Ola scales back, Shrekli is freed, and the ticking time bomb about to go off for SPAC sponsors

Hi, hope you had a fine Wednesday. We were a little busy, getting back and forth to TechCrunch's Mobility Event, taking place through Friday in San Mateo, Ca. 

It was worth the effort to talk about the market with several VCs, including Mar Hershenson of Pear, the seed-stage venture firm whose bets include DoorDash, among many others. We'll have more from that panel discussion soon; in the meantime, here's what she had to say when asked whether the party is indeed over for startups:

Maybe for a little while it's over. It's just part of the business. We're very long on tech. Will there be more electric vehicles in the next five years? I think the answer is yes. Will there be robo-taxis? The answer is yes. All of that is going to happen. The problem is that the market was priced too high in 2021, and we're all adjusting to that price change, and that changes how companies raise money. 

Everybody knows that the stock market is down a lot. Software stocks are down in some cases 80%. [Meanwhile] if you're a private company, and you were very lucky and you raised money in 2021, you may have gotten a multiple of 100x on your ARR. Today, those multiples are 10x or 20x. That means that if your company was $2 billion [at the time of your fundraise], your company is [now] worth $200 million. 

😬

U.S. stocks posted the biggest daily drop in almost two years.

Federal health officials warned today that a third of Americans live in areas where the threat of Covid-19 is now so high that they should consider wearing a mask in indoor public settings. They cited new data showing a substantial jump in both the spread of the coronavirus and hospitalizations over the past week.

Crypto markets are crashing— here’s where the money’s going. Decimated. Ravaged. Wiped out. Whatever the adjective, one thing’s clear—the cryptocurrency markets are in turmoil. Over $1 trillion has been wiped from the crypto market in the last 6 months. So where is the money flowing? New data shows that investors are pouring capital into real assets like art. After all, smart investors know masterpieces by legends like Picasso probably won’t dip 27% in a day. This explains why everyone and their wealth manager want to learn more about art investing.* See important Reg A Disclosures disclosures.

Cornami, a 10-year-old startup based in Campbell, Ca., that helps enterprises encrypt data faster in response to post-quantum threats, raised a $68 million round led by SoftBank, with additional participation from Impact VC and Octave Ventures. VentureBeat has more here.

GreyOrange, an 11-year-old startup based in Roswell, Ga., that makes cloud-based software for warehouse robots, raised a $110 million Series D round led by Mithril Capital, with additional participation from BlackRock. The company has raised a total of $293.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Infinitum Electric, a six-year-old startup based in Round Rock, Tex., that makes "air-core" motors that it claims generate the same power as "heavy iron" engines at a fraction of the weight, raised an $80 million Series D led by Riverstone Holdings; Alliance Resource Partners, Applied Ventures, Cottonwood Technology Fund, Chevron Technology Ventures, Aventurine Partners, Energy Innovation Capital, and Ajax Strategies also chipped in. The company has raised a total of $137.7 million. More here.

Masterschool, a three-year-old, New York-based startup that has built a network of tech career-training schools, raised a seed round of $100 million led by Group 11, with additional participation from Target Global, Pitango Ventures, Dynamic Loop Capital, and Ronald Cohen. (A $100 seed round? How very 2021.)  TechCrunch has more here.

Modulr, a seven-year-old London startup that works with businesses like Revolut, Wagestream, and Sage to offer payments and payroll accounts via an API, raised a $108 million Series C led by General Atlantic. Previous investors Blenheim Chalcot, Frog Capital, Highland Europe, and PayPal Ventures also contributed to the round. Business Insider has more here.

SpotOn, a five-year-old, Bay Area-based startup that provides software and payments tech to SMBs, with an emphasis on restaurants and retail businesses, has raised $300 million in Series F funding at a $3.6 billion valuation. Earlier backer Dragoneer Investment Group led the latest round, joined by G Squared and a host of other earlier backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, Franklin Templeton and Mubadala Investment Company. The company has now raised $628 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

Thought Machine, an eight-year-old London startup that has built cloud-based technology that powers a new generation of services for both old and new banks, raised a $160 million round at a $2.7 billion valuation. The deal lead was Temasek, with additional participation from Intesa Sanpaolo, Morgan Stanley, and previous investors JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, and SEB. The company has raised a total of $562.8 million. Fintech Futures has more here.

Vivun, a four-year-old startup based in Oakland, Ca., that is building SaaS software to help its clients with the pre-sales process, raised a Series C  round of $75 million. Salesforce Ventures led the deal, while Tiger Global, Menlo Ventures, Accel, and Unusual Ventures also pitched in. The company has raised a total of $131 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Claravine, a 10-year-old startup based in Provo, Ut., that helps clients manage marketing data standards across regions, teams, and campaigns, raised a Series B of $16 million led by Five Elms Capital, with additional capital provided by Grayhawk Capital, Next Frontier Capital, Peninsula Ventures, Kickstart Fund, and Silverton Partners. The company has raised a total of $27.9 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Column Tax, a one-year-old New York startup whose API allows clients to embed personal tax applications in their software, raised a $21.7 million Series A round. The deal lead was Bain Capital Ventures; Felicis, Not Boring, Core Innovation Capital, and South Park Commons also contributed to the financing. The company has raised a total of $26.8 million. Forbes has more here.

Credo AI, a two-year-old startup based in Palo Alto, Ca., that manages compliance standards for machine learning and AI software, raised a $12.8 Series A. Sands Capital led the deal, and Decibel and AI Fund also chipped in. The company has raised a total of $18.3 million. Bay Area Inno has more here.

Freshcut, a 20-month-old, Los Angeles-based app for creators to post short, gaming-related videos and earn through tokens, raised $15 million in funding. Investors include Galaxy Interactive, Polygon, Animoca Brands and Kevin Lin, co-founder of Twitch. Freshcut was founded by James Kuk, himself a former business development executive at Twitch. Decrypt has more here.

Heartex, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that helps customers label their data, raised a $25 million Series A led by Redpoint Ventures led, with additional capital provided by Unusual Ventures, Bow Capital, and Swift Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

HowGood, a 15-year-old startup based in Stone Ridge, N.Y. that helps manufacturers assess the environmental and social impact of their product formulations to make more sustainable supply system decisions, raised $12.5 million led by Titan Grove. The company has raised a total of $24.7 million. Axios Pro has more here.

Impartner, a 25-year-old startup based in South Jordan, Ut.,
that helps customers optimize their indirect channel and reseller relationships, raised a $35 million round from CIBC Innovation Banking. The company has raised a total of $145 million. More here.

Legacy, a four-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma, that offers at-home sperm testing kits, semen analysis, and cryopreservation, raised a Series B of $25 million. The deal lead was Bain Capital Ventures; FirstMark Capital, Section 32, TQ Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners also participated. The company has raised a total of $45.2 million. MobiHealthNews has more here.

LucidLink, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that allows companies such as Netflix, Nickelodeon, and Shell to stream data directly from the cloud, raised $20 million in Series B funding. The deal was led by Headline, with additional participation from Top Tier Capital Partners and previous investors Baseline Ventures and Bright Cap Ventures. The company has raised a total of $39.6 million. VentureBeat has more here.

Pipedream, a three-year-old, San Francisco startup that enables customers to create workflows with open source connectors to APIs and extensions coded in Node.js, Python, Go, or Bash, raised a $20 million round led by True Ventures. CRV, Felicis Ventures, and World Innovation Lab also joined the round. TechCrunch has more here.

Tractian, a three-year-old startup based in São Paulo, Brazil, that is developing a product to monitor the health of machines and electrical infrastructure by analyzing “rotational assets” such as motors, pumps, and compressors, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Next47, with additional funds provided by Y Combinator. The company has raised a total of $18.7 million. TechCrunch has more here.

UrbanFootprint, an eight-year-old startup based in Berkeley, Ca., that helps governments and businesses balance infrastructure planning with existing conditions across hundreds of community, social, and environmental metrics, raised a $25 million Series B funding co-led by Citi and Social Capital; 2150, A/O PropTech, Assured Guaranty, Dcode Capital, Valo Ventures, and Radicle Impact also contributed. The company has raised a total of $43 million. Axios Pro has more here.

Because, a 1.5-year-old, Tampa, Fla.-based startup developing no-code software that connects disparate data sources to automate high volumes of website updates, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Harlem Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

CipherMode, a 17-month-old, Los Angeles-based data utilization and sharing platform that says it preserves the confidentiality of data during the entire data lifecycle, including the computation itself startup, has raised nearly $6.7 million in seed investment led by Innovation Endeavors. Pillar VC also joined the round, along with the National Science Foundation and several individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.

Circit, a seven-year-old startup based in Dublin, Ireland that helps auditors to verify company assets and liabilities in real-time, raised a €6.5 million Series A. Aquiline Technology Growth and MiddleGame Ventures co-led the round. The company has raised a total of $8.2 million. More here.

EvolvedMD, a seven-year-old startup based in Scottsdale, Az., that integrates behavioral health services on-site with healthcare providers to provide in-person and virtual mental health care, raised a $5.4 million Series A. Waterline Ventures and Conductive Ventures were the co-leads. More here.

Isabl, an 18-month-old, New York-based outfit that says it offers rapid sequencing of cancer cells’ entire genomes, potentially showing which therapies will and won’t be effective within days, has raised $3 million in funding led by Two Sigma Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Box 1 and other firms. The company has also received a breakthrough designation from the FDA. TechCrunch has more here.

Joystick, a Los Angeles startup co-founded by TikTok star Michael Le whose mission is to empower users to become business owners, esports pros, or content creators in the world of blockchain, raised an $8 million seed round. Investors included Axie Infinity creator Jeffrey "Jiho" Zirlin. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the company is in the process of trying to further raise a $110 million Series A round. More here.

Keep Financial, a four-month-old startup founded by Kabbage cofounders Rob Frohwein and Kathryn Petralia (they sold Kabbage to Amex in 2020), has raised $9 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Launchpad Capital, Thomvest Ventures, Cambrian Ventures and Worklife Ventures. The company's mission is to help employers provide retention bonuses in the form of forgivable loans -- loans that are premised on the recipient's agreement to stay at the company for a set period of time. TechCrunch has more here.

Levatas, a 16-year-old startup based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., whose software enables robots, drones, remote sensors, and fixed cameras to execute operational tasks at industrial sites, raised a $5.5 million seed round from Castellan Group. More here.

Medallion, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that leverages web3 protocols to helps artists from direct connections with their fans, raised $9.15 million in seed funding. The Chernin Group was the deal lead. Music Ally has more here.

Parcl, a two-year-old New York startup that has built a blockchain-based real estate platform that allows users to invest in and trade specific geographical real estate markets, raised a $7.5 million round. Investors included Fifth Wall, JAWS, IA Capital, Eberg Capital, Big Brain Holdings, and Santiago Santos. The company has raised a total of $11.5 million. More here.

Pigeon Loans, a two-year-old Miami startup whose platform makes it easy for friends and family to lend each other money, raised a $2.5 million seed round led by FundersClub; 305 Ventures, Ascendo VC, Dhuna Ventures, and Pareto Holdings also chipped in. The company has raised a total of $2.9 million. Refresh Miami has more here.

QuestBook, a two-year-old startup based in Hyderabad, India, that helps web3 and blockchain companies screen and hire developers, raised an $8.3 million Series A led by Lemniscap. Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, Dragonfly, Hashed, and Polygon also participated. The company has raised a total of $10.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Trellis, a three-year-old, Boston-based outfit that says it has built an API platform that lets consumers buy and cancel plans and shop for car insurance policies by offering side-by-side comparisons, has raised $5 million from Amex Ventures. The company, whose earlier backers include General Catalyst and QED, has now raised $17 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

UtilityAPI, an eight-year-old startup based in Oakland, Ca., that helps clean energy companies obtain consumer data held by utilities, raised a $10 million round. Aligned Climate Capital led the financing. The company has raised a total of $11.8 million. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Very Good Ventures, a four-year-old New York consultancy that helps clients like Google, Toyota, and Betterment to build high-performance, multi-platform apps in Flutter (Google's open source UI toolkit), raised a $3 million Series A funding from Celesta Capital. More here.

Werk, a two-year-old startup based in Tallinn, Estonia, that has built a hiring and relocation platform for skilled migrant construction workers, raised a pre-seed of $1.3 million led by Change Ventures. Also contributing were Foundamental VC and other angels. More here.

ZMO.ai, a Chinese startup that uses artificial intelligence to create virtual models for its fashion brand clients, raised an $8 million Series A round led by Hillhouse Capital, with additional participation from GGV Capital and GSR Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Gopuff, a nine-year-old Philadelphia-based "rapid delivery" startup that has reportedly struggled to raise its newest round of funding, says it received an investment (size undisclosed) from Disney CEO Bob Iger, who will serve as an advisor to the company. TechCrunch has more here.

More than 250 founders across SaaS, healthtech, CPG, and more have found fundraising success on SeedInvest, including the on-demand pharmacy startup NowRx, the real-estate crowdfunding platform GroundFloor, and the options trading app Gatsby. Find out if your company has what it takes to raise a community round. Submit your deck and connect with our team.

It's official. Following earlier reports that a gaming fund was in the works, Andreessen Horowitz has announced a new vertical fund exclusively focused on opportunities in the games industry. The $600 million fund, called Games Fund One, joins other industry-specific arms at a16z, including its crypto and bio divisions, and it's being led by general partners Andrew Chen, Jon Lai and James Gwertzman. TechCrunch has more here.

f7 Ventures, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based seed-stage venture fund comprised of seven senior female operators who met at Facebook, says it has raised $50 million for its debut fund. Limited partners in the vehicle include Sheryl Sandberg & Tom Bernthal, Paris Hilton, Andrew Bosworth, Justin Kan, SoftBank, J.P. Morgan, Insight Partners, Anthemis Group, Espresso Capital, Verdis Investment Management and more. More here.

Threshold Ventures, the Menlo Park, Ca.-based venture capital firm earlier known as DFJ, raised $450 across two new funds. Threshold IV, an early-stage fund, garnered $375 million in capital commitments; the outfit separately closed a $75 million opportunity-style fund to back its breakout portfolio companies called Threshold Select. More here.

Ola is once again scaling down its food-delivery ambitions, reports India's Economic Times. The mobility company’s cloud-kitchen business has canceled its expansion plans and is looking to sell most of its kitchen equipment at a 30% to 50% discount, sources tell the outlet. 

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has acquired a 5% stake worth $2.98 billion in games maker Nintendo, its latest investment in a Japanese gaming company as the sector rapidly consolidates. According to a report in the Financial Times,  the Public Investment Fund has bought 6.5 million shares in the Kyoto-based creator of Mario and Donkey Kong.

ZSpace, a 15-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based VR startup, has announced plans to go public in one of the few SPAC deals of late. But it will take a big hit to its valuation as part of the process. The Silicon Valley Business Journal has more here.

Asia's SPAC hopefuls also have nowhere to turn as the IPO market shuts from the U.S. to Asia. Bloomberg has more here.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire says he saw the TerraUSD meltdown coming about six months ago, long before the stablecoin crash rocked the crypto world. “This was a house of cards,” he tells Protocol. “It was very clear that it was unsustainable and that there would be a very high risk of a death spiral.” Still, Allaire adds, he was surprised by “how fast the death spiral happened and how violent of a value destruction it was.”

Andreessen Horowitz's chief compliance officer for three years, Ben Buckwalter, has joined the law firm Gunderson Dettmer after spending a few months as a consultant in between. More here.

Martin Shkreli, the “Pharma Bro” who gained notoriety for unapologetically raising drug prices, was just released from prison early. Shkreli was sentenced in 2018 to 7 years in prison after being convicted of securities fraud for lying to investors and for manipulating shares of Retrophin, a biotech company he founded.

The e-learning platform MasterClass is looking to hire a VP of corporate development. 

Elon Musk, 50, remains the world’s richest person, with a fortune of $209.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Still, he has shaved $60.4 billion off his wealth this year, trailing only Binance’s Changpeng Zhao, who’s down $81 billion, and Jeff Bezos, who is down $62 billion from the start of 2022.

Sorry, Mark Cuban. 😈

An outfit that calls itself a “boutique private equity firm” faces civil fraud allegations from the SEC over the handling of more than $410 million raised from at least 2,200 investors. The ironically named StraightPath Venture Partners allegedly made “Ponzi scheme-like payments” to cover transactions and distributions from the commingled assets across nine funds that the firm said would be used to acquire equity shares in pre-IPO companies; meanwhile, contends the SEC, three of the outfit's four co-founders each received at least $24 million in payments drawn from the funds -- money that was paid either directly to their personal bank accounts or to entities they controlled. The WSJ has the story here.

SPAC mergers have become harder to find, and creators stand to lose money without a deal; "It’s a ticking time bomb."

Google has reportedly moved the bulk of its employees out of Russia, ending its commercial presence in the country for the near future. A court in late March froze Google's main account in the country. It then seized the funds, sources tell the WSJ.

TikTok is launching a product that lets advertisers crowdsource content from creators with more than 1,000 followers and turn top-performing videos into ads. TechCrunch has more here.

Why Tesla was just kicked out of the S&P 500′s ESG index.

Apple’s hidden setting instantly makes your video and audio calls sound better.

A high-tech fight against counterfeit cheese.

The new media mogul tearing up Hollywood: "Zas is not particularly patient."

Which venture capitalist is going to snap up this one? (This is not a blind item, though it could be if you know something, wink wink.)

A NYC duplex that Beastie Boys’s Mike D once called home just listed for $19.5 million.

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