Today marks the beginning of Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial—and it’s all happening at New York’s U.S. Southern District courthouse on Pearl Street, where my colleague Ben Weiss will be spending the day.
Opening arguments won’t start until tomorrow, but today a crew of New Yorkers will be selected to comprise the jury and ultimately decide the fate of the startup industry’s now-disgraced crypto founder, Bankman-Fried.
The trial is expected to go on for the next six weeks or so, with trial dates scheduled until at least Nov. 9, according to the case calendar attached to the docket last week. The federal judge overseeing the case is Lewis A. Kaplan, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the federal district court in 1994 and who just recently presided over the civil case between writer E. Jean Carroll and former President Donald Trump.
Bankman-Fried is facing seven charges of fraud and money laundering surrounding the collapse of his FTX crypto exchange empire, which was backed by Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, and SoftBank, and was once valued at a whopping $40 billion across both its U.S. And international operations. Bankman-Fried has pled not guilty to all counts.
As we wait for the trail to begin, my colleague Weiss has the details on the key players we can expect to see throughout the course of the trial, including Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, who are both former federal prosecutors and have represented the likes of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Four of Bankman-Fried’s close colleagues, who accepted plea deals and are working with the government, will likely testify in coming weeks.
In other SBF news…Michael Lewis’ new book on Bankman-Fried and the FTX empire hits bookshelves today. An excerpt of the book, Going Infinite, was published yesterday in the Washington Post which you can read here. I’m on my way to go grab a copy and will give a review at some point in the near future.
And now for this month’s cartoon…
See you tomorrow,
Jessica Mathews
Twitter:@jessicakmathews
Email: [email protected]
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- Perenna, a London, U.K.-based online platform that provides mortgages, raised $52 million in funding. Silverstripe Investment Management led the round and was joined by others.
- Albo, a Mexico City, Mexico-based online bank, raised $40 million in Series C funding. Morpheus Ventures led the round and was joined by Valar Ventures, GreyhoundCapital, Mountain Nazca, Flourish Ventures, and others.
- Farther, a New York City-based wealth management firm, raised $31 million in Series B funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, Cota Capital, Khosla Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, and Moneta VentureCapital.
- Unitary, a London, U.K.-based company developing AI models that can analyze and interpret videos to detect harmful content, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Creandum led the group and was joined by Paladin Capital Group and Plural.
- Bonsai Robotics, a San Jose, Calif.-based company designing farming vehicles that can autonomously traverse difficult terrain, raised $13.5 million in seed funding. Acre Venture Partners led the round and was joined by E14, Congruent, Serra Ventures, Fall Line Capital, SNR Ventures, Andros, and angel investors.
- Granular Energy, a Paris, France-based platform that provides companies in the utilities and energy industry with software to manage and trade clean energy, raised €7.5 million ($7.9 million) in funding. Norrsken VC led the round and was joined by All Iron Ventures, Box Group, Valo Ventures, and existing investors Seedcamp, Revent, and Powerhouse Ventures.
- MeetingPackage, an Espoo, Finland-based platform designed to allow hotels and other venues to sell, operate, and manage their bookings on one platform, raised $4.6 million in Series A funding. Scale Capital led the round and was joined by others.
- Humata AI, an Austin, Texas-based AI platform designed to simplify complex research publications, has raised $3.5M in seed funding from Gradient Ventures, ARK Invest, M13, and others.
- Muir AI, a Seattle, Wash.-based that uses AI to track emissions data and provide sustainability insights for companies, raised $3.25 million in seed funding. Base10 Partners led the round and was joined by Madrona Venture Labs, Soma Capital, and others.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Imperial Dade, backed by Advent International, acquired The Janton Company and G&L Supply, a Columbus and Mansfield, Ohio-based distributor of janitorial products. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- O’Donnell Metal Deck, backed by Slate Capital Group, acquired Tombari Structural Products, a Spokane, Wash.-based supplier of steel products like metal decking for roofs and floors. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Prime AE, backed by NewHold, acquired Jacobi, Toombs, & Lanz, a New Albany, Ind.-based firm that provides engineering, survey, and constructing services to clients in transportation, water resources, and infrastructure surveying fields. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- RedBird IMI acquired a minority stake in Front Office Sports, a New York City-based sports news and media platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Advent International and Warburg Pincus acquired BioPharmaSolutions, a Bloomington, Ind. And Halle/Westfalen, Germany-based pharmaceuticals manufacturer, from Baxter International for $4.25 billion in cash.
- TPG acquired Forcepoint Global Governments and Critical Infrastructure, an Austin, Texas-based platform designed to provide security for data and intellectual property on any device. From Francisco Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Discount Tire acquired Dunn Tire, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based automobile maintenance company and car parts provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
- Birkenstock, a Linz am Rhein, Germany-based footwear brand, plans to raise up to $1.6 billion in an offering of 32.3 million shares priced between $44 and $49. L Catterton backs the company.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a Houston, Texas and London, U.K.-based investment firm, raised £620 million ($753 million) in its third fund focused on companies that are aiding the transition to renewable energy.
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