A Big Q4 From Harvard's Startup Ecosystem
$1.18B+ raised, ~$9B in enterprise value created, and 3 new unicorns minted
Q4 2024 was an incredible quarter for Harvard’s startup ecosystem. The top 10 funding rounds collectively raised $1.18 billion, adding ~$9 billion in new enterprise value. in Q4, 3 Harvard-founded companies achieved unicorn status, while 2 existing unicorns experienced valuation markups.
At Phoenix, we’re all-in on Harvard-founders, aiming to earn the right to back the next generation of iconic Harvard-founded startups. As always, please feel free to reach out—I’d love to hear from you.
Concentro, founded by Iñigo Rengifo Melia and Tao Mantaras, is building a platform to help clean energy projects get financed, starting with tax credit transfers. The company recently raised a $3M seed round led by firstminute capital, with participation from LifeX Ventures, Silence, Plug and Play, and others. Email Tao (tao@concentro.io) for more.
1. Perplexity
Perplexity, founded by Johnny Ho (Harvard College), raised a $500M round led by IVP tripling the company’s valuation to $9B. Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine.
2. Zip
Zip, co-founded by Rujul Zaparde (Harvard College), raised a $190M Series D led by BOND at a $2.2B valuation. Zip is a leading procurement orchestration platform.
3. Writer
Writer, co-founded by May Habib (Harvard College), raised a $200M Series C led by ICONIQ Growth, Radical Ventures, and Premji Invest valuing the company at $1.9B. Writer is a generative AI platform for enterprises to build AI apps and workflows.
4. Crimson Education
Crimson Education, Founded by Jamie Beaton (Harvard College), raised a $68M Series D valuing the company at $1B. Crimson Education is a leading university admissions support company.
5. Speak
Speak, co-founded by Connor Zwick (Harvard College), raised a $78M Series C led by Accel valuing the company at $1B, double Speak’s $500M valuation from their Series B extension just 6 months ago. Speak is a language learning app that sets users on the path to fluency with an advanced AI tutor.
6. Finix
Finix, co-founded by Richie Serna (Harvard College), raised a $75M Series C led by Acrew Capital. Finix is a full-stack payment processor enabling businesses to accept and send payments online and in-store.
7. Decagon
Decagon, co-founded by Jesse Zhang (Harvard College), raised a $65m Series B led by Bain Capital Ventures. Decagon is an advanced AI platform for customer support.
8. Agency AI
Agency, founded by Elias Torres (Harvard College) who previously sold Drift to Vista Equity Partners for $1.2B, raised a $12 million seed round led by Sequoia and HubSpot Ventures. Agency is an AI Agent for Customer Success.
9. Lumen Orbit
Lumen Orbit, co-founded by Phillip Johnston (Harvard MPH), raised a $11M Seed led by NFX. Lumen Orbit is on a mission to put data centers in space.
10. Sapien
Sapien, co-founded by Ron Nachum (Harvard College), raised a $8.7M Seed led by General Catalyst. Sapien is building autonomous financial analysts for enterprises.
