The Lead List is a monthly series that analyzes key buy signals from companies on the Crunchbase Emerging Unicorn Board with fresh funding to help you fill your pipeline with new opportunities.
With the collapse of both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month, along with the sale of Credit Suisse to UBS, some finance leaders think a “slow rolling crisis” is coming for banks. All of this news sent the global banking system scrambling and reignited fears of a looming recession.
Times are tough, but we’re here to help. To set yourself up for success in Q2, you have to find companies that are still growing — and that’s where the Lead List comes in. In this edition, we’ll look at several companies that raised new funding in March and inched closer to becoming unicorns — what we call “emerging unicorns.”
Why emerging unicorns should be on your radar: Emerging unicorns are fast-growing private companies valued between $500 million and $1 billion. Why should these companies matter to you? These not-yet unicorns (unicorns are private companies valued at $1 billion or above) represent a sweet spot for salespeople. They’re established, cash-rich, growing and solving a business problem that could make them the next billion-dollar unicorn.
1. Redaptive
Crunchbase Rank: 260
Post-Money Valuation: $900M
Headquartered in San Francisco, Redaptive is an Energy-as-a-Service provider that funds and installs energy-saving and -generating equipment. With a new investment from Honeywell in a recent corporate round, Redaptive has raised a total of $391 million over five rounds.
Why Redaptive should be on your radar: Redaptive’s programs help many of the world’s influential organizations reduce energy waste, optimize cost, lower carbon emissions and meet their sustainability goals across their entire real estate portfolios. As part of this new collaboration, Honeywell will deploy the Redaptive platform in its own facilities.
Research shows that the building and construction sector accounts for 34% of energy demand and 37% of energy and process-related CO2 emissions. The EaaS market is growing rapidly due to rising energy costs, and the partnership between Honeywell and Redaptive provides the companies access to each other’s capabilities — further positioning Redaptive as a leader in the EaaS space.
2. Stashfin
Crunchbase Rank: 283
Post-Money Valuation: $750M
Stashfin is a neobanking platform that provides financial products and services for millions of borrowers across India. This New Delhi-based company just raised $100 million in a debt financing round, led by Trifecta Capital Advisors and InnoVen Capital, bringing its total funding to $441.8 million over six rounds.
Why Stashfin should be on your radar: Nearly a billion Indians have a bank account, but only 30 million have a credit card. Stashfin provides credit line cards to underrepresented folks in India, including blue-collar workers and individuals making less than $500 a month.
“There are many players in the neobanking space, but few share the commitment and ability to serve the underserved and unserved segments that traditional banks and neobanks ignore,” said Salil Deshpande, founder of Uncorrelated Ventures, which participated in Stashfin’s Series C last year.
With its recent round of debt financing, Stashfin is well positioned to help middle- and working-class families in India gain access to credit.
3. Envisics
Crunchbase Rank: 445
Post-Money Valuation: $500M
Headquartered in Milton Keynes, U.K., Envisics is a holographic technology company focused on augmented reality head-up displays and automotive sensor systems. With $50 million in new funding from its recent Series C led by Hyundai Mobis, the company’s total funding raised to date is $100 million.
Why Envisics should be on your radar: The latest rage in vehicle head-up displays — which are produced by Envisics — features alternative reality holographic images, and this technology is already appearing in General Motors’ new battery-electric Cadillac LYRIQ. Demand for head-up displays is a fast-growing segment that’s only expected to continue its upward trajectory, according to a report by Straits Research.
“The global automotive head-up display market size was valued at $1.57 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $10.57 billion by 2031,” the report said.
Series C investments by General Motors Ventures and InMotion Ventures — the investment arms of GM and Jaguar Land Rover — suggest that major players in the automotive industry think Envisics’ technology is here to stay.
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4. Greenlabs
Crunchbase Rank: 1,465
Post-Money Valuation: $840M
Greenlabs is a digital agricultural platform for farm management. This Seoul-based agritech company has raised a total of $253 million over seven rounds, with its recent debt financing round — led by SkyLake Incuvest and BRV Capital Management — totaling $38 million.
Why Greenlabs should be on your radar: Greenlabs has built smart-farming software and hardware for farmers to digitize the entire agriculture value chain, from crop to distribution. The company’s “Farm Morning” app aggregates farm data, then artificial intelligence gives insights into crop lifecycle and also provides a network through which farmers can connect and share insights.
900,000 farmers currently use the app in South Korea — a figure that has tripled since its launch in 2021. Greenlabs generated sales of approximately $77 million in 2021 and more than $230 million in 2022, according to TechCrunch. The new money raised will go toward advancing the Farm Morning app and expanding business in South Korea and Japan, said CEO Sang Hoon Shin.
5. Ably Corp.
Crunchbase Rank: 7,047
Post-Money Valuation: $750M
Ably is an online fashion commerce platform based in Seocho, South Korea. With $39 million in the bank from its recent debt financing round, the company has raised north of $182 million over four rounds.
Why Ably Corp. should be on your radar: Ably, which began as a platform for influencers to sell clothing, now boasts 7 million monthly active users and is the third-most popular shopping app used by Koreans. Its success can be attributed in part to its AI personalized recommendation algorithm, which suggests products to users based on their purchase history.
“Despite the cold investment season, we have been recognized for our business differentiation, growth value and profitability,” said Seok-Hoon Kang, CEO of Ably.
Ably is thinking big in 2023 and aims to achieve a trillion-dollar valuation and unicorn status when it proceeds with a Series C funding round later this year.
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