A bookend to the SPAC blitz, Spotify's bet on audiobooks, and a favorite son returns to the venture fold

Federal antitrust enforcers are investigating Amazon's proposal to buy Roomba maker iRobot Corp, reports the WSJ. The Federal Trade Commission this week formally requested documents from both companies explaining the proposed $1.7 billion deal’s purpose and rationale, it says. More here.

Steel yourselves. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates again tomorrow. It will also release quarterly forecasts for inflation, the economy, and the future path of interest rates Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. CNBC has more here.

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Nearly three years ago, a special purpose acquisition vehicle (SPAC) spearheaded by investor Chamath Palihapitiya took the space tourism company Virgin Galactic public. It was the first human spaceflight company to trade on the NYSE — or any exchange, for that matter — and it was so successful that it almost immediately kicked off a SPAC frenzy.

The beauty of the mechanism, as Palihapitiya suggested to us last year, is that SPACs aren’t burdened by the same disclosures associated with the traditional initial public offering process. Whereas old-school IPOs are backwards looking and tell investors what a company has accomplished, a SPAC “actually allows you to raise a really large amount of money, to go to a broad base of institutional investors, and it allows you to tell them what you think the future can look like,” he said.

Still, the good times could only last so long. By late spring of last year, the frenzy cooled as the SEC introduced new accounting guidelines for SPACs and hinted that tougher rules were coming. By the time the broader stock market slump arrived this past March, prompted by rising inflation, SPACs were no longer seen as a panacea for taking private companies public. Related deals were instead seen as toxic to retail investors, many of whom lost money by investing in overly optimistic projections by companies that quickly fell short of their promises.

Now, in a kind of bookend for the era, Palihapitiya — who has raised money for 10 SPACs altogether — announced in a blog post today that he will wind down two SPACs that raised $460 million and $1.15 billion, respectively, after failing to find a suitable merger candidate for either.

You have to credit his timing. More here.

Innovafeed, a six-year-old Paris startup that operates vertical insect farms to create animal and plant food, raised a $250 million Series D round led by Qatar Investment Authority, with ADM, Cargill, Future French Champions, ABC Impact, IDIA Capital Inestissement, Grow Forward, and previous investors Creade and Temasek also piling on. TechCrunch has more here.

Sardine, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that uses behavioral, financial, and device-specific user data to detect fraud on behalf of its clients in the crypto and fintech industries, raised a $51.5 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional participation from XYZ, Nyca Partners, Sound Ventures, Activant Capital, isa, Google Ventures, Eric Schmidt, Vikram Pandit, The General Partnership, NAventures, ING Ventures, ConsenSys, Cross River Digital Ventures, Alloy Labs, and Uniswap Labs Ventures. The company has raised a total of $75.6 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Zenchef, a 12-year-old Paris startup that helps restaurants handle such functions as marketing, reservation and venue management, and website and digital menu management, raised a $50 million round from PSG Equity. The company has raised a total of $58.9 million. Tech.eu has more here.

4M Analytics, a three-year-old, Tel Aviv-based subsurface infrastructure mapping startup, says it has raised $30 million in funding that brings the total amount raised through its Series A round to $45 million. Insight Partners and ITI Venture Capital co-led the round, joined by earlier backers Viola Ventures and F2 Venture Capital. SiliconAngle has more here.

Calumino, an eight-year-old Sydney startup whose thermal sensing platform can be used to detect the presence of humans as well as environmental hazards, raised a $10.3 million Series A round co-led by Celesta Capital and Taronga Ventures and joined by Egis Technology. The company has raised a total of $19.2 million. BiometricUpdate.com has more here.

Datamaran, an eight-year-old London startup that helps companies assess ESG risks based on such factors as sector and geography, raised a $13.4 million Series B round led by Fortive, with American Electric Power also chipping in. More here.

Fondue, a one-year-old New York startup that enables brands to increase conversions by replacing coupon codes with extra store credits, gift cards, and cash, raised a $10.5 million seed round co-led by Quiet Capital and Hanaco Ventures, with additional participation from Infinity Ventures, Ground Up Ventures, Sugar Capital, Starting Line, R Squared Ventures, Gaingels, Verismo Ventures, Samsung Next, and JAM Fund. The company has raised a total of $10.5 million. More here.

JITX, a five-year-old, Berkeley, Ca.-based startup launched by three Berkeley alumni, has raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Funders Club and Liquid 2. The startup allows electrical engineers to write code in a programming language that it made expressly for them to aid in their design of circuit boards. TechCrunch has more here.

Mojo, a one-year-old New York startup that is launching a stock market app that enables fans to bet on their favorite players, raised $25 million in additional debt and equity, increasing the size of its Series A to $100 million. Equity investors in the extension included the NFL Players’ Association and Fin Capital, while TriplePoint Capital supplied the debt. We told you about this company back in March.

Pano, a San Francisco startup that seeks to provide fire departments with actionable intelligence and up-to-the minute situational awareness, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Initialized Capital, with Congruent Ventures, Convective Capital, DCVC, January Ventures, and Quiet Capital also chipping in. TechCrunch has more here.

Scratchpay, a six-year-old Pasadena, Ca., startup that provides financing services for veterinary care and human healthcare, raised a $35 million Series C round led by Norwest Venture Partners, with Alumni Ventures, Companion Fund, Struck Capital, SWS Venture Capital, and TT Capital also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $108 million. TechCrunch has more here.

SecurityPal, a two-year-old San Francisco startup whose platform helps corporate clients conduct security reviews, raised a $21 million Series A round. Craft Ventures was the lead investor. The company has raised a total of $20.8 million. More here.

Stashaway, a six-year-old Singapore startup that offers investment portfolios and wealth management services for both retail and accredited investors in Singapore, Malaysia, the Middle East, and North Africa, has raised $12.7 million "so far" in a Series D+ round. Investors in this tranche included Hamilton Lane, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India, and Eight Roads. The company has raised a total of $73.7 million. DealStreetAsia has more here.

Superb AI, a four-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based training data platform that automates data preparation at scale to make building and iterating on datasets quick and repeatable, has raised $16 million in Series B funding co-led by Korea Development Bank and earlier investor Premier Partners. Halla Group, the parent company of Tier 1 automotive parts maker Mando, also joined the round, as did previous backers Duke University and KT Investment. More here.

TroaTrip, a startup based in Portland, Or., whose travel planning and booking platform lets creators host adventures with their communities, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Madrona, with PSL Ventures, Oregon Venture Fund, Elevate Capital, and Portland Seed Fund also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

Yellow Card Financial, a six-year-old startup that has built a Pan-African cryptocurrency exchange, raised a $40 million Series B round led by Polychain Capital, with additional participation from Valar Ventures, Third Prime Ventures, Sozo Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Fabric Ventures, and DG Daiwa Ventures. The company has raised a total of $56.5 million. Forbes has more here.

Zartico, a three-year-old Salt Lake City startup whose platform provides analytics and visualizations to government-affiliated tourism boards, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Arthur Ventures, with Peterson Partners also chipping in. TechCrunch has more here.

Augment, a 14-month-old, Seattle-based startup focused around offering a kind of personalized AI assistant to customers (it was founded by Napster co-founder Jordan Ritter), is coming out of stealth today. It earlier, and very quietly, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Flying Fish and JAZZ Venture Partners, with participation from Incisive Ventures and the Allen Institute for AI. TechCrunch has more here.

Innovafeed, a Paris startup that operates vertical insect farms to create animal and plant food, raised a $250 million Series D round led by Qatar Investment Authority, with ADM, Cargill, Future French Champions, ABC Impact, IDIA Capital Investissement, Grow Forward, and previous investors Creade and Temasek also piling on. TechCrunch has more here.

Heru, a four-year-old Miami startup that streamlines the tax filing process and provides customers with insights into a financial transaction’s potential impact on their taxes, raised a $6 million seed round. Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI-focused venture fund) was the deal lead; additional investors included SOMA Capital, GFC, and Moving Capital as well as previous investors Flourish Ventures and Magma Partners. LatamList has more here.

Humankind, a one-year-old startup based in Santa Monica, Ca., that enables brands to connect consumers with product experts via SMS, raised a $4.2 million seed round. High Alpha Capital and Strand Equity were the co-leads. The company has raised a total of $6 million. More here.

Lynk, a Vancouver startup that says it enables small- to medium-size businesses the ability to own their own payment ecosystem without upfront fees, large cash reserves, or engineering costs, raised a $3 million seed round. Investors included Samsung Next, Plug and Play, Tribe Capital, Simplex Trading, and N49P. More here.

Operant Networks, a six-year-old startup based in Santa Rosa, Ca., that provides security for edge devices, raised a $3.8 million seed round led by Constellation Technology Ventures; additional investors included Thin Line Capital and Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures. SecurityWeek has more here.

Opto Investments, a New York startup co-founded by Joe Lonsdale that enables independent investment advisors to access private market investments, raised a $145 million Series A round at a $475 million valuation. The financing was led by Tiger Global, with participation from 8VC, FinVC, and HOF Capital. Bloomberg has more here.

Remedial Health, a two-year-old Nigerian startup that aims to make it easier for pharmacies to source pharmaceutical products from major manufacturers and distributors, raised a $4.4 million seed round led by Global Ventures, with additional investors including Tencent, YC, Cathexis Ventures, LightSpeed Venture Partners Scout Fund, Ventures Platform, Alumni Ventures, and True Capital Management. The company has raised a total of $5.4 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Rentle, a four-year-old Finnish startup that has built a commerce platform to help retailers meet their environmental goals, raised a $3.8 million seed round. Investors included Tera Ventures, Anthemis, Maki.c, Mission One Capital, and The Fund. The company has raised a total of $5.1 million. TFN has more here.

Respond.io, a five-year-old Kuala Lumpur startup that allows consumers to communicate with businesses via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Line, Viber, Telegram, and WeChat, raised a $7 million round led by Headline, with AltaIR Capital, Smart Partnership Capital, Sterling Oak Group, and Calendula Ventures also contributing. The company has raised a total of $8.8 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Satschel, a startup that leverages web3 technologies to help financial services companies comply with regulations, raised a $5.2 million seed round. Brand Foundry Ventures was the deal lead. The Block has more here.

Tres, a twenty-four-year-old Israeli startup that aggregates crypto data across different wallets, accounts, and platforms to enable crypto entities to better understand their financial position, raised a $7.6 million seed round led by Boldstart Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

TrueFoundry, a San Francisco startup that aims to help enterprises deploy machine learning models by automating repetitive tasks, raised a $2.3 million led by Sequoia India Surge, with funds also provided by Eniac Ventures and angels such as AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant. TechCrunch has more here.

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New York venture capital firm Lerer Hippeau today announced $230 million in new capital commitments across two new funds: LH Seed VIII, which focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage companies, and LH Select IV, which invests in companies from Series A to C. To help invest the capital, founding managing partner Ben Lerer has returned to the firm full-time after completing the sale of Group Nine Media to Vox Media earlier this year. He started Thrillist with Adam Rich in 2004, which later became Group Nine Media in 2016. The firm also promoted Graham Brown to managing partner. TechCrunch has more here.

Razor’s Edge Management, a venture firm focused on funding national-security startups, has closed a $340 million fund. The 12-year-old Reston, Va.-based firm said it is aiming to deploy the capital into startups helping the U.S. maintain technological superiority over its adversaries. TechCrunch has more here.

Web Summit, one of the world’s largest events centered around technology startups, is to launch a new venture unit consisting of two new funds with $40 million in capital commitments between them, says TechCrunch. The move follows an acrimonious fallout between Web Summit’s co-founders, who first started the now-defunct Amaranthine VC fund in 2018, in part to join the ballooning investment ecosystem that had grown up around the Web Summit events. More here.

Jackie Chen has joined the San Francisco-based venture firm Base10 as a senior associate. Chen was previously an investor with Silversmith Capital Partners. More here.

Beyond Meat said today it has indefinitely suspended its COO, Doug Ramsey, after he allegedly went completely bananas in a parking garage outside a University of Arkansas football game in Fayetteville.

Republican megadonor Peter Thiel is hosting a fundraiser at his Los Angeles home next week for Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters after GOP officials asked the tech mogul for more money heading into the final stretch of the November midterm elections. CNBC has more here.

London and Dublin-based Frontline Ventures is looking to add a Principal to its seed investing team. Apply here.

Amid declining sales and profits, Gap Inc is reportedly cutting 500 corporate jobs, mainly at Gap's offices in San Francisco and New York, as well as in Asia. The WSJ, which has the scoop, notes that retail sales have slowed dramatically from last year, as consumers spend less on apparel and homegoods and more on traveling and dining out.

In 2021, investors poured more than $12 billion into a new breed of start-ups focused on buying Amazon marketplace sellers. But the funding has mostly dried up, with dealmaking all but grinding to a halt as e-commerce growth stalls and investors grow wary.  Related companies have collected just $2 billion this year, and most of that came ahead of the stock market slump in March. The Financial Times has more here.

Salesforce says it is launching a marketplace for carbon credits that it says will tackle transparency and quality issues in the fast-growing field.

Spotify made the lucrative audiobook market more competitive today, when it debuted a new hub on its app with more than 300,000 titles, among them books by best-selling authors like Michelle Obama and Stephen King.

Hackers have stolen around $160 million worth of cryptocurrency from the London-based crypto market maker Wintermute, the company said today. Evgeny Gaevoy, the outfit's founder and CEO, wrote in a series of tweets that Wintermute — which counts Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pantera Capital and Fidelity’s Avon among its backers — remains solvent with “twice over that amount in equity left.” He assured lenders that if they wish to recall their loans, Wintermute will honor that. Meanwhile, the outfit has more than $200 million in outstanding DeFi debt to several counterparties, according to on-chain data cited by CoinDesk. 

The case of the disputed Lucian Freud.

Where it's easiest, and hardest, to vote in the U.S.

Should I bring anything for dinner tonight or just my crippling anxiety?

Peloton rowing machines (pricing starts at $3,195).

Gripper slippers.

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