Ripcord, a startup developing robots that can automatically digitize paper records, is hoping to raise $20 million to $25 million in a new funding round that would value the company at $110 million pre-money, according to a source familiar with the matter and a pitch deck viewed by TechCrunch.
Alphabet’s GV, Lux Capital and MUFG are in talks to participate in the round. GV and Lux previously invested in Ripcord; MUFG, a Japanese bank chain, appears to be a new backer.
We reached out to Ripcord’s marketing director, Molly Vernarecci, via LinkedIn for comment. She didn’t respond by publication time.
However, Ripcord’s CEO, Sam Fahmy, got in touch via email, and said that the current round is closer to $35 million — $20 million of which is already closed, including a $8.5 “bridge note” from March, he claims.
The round, if successful, would bring Ripcord’s total raised to around $150 million — the bulk of which came from previous investors Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley Bank, Tyche Partners, Icon Ventures and Baidu. Notably, Steve Wozniak, the Apple co-founder, participated in Ripcord’s series A.
The new round would also be significantly smaller than Ripcord’s last tranche, a Series B, which closed at $45 million. The reason wasn’t immediately clear — nor was the reason for the relatively lengthy gap, three years, between Ripcord’s outside infusions.
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