Tacto, a small German AI supply chain startup, is set to raise new funding from US giant Sequoia and is already in talks with a different high-profile investor to raise another round.
The Munich-headquartered company, founded in 2020, has developed a platform for SMEs that provides an overview of their supply chains, sourcing processes, and transport workflows.
Sequoia is set to lead Tacto’s Series A round, six sources familiar with the deal told Insider. The round is thought to be worth around $20 million and will value the business at between 75 and 100 times its annual revenue, three sources said. That would value the three-year-old business at around $135 million post-money, two sources added.
Unusually, the startup has already begun talks to raise another round of funding in addition to the Sequoia deal. Funding rounds in such quick succession are rare and usually suggest intense investor interest in the company.
Tacto is also in talks with London-based Index Ventures to immediately raise another funding round, five sources said. Index has approached Tacto to pre-emptively lead an even larger round into the business.
Sequoia and Tacto declined to comment when contacted by Insider. Index Ventures did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The presence of Sequoia is a testament to the uptick in interest big US funds have in young European startups. Andreessen Horowitz led a seed round in tiny AI startup ElevenLabs in March, and is also in talks with months-old company Mistral. This week, US fund Coatue piled into Dutch payment startup Fero’s seed round.
Tacto is the latest startup to discuss a pre-emptive funding round, which is when investors present deal terms to in-demand companies before they even start their fundraising process. The collapse in growth funding has helped drive a surge in such deals.
Fintech Payrails, sales software company Cello, and climate tech company Axle Energy are among those nab pre-emptive deals this year.
The prospective second deal is not yet closed or finalized and is therefore subject to change. The deal could give Tacto an even higher valuation of around $300 million, two sources familiar with the process told Insider.
The company’s $5.6 million seed round, in March 2022, was led by Berlin-based venture capital firm Cherry Ventures. UVC Partners, Visionaries Club, and angel investors, including Personio’s CEO Hanno Renner, also participated.
Tacto’s fundraising comes against the backdrop of a dismal year for Europe venture, where funding to startups is set to slide by almost 46%.
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