DealMakers: Entrepreneur | Startups | Venture Capital

Andrew Ponec sold his first startup after just four years. Now he has raised $80M to tackle climate change in a $100B a year industry. His venture, Antora Energy, has attracted financing from top-tier investors like Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, and Energy giant Shell’s venture arm.

Rafael Stark is now on his second tech startup. This time around, he has already raised tens of millions of dollars from the likes of Jeff Bezos, and business leaders from Slack and Coinbase. His venture, Hummingbird, has attracted investment from top-tier financiers like Rahul Mehta, Ribbit Capital, Bezos Expeditions, and Lachy Groom.

Ryan Begin recently exited his startup to a private equity firm for $200M. A venture that’s all about diverting what would be wasted food. The company, Divert, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Ara Partners, GIC, and Ontario Power Generation. Eventually, it was acquired by Ara Partners.

Luca Ferrari is the CEO and co-founder of Bending Spoons—a technology platform that specializes in giving birth to and scaling digital products and AI startups. He has raised $500 million between secondary sales and debt. The venture has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM, Keisuke Honda, and Maximum Effort.

After selling his first startup, John Tomich has already raised $130M in financing for his latest venture. The company, Credit Key, has acquired financing from top-tier investors like Bonfire Ventures, Greycroft, RedBird Capital Partners, and Fortress Investment Group.

Gary LaFever has been involved in the launch and exit of several startups already. Now he is tackling an even bolder venture with a big data startup that has already attracted tens of millions of dollars in investment. His latest venture, Anonos, has acquired funding from top-tier financiers, Aon plc, Ghost Tree Partners, and Edison Partners.

Thomas Puskas is now on his third startup. A clean energy company that is using tokenization to ensure we have plenty of fresh air to breathe. His venture, Ecowatt Energy, has acquired funding from the top-tier investor, The Global Emerging Markets Group.

Vijay Kedar has gone from being an investor to the founder of his own health tech startup. His venture has attracted the backing of some of the most respected investors while raising $100M over the past five years. Tomorrow Health has acquired funding from top-tier financiers like Obvious Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Sound Ventures, and Bond.

After leading several businesses through to successful exits, Gaston Irigoyen has already raised $60M for a new company, in less than two years. His latest venture, Pomelo has acquired financing from top-tier investors like Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, and Tiger Global Management.

John Bissell is going even further than carbon neutral, by pioneering carbon-negative materials to help combat climate change on a large scale. His company, Origin Materials, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Danone, AECI, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, and Nestlé.

Theo Saville has a vision of the world in which one-click manufacturing is the new normal. His startup has already raised tens of millions of dollars to make that happen. The venture, CloudNC, has acquired financing from top-tier financiers like Episode 1, British Patient Capital, Autodesk, and Atomico.

Timothy Creswick has already raised hundreds of millions of dollars to help unlock more economic and business growth potential in one of the world’s most popular financial capitals. His venture, Vorboss has acquired funding from top-tier private investors.

Aaron DeBevoise took his first two companies full cycle through an exit. He’s now building something even bigger, with a startup that has already been valued at $1.5B. His latest venture, Spotter, has acquired funding from top-tier investors like HighPost Capital, Access Industries, Crossbeam Venture Partners, and GPS Investment Partners.

Sagi Rodin took his passion for technology and value creation to launch his own startup that is growing fast in its mission to enable others to innovate better and faster. The venture, Frontegg, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Stripes, Insight Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, and Global Founders Capital.

Erik Martinson’s solar startup has now raised well over $200M. With big plans to continue to scale beyond their current footholds in Europe. The venture, Svea Solar, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Altor, D-Ax Corporate Venture Capital, and angel investors.

Sean Grundy’s startup is on a mission to have a big impact on the environment and beverage industry. His venture, Bevi has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Avenir Growth Capital, Deb Gerardi Kemper, Cowen Group, and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Craig Hurlbert has been involved in the launch, capitalization, and exit of a number of companies. His most recent venture raised almost $200M before going public in just around three years in business. The startup, Local Bounti attracted funding from top-tier investors like BNP Paribas Asset Management, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and Cargill.

Matt Danna went from product manager to founder and raised $100M for his software startup. His venture, Boulevard has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Point72 Ventures, BoxGroup, VMG Partners, and Index Ventures.

Leore Avidar is now on his fourth startup. He currently runs two fast-growing companies, and he has raised $100M or more for each. His venture, Lob has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Indicator Ventures, Y Combinator Continuity Fund, Frontline Ventures, and Quiet Capital.

Timmu Toke started his first business at 20 years old while still in business school. He has since raised over $70M for his avatar startup, Ready Player me, attracting funding from top-tier financiers like HartBeat Ventures, Konvoy Ventures, Erick Calderon, and Sebastian Knutsson.

Sreevathsa Prabhakar is a serial entrepreneur. Most recently he started Servify which is a self-learning platform that provides device management services and warranty solutions. The company has raised nealry $100 million from investors such as Blume Ventures, Singularity Ventures, or Syneergy Capital Partners to name a few.

Matteo Berlucchi has started and exited four startups already. Now he has raised $60M for what may be his biggest venture of all. The startup Healthily has acquired funding from top-tier investors like Reckitt, Smedvig Capital, Orkla Ventures, and Canica.

Payam Banazadeh fell in love with space at a young age. He has since worked for NASA and has now launched his own space startup that has attracted over $170M in capital from investors. The venture, Capella Space has been financed by NightDragon Security, Cota Capital, Alumni Ventures, and DCVC.

Dayu Dara Permata turned her early frustration with the real estate experience into the largest property platform in Southeast Asia. Her startup, Pinhome, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Intudo Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners, Ribbit Capital, and Iterative Venture.

Tess Michaels has found her way to have a big impact on the world around her by creating new financing solutions for students. The venture, Stride Funding, has acquired financing from top-tier investors like Graham Holdings, Slow Ventures, GSV Ventures, and Juvo Ventures.