Good news, crypto founders! Venture capital activity is collecting in the sector, rebounding from multi-year lows, investment declined in late 2023. In other words, venture folk appear more bullish on web3 than they were a while ago.
But that wasn’t the only news to look for in Equity this morning. Akamai is spending $450 million to buy API security company Noname, a deal that TechCrunch previously reported would be worth about $500 million. Still, $450 million is a lot of money, and the deal is worth thinking about given that Noname was worth over $1 billion in 2021.
Speaking of mergers and acquisitions, Wiz is another name in the cybersecurity space that could go shopping, thanks to its recent $1 billion fundraising. It plans to buy injured unicorns and hot, smaller startups to bolster its business. The company’s value now is $12 billion, ie very. (Wayve has also raised north of $1 billion, but is focused on the self-driving space instead of safety.)
We saw it too Monzo earned $190 million more, bringing its full-year fundraising tally to more than $600 million. Meanwhile, TikTok is fighting a potential ban in the United States and Oyo is trying to raise new capital at a fraction of its former value.
In closing, Hey brings the Pitch Deck Teardown to Equity! If you haven’t read the series (start here), you’re in for a treat. We kick off the new segment with a look at the NOQX deck: what worked, what didn’t, and what’s next!
Discussion Friday!
Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast and publishes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Join us at Apple Podcasts, Cloudy, Spotify and all the cast.
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