$450M for Noname, Two Billion-Dollar Rounds, and Good News for Crypto Startups

Good news, cryptocurrency founders! Venture capital activity is crypto-venture-capital-funding-surpasses-060743197.html”>Collecting in the sector after falling to multi-year lows in late 2023. Put another way, venture people seem more bullish on web3 than they used to be not long ago.

But that wasn't the only news we had to dig into about Equity this morning. Akamai is spending $450 million to buy API security company Noname, a deal that TechCrunch previously reported would close at around $500 million. Still, $450 million is a lot of money, and the deal is also worth thinking about given that Noname was valued at more than $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 intends to buy both wounded unicorns and smaller, trendier startups to boost its business. The company is now valued at $12 billion, which is a lot. (Wayve also raised over $1 billion, but is focused on the self-driving space rather than safety.)

We also saw Monzo gets 190 million more dollars, bringing its full-year fundraising score to more than $600 million. Meanwhile, TikTok is fighting a possible ban in the United States and Oyo has been trying to raise new capital at a fraction of its previous value.

In conclusion, twitter.com/Haje?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>The wine is bringing launch pad teardown to Equity! If you haven't read the series (start here), you're in for a treat. We start the new segment with a look at the NOQX platform: what worked, what didn't, and what's next!

Friday talk!