When Sergiy Tsivkach, CEO of the Ukrainian government’s investment promotion office, UkraineInvest, arrived at the Coins2Day offices this week, he was coming from Washington, D.C., where more than 400 people had gathered to discuss how to do more business in Ukraine.
“I have a pile of business cards like that,” Tsivkach told Term Sheet as he widened his hands.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February 2022, interest in investments into Ukraine’s agricultural processing, automobile industry, and heavy engineering has spiked, Tsivkach said. UkraineInvest is now fielding three to four requests every month from prospective international corporations and investment firms, particularly in manufacturing, up from two to three requests every six months before the war. His department is supporting some $500 million of capital that has been invested since February 2022, nearly 30% of the $1.7 billion in total investments committed since 2020.
As countries worldwide have rushed in to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia, the war has ignited a sense of urgency from global power players to infuse fresh capital into the Ukrainian economy, or make reinvestments.
UkraineInvest, in particular, is focused on attracting investment into Ukraine’s agriculture and manufacturing businesses, for industries including aerospace, textiles, and renewable energy. Tsivkach says his team has been working with companies and investors to support potential investments, including Irish building materials group Kingspan, for example, which is going to build a manufacturing facility in Ukraine that will cost some $300 million; and Nestle, which has said it is launching a new production facility in Western Ukraine. Tsivkach pointed out that most of the investments are coming from companies or firms based in countries or republics including Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, France, and America.
Of course, Tsivkach and his office are hoping that Ukraine will win the war, and that the country will subsequently be permitted to become a member of NATO. “If we will join NATO after the end of the war, then investors will come in bigger numbers,” he says.
As for now, he says the influx of capital has been a source of encouragement for him and his team.
“It’s hard to focus when you see missiles over your head being shot down,” Tsivkach said, adding later: “When you see real companies come in and invest, and then you see the result of your work—that gives you wings.”
The Fearless lawsuit…Yesterday we got an update on the ongoing affirmative action lawsuit filed against Fearless Fund, the Atlanta-based venture capital firm focused on investing in founders of color. In advance of the trial, the advocacy group American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by conservative activist Edward Blum, had asked the judge to approve a motion barring Fearless Fund from continuing their grant program as both parties prepare for a trial. Court filings show the presiding judge sided with Fearless Fund, denying the motion and allowing Fearless Fund to continue offering grants to Black women small business owners ahead of the trial.
The latest with Linda…The newly-minted CEO of X Corp./Twitter, Linda Yaccarino, took the stage yesterday at Vox Media’s Code Conference in what turned out to be a rather contentious interview, as detailed by Coins2Day’s Kyle Robison, who was covering the event in Dana Point, Calif. Yaccarino faced pointed questions about X’s relationship with advertisers, content moderation measures, and Elon Musk’s involvement in management. You can read more about the interview here and here.
Until Monday,
Jessica Mathews and Anne Sraders
Twitter:@jessicakmathews and @AnneSraders
Email:[email protected] and [email protected]
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- Harbinger Health, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company developing a new testing model designed to make cancer screenings more accessible, raised $140 million in Series B funding from Flagship Pioneering, Pictet, Partners Investment, Catalyst, and others.
- Nord Security, an Vilnius, Lithuania-based cybersecurity platform that offers VPN, password management, and data storage services, raised $100 million in funding. Warburg Pincus led the round and was joined by Novator Ventures, Burda Principal Investments, and others.
- Midi Health, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based virtual menopause care platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. GV Ventures led the round and were joined by Felicis, Semper Virens, Icon, 25M, and Operator Collective.
- Neara, a Sydney, Australia-based modeling platform that uses AI to create 3D models and simulations for electricity network infrastructure, raised $24 million in Series B funding from Prosus Ventures, Skip Capital, and Square Peg Capital.
- Infravision, a Sydney, Australia-based company that builds drones and software to automate power line construction, raised $23 million in Series A funding. Energy Impact Partners led the round and was joined by Equinor Ventures and Edison International.
- Laverock Therapeutics, a Stevenage, U.K.-based company researching gene editing in order to develop new cell therapies, raised £13.5 million ($16.5 million) in seed funding. Calculus Capital led the round and was joined by Eli Lilly and Company, Mercia Ventures, Maven Capital Partners, Eos, UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, and Tekfen Ventures.
- Resourcify, a Hamburg, Germany-based platform designed to help companies manage their waste and recycling, raised €14 million ($14.8 million) in Series A funding. Vorwerk Ventures led the round and was joined by Revent, Ananda Impact Ventures, Speedinvest, BonVenture, and WEPA Ventures.
- Nexusflow, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company developing an AI model that can automate cybersecurity processes and securely analyze data, raised $10.6 million in seed funding. Point72 Ventures led the round and was joined by Fusion Fund and others.
- Grow Credit, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based platform designed to help users build credit by giving them a credit card to use for subscription payments only, raised $10 million in Series A funding from USAA.
- Revio, a Cape Town, South Africa-based subscription billing and payment management platform for companies, raised $5.2 million in seed funding. QED Investors led the round and was joined by Partech and existing investors Speedinvest, RaliCap, and Everywhere VC.
- Axial Shift, an Austin, Texas-based app that offers sales insights and labor management for restaurant workers and managers, raised $4 million from Silverton Partners.
- Verisoul, an Austin, Texas-based platform designed to help companies detect fake users and accounts, raised $3.25 million in seed funding. BITKRAFT Ventures led the round and was joined by King River, Third Prime, Haskey, and Mike Monovoukas.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Battery Ventures acquired Skalar Analytical, a Breda, Netherlands-based manufacturer of laboratory equipment designed to automate chemical analysis, PromoChrom, a Richmond, B.C.-based manufacturer of chemical analysis and liquid handling instruments, and LCTech, a Obertaufkirchen, Germany-based developer of sample preparation methods. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Capstreet acquired PlanetBids, a Studio City, Calif.-based platform designed to help organizations automate and manage the bidding process for goods, services, and construction projects. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- ToolsGroup, backed by Accel-KKR, acquired Evo, a London, U.K.-based company that provides companies with AI models designed to help managers make better business decisions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Mercury Fund, a Houston, Texas-based venture capital firm, raised $160 million for its fifth fund focused on data and software companies in small tech markets.
PEOPLE
- Base10, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, promoted Jackie Chen to principal. Formerly, he was at Silversmith Capital Partners.
- Copec WIND Ventures, the San Francisco-based venture capital arm of Copec, hired Mark Dryden as investor and Grancia Lagos as investment analyst. Formerly, Dryden was with Plug n Play and Lagos was at Copec SA.
- DCM Ventures, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, promoted David Cheng, Kenichiro Hara, and Fiona Huang as partners. Formerly, Cheng was with Accenture, Hara was with Orbis Investment Management, and Huang was with Warburg Pincus.
- Felicis, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, promoted Jake Storm and Ryan Isono to partner and James Detweiler to deal partner. Formerly, Storm was with IVP, Isono was with Correlation Ventures, and Detweiler was with Zetta.
- Foresite Capital, a Larkspur, Calif.-based investment firm, hired Hadi Tabbaa as managing director of investor relations. Formerly, he was with B Capital.
- Great Hill Partners, a Boston, Mass.-based private equity firm, hired Tom Spengler as an executive-in-residence. Formerly, Spengler was with Rock Solid Technologies.
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