The fund’s venture arm, Sanabil Investments, is ramping up while venture activity as a whole is pulling back. Not only did Sanabil Investments’ deal activity increase last year, but it’s also investing more capital year-over-year — the venture arm now commits roughly $3B a year in capital, up from $2B in 2021. In April 2023, the state oil company Saudi Aramco gave Sanabil a 4% stake, worth almost $80B, to further solidify the venture arm’s position.

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While Andreessen Horowitz’s total annual deals fell in 2022 — by 17% year-over-year — the firm still participated in 22 investment rounds in the consumer & retail sector. Its bets spanned a range of categories that serve the travel, food, beauty, and retail industries. 

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Garry Tan, Y Combinator’s president and CEO, told Forbes in February that generative AI is “the new frontier — like working on Facebook apps or iOS apps when those platforms were new.” Most of YC’s generative AI bets are bringing the red-hot tech to the enterprise. 

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Its portfolio includes several high-valued tech companies, such as Mindbody, Pluralsight, and Ping Identity.

Since the beginning of 2022, Vista Equity Partners has been involved in numerous transactions and has participated in multiple mega-rounds (deals worth $100M+). The firm has also taken several companies private at billion-dollar valuations.

Using CB Insights data, we mapped how Vista Equity Partners has spread its investments and acquisitions since 2022 across categories like cybersecurity, financial services, enterprise tech, and more.

CB Insights clients can dig deeper into all 21 deals listed above using this CB Insights platform search.

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AVP has $1.2B of assets under management and invests in data-driven startups that can impact healthcare, customer experience, and underwriting performance. These areas represent opportunities that are relevant to the entire insurance industry.

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The company’s portfolio includes some of the most iconic and successful companies in the world, like SolarWinds, Blue Coat, Stamps.com, and SailPoint.

Thoma Bravo has participated in 27 transactions since 2022. The firm also invested in 5 mega-round ($100M+) deals and took multiple companies private at billion-dollar valuations during that time frame.

Using CB Insights data, we mapped how Thoma Bravo spread its investments and acquisitions since 2022 across categories like cybersecurity, financial services, enterprise software, and more.

CB Insights clients can dig deeper into all 27 deals listed above using this CB Insights platform search.

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Now, it’s ratcheting up its own venture investing to put itself at the center of a sweeping AI ecosystem. This could help kickstart a flywheel to generate revenue from AI startups that build on top of — and pay to access — its models. 

Since October 2022, OpenAI’s $100M Startup Fund (backed by LPs including Microsoft) has doled out a dozen investments to primarily early-stage AI startups, including through its accelerator program Converge, which launched in November 2022.

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Fintech was Sequoia Capital’s top investment category in 2022, representing nearly a quarter of the firm’s deals.

Using CB Insights data, we mapped how Sequoia Capital spread its 2022 fintech investments across categories like capital markets, personal finance, real estate, and more.

CB Insights clients can dig deeper into all 25 deals listed above as well as explore Sequoia Capital’s bets beyond fintech using this CB Insights platform search.

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However, some top investors like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) remained active in the space across various deal stages, valuations, geographies, and sub-industries. 

Fintech is central to a16z’s investment strategy. In recent years, the firm has not only shored up its presence in more familiar sectors like banking, but also reached deeper into newer territory like blockchain. 

Of the 206 deals a16z participated in last year, almost a quarter went to fintech companies — more than any other industry. Sixty percent of these fintech investments closed in H1’22, and the remaining 40% closed in H2’22.

Using CB Insights data, we mapped how a16z spread these fintech investments across categories like payments, blockchain, digital lending, and more. 

Below, we dig into a16z’s top 3 fintech targets in 2022, including key deals in each category.

Payments 

More than a quarter (28%) of a16z’s fintech investments in 2022 went to the payments category. Notable investments include:

• SpotOn ($300M Series F): SpotOn offers a cloud-based platform that provides payment solutions for restaurants and small retailers. 
• Jeeves ($180M Series C): Jeeves offers corporate cards and other expense management tools for businesses, with a focus on credit and payments rails across countries and currencies.
• Tally Technologies ($80M Series C): Tally’s app helps consumers pay off credit card debt more quickly by automating payments.

Blockchain

a16z has actively invested in companies developing blockchain platforms for years. In 2022, 22% of its fintech deal volume went to blockchain companies — although most of these deals closed between January and June, before the year-end turmoil that rocked the cryptocurrency markets. Notable investments include: 

• Matter Labs ($200M Series C): Matter Labs is an Ethereum development company building a rollup layer 2 network designed to lower fees and speed up transactions. 
• Lightspark ($175M Series A): Lightspark, launched in May 2022, is building a Bitcoin payments tool.
• NEAR Protocol ($150M Series B): NEAR Protocol is developing a platform for blockchain-based decentralized applications, with a heavy focus on Web3.
  

Digital lending

a16z’s third-most popular fintech category in 2022 was digital lending, accounting for 12% of the firm’s fintech deal flow. Notable investments include: 

• Point Digital Finance ($115M Series C): Point provides a lending marketplace that allows homeowners to borrow against a percentage of the future value of their property.
• Valon ($60M Series B): Valon offers residential mortgage loan servicing technology through a cloud-native platform. 
• Vesta ($30M Series A): Vesta provides a platform for mortgage origination and underwriting that is designed to streamline processes, reduce risk, and help lenders improve their book of business. 

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