Year
in
review
Spotlight
Norwest Launches $3 Billion Fund
The new fund will target innovative companies with transformational businesses, empowering its portfolio leaders with the resources and connections to enhance their growth and create sustainable value.
2021 Invested Capital
$1.3 Billion +
110 New and Follow-on
Including
-
200+
Active Portfolio Companies -
$12.5b
Total Capital
Under Management
Abodu
AbsenceSoft
Active Fence
Aisera
Aktana
Amagi Media Labs
American Endovascular
Anomalo
Avalyn Pharma
Avetta
Babylist
BillionToOne
Birdies
Bluecore
Brite Semiconductor
Babylist
Button
Calm
Celona
Citcon
Clarus Commerce
Classy
Clever Care
CognitiveScale
College Pulse
Common Living
CoreLogic
Cority
Cynet
DataRobot
Dave
Demandbase
Diligent
Dremio
DTEX
Duroflex
Elevate
Elligo Health Research
Enable
Ermetic
Exabeam
Excision BioTherapeutics
Extole
Fabric
Faire
Five Star Finance
Flyhomes
Abodu
AbsenceSoft
Active Fence
Aisera
Aktana
Amagi Media Labs
American Endovascular
Anomalo
Avalyn Pharma
Avetta
Babylist
BillionToOne
Birdies
Bluecore
Brite Semiconductor
Babylist
Button
Calm
Celona
Citcon
Clarus Commerce
Classy
Clever Care
CognitiveScale
College Pulse
Common Living
CoreLogic
Cority
Cynet
DataRobot
Dave
Demandbase
Diligent
Dremio
DTEX
Duroflex
Elevate
Elligo Health Research
Enable
Ermetic
Exabeam
Excision BioTherapeutics
Extole
Fabric
Faire
Five Star Finance
Flyhomes
Forum Brands
Gong
Grove Collaborative
Habu
Harness
Homeward
HoneyBook
ICON
Impel NeuroPharma
Imperfect Foods
Infinx
InfluxData
Infutor
JOLYN
Junk King
Karat
Kendra Scott
Kyo
Learn To Win
Legion
Madison Reed
MAËLYS
Mensa Brands
Mindtickle
Mindful Health Solutions
Minted
Modsy
Monogram Health
MTN OPS
Neocis
NextHealth Technologies
Obsidian Security
OfBusiness
Omada Health
oneNav
Onsite Dental
Opendoor
Pair Eyewear
PCH International
Pepperfry
Pequity
Petabyte
Phiar
Plaid
Policygenius
Praxis Labs
Prevedere
Forum Brands
Gong
Grove Collaborative
Habu
Harness
Homeward
HoneyBook
ICON
Impel NeuroPharma
Imperfect Foods
Infinx
InfluxData
Infutor
JOLYN
Junk King
Karat
Kendra Scott
Kyo
Learn To Win
Legion
Madison Reed
MAËLYS
Mensa Brands
Mindtickle
Mindful Health Solutions
Minted
Modsy
Monogram Health
MTN OPS
Neocis
NextHealth Technologies
Obsidian Security
OfBusiness
Omada Health
oneNav
Onsite Dental
Opendoor
Pair Eyewear
PCH International
Pepperfry
Pequity
Petabyte
Phiar
Plaid
Policygenius
Praxis Labs
Prevedere
Prodly
Productiv
Propel
Qualified
Qventus
Replicant
Revvo
RightRev
Ritual
Robin Healthcare
Science Exchange
Senreve
Simpplr
Singular
SK Finance
SlashNext
SmartSign
Spiff
SundaySky
Supplier.io
Swiggy
Swimply
Talkspace
Target RWE
Tempo
Third Wave Automation
TigerConnect
Topo Athletic
Torch
Treeverse
Ummeed Housing Finance
Uplevel
Upside Foods
Uptycs
VanMoof
Vanu
VAST Data
Vastu Housing
Vector Solutions
Vuori
WekaIO
Wiliot
Wine Access
Workato
Wyze
YipitData
ZineOne
Prodly
Productiv
Propel
Qualified
Qventus
Replicant
Revvo
RightRev
Ritual
Robin Healthcare
Science Exchange
Senreve
Simpplr
Singular
SK Finance
SlashNext
SmartSign
Spiff
SundaySky
Supplier.io
Swiggy
Swimply
Talkspace
Target RWE
Tempo
Third Wave Automation
TigerConnect
Topo Athletic
Torch
Treeverse
Ummeed Housing Finance
Uplevel
UPSIDE Foods
Uptycs
VANMOOF
Vanu
VAST Data
Vastu Housing
Vector Solutions
Vuori
WekaIO
Wiliot
Wine Access
Workato
Wyze
YipitData
ZineOne
Portfolio Momentum
We congratulate all of our companies that announced significant liquidity events over the past year, including:
-
IPO -
SPAC -
Acquired by HelpSystems -
Acquired by Boston Scientific -
Acquired by Vector Solutions -
Acquired by Diligent -
Acquired by
R1 -
Announced IPO -
Announced SPAC -
Announced SPAC -
Investment by Softbank -
Investment by Carlyle
Awards
8 Investor Insights
Dave Zilberman
As companies begin to embrace achieving carbon net-zero targets, the tools and solutions necessary to track and report on carbon utilization will be critical. Marketing to achieve net-zero will require a wide array of tools to track and report. Many companies focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) scope 1 and 2, but achieving scope 3, which is the far greater percentage of carbon emissions, is very hard and nebulous to track.
Lisa Wu
The pandemic has pulled forward years of digital health adoption for all stakeholders: consumers, employers, providers, payors and regulators. In 2022, there will be a greenfield opportunity in the market for companies that offer “whole body care” in a way that point solutions have failed to adequately address to date. We’ll start to see products, services and platforms that address the multidimensional aspects of a person including their physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual needs. Companies that nail the consumer brand, enterprise and payor strategies will win big.
Ed Yip
Crypto moves into the mainstream consumer mass market with increasingly accessible exchanges, ETFs, secure custodial solutions, insurance and infrastructure tools. Volatility continues but skeptical consumers flock to crypto assets driven by speculation, inflation concerns and greater legitimacy with corporations and governments.
Parker Barrile
We’re transitioning from an era of tools to an era of solutions. Buyers want end-to-end solutions that fundamentally take work off their plate. For example, a rental car is a tool but you still have to navigate, drive, park — whereas Uber is a solution. Same for B2B. There’s a new class of companies that combine software and people to solve problems. Take Karat, which conducts technical interviews for its clients. They solve a big pain point for engineering teams by freeing developer time for feature work and making the hiring process more consistent. In 2022, we’ll see a surge of solution-driven products and platforms.
Rama Sekhar
The lines between enterprise and consumer are blurring and in 2022 we will see infosec and cybersecurity startups jump on board the product-led growth (PLG) train. To stand out in the crowded market, cyber startups must adopt a PLG mindset, doubling down on design, aesthetics and UX to drive customer acquisition, conversion and expansion. Areas that I believe are ripe for this include developer security, developer-oriented SaaS and cloud security.
Priti Youssef Choksi
In 2022, consumer brands will need to rethink how they can reach customers with less data and fewer audience matching tools due to the recent privacy and ad targeting changes from Apple and Facebook. We’re going to see customer acquisition costs continue to go through the roof, forcing brands to get creative with guerilla marketing tactics and shift spending to alternative media channels such as traditional OOH advertising, podcast sponsorships, and streaming TV ads.
Scott Beechuk
The third wave of e-commerce platforms is finally here and “headless commerce” (aka modular commerce) architecture will lead the way for the future of retail. You’re going to see platforms like Fabric help retailers level the playing field and compete with Amazon by enabling capabilities like one- or same-day shipping by decoupling the entire logistics stack, opening up to more modern logistics processes.
Ran Ding
Demand for talent is at an all-time high in all industries, and WFH has provided employees with significantly greater choice in where and how they work. Thus, it will become increasingly important for companies to not just be financially successful but also to have a distinct position on mission and impact. Having clear alignment with employees on social, environmental and other goals will significantly advantage companies in recruiting and retaining top talent.
Top Blog Posts of 2021
-
How to Get Your Company Acquired, Not Sold -
Partners in Scaling and Impact -
How to Ace Your Series A Fundraise: Lessons from 20+ Years in Venture Capital -
Curing the Uncurable Through Gene Editing -
Praxis Labs: Using Virtual Reality to Build Empathy and Inclusion -
Our DEI Efforts and Commitment Continue -
ICON and the New Way to Build Homes at Scale -
Our Classy Investment Shows That Investing and Impact are Not Mutually Exclusive