What Startups Are Getting Funded Right Now (First Month After US Declares National Emergency)

The Signal: To answer the question, "What startups are getting funded right now?", we compiled a list (Google Sheet here) of 168 startups that have closed an investment round since March 11, the day President Trump announced a European travel ban (and the NBA canceled its season). The funding information is collected from Dan Primack’s indispensable (and free) business newsletter Pro Rata.

To be sure, these deals were largely in the works before the US implemented its quarantine measures. And the funding environment will undoubtedly change in the weeks and months to come. Having said that, the list of recently funded startups does provide a view into the types of business opportunities available.

Over this span, the industries that have received the most funding are Biotech (16% of total), Health Tech (14%), and FinTech (10%). California (30%) is home to the largest majority of these companies followed by the UK (8%), Massachusetts (7%), New York (5%), and China (5%).

The Opportunity: As previously noted, these funding rounds are a limited snapshot of an extremely fluid situation. None of these companies started as a direct response to the current crisis but some are certainly benefitting from a so-called "coronavirus tailwind" (we didn't make this up), which will accelerate growth across select industries.

Moving forward, the recent skew towards health and biotech investments is likely a long-term trend.

Balaji Srinivasan -- one of the earliest and most astute commentators on the current crisis and former general partner at venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz -- believes that "the 2020s will be the decade of biomedicine… almost everything else may crash, but budgets for this will be unlimited… what the internet was to software, or crypto was to finance, the virus will be to biomedicine."

He recommends that entrepreneurs interested in the space join the likes of Illumina (biotech and genomics), Roche (pharma and diagnostics), and GSK (pharma), and deep dive into the biohacking movement to "learn new skills."

Circling back to the full list of recently funded startups, we identified 12 companies across 4 themes that will see accelerated growth in the years to come:

Online Learning & Training

A number of education platforms have been funded in recent weeks showing that opportunities in this space can focus on: 1) customer segments (Lessonly is a training platform for corporations while Lingumi is a teaching platform for toddlers); and 2) teaching model (Preply is 1-on-1 tutoring while Lessonly is course-work-based).

• Lessonly (Education; latest round = $15m): Lessonly is an online platform for corporations that helps onboard new employees through customer service and sales training programs.
  
  (Business Model: Subscription model starting at $300/month for up to 20 learners.)
  
• Preply (Education; $10m): 1-on-1 online lessons with tutors around the world covering hundreds of topics including language, music, test prep, science, programming, etc.
  
  (Business Model: Tutors set pricing for their service with Preply taking a 100% commission fee on the first lesson, followed by a commission of 18-33% on subsequent lessons.)
  
• Lingumi (Education; £4m): Online daily English lessons at home for kids ages 2-6.
  
  (Business Model: Subscription model that costs ~$11/month or $110/yr.)

Remote Work Tools

With remote work the new norm, these startups are addressing different use-case issues around distributed work.

• Around (Communication; $5.2m): Video-conferencing startup that improves the video communication experience by: 1) minimizing the real estate that the video screen takes up; and 2) uses AI to auto-mute common noises like sirens, barking dogs, laptop fans.
  
  (Business Model: In beta.)
  
• Orion Labs (Enterprise SaaS; $29m): Orion Labs is a voice-first enterprise communication platform that allows deskless workers in the transportation, logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare industries to communicate without having to use walkie-talkies and two-way radios. The company is billed as "Slack for deskless workers."
  
  (Business Model: Pricing through sales team.)

Health Analytics & Robotics

As mentioned, the healthcare opportunity is significant. This collection of funded companies includes 2 startups that measure the body’s vitals (Bloomer, Oura), and 2 startups that facilitate medical services without humans having to be present (Diligent Robotics, Avail MedSystems).

• Bloomer (Health Tech; $3m): A bra-like textile that is fitted with flexible circuits and acts as an ECG (sending data via bluetooth) to monitor cardiovascular health for women.
  
  (Business Model: Product is still being developed; the model can have two streams, including product sales or subscription on a connected health app.)
  
• Oura (Health Tech; $28m): A sleep-and-fitness tracking device that comes in the shape of a ring (for your finger).
  
  (Business Model: Product is $299.)
  
• Diligent Robotics (Health Tech; $10m): Hospital robot assistant that helps clinical teams with their routine, non-patient-facing tasks so they have more time for patient care.
  
  (Business Model: Product is still being developed.)
  
• Avail MedSystems (Health Tech; $25m): A secure medical video conferencing device that allows surgeons to monitor surgeons without being physically present.
  
  (Business Model: Price unclear.)

Resale & Rebates

As the economy plunges into recession, new (and more frugal) consumer behaviors will benefit companies providing low-cost offerings.

• Refurbed (E-commerce; $17m): A Finnish marketplace for refurbished electronics including smartphones, Laptops, iPads, computer screens, etc.
  
  (Business Model: As a marketplace, Refurbed collects a commission/fee from the buyer and seller on each product sold.)
  
• Cazoo (E-commerce; £100m): A UK online used-car marketplace that delivers cars straight to a buyer's door.
  
  (Business Model: The company resells reconditioned cars at a mark-up and also offers financing services.)
• Enable (E-commerce; $13m): A software platform that allows companies to manage their different sales promotion agreements including rebates, discounts, royalties, purchase income, and back margin.
  
  (Business Model: Subscription model starting at $7.8k a year.)