Insurance startup Sana lands USD $20M

Austin-based Sana, a health insurance startup that caters to small businesses, closed a $20 million Series A extension round. The company aims to break up what it calls the “Big 5” health insurance monopoly.

Startup founders becoming VCs is a well-documented phenomenon in Silicon Valley—think PayPal founder Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, or Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen’s a16z. But some VCs are now doing the reverse and starting companies again. Guest author Matt Cohen of Ripple Ventures looks at the market dynamics driving the reversal and how it could play out in years to come.

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A big corporate round in real estate led the way in this week’s top U.S. fundings, but venture capitalists seemed most interested in ways to find, pay and train new employees, as well as some fintech and adtech platforms. Here’s a look at the companies that hauled in the biggest funding deals last week, led by a $500 million investment.

So far this year, crypto startups have received nearly $16 billion in funding—far outpacing any prior year. But while crypto investment used to be dominated by venture firms laser focused on the sector, this year has seen increased involvement from some of the biggest names in startup investing, from a16z to Sequoia Capital. We look at which of the biggest venture names are leading the charge.

The financial case for diversity within a VC fund is clear, writes Anik Bose of Benhamou Global Ventures. His firm’s strategy to bet on fellow immigrants has proven itself in deals, IPOs and returns, he says, earning its 2018 fund a top quartile performance spot. In a guest piece, Bose shares his top three ways investors and firms can improve diversity in the venture industry.

Cold prospecting, or the practice of reaching out to potential customers who are unfamiliar with your product, is a common sales tactic. In this article, RingCentral’s Pohan Lin breaks down how to develop cold prospecting strategies that maximize SaaS sales.

Florida companies have raised just over $1 billion in early-stage funding so far this year, our data shows. That’s nearly quadruple the sum raised in all of 2020, and comes as other investment stages are also posting gains. What’s behind the momentum? We look at the factors driving the Sunshine State’s diverse and fast-growing startup scene.

Source : Crunchbase