Atlanta-based startups saw their best week in months, raising at least $192 million in venture capital between Dec. 30 and Jan. 6., squashing what Atlanta companies saw on a weekly basis in the last half of 2022. Nearly 80% of that went to one clean tech startup.
Cox Enterprises invested $150 million into a local startup that focuses on plastic recycling. That figure ties the largest venture deal made last year for an Atlanta company, a sign that sustainability startups could continue to see growth despite the investor pushback.
The clean tech sector is poised to grow at an accelerated rate from demand and long-term incentives, according to Deloitte. The Inflation Reduction Act signed in August will give the industry a boost by investing hundreds of billions of federal dollars toward greening the environment.
That all comes as venture capital has shrunk in availability. Investors have switched a focus on growth for profitability. That shift in market dynamics has led to a series of layoffs from tech companies across the U.S. in the past half-year in order to cut costs. PitchBook predicts that 2023 will also be another year where venture capital will slowdown, although seed-stage companies may show some resiliency.
Compared with this week's numbers, local startups raised $80.9 million, $77 million and $55 million in seven-day periods throughout December. The prior month, startups raised $10.5 million and $2.6 million.
Here are the venture deals you might've missed this week:
- Cox Enterprises Inc. bought a majority stake in Nexus Circular, previously named Nexus Fuels. The $150 million funding round marks the largest investment into an Atlanta startup in the past year. Nexus Circular takes plastic waste from industrial and commercial suppliers to then convert it back into oil using thermo-chemical recycling, which can then make more plastics. Following the investment, Nexus aims to build facilities that can process over 250 million pounds of used plastic annually. It was founded in 2008 by Jeff Gold, who is now chief operating officer. CEO Jodie Morgan leads the company.
- Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Altesa BioSciences Inc. raised nearly $15 million in a $30 million round, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In February, the company launched operations to develop and commercialize anti-viral drugs against viruses such as rhinovirus, parainfluenza, Dengue fever, Yellow Fever, Zika and Powassan, according to a news release. It also entered into a collaboration with Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory University in January 2022. That was before it closed a $4 million seed round led by Pitango Venture Capital joined by GRA Venture Fund. Altesa is led by Brett Giroir, former assistant secretary for health during Donald Trump's presidency, U.S. Representative to the World Health Organization and admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. There were 16 participating investors in Altesa’s most recent round, according to the filing.
- Rialtic Inc., an Atlanta financial technology startup focused on health-care payments, raised $28.1 million, according to an SEC filing. The company is an open marketplace platform that helps healthcare providers and payers have accurate payment transactions. It is led by founder and CEO Doug Williams. Prior to Rialtic, Williams founded iHealth Technologies which merged with Connolly in 2014 to create Cotiviti, which sold to Veritas and went public in 2018. In December 2020, the company raised $16.2 million. Seven investors participated in its latest round.
