SA国际传媒

This is a monthly feature that runs down the month鈥檚 top 10 funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last month鈥檚 here.

It鈥檚 probably fitting that as Silicon Valley and California deal with energy issues this week, we see that energy startups dominated the largest rounds of last month. Four energy-related startups made the list鈥攊ncluding three in the top five with some very substantial raises.

Here鈥檚 a quick review of the top 10 rounds of August:

1. , $750M, energy: The -founded nuclear innovation company secured an equity raise that yields a 鈥渕inimum of $750 million,鈥� the company said in a . The fundraise was co-led by and 鈥攚hich invested $250 million鈥攁s well as Bill Gates. The is among South Korea鈥檚 largest energy providers and this is not the only time it will be mentioned here. The round also is one of the largest advanced nuclear fundraises to date. Founded in 2006, TerraPower is an incubator and developer of ideas and technologies. The Bellevue, Washington-based company will use the new money to develop advanced nuclear technology as well as new cancer treatments from nuclear isotopes.

2. , $500M, energy: Boston-based Longroad Energy, focused on wind, solar and storage project development, locked up $500 million last month from , a company. The new funding is part of a change in business strategy for Longroad, as it moves away from its 鈥渄evelop to sell鈥� business model for its energy infrastructure developments to more ownership. Founded in 2016, the round is the first disclosed fundraise, according to SA国际传媒 data.

3. , $350M, real estate: Well, this one caused quite the outpouring of opinions. Not a ton is known about 鈥檚 new startup other than it is in the rental real estate market. That did not stop people from pointing out the hypocrisy of supporting the new venture with $350 million from and writing his 鈥溾�� piece in support of the startup. All this while having the building of townhomes in the billionaire-dense enclave of Atherton. Pretty tone-deaf. Many also questioned giving Neumann鈥攂est known for the debacle鈥攖hat amount of money for a new venture. Needless to say, everyone will be watching this closely.

4. , $300M, clean energy: Last month, Mountain View, California-based Lunar Energy closed $300 million of investment over two rounds in the past two years as it quietly worked in stealth. The company is led by former executive . In that time it has built a team of nearly 250 employees. Lunar is attempting to build the full ecosystem of hardware and software needed to make homes completely energy independent by creating, storing and using the power they themselves generate. Investors in the two rounds include San Francisco-based solar company and South Korea鈥檚 SK Group.

5. , $238M, ticketing: The decline in the SPAC market stopped New York-based SeatGeek from going public. However, it did not stop the company from raising a lot of money. SeatGeek announced it raised $238 million as part of a Series E at a $1 billion pre-money valuation. The funding announcement comes just about two months after SeatGeek鈥檚 $1.35 billion deal to go public via a SPAC was mutually canceled by both the SPAC, RedBall Acquisition Corp., and the company . While the amount is less than one-fifth of what the company would have raised from its SPAC deal, it does give it a unicorn valuation and money to expand on its platform. SeatGeek鈥檚 SPAC deal was just one of many canceled this year as the market for such vehicles cooled significantly from a record-setting 2021. The new round was led by longtime investor . Founded in 2009, SeatGeek has now raised approximately $400 million, according to SA国际传媒 data.

6. , $221M, biotech: Last month was a big one for biotech. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Orna Therapeutics helped lead the way, as the RNA therapies developer announced a $221 million Series B. Drug giant joined as a new investor, and and also participated in the round. Founded in 2019, Orna has now raised $321 million, per SA国际传媒.

7. , $200M, digital media: Los Angeles-based Triller had a pretty busy few months. The company鈥檚 planned $5 billion SPAC deal . Then, last month it was the music and video app鈥攏ot dissimilar to 鈥攈ad raised $200 million in financing ahead of a potential $3 billion IPO before the end of the year. The raise was a mix of debt and equity from investors such as , reported. Just a day after the raise was reported, that filed a lawsuit against Triller for copyright infringement when the company allegedly stopped making payments for music used on the platform. This is not the first time Triller has faced .

8. , $138M, clean energy: Like we said earlier, August was a busy month for energy. Houston-based geothermal power company Fervo Energy raised $138 million in new funding led by . The startup plans to use the new cash to build, own and operate carbon-free, geothermal power plants. It says it will use techniques such as horizontal drilling and distributed fiber optic sensing to reach and use reservoirs of hot rock beneath the earth鈥檚 surface. Founded in 2017, the startup has raised $177 million, according to SA国际传媒 data.

9. , $130M, health care: Health insurance is complicated for patients. Imagine how health care professionals who deal with a multitude of claims and several insurance companies must feel. New York-based Alma closed a $130 million Series D to help mental health therapists with exactly that. Alma is a membership-based platform that allows independent therapists who run their own practices deal with administrative tasks like setting up insurance and billing. The new round was led by . Founded in 2018, the company has now raised $220 million, according to SA国际传媒 data.

10. , $125M, rental: It isn鈥檛 often we see an Alabama-based startup on this list, but Landing landed in the top 10 this month. The Birmingham-based startup announced a $125 million Series C鈥攁 mix of both debt and equity鈥攍ed by . Landing offers a subscription model for the apartment rental experience; move-in ready apartments with monthly leases. Members can move throughout the company鈥檚 nationwide network of 20,000 available listings in more than 375 U.S. cities. Landing has now raised the two largest venture rounds in the state since being founded in 2019, according to SA国际传媒.

Big global deals

While some U.S.-based startups saw big rounds last month, the biggest came from abroad.

• Singapore-based , an online shopping and selling destination in Southeast Asia, closed a $912.5 million round from .

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the SA国际传媒 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the month of August. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the month.

Illustration: Dom Guzman