Twitter investors turn bearish, Bill Ackman backs out of that SPAC, and Musk and Trump have at it

There’s no quick recovery in sight for stocks and bonds that are having their worst year in at least three decades, according to strategists at BlackRock. Bloomberg has more here.

There’s no quick recovery in sight for Twitter, either, seemingly. Instead, retail investors have turned bearish now that Elon Musk wants to walk away. They’re dumping shares, exercising put options and making short bets as the $44 billion deal is headed for what looks like a protracted court fight, notes Bloomberg. More here.

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Impress, a three-year-old, Barcelona-based company that makes clear teeth aligners, has raised $100 million in Series B funding (a round that the company says will close with $125 million at some point). Backers in the deal include LBO France, Norgine Ventures, Claret Capital Partners and previous investors TA Ventures, Uniqa Ventures and Nickleby Capital. EU Startups has more here.

Klarna, the 17-year-old, Stockholm-based buy-now-pay-later giant rumored to be raising fresh funding at a steep discount to the $45.6 billion valuation investors assigned it a year ago, today confirmed that it has raised $800 million in capital at a $6.7 billion valuation (an 85% drop). The round included a slew of new and existing investors, including Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the UAE’s sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. TechCrunch has more here.

Mysten Labs, an 11-month-old startup founded by former Meta Platforms employees that is building a new blockchain for decentralized applications including gaming and social media networks, has reportedly raised $140 million toward what the company expects will ultimately be a $200 million round at a $2 billion valuation, reports The Information. It says the deal is being led by FTX Ventures. More here.

Kadmos, a one-year-old startup based in Berlin that has built a salary payments platform for migrant workers, raised a €29 million Series A round led by Blossom Capital; additional capital was provided by Addition and Atlantic Labs. The company has raised a total of $39.6 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Myne, a one-year-old Berlin startup that enables consumers to invest in shared holiday properties, raised a €23.5 million round from FinTech Fund, embedded/capital, TruVenturo, Scope Hanson, Rivus Capital, and CoastCap. The company has raised a total of $23.8 million. EU-Startups has more here.

Asset Class, a six-year-old New York startup that has built a CRM platform for private equity shops, VCs, and commercial lending firms, raised a $11.6 million Series A round led by Canapi Ventures, with additional participation from Live Oak Ventures, Plexus Capital, and Total Technology Ventures. The company has raised a total of $14.6 million. Silicon Republic has more here.

Sortera Alloys, a two-year-old startup based in Fort Wayne, In., that uses artificial intelligence imagery, data analytics, and advanced sensors to produce aluminum packages from shredded automobiles, raised a $10 million round led by Assembly Ventures, with Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Novelis also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $20 million. Recycling Today has more here.

Arise, a one-year old, New York-based virtual eating disorder and mental health care startup, has raised more than $4 million in seed funding co-led by Greycroft and BBG Ventures. Other participants in the round included Wireframe Ventures, among others. TechCrunch has more here.

Change, a 2.5-year-old, San Francisco-based online donation platform that's helping charities fundraise in crypto, has raised $5 million in seed funding co-led by Freestyle and NEA. TechCrunch has more here.

Intellect, a three-year-old, Singapore-based mental health startup that says its goal is to be available across the Asia-Pacific while ensuring localized, culturally-competent care in each of the markets it serves, has raised $10 million to extended Series A funding led by Tiger Global, bringing the round’s total to $20 million. Other investors in the extension round include K3 Ventures, JAFCO Asia, Singtel Innov8 and PERSOL Holdings along with earlier investors Insignia Ventures Partners and HOF Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Penny, a three-year-old outfit that launched out of Bristol, England that says it helps “thousands of British customers locate and consolidate” all their current and historical pension funds, has raised £4 million ($4.8 million) in seed funding led by Gradient Ventures. A handful of notable figures in the fintech world also joined the round, including Monzo founder Tom Blomfield and Payhawk cofounder and CEO Hristo Borisov. TechCrunch has more here.

Pique Action, a two-year-old Los Angeles startup that produces short-form videos to drive consumer behavior towards climate action, raised a $1 million pre-seed round led by Amasia; additional investors included Baruch Future Ventures and Fairbridge Park. Protocol has more here.

Quiltt, a two-year-old, Dallas-based outfit that sells its low-code fintech infrastructure to startups and other small businesses that want to create financial services for their customers, has raised $4 million in seed funding. The round, closed earlier this year but announced just now, was co-led by Greycroft and Newark Venture Partners, and included checks from Motivate Ventures, Abstraction Capital, Tectonic Capital and Bridge Investments. TechCrunch has more here.

Uprise, a 2.5-year-old, Bay Area-based private wealth management startup focused on Gen Z, has raised $1.4 million in pre-seed funding from institutional investors like Contrary Capital, Hustle Fund, On Deck and Dash Fund, along with a big group of individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.

Venture capital firms and their investors have realized that a fund administrator without best-in-class technology is no longer acceptable. But experienced firms also know that when it’s crunch time and that capital call needs to go out now, no technology can replace the need for an expert, highly responsive fund accountant working with you. Meet Juniper Square: the first technology-driven fund admin built for sophisticated venture capital firms.

Qiming Venture Partners, the 16-year-old, Shanghai, China-based venture firm, has raised $3.2 billion across two new funds, joining Sequoia China and IDG in locking up giant, new China-focused funds. It closed a $2.5 billion fund and also garnered roughly $700 million for a first closing of a yuan-denominated fund, both aimed at the technology, consumer and health-care sectors. Qiming now manages $9.4 billion across 18 funds, it says. Bloomberg has more here.

Valar Ventures, a 12-year-old, New York-based venture firm cofounded by Peter Thiel, has garnered $665 million in capital commitments for its eighth fund, per an SEC filing flagged earlier by Axios. More here. 

DoorDash will shutter Chowbotics, its robotic salad-maker arm, DoorDash confirmed to Restaurant Dive Friday. Chowbotics’ operations will cease on Aug. 31, just 18 months after DoorDash acquired it. Terms of the deal were never disclosed but Chowbotics was valued at $46 million in 2018, when it last raised money from its venture investors.

Bill Ackman is returning to investors the $4 billion he raised for his record-breaking special purpose acquisition company, in a blow to the billionaire hedge fund manager. In a letter to Pershing Square Tontine Holdings shareholders today, Ackman said the quick economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic had affected his ability to find a target. The Financial Times has more here.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said tonight that he thinks Donald Trump should, “hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.” Over the weekend, Trump called Elon Musk a “bullshit artist,” claiming that Musk said he voted for Trump in previous conversations between the two men. Musk tweeted to deny that claim and hit back at Trump a bit ago. CNBC has more here.

The once-buzzy virtual events platform Hopin, last valued at a $7.75 billion valuation, has laid off 29% of employees, or 242 people, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch over e-mail. The cuts come just four months after Hopin let go 12% of its workforce, at the time citing a goal of sustainable growth amid the changing market. More here.

Rivian Automotive is planning hundreds of layoffs to trim its workforce in areas where the electric-vehicle maker has grown too quickly, according to Bloomberg's sources. The cuts will reportedly focus on non-manufacturing roles and could be announced in the coming weeks, with an overall reduction of 5% of the company's 14,000 employees. More here.

India will surpass China in population next year, the United Nations projects. 

That said, in 2020 and 2021, the global population grew by less than 1% a year for the first time since 1950, with Europe’s total population actually falling during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the UN. More here.

Americans are canceling deals to buy homes at the highest rate since the start of the Covid pandemic. The share of sale agreements on existing homes canceled in June was just under 15% of all homes that went under contract, according to a new report from Redfin. That is the highest share since early 2020, when home-buying paused immediately, albeit briefly. Cancelations were at about 11% one year ago.

Mark MacGann, a career lobbyist who led Uber’s efforts to win over governments across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has come forward to identify himself as the source who leaked more than 124,000 company files to the Guardian. MacGann says he believes Uber knowingly flouted laws in dozens of countries and misled people about the benefits to drivers of the company’s gig-economy model.

Facebook is instructing its engineering managers to identify and weed out their lowest-performing employees as the company seeks to rein in costs. Its head of engineering, Maher Saba, sent a memo on Friday to managers urging them to identify anyone on their team who “needs support” and report them in an internal human resources system by 5 p.m. Pacific time today.

How Wish built (and fumbled) a dollar store for the internet.

Millennials share their very real fears about money. 

U.S. News & World Report has pulled Columbia University from its Best Colleges rankings over unanswered questions about the accuracy of the school's data.

Life lessons from Laura Wasser, divorce lawyer to the stars.

Text your friends!

Carroll Shelby called this the "best Ferrari I ever drove."  (Now it could fetch $30 million.)

Giant Coleman canopies. 

Mmm, mmm, mini-donut maker.

Inflation has surged in the US economy in recent months to over 8.5%, the highest level in 40 years and impacted the business environment across practically every industry. Public and private technology companies in particular have seen their valuations impacted. Allied Advisers developed this article to provide insights into how inflation impacts technology company valuations and what business executives can do to navigate this choppy environment, including suggestions to sustain growth momentum and earnings despite the inflation headwinds.