California sues Amazon, VCs gamble on a startup's culture, and Patagonia's founder gives away the company

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard just gave away the company with the blessing of his family, including two children in their 40s. “It was important to them that they were not seen as the financial beneficiaries,” Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert tells the New York Times. “They felt very strongly about it. I know it can sound flippant, but they really embody this notion that every billionaire is a policy failure.” 

The family's stake in the company, valued at $3 billion, has been transferred "to a specially designed set of trusts and nonprofit organization . . . to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits — some $100 million a year — are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe," adds the Times. (We think this is outstanding, but it isn't clear how Patagonia now invests in the business. Maybe this will come out of the company's operating costs?) More here.

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Verkada, a six-year-old, maker of building security tools -- it sells video security cameras, door-based access control, environmental sensors, and alarms, all connected on a cloud-based platform -- just raised $205 million in Series D funding at what it says is a $3.2 billion valuation.

Altogether, Verkada has raised $360 million in funding, it says.

On the one hand, it's easy to appreciate what attracted investors like Linse Capital to Verkada's newest round, which also included Michael Dell’s MSD Partners, Sequoia Capital, Next47, Meritech Capital and Felicis Ventures.

Surveillance is a lucrative industry, and based on what Verkada says, since its previous funding round in 2020, it has quadrupled its headcount, adding more than 1,000 new employees; it has opened six new offices; and it has quadrupled its customer count to more than 13,000. Among the wide range of customers listed at its website is Virgin Hyperloop, the Hartford Police Department, and San Rafael City Schools in California.

But boy, did investors have to look away from a lot of alleged terribleness in order to keep funding the company with the same management team in place. Indeed, numerous reports in recent years (that have become surprisingly hard to find online) might easily have driven investors in the opposite direction.

More here.

Devialet, a 15-year-old Paris startup that designs high-end speakers of all shapes and sizes, raised roughly $50 million in funding. Investors included Crédit Mutuel Equity, Bpifrance, and an unnamed Asian industrial enterprise. The company has raised a total of $196 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Doodles, a one-year-old Vancouver startup that boasts a collection of 10,000 NFTs, raised a $54 million round at a $704 million valuation. The deal was led by Seven Seven Six; Acrew Capital, FTX Ventures, and 10T Holdings also participated. CoinDesk has more here.

Ethic, a seven-year-old New York startup that helps financial advisors create personal investment strategies for their clients, raised a $50 million Series C round led by Jordan Park, with UBS Next, Oak HC/FT, Nyca Partners, Sound Ventures, Urban Innovation Fund, and Kapor Capital also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $98.8 million. More here.

Fazz, a six-year-old startup based in Singapore that provides financial services to entities ranging from micro-businesses to large corporations, raised a $75 million Series C round. The syndicate included previous investors Tiger Global, DST Investment, B Capital, Insignia Ventures Partners, and ACE & Co. Lendable also provided $25 million in debt. The company has raised a total of $174.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Nile, an eight-year-old New York startup co-founded by ex-Cisco CEO John Chambers that claims to have created the first out-of-the-box Zero Trust network with no network operations required (each user and device is automatically segmented, and every request must be authenticated and evaluated before access is granted), raised a $125 million Series A round. Investors included March Capital, 8VC, Iconiq, and Chambers's firm JC2 Ventures. More here.

PearlX, a three-year-old, Virginia-based startup that has been installing solar panels and backup batteries at multifamily rentals in Texas and is moving into California next, has raised $70 million in Series B funding led by Swiss asset manager Lombard Odier. TechCrunch has more here.

Podimo, a three-year-old Copenhagen startup that operates a subscription service for podcasts and audiobooks, raised a $58.5 million round co-led by 83North, Highland Europe, and Saban Ventures, with Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker, Heartcore, and Headline also contributing to the deal. The company has raised a total of $173.2 million. TFN has more here.

SparingVision, a six-year-old Paris startup that is developing a mutation-agnostic gene therapy treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, raised a $74.8 million Series B round co-led by Jeito Capital and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Enterprise, with additional funds provided by Ysios Capital, 4Bio, Bpifrance, and the Foundation Fighting Blindness. The company has raised a total of $127.6 million. FierceBiotech has more here.

CertifyOS, a one-year-old New York startup that provides credentialing, licensing, enrollment, and network monitoring to payors, providers, health systems, and digital health companies via API, raised a $14.5 million Series A round led by General Catalyst, with additional participation from Upfront Ventures, Max Ventures, and Arkitekt Ventures. The company has raised a total of $19.1 million. The Economic Times has more here.

Codi, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based startups that provides its business customers with provides private offices (which they can rent on a flexible basis), has raised $16 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. TechCrunch has more here.

Cyebro, a nine-year-old Tel Aviv startup that monitors the security of its clients networks, raised a $40 million Series C round led by Koch Disruptive Technologies; additional investors included Elaia, Mangrove Capital Partners, Prytek, Bank Mizrachi, and InCapital Group. The company has raised a total of $61 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Dig, a five-year-old New Orleans startup that monitors clients’ data assets that reside in multi-cloud-based environments, raised a $34 million Series A round led by SignalFire, with Felicis and Okta Ventures also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Groundcover, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that has built a performance monitoring platform for cloud apps, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Zeev Ventures; also participating were Angular Ventures, Heavybit, and Jibe Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Hone, a 4.5-year-old, San Diego-based corporate learning platform, has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by 3L Capital, with participation from F-Prime Capital, Cowboy Ventures and Slack Fund. TechCrunch has more here.

HopSkipDrive, an eight-year-old Los Angeles-based vehicle-for-hire company that provides service to children, raised a $37 million Series D round. Participants in the deal included Energy Impact Partners, Keyframe Capital, FirstMark Capital, Alumni Ventures, and Transform Capital. The company has raised a total of $123.8 million. Dot.LA has more here.

InsideTracker, a 13-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that analyzes users’ blood samples and offers personalized recommendations, raised a $15 million Series B round led by PeakBridge, with Cornucopian Capital, OurCrowd, and previous investor BASF also ponying up. The company has raised a total of $18.2 million. SportTechie has more here.

Kafene, a three-year-old New York startup whose platform allows merchants to offer underbanked consumers a lease-to-own payment option, raised a $18 million Series B round led by Third Prime. The company has raised a total of $122 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Majority, a 3.5-year-old, Miami-based digital bank focused on immigrants, has raised $37.5 million in Series B funding, $30 million of which is in equity financing led by Valar Ventures and earlier investors, and the remaining $7.5 million in debt financing from an undisclosed U.S.-based commercial bank. TechCrunch has more here.

Monta, a two-year-old Copenhagen startup whose platform provides EV network information for both consumers and fleet owners, raised a $30 million round from Energize Ventures at a $155 million valuation. The company has raised a total of $53 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Nyshex, an eight-year-old New York startup whose platform connects shippers with ocean carriers, raised a $25 million Series B round led by Collate Capital, with Blumberg Capital, Goldman Sachs, and NewRoad Capital also opting in. The company has raised a total of $68.9 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Power, a New Delhi startup that enables clients to include customized credit card programs, targeted promotions, and personalized rewards in their existing mobile and web applications, raised a $16 million seed round plus $300 million in debt. The co-leads were Anthemis and Fin Capital, with additional investors including CRV, Financial Venture Studio, Dash Fund, and Plug & Play. TechCrunch has more here.

Sightfull, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that helps clients analyze business data to test and adjust their go-to-market strategies, raised an $18 million Series A round led by Dell Technologies Capital, with Norwest Venture Partners and Tiger Global also piling on. TechCrunch has more here.

Sigmoid, a nine-year-old, San Francisco-based startup helping firms in the U.S., U.K. and Europe comb through their data and derive better insights from it, has raised $12 million in a new funding led by Sequoia Capital India. The deal included a secondary shares purchase, the two tell TechCrunch. More here.

Soda Health, a one-year-old startup based in Bentonville, Ar., that aims to streamline how individuals are matched with supplemental benefits from their health insurance plans, raised a $25 million Series A round. Investors in the deal included Lightspeed Venture Partners, Define Ventures, and Qiming Ventures. The company has raised a total of $31 million. More here.

Standing Ovation, an eight-year-old Paris startup that aims to develop an animal-free casein (or protein) for use in cheese, raised a $12 million Series A round led by Astanor Ventures and joined by Peakbridge, Seventure Partners, Big Idea Ventures, and Good Startup. TechCrunch has more here.

Theom, a two-year-old San Francisco startup whose product is designed to help organizations secure data in the cloud and SaaS data stores, raised a $16.4 million seed round. Ridge Ventures and M12 co-led the deal. SecurityWeek has more here.

Arpeggi Labs, a new crypto startup focused on using blockchains to make music creation more collaborative, has scored $5.1 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm alongside a host of artists, including Steve Aoki, 3LAU and Wyclef Jean. TechCrunch has more here.

Bikky, a five-year-old New York startup that gives restaurant operators the ability to collect more data on their customers, including how many diners they serve and how frequently they return, raised a $5.25 million seed round. Investors included Equal Ventures, Gutter Capital, and Version One Ventures. The company has raised a total of $9.8 million. Restaurant Business has more here.

Cognitive3D, a seven-year-old Vancouver startup that is developing spatial analytics for immersive 3D environments such as virtual reality and the metaverse, raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Konvoy, with additional investors including Space Capital and Boost.vc. VentureBeat has more here.

Hopscotch, a New York startup that aims to make B2B payments easier for freelancers and small business owners, raised an $8 million seed round co-led by Greycroft and Inspired Capital, with New York Ventures, Remarkable Ventures, Watershed VC, and Cold Start also participating. BuiltinNYC has more here.

NeoCarbon, a one-year-old Berlin startup that is developing a device that can be used to retrofit industrial water cooling towers to capture CO₂, raised a $1.25 million round. PropTech1 and Speedinvest co-led the deal. TechCrunch has more here.

Phantom Neuro, a two-year-old startup based in Austin, Tex., that's developing a system involving implantable sensors, AI, and enabling software to offer unparalleled control of prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons, raised an additional $6 million in seed funding. Time BioVentures was the deal lead, while Risk & Return, LionBird Ventures, Draper Associates, and Breakout Ventures also participated. The company has raised a total of $9.5 million. More here.

Sender Wallet, a crypto startup whose wallet is integrated with 30 major projects in the NEAR ecosystem, raised a $4.5 million led by Pantera Capital, with additional participation from Crypto.com, Jump Capital, Amber Group, WOO Network, SevenX Ventures, Smrti Labs, D1 Ventures, Puzzle Ventures, Shima Capital, Eniac Ventures, and GFS Ventures. More here.

Thirdwave, a startup that aims to provide game developers and Web3 builders with a deeper understanding of the market through supplying them with blockchain data such as on-chain activity, customer data, social channel information, website analytics, and industry benchmarks, raised a $7 million seed round led by Framework Ventures; Animoca Brands, Play Ventures, Shima Capital, Hustle Fund, and Oceans Ventures also took part in the financing. Tech in Asia has more here.

Tract, a San Francisco-based startup whose online community invites kids teach kids through video in "safe, moderated" fashion, says the outfit, has raised $7 million in seed funding round led by NEA, with participation from Bill Tai (Sangha Capital), Anne Wojcicki (23&Me), Susan Wojcicki (YouTube), Marc Pincus (Zynga), Dan Rosensweig (Chegg), and numerous other funds. Tract's founder, notably, is Esther Wojcicki, a lifelong educator and mother to Anne and Susan. More here.

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Twilio today announced that it will lay off 11% of its workforce — between 800 and 900 people across its staff of over 7,800 — as the customer engagement platform looks to rein in costs during the broader economic downturn. TechCrunch has more here.

The flooding in Pakistan has displaced more than 33 million people, submerging vast areas of Pakistan that are likely to take months to dry out.

When Adam Neumann’s new rental-apartment startup recently received a $350 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the check came with an unusual catch, reports the WSJ. It says Neumann agreed to effectively hand over part of his real-estate holdings in return for the money. The report isn't shocking, considering that a16z is now a registered investment advisor and can invest in a much broader spectrum of assets than a venture firm. But there is a downside for Neumann, as the WSJ spells out. Says its report: "Now, if his new company were to fail, he stands to lose part of a real-estate mini-empire that he has spent more than two years assembling and that people familiar with the matter say is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars." More here.

California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, has filed a lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly anti-competitive pricing in violation of the California Unfair Competition Law and the Cartwright Act, California’s primary antitrust law. The complaint, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, accuses the company of contractually prohibiting third-party sellers from offering lower prices on platforms other than Amazon, forcing customers to pay artificially inflated prices online. California represents a relatively small portion of Amazon’s 300-million-strong customer base; an estimated 25 million customers live in the state. But as The New York Times notes, it could have a broad impact across the country if it succeeds. TechCrunch has more here.

Alexa may answer your questions with ads soon (sorry).

A sports media empire that runs on "good vibes only."

Emmys 2022: Red carpet photos.

Ferrari's long-awaited, very expensive ($390,195) Purosangue crossover has arrived. Just "please don't call it an SUV..." says CEO Benedetto Vigna, "It's a Ferrari."

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