Streaming services are coming to YouTube, Blackbird's billion-dollar haul, and Wall Street tucks and rolls

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points tomorrow but also signal it could begin to slow down the size of its rate hikes next month. CNBC has more here.

Twitter has frozen some employee access to internal tools used for content moderation and other policy enforcement, curbing the staff’s ability to clamp down on misinformation ahead of a major US election, reports Bloomberg. It adds that the scaled-back content moderation has raised concerns among employees on Twitter’s Trust and Safety team, who believe the company will be short-handed in enforcing policies in the run-up to the US midterm election on Nov. 8.

With the combined power of more than 40K on-demand expert call interviews and world-class expert call services, VCs say Tegus delivers “hands down the best ROI” during their research process. With access to the highest quality insights that drive improved idea generation and competitive edge, Tegus helps you excel in any market environment. Take the platform for a free test drive and accelerate your research and diligence today.

It’s hard to imagine committing to invest $500 million in someone’s vision for a company, only to watch that individual almost immediately try to distance himself from it. But Changpeng “CZ”
Zhao told an audience tonight at Web Summit in Lisbon that he wasn’t bothered when, after committing to invest $500 million in Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, Musk then tried for months to torpedo the deal.

First and foremost, suggested the founder and CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency platform, “When we invest in a deal, we’re very comfortable if the deal goes through. We’re very comfortable if the deal doesn’t go through. We always want to get to a point where we’re in that position.”

In fact, while, Zhao admitted that he was “honestly” a “little bit surprised” when the deal finally went through — Musk is “pretty hard guy for me to predict,” Zhao said with a laugh on stage — getting on board again as an investor and active user and web3 proponent was a no-brainer for “many different reasons,” he told interviewer Katie Prescott of The Times.

He said, for example, that Binance wants to be “completely supportive of free speech” because Binance’s great ambition is to “increase the freedom of money” and free speech, he said, is inextricably tied to the freedom of money.

Free speech is also paramount to Zhao as a founder who finds himself in the headlines and doesn’t always like what he reads. “Little guys like us,” said Zhao, whose personal fortune is estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, “have our followers. We can correct the news.” (Asked by Prescott if Zhao thought Twitter was constricted on this front previously, he said no.)

More here.

(Photo above: Farooq Salik/Entrepreneur Middle East)

Cover Genius, an eight-year-old startup that gives companies the ability to offer embedded insurance that is is bundled with the purchase of a product or service, raised a $70 million Series D round led by Dawn Capital, with Atlas Merchant Capital, GSquared, and King River Capital also taking part. The company has raised a total of $165.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.

HI-Bio (aka Human Immunology Biosciences), a one-year-old San Francisco startup that's developing drugs targeting dysfunctional immune systems in the hope or combating allergies and autoimmune and inflammatory illnesses, raised a $120 million round. Investors included Arch Ventures, Monograph Capital, Jeito Capital, and other unnamed institutional investors. FierceBiotech has more here.

Samsara Eco, an Australian startup that launched last year and uses enzyme-based technology to break down plastic into its core molecules, announced today it has raised $54 million AUD (about $34.7 million USD) in Series A funding. Investors in the round include Breakthrough Victoria, Temasek, Assembly Climate Capital, DCVC and INP Capital. Earlier backers Main Sequence, Woolworths Group’s W23 and Clean Energy Finance Corporation also joined the round, which will be used to build the company's first plastic recycling facility, with the target of full-scale production by 2023. TechCrunch has more here.

TouchBistro, a 12-year-old Toronto startup that has developed an iPad-based restaurant management platform, raised $109.9 million from Francisco Partners. The company has raised a total of $320.2 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Volocopter, an 11-year-old, Bruchsal, Germany-based startup building electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, has secured $182 million for the second signing of its Series E round. That’s on top of the $170 million Volocopter raised for the same round in March at a $1.87 billion post-money valuation. Neom came in this time as a lead investor alongside GLy Capital Management of Hong Kong, a Geely-backed private equity firm. TechCrunch has more here.

Fringe, a four-year-old, Richmond, Va.-based HR tech startup enabling companies to offer customizable perks and benefits to employees, today announced that it raised $17 million in a funding round led by Origin Ventures and Felton Group. TechCrunch has more here.

MedCrypt, a nearly seven-year-old, Encinitas, Ca.-based Y Combinator alum that provides software for anything the FDA would consider a medical device where cybersecurity could be a concern, from insulin pumps and heart rate monitors to AI-based radiology tools and autonomous robots, has raised $25 million in Series B funding. Intuitive Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Innovation co-led the round. TechCrunch has more here.

Qwick, a five-year-old Scottsdale, Az., startup that matches gig workers with hospitality jobs, raised a $40 million Series B round led by Tritium Partners; Album VC, Kickstart, Desert Angels, and Rise of the Rest Seed Fund also participated. The company has raised a total of $59.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Valera Health, a seven-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., startup that has developed a virtual mental health platform for high-acuity patients with serious mental illness and severe depression. raised a $44.5 million round led by Heritage Group. Other backers in the round include Cigna Ventures, Horizon Healthcare Services, and previous investors Windham Ventures, AXA Venture Partners, Aquiline Technology Partners, Trinnovate Ventures, Figure Eight Investments, Watershed VC, and Alsora Capital. The company has raised a total of $71.4 million. MobiHealthNews has more here.

AiPrise, a six-month-old, Bay Area-based KYC orchestration platform, has raised $2 milliion in seed investment funding. The round was led by Y Combinator and Okta Ventures, with participation from Restive Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, TwentyTwo Ventures, and Wedbush Ventures. More here.

Auto Motive Power, a New Delhi startup that makes battery management software for the micro-mobility, automotive, ride-sharing, drones, heavy industrial machinery industries, among others, raised a $4.3 million Series A extension at a $34 million pre-money valuation. (The total size of the Series A is now $11.1 million.) Investors included Hella Ventures and the Ecosystem Integrity Fund. Axios has more here.

Braavos, a Tel Aviv startup that has built has a StarkNet crypto wallet that it claims offers improved transaction speeds and lower fees, raised a $10 million round led by Pantera Capital, with Road Capital, BH Digital, DCVC, Crypto.com, Matrixport, and Starkware also pitching in. CoinDesk has more here.

Contraline, a seven-year-old Charlottesville, Va., startup that is developing a male contraceptive, raised a $7.2 million round. GV was the deal lead. TechCrunch has more here.

Decentro, a two-year-old Bangalore startup that offers banking and payments APIs that allow development of fintech products such as banking, payment cards, neobanking, and collections and payout services in a short period of time, raised a $4.7 million Series A round. Rapyd Ventures was the deal lead; Leonis VC and Uncorrelated Ventures also participated. The company has raised a total of $6.4 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Givingli, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that has built an online gifting service that lets users customize digital greetings and send gifts to anyone, raised a $10 million Series A round. Seven Seven Six led the deal. The company has raised a total of $14 million. TechCrunch has more here.

GoodShip, a Seattle startup that sells analytics software to shippers and trucking companies, raised a $2.4 million round led by FUSE and including Cercano Management, Flexport Fund, Innovation Endeavors, Sope Creek Capital, and Kindergarten Ventures. GeekWire has more here.

Haven, a two-year-old, Austin-based maker of mortgage servicing software tools, has raised $8 million ($13.5 million to date), led by Fifth Wall, with 1Sharpe, RWT Horizons and Fidelity participating. HousingWire has more here.

iink Payments, a startup based in Tampa, Fl., whose digital payments network expedites the disbursement of funds associated with multi-party property insurance claims, raised a $3 million seed round led by Grand Ventures, with additional participation from Springtime Ventures, Simplex Ventures, Motivate Venture Capital, and Green Egg Ventures. More here.

RakkaR Digital, a Singapore crypto startup founded this year that is developing a Fireblocks app that will allow users to transact and access digital assets on the go and obtain yield-generation services, raised a $10 million seed round from Siam Commercial Bank's SCB 10X unit. The Block has more here.

Retirable, a three-year-old, New York-based retirement planning startup that promises customers a dedicated advisor and products and services for investing, planning and spending, has raised $6 million in funding. Primary led the round, joined by Vestigo Ventures, Diagram, Portage and Primetime. TechCrunch has more here.

Rewind, a startup whose software records how a user interacts with his or her computer to create a searchable record aimed at helping remember things said in a meeting, for example, has raised $10 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company was founded by Dan Siroker, the co-founder and former chief executive of Optimizely. TechCrunch has more here.

RoboBurger, a three-year-old Jersey City, NJ, startup that claims its "fully autonomous" robot can grill, toast, add condiments, and assemble a fresh burger in about 4 minutes, raised a $10 million round from Promethean Investments. More here.

Software Defined Automation, a Boston startup whose software unifies different silos of factory automation processes, raised a $10 million seed round led by Insight Partners, with Baukunst VC, Fly Ventures, and First Momentum also contributing. More here.

SURI, a London startup that is developing a carbon-neutral sustainable sonic toothbrush, raised a $2.3 million seed round co-led by Hambro Perks and JamJar Investments. TFN has more here.

Vizit, an eight-year-old Boston startup that claims its AI software can help brands select the best images to drive conversions, raised a $10 million Series A round co-led by Infinity Ventures and Brand Foundry Ventures, with additional capital provided by eGateway Capital, Lakefront Partners, and Lubar & Co. Fortune has more here.

Affinity, the relationship intelligence platform for dealmakers, launches a report analyzing investment trends that point toward future unicorn status. While the impact of an economic downturn can’t easily be predicted, deal activity trends can help us better understand current conditions and future outlooks. In this U.S. vs. European Unicorn report, Affinity takes a comparative look at global investment data to understand how the landscape for investors and hopeful unicorns has evolved against economic challenges and the role relationship intelligence plays in these transactions. Read the report.

Blackbird Ventures, a 10-year-old, early-stage venture outfit whose most notable deal is the online graphic design giant Canva, has closed its newest fund with $1 billion in capital commitments from big superannuation funds and wealthy private investors. That makes the fund largest ever Australian venture capital fund, says Australia's Financial Review. More here.

Crypto-focused investment firm CoinFund -- joined last year by veteran Venrock investor David Pakman -- is looking to raise $250 million for seed investments, according to new SEC filings first spied by CoinDesk. The filings come less than three months after the firm announced a $300 million venture capital fund, a notably short turnaround time during a bear market, the outlet notes.

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to buy Abiomed a publicly traded, Danvers, Ma.-based heart pump maker, for around $16.6 billion in cash. The deal is J&J's largest in more than five years and bolsters its portfolio ahead of its consumer health unit spinoff. Abiomed develops technology that treats coronary artery disease and heart failure. That includes heart pumps that are used for patients with severe coronary artery disease. Boston Globe has more here.

London-based private equity firm Cinven has announced plans to acquire online tax preparation software provider TaxAct in an all-cash deal worth around $720 million. Cinven invested an undisclosed amount in another tax preparation software company called Drake Software back in 2021, with Cinven now planning to push both Drake and TaxAct together into a new holding company that will serve as a single entity spanning professionals and consumers. TechCrunch has more here.

Perkins Coie has snagged Kluk Faber Law, a 12-lawyer, New York-based venture capital boutique. This is the first time Perkins Coie will have emerging company and venture capital personnel on the ground on the East Coast. Law.com has more here.

Victoria’s Secret said today it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 11-year-old Adore Me, a lingerie startup known for its wide array of sizes, for $400 million in cash. The move comes as Victoria’s Secret aims to become more inclusive and diversify beyond its sexy image of come-hither lingerie. Adore Me serves more than 1.2 million active customers, reports CNBC. More here.

With funding tight, acquisitions in the buy-now-pay-later space have started to heat up. The latest company to join the fray is VMG and Forerunner Ventures-backed Ampla Technologies, which offers financing for consumer brands. The company just bought Upside Financing, a startup that extends financing to other companies that need to pay for their inventory purchase orders. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed. Business Insider has more here.

As reported by the FT, Jack Dorsey has rolled his entire stake of Twitter shares, worth nearly $1 billion at the buyout price of $54.20, into the company now controlled by Elon Musk. Regulatory filings show Dorsey, who was Twitter’s chief executive until late last year, rolled over some 18 million shares into the private company, making him one of its biggest shareholder.

At least five top Twitter executives — including the chief marketing officer Leslie Berland, along with Twitter's chief customer officer, Sarah Personette; its head of people and diversity; and its head of product — have departed the company in recent days, according to the New York Times. More here.

Mike Rothenberg, the venture capitalist once described as Silicon Valley’s “party animal,” now is fighting to stay out of prison. In a criminal trial in Oakland, Ca., that began yesterday, Rothenberg faces charges of fraudulent conduct and making false statements that federal prosecutors say helped him misappropriate almost $19 million. He's accused of lying to banks about his wealth while trying to obtain loans and taking fees beyond what investors agreed to. Bloomberg has the story here.

Streaming services are coming to YouTube.

It appears that the current tranche of stock-based compensation for many Twitter employees, who were there before Musk took over, will get paid out after all. According to employees at the company and internal communications viewed by CNBC, newly vesting shares are expected to be paid in the first half of November, starting as early as Nov. 4. More here.

Why are people weird about only children?

More terrible living room design mistakes to avoid.

This fashion trend is cool again. Oh, sorry, now it's uncool again.

Google is offering a pair of Nest audio speakers today for $89.

Sleeping bag puffer pants.