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Companies raising supergiant VC aren’t getting any younger – TechCrunch

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This week, point-to-point “microtransit” service company Lime announced it raised $310 million in a Series D round, which valued the company at $2.4 billion, post-money. That is pretty impressive for a startup founded just a couple of years ago. Since 2017, Lime has raised more than $765 million in venture funding, which is due in part to the pretty daunting economics of the bike and scooter business. It takes a lot of capital to acquire and deploy that hardware.

Lime isn’t the only company to raise supergiant ($100 million or more) VC rounds right out of the gate. Despite the fact that supergiant venture capital rounds have recently become an almost everyday occurrence, the age at which companies close their first nine-figure funding deal hasn’t really changed over the past several years.

In the chart below, we plot the distribution of startups’ age at the time of their first supergiant venture round of $100 million or more. (The age of a company at any subsequent supergiant round was excluded.) In prior reporting, we found that supergiant deal volume began accelerating in 2013, which is why we chose that year to start. For reasons we’ll explain after the chart, it’s best to think of the numbers presented here as a very good estimation rather than a highly precise measurement. There are still lessons to learn though.

Note from the get-go that company ages were calculated by finding the number of days elapsed between their founded date listed in Crunchbase and the date on which the company’s first supergiant VC round was announced. It sometimes takes several weeks between when a deal is finalized and when it’s publicly announced (even in the case of these really big deals). We excluded companies with no listed founding date. Also note that the founding dates listed in Crunchbase are often not precise, so that introduces some fuzziness as well.

However, these caveats aside, there are some general trends to be found here. The mix of companies raising their first really big rounds hasn’t changed all that much over time. On average, a little less than half of supergiant rounds are raised by companies roughly five years old or younger. Some years, like 2016, had above-average representation of younger companies raising their first nine-figure deals. Perhaps coincidentally, 2016 was also a year where supergiant VC (and, indeed, venture activity in general) slowed slightly.

If a company is going to raise their first supergiant VC round (which, recall, are still exceedingly rare), a majority of companies do so within the first five or six years in business. Of nearly 888 first supergiant rounds (raised since 2013) we analyzed, the largest number were struck between years three and five. There is a long tail of companies that raise their first nine-figure deals more than a decade after being founded.

Generally, this isn’t too surprising. Most VC funds operate on a 10-year cycle, as do many startups. Many companies raise their first big rounds of funding within the first few years after launch. Some of these rounds are bigger than others, and that’s what’s reflected above.

In entrepreneurial finance, up-front costs matter. Founded in December 2016, Elon Musk’s tunnel-digging endeavor The Boring Company was a little less than 15 months old when it raised $113 million in venture funding in April of 2018. Tunnel boring machines aren’t cheap. The company aims to dig tunnels for the low, low price of $10 million per mile.

It’s not just Mr. Musk who can raise supergiant sums so speedily. Some sectors are more capital-intense than others, requiring some companies to seek large funding deals early, to bring a product or service to market. For example, a number of companies cropped up in the residential real estate space with the goal of streamlining the home-buying process. In practice, it means that the company acquires the home itself, before ultimately signing it over to the homeowner. Ribbon is one such venture. The fintech company was founded in September 2017 and raised $225 million in Series A funding a little over one year later, in late October 2018.

Most companies aren’t a good fit for VC funding. Of those that try to raise VC funding, most fail. Of those that do raise VC money, the surpassing majority of those deals are less than $100 million. To be clear: We’re talking about very rarified air here. But it helps to confirm another side of a trend we found earlier, through some trial and error. Startups aren’t really raising money any faster than they used to. There’s just more of them. And the rounds are bigger.

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2024 Kia EV9 Three-Row Electric SUV Reveals Range, Power And Tech

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The EV9 will be available with two different battery sizes and three different configurations of electric motors. The Standard RWD option receives a 76.1 kWh battery pack, while a larger 99.8 kWh battery powers both the Long Range RWD and AWD configurations. The Long Range RWD is the least powerful, with a 201 horsepower motor at the rear axle that pushes it from zero to 60 mph in an extremely lethargic 9.4 seconds. The estimated range for this model is 336 miles on a full charge. 

Do note that the estimated range was calculated using the more lenient WLTP method. When the range estimate is recalculated using the stricter EPA method in the U.S., expect that 336-mile figure to drop below 300 miles. Next up is the Standard RWD model with its 214 horsepower motor. With more horsepower than the long-range version and a smaller, lighter battery pack, this model achieves zero to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds. Better, but still pretty pokey. Unfortunately, Kia did not provide a range estimate for this model.

Lastly, we have the AWD variant, which packs a 371-horsepower punch from dual motors that scoot it from zero to 60 mph in a respectable 6.0 seconds flat. Interestingly, the automaker has indicated that an optional Boost feature will be available for purchase at the Kia Connect Store, which increases torque and facilitates a faster zero to 60 mph time of just 5.3 seconds. Once again, no range estimate was provided for the AWD model.

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EV Maker Lucid Plans Widespread Layoffs In Effort To Cut Costs

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Beyond the letter sent to staff, Lucid shared some details about the upcoming layoffs in a regulatory filing, the most notable of which is that it will eat $24 million to $30 million as a result of its restructuring due to expenses like severance pay for laid-off workers. Executives aren’t immune from these cutoffs nor are contractors. Assuming everything goes according to plan, the entire debacle will be wrapped up by the end of the company’s second quarter. 

The move isn’t surprising in light of Lucid’s February 2023 announcement that it needs to reduce its spending. The company was hit by a sharp drop in demand for its luxury EV in recent months, and it entered the new year in a weak position amid the wider economic uncertainty many face in our largely post-pandemic days. 

The news came only a few weeks after the company’s biggest competitor, Tesla, announced sharp price cuts that made its already popular EVs even more attractive to consumers. The automotive market was hit particularly hard by the supply chain disruption that occurred during the height of the pandemic, leaving some new cars benched while used car prices climbed and manufacturers made hard compromises in the name of getting units out the door. 

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Traditional Custom Keyboard With Future In Sight

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If the form factor of the Compact Touch appeals but the price is too high, there are some alternatives to consider. The first would be the HHKB, the very first keyboard line with this particular key arrangement. The latest HHKB Hybrid costs $266.62, uses its signature Topre electrostatic rubber domes instead of mechanical key switches, and adds USB-C and Bluetooth connectivity. It doesn’t have an internal rechargeable battery but uses two AA batteries for power. It can pair up to four devices, and switch between them with keyboard shortcuts.

If wireless isn’t necessary, Mode Designs’ Envoy is a 65% form factor in aluminum or polycarbonate chassis, with customizable options for accent pieces, case color, weight, plate, and PCB. It starts from $189 without keycaps, switches, or stabilizers. This keyboard also has a futuristic design, a rubber mounting system that can be adjusted to be firmer or more flexy, and is programmable using QMK or VIA, the two most widely used firmware sets for custom mechanical keyboards.

The Keychron Q2 costs $209.99 with keycaps, switches, and stabilizers and has a 65% layout with an island-style arrow cluster, multiple color options, and the option for a rotary encoder. It uses a double gasket design for a softer typing feel with a little flex, and also uses QMK or VIA to reprogram its keys. It’s also available as a barebones keyboard for $179.99, but it’s worth getting the fully-built version even if you plan on changing the switches or keycaps. 

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