Adobe's big deal, Uber's "total compromise," and a controversial tech figure aligns himself with Kanye West

Adobe has agreed to buy collaboration-software company Figma for around $20 billion in roughly half cash and half stock. Eleven-year-old Figma was last valued at around $10 billion in June 2021, according to PitchBook. The WSJ notes that the deal is Adobe's biggest ever; meanwhile, The Information notes that it's the biggest acquisition of any private technology company ever announced, according to Qatalyst Partners, which represented Figma. (The asterisk here, notes The Information, is that Facebook’s acquisition of messaging app WhatsApp, initially struck at a cash-and-stock deal worth $19 billion, closed with a final price tag of $22 billion.) 

Adobe *really* wanted Figma, clearly, paying 50 times the $400 million in annual recurring revenue that Figma is projected to hit by year end. Whether antitrust authorities will be as enthusiastic is an open question, notes TechCrunch. Adobe will also need to win over shareholders, who are worried about the sales climate for the company and who seem to think this deal stinks. Shares of Adobe sank 17% today, their biggest plunge since 2010, on the news.

Figma investors, meanwhile, are delighted!

Figma had raised around $333 million altogether, per Crunchbase data. Index Ventures led its seed round. Greylock co-led its Series B round with Kleiner Perkins. Sequoia Capital came in to lead the Series C round, followed by Andreessen Horowitz, which led its D round. And Durable Capital Partners (founded by Henry Ellenbogen, long of T. Rowe Price) led its Series E last year. 

Others of Figma's many investors included Haystack, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, LocalGlobe, Iconic Capital,  Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, former LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, investor Terrence Rohan, Coatue, Founders Fund, and Morgan Stanley (through its Counterpoint Global group). 

More here and here and here and here.

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Shervin Pishevar, an investor who left Silicon Valley for Miami after being accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women in 2017, has resurfaced in a role that will seem familiar to anyone who has tracked his career. According to a new report, Pishevar is now "vice chairman" of Yeezy, the consumer brand controlled by Kanye West, who legally changed his name to Ye last year.

In a Fox Business piece today about Ye's decision to end his relationship with the Gap (he terminated their partnership early and plans to launch his own retail stores), Pishevar was quoted as an executive speaking on Ye's behalf, saying: "There is only one Ye . . . His fingerprints are all over our modern lives, our culture, our clothes, our devices, our music. His influence has changed the very design of our modern lives, and only one other person who I can think of has that ability, and that was Steve Jobs."

While there's no doubt that Ye is the ultimate influencer, Pishevar has never been at a loss for often grandiose language, as longtime industry watchers will know.

He is also known for hitching his wagon to power players, and for flexing his own attendant power -- sometimes in unsettling ways.

A serial entrepreneur who sold a mobile social games company in 2011 for an undisclosed amount, Pishevar joined Menlo Ventures later that same year, persuading the firm to lead the Series B round of Uber. With Uber's star on the rise, Pishevar -- a self-promoter who has said he put $4 million of his own money into the company -- became a kind of de facto spokesman for the firm, routinely tweeting about his relationship to then-CEO Travis Kalanick (he continues to do this) and, less than three years later, using his fast-accruing wealth to cofound his own venture firm, Sherpa Capital.

Things were very much going Pishevar's way -- he was attracting more and bigger stories about himself all the time in the media -- until one of his projects, Hyperloop One, backfired in a big way, with a lawsuit filed by his cofounder in the endeavor accusing Pishevar of nepotism and worse. (One of the most salacious claims made by the cofounder was that Pishevar's brother, brought aboard as the company’s high-paid general counsel, threatened the cofounder by leaving a noose on his chair.)

More here.

Portofino Technologies, a one-year-old startup based in Zug, Switzerland, that aims to offer liquidity on cryptocurrency exchanges and provide services to institutions and web3 projects that require digital asset liquidity, raised a $50+ million round. Investors included from Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Coatue. Tech.eu has more here.

Ratio, a one-year-old startup based in San Mateo, Ca., that offers BNPL services to SaaS businesses, raised $411 million (an $11 million equity round and a $400 million credit facility). Investors in the equity round included Streamlined Ventures, Cervin Ventures, 8-Bit Capital, and HoneyStone Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Zesty, a three-year-old Tel Aviv startup that attempts to minimize their clients' cloud expenditures by automatically scaling resources (e.g. CPU cores, hard drives) to meet app demands in real time, raised a $75 million Series B round co-led by B Capital and Sapphire Ventures. Other backers included Next47 and S-Capital. The company has raised a total of $117.2 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Alcatraz AI, a six-year-old, Cupertino, Ca.-based company focused on autonomous access control using 3D facial authentication and AI, has raised a $25 million Series A round. Almaz Capital led the round, joined by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Endeavor Catalyst, Silverline Capital, and Golden Seeds, along with earlier backers. More here.

Benivo, a twelve-year-old London startup that uses AI to automate and predictive analytics to help HR departments manage and monitor staff that relocate or work remotely, raised a $12 million round. Updata Partners was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $30 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Chameleon, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that provides low- and no-code tools designed to help software companies personalize the appearance of their apps, raised a $13 million Series A round led by Matrix Partners, with True Ventures and assorted angels also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $14.8 million. TechCrunch has more here.

ClearMotion, a 13-year-old Boston startup that is using actuators and software to smooth out car rides as well as create an immersive 4D entertainment experience inside the car, raised a $39 million round led by NIO Capital. Other backers in the round included BAI Capital, Franklin Templeton, NewView Capital, and Acadia Woods Partners. The company has raised a total of $317.8 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Denim, a seven-year-old Des Moines startup whose platform provides freight brokers with tools to handle broker invoicing, collections and payments, and access to debt financing, raised a $126 million Series B round ($26 million in equity, $100 million in debt). Pelion Venture Partners was the deal lead; additional investors included Crosslink Capital, Anthemis, Trucks VC, FJ Labs, Tribeca Early Stage Partners, and Refashiond Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Diamond Standard, a four-year-old New York startup that allows investors to buy shares in diamonds via blockchain technology, raised a $30 million round co-led by Left Lane Capital and Horizon Kinetics; Gaingels and Republic.co also participated. The company has raised a total of $54 million. FinTech Global has more here.

Gameto, a two-year-old, New York-based biotech startup using cell engineering to develop therapeutics for diseases of the female reproductive system, has raised $17 million in fresh funding from a mix of new and earlier investors, including Insight Partners, Future Ventures, Arcadia Investment Partners, Bold Capital Partners, Plum Alley, Myelin VC, TA Ventures, Gaingels, Korify Capital, and others. We told you about Gameto -- which has now raised $40 million altogether -- earlier this year. 

HICX, an 18-year-old London startup whose SaaS-based low-code platform that gives companies a single channel for onboarding new suppliers, raised a $30 million round. The co-leads were Wavecrest Growth Partners and Espresso Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

InsightFinder, a seven-year-old startup based in Durham, N.C., that claims to have developed a platform that algorithmically predicts IT infrastructure issues and attempts to automatically resolve them, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Silicon Valley Future Capital, with additional participation from Yu Galaxy, Acadia Woods Partners, Eight Roads Ventures, Eastlink Capital, Fellows Fund, IDEA Fund Partners, and Triangle Tweener Fund. TechCrunch has more here.

Iontra, a nine-year-old Denver startup that claims its technology can increase charge speeds and lifetimes of existing battery products by over 2x, raised a $38 million Series B round led by Volta Energy Technologies; Flag Group also contributed to the round. The company has raised a total of $44.5 million. TFN has more here.

Kojo, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that aims to help construction companies in the U.S. manage their materials supply chains, raised a $39 million Series C round led by Battery Ventures, with Schneider Electric, RXR, Bienville Capital, 8VC, Suffolk Construction, Human Capital, AME, and BoxGroup also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $83.6 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Magna, an eight-month-old, New York-based token management platform, says it has raised $15.2 million in seed funding led by Tiger Global and Tusk Venture Partners. Other investors in the round include Circle Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Asymmetric, Alchemy Ventures, Solana Ventures, and many (many) others. CoinDesk has more here.

Morpheus Space, a four-year-old Los Angeles startup that has created a modular satellite propulsion system integrated with intelligent software to enable in-space mobility, raised a $28 million Series A round led by Alpine Space Ventures, with additional investment from Morpheus Ventures, Vsquared Ventures, Lavrock Ventures, Airbus Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Pallas Ventures, and Techstars Ventures. The company has raised a total of $29.6 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Next Level Burger, an eight-year-old startup based in Bend, Or., that operates a plant-based fast-food chain offering traditional burgers, shakes, and fries, raised a $20 million round; investors included Alex Payne and Nicole Brodeur. Restaurant Business has more here.

Payall, a seven-year-old Miami startup that styles itself as the first-ever bank processor for cross-border payments and international money transfers, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Motivate VC, PS27 Ventures, Bridgeport Partners, RRE Ventures, and Transcard also participating. More here.

Planck, a six-year-old data platform for commercial insurance (the idea is to increase premiums while reducing loss and expense ratios), has raised $23 million in funding led by Vintage Investment Partners. The outfit has now raised $71 million altogether. More here.

Polywork, a two-year-old, New York-based professional network designed to connect individuals on opportunities outside their day jobs, from speaking on podcasts, to partnering on side projects and speaking at events, has raised $28 million in Series B funding. Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman led the round, joined by Caffeinated Capital and a mix of other new and earlier investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Bungalow Capital, investor Elad Gil and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo. TechCrunch has more here.

ZwitterCo, a four-year-old, Woburn, Ma.-based outfit whose chemically engineered water filtration system aims to help large farms and industrial processors recycle their wastewater, raised $33 million in Series A funding led by DCVC. CNBC has more here.

Allocations, a three-year-old, Miami-based alternative investment platform, has raised $5 million in funding from Flex Capital, Genesis Accel, Digital Horizon, Whatif Ventures, Garage Syndicate, and W5 Group, among others. The round brings the startup's total funding raised to $12 million, it says. TechCrunch has more here.

AOA Dx, a three-year-old Boston startup that is developing a liquid biopsy assay for early detection of ovarian cancer, raised a $7 million round from Avestria Ventures, AlleyCorp, The Helm, RH Capital, Olive Tree Capital, and Tencent. Femtech Insider has more here.

Bloom Community, a two-year-old Oakland startup that provides an app that helps members of queer and ethically non-monogamous communities build connections and relationships and find events, raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Tuesday Capital. More here.

Bluesky, a Menlo Park, Ca., startup founded this year whose platform helps clients manage their Snowflake data spend, raised an $8.8 million seed round led by Greylock with several industry angels also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

Composer Technologies, a Toronto startup that has created a no-code algorithmic trading interface for retail investors, raised a $6 million round led by Left Lane Capital, with First Round Capital, AVG Basecamp, Draft Ventures, and Not Boring Capital also joining in. The company has raised a total of $11 million. Traders Magazine has more here.

Dope Security, a one-year-old San Francisco startup whose aim is to to modernize secure web gateways, raised a $4 million round. The deal lead was Boldstart Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Far Homes, a Seattle startup founded this year that is focused on simplifying the process of buying and selling real estate in foreign markets, raised $2.25 million led by PSL Ventures, with participation from Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman and DoorDash co-founder Evan Moore. GeekWire has more here.

FindMine, an eight-year-old New York startup that uses predictive intelligence and merchant sales data to help brands predict trends and manage inventory levels and create content across company websites, campaigns, social media, emails and in stores. raised a $9.9 million seed round. XSeed Capital and Underscore VC co-led the deal. The company has raised a total of $15.3 million. WWD has more here.

Leoparda Electric, a four-month-old, Brazil-based startup that's building a regional swappable battery network that will cater to electric motorcycle owners, has raised $8.5 million in its first funding round. Monashees co-led the round with Construct Capital (the U.S. fund run by VCs Dayna Grayson and Rachel Holt). Marcelo Claure -- who launched SoftBank in Latin America and resigned from his role with the Japanese conglomerate late last year over a pay dispute --  also invested via Claure Capital. Auto Industria has more here.

SavvyFi, a Nashville startup whose fintech platform enables employers to provide college savings and student loan benefits to their employees, raised a $4.9 million Series A round. Aligned Partners was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $4.9 million. More here.

Smitten, a Reykjavík startup whose dating app allows participants to play games with each other, raised a $10 million Series A round. Investors in the deal included Makers Fund, Possible Ventures, and Wonder Invest. VentureBeat has more here.

WhiteLab Genomics, a three-year-old Paris startup that is developing genomics medicines through the use of AI, raised a $10 million round co-led by Omnes Capital and Debiopharm. More here.

Valve, a three-year-old London startup that provides commercial real estate brokers with sales, marketing, and distribution infrastructure in order to connect them with businesses in need of flexible workspaces, raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Project A with additional participation from Discovery Ventures. finLedger has more here.

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SoftBank is (somehow?) weighing a third Vision Fund.

Apple has overtaken Tesla as the most-shorted stock.

FedEx said its quarterly revenue fell below its expectations, and it is closing offices and parking aircraft to offset declining volumes of packages moving around the world. “People are buying less. They are paying more for air travel and other experiences,” Satish Jindel, president of research firm SJ Consulting Group, tells the WSJ.

Uber discovered its computer network had been breached today, with the company reportedly taking several of its internal communications and engineering systems offline as it investigates the extent of the hack. “They pretty much have full access to Uber,” Sam Curry, a security engineer in touch with the person who claimed responsibility for the breach, tells the New York Times. “This is a total compromise, from what it looks like.”

Ethereum's long-awaited "merge" reaches the finish line. Now, its model could trigger securities laws, however. 

TikTok (which is expanding its presence in the Bay Area) launched a new feature today that is essentially a copy of BeReal, the buzzy French social app that’s been steadily gaining popularity. 

By early next year, Amazon will let brands and merchants send marketing emails to shoppers, a bid to boost sales that will presumably annoy customers. So why do it? Because "online sales have slowed from their pandemic highs, and antitrust investigators are probing the power Amazon holds over millions of third-party vendors," notes Bloomberg. More here.

A sushi star arrives at Grand Central Station.

Contemplating the school drop-off outfit.

AllBirds, the sneaker maker that says it's focused on sustainability, just rolled out a silhouette called the Pacer. It's not up our alley, but we're often dressed in 20-year-old sweatpants, so you might look elsewhere for fashion advice.

Slack’s Stewart Butterfield and Away’s Jen Rubio have listed their San Francisco Victorian for $19.8 million.

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