Genome Sequencing & Quantum Hardware - This Week in VC

Welcome to our This Week in VC roundup - this week we have stories about FTX's collapse, the top startups to watch that raised venture capital funding, and more.

🚀 Who Got Funded?

Here are a few of our favorite startups that successfully raised VC funding this week:

Sequencing - Raised $5M Seed

• What they do: Sequencing is the world's first and only open operating system for DNA sequencing, storage, analysis, customization, and application creation. In order to live healthier, happier, and longer lives, its services assist people in understanding and utilizing the important information contained in their DNA.
• Industries: Genetics, Life Science, Health Care
• Location: Los Angeles, California, United States 

Xanadu - Raised $100M Series C

• What they do: Xanadu provides hardware, software, applications, and simulators for quantum computing.
• Industries: Quantum Computing, Big Data, Hardware, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
• Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

MOV.AI - Raised $8.2M Series B

• What they do: MOV.AI provides robotic developers with enterprise-grade ROS development & run time environment (Robotics engine platform).
• Industries: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Automotive, Fleet Management, Industrial Automation, Logistics, Software
• Location: Tel Aviv, Isreal

Check out MLQ VC: Discover Recently-Funded Startups to get access to all 100+ venture funding deals this week as well as our database of 7000+ VC-funded startups.

💎 Top Stories

Here are a few of the top stories in startups and venture capital this week:

Binance backs out of FTX acquisition

• Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, has backed out of a deal to purchase its competitor FTX.
• Binance cited due diligence and recent news reports of mishandled customer funds and alleged U.S. agency investigations as their reasons for backing out.
• Binance believes that every time a major player in an industry fails, retail consumers will suffer and that outliers who misuse user funds will be weeded out by the free market over time.

Read the full story

Binance backs out of deal to buy FTX

The world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, Binance, said it would walk away from a deal with third largest crypto exchange by volume, FTX.

TechCrunchJacquelyn Melinek

Sequoia writes down FTX investment to $0

• Sequoia Capital marks down their entire $214M FTX stake to zero.
• The firm had invested $213.5 million in FTX and FTX US, but claims the investment as a complete loss due to solvency risk.
• Sequoia reassured its partners that the writing off of FTX wouldn’t have a detrimental impact on the fund, saying it accounted for less than 3% of the capital committed to it.
• The venture capital firm also reported having invested $63.5 million into FTX and FTX US from its Sequoia Capital Global Equities Fund, but holdings represented less than 1% of the entire portfolio.

As the fund stated in its letter to investors:

We are in the business of taking risk. Some investments will surprise to the upside, and some will surprise to the downside

Read the full story

Sequoia Capital marks down entire $214M FTX stake to zero

Three days into the sudden collapse of FTX has been enough for one of FTX’s largest investors, Sequoia Capital to completely write off its nearly $214 million investment into the exchange.

CointelegraphBrayden Lindrea

That's it for this edition of This Week in VC, if you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it you can sign up here.