largest raised by a VC-backed startup in the electric vehicle segment this year, according to Crunchbase data. The company says it had previously raised a $100 million seed round.

2. , $310M, agtech: Startups that solve some of the farming and food issues we are now facing due to drought, environment and changing habits have been quite popular with investors. New York-based Gotham Greens is the latest to raise big—securing a $310 million Series E led by the Impact Fund and . The indoor farming startup sells leafy greens grown in hydroponics-equipped greenhouses. The company says using hydroponics in their greenhouses allows them to use 97% less land when compared to farming. Gotham Green’s goal is to have 13 locations across nine states by 2023. So far, the company is building new greenhouses in Texas, Colorado and Georgia, in addition to existing greenhouses in Chicago and Providence. Launched in 2009, the company has raised $435 million to date, per Crunchbase.

3. , $300M, biopharma: ACELYRIN is the first biopharma/biotech company on our list this week, but it won’t be the last by any means. The Los Angeles-based startup raised a $300 million Series C led by . ACELYRIN has now raised $550 million in less than 12 months. The company is developing treatment for inflammatory diseases and is entering late-stage trials. Founded in 2020, the biotech startup has raised $558 million to date, per Crunchbase data.

4. , $205M, security: Although we often focus on cybersecurity, there is still a real need for security in the physical world. That is something technology can help with, too. San Mateo, California-based Verkada is doing just that and closed a large $205 million Series D led by that values the company at $3.2 billion. The company offers a plethora of products that include video security cameras, door-based access control, environmental sensors and more. Founded in 2016, Verkada says it has raised more than $360 million.

5. , $200M, human resources: Chicago-based Atlas raised a $200 million Series B funding led by San Francisco-based growth investor . Atlas helps companies build a presence in new countries by dealing with compliance and payroll as the employer of record. “Atlas is enabling companies to seize the opportunity to be competitive, flexible, and borderless” said , its founder and CEO.

6. , $160M, biotech: Another biotech and another big round. San Diego-based RayzeBio locked up a $160 million Series D financing co-led by , and . The company is developing targeted radiopharmaceuticals to use against tumors and said it has “several novel drug candidates for clinical evaluation in the near future.” RayzeBio says it has now raised $418 million since starting operations in August 2020.

7. , $125M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage medicine developer Nimbus Therapeutics closed a $125 million private financing, which included participation from new investors and , among others. Founded in 2009, the company has raised $427 million, according to Crunchbase data.

8. , $102M, biotech: San Diego-based cell-engineering startup Capstan Therapeutics closed a $102 million Series A led by . Founded last year, the firm has raised $165 million, according to the company.

9. , $100M, biotech: San Carlos, California-based biomedical platform Galvanize Therapeutics raised a $100 million Series B financing led by Founded just this year, the startup has now raised a total of $148.5 million in funding, according to Crunchbase data.

10., $90M, biotech: Columbus, Ohio-based gene therapy-focused biotech company Forge Biologics raised a $90 million Series C co-led by and . Founded in 2020, the startup has raised $330 million, per the company.

Big global deals

The top 10 rounds announced this week all came from U.S.-based startups—a rarity. The largest deal outside the U.S. was:

• India-based , which offers shared electric two-wheelers to reduce traffic congestion, closed a Series B worth approximately $82 million.

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of Sept. 10 to 16. 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:

Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily

That’s not exactly the plotline of a great science fiction movie. However, if you spend a lot of time reading seed funding data, it is the vision startups seem to be collectively bringing to fruition.

At least that’s where the money is going. A Crunchbase News analysis of North American startups 1 that have raised disclosed seed rounds of $200,000 or more in 2019 shows that certain sectors are getting a lot more investor love than others.

Fintech, in particular, is collecting an outsize share of seed dollars, an amalgamation of the rise of neobanks, crypto and AI. Other areas, including cannabis, agtech, real estate and security, are also big investment recipients.

Below, we look at the spaces that are generating the most enthusiasm from seed-stage investors, complete with lists and speculation as to what this all might mean, futuristically speaking.

Seed Investors Really Like Fintech

By far the biggest chunk of sector-focused seed investor money this year is going to, well, money. Startups offering tools for managing and moving money are attracting some of the largest rounds this year.

Altogether, startups tied to fintech and financial services pulled in a total of over $340 million. That’s roughly one-fourth of total U.S. and Canadian seed funding for 2019, per Crunchbase.

Finance-focused rounds are also the most numerous. At least 137 known seed rounds in 2019 were in some form of fintech or financial services, per Crunchbase data (see ). That’s roughly 20 percent of all recorded North American seed rounds for the year. Funds are going to a broad array of startups, with some of the larger rounds running the gamut from an  , to a platform, to upgraded tools.

What’s the draw? , managing partner at seed firm NFX, posited in a that there are a lot of factors at work. In particular, models for underwriting debt, insurance, and loans are becoming increasingly powerful thanks to AI and increased data availability. Startups can also compete with legacy companies with online tools that outperform in speed and ease of use.

Much of the enthusiasm can also likely be attributed to “spray and pray.” This is the popular but publicly disavowed seed investment strategy of making lots of bets destined for failure in the hopes that a tiny number of successes will pay back huge multiples.

In fintech and financial services, industry leaders generate huge valuations, both privately and on public markets, so the payoff for big wins can be enormous. For the S&P 500, about of the famed large-cap index is financial services, trailing only behind healthcare and IT.

Moreover, given the size of late-stage funding rounds, seed is still looking pretty cheap. All the 2019 seed rounds for fintech, for instance, aren’t too much more than funding to date for a single, hot, money-losing startup – – founded less than three years ago.

Here’s What Else Is Hot

So, enough about fintech. What other areas are hot for seed investors? Let’s look at some more standout sectors:

Cannabis: Startups in the legal marijuana space are still hot — but we’ll avoid calling them smoking hot, as many are veering into drinkable forms of their favored plant. Crunchbase counts at least 17 North American cannabis companies founded in the past three years that raised seed rounds this year. (See .) They include , a marijuana marketing and compliance platform, , a cannabis beverage maker, and , a kit for growing plants at home.

Agtech: Agriculture is also proving fertile ground for seed investment this year. Crunchbase counts at least 25 companies in the space that made our seed funding list. (See .) Top funding recipients include , an automated indoor farming platform, , a self-described developer of “strong and intelligent bees” for pollination, and , developer of a robotic platform for agricultural work.

Real Estate: Real estate has been a hot sector for seed deals for a few years now, and investors continue to favor the space. So far in 2019, we counted more than 50 real estate-related seed rounds meeting our criteria, pulling in more than $100 million altogether (see .) Large funding recipients include , a developer of software for property managers, , a co-living startup, and , a platform for co-investing with wanna-be homeowners.

Security: Everyone could use a little more security, and seed investors intend to help us get it. So far this year, they’ve poured over $130 million into more than 50 known seed rounds for companies in the digital security and identity management sectors (see .) Recipients of some of the largest seed rounds include , a cryptographically protected digital wallet, , a provider of real-time attack prevention, and, a developer of software to detect gun threats using camera images.

What Does All This Say About The Future?

It’s probably not advisable to spend too much time forming opinions about the future based purely on seed funding data. Nonetheless, here are a few trendlines.

Machines are getting smarter, and so are bees. People are getting more convenient options to enjoy a chemically altered mental state. And there are a lot more ways to move around our money and assets, even if we’re not actually getting wealthier.

It doesn’t look like the utopia that technophile futurists talk about. But on the bright side, there are worse things than cannabis and quick loan approvals.

Illustration: .