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Et tu, Credit Suisse? The 166-year-old institution is "fighting for its life after investors, fearing that the bank would run out of money, dumped its stock and sent the price of insuring its debt against a default skyrocketing," notes the New York Times. Setting off the panic this time: abrupt comments by chairman of the bank's biggest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, who said on Bloomberg TV that he would "absolutely not" invest beyond a certain threshold in Credit Suisse. It didn't help that
Credit Suisse identified "material weaknesses" in its financial reporting shortly after that. The Swiss National Bank is lending up to 50 billion Swiss francs, or about $54 billion, to Credit Suisse to counter concerns about its financial health, but it has signaled it will do more "if necessary." Meanwhile that Saudi Bank chairman is now saying that "everything is fine."
First Republic isn't out of the woods. The San Francisco-based rival to Silicon Valley Bank was just downgraded to a "junk" rating by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, so it's now "exploring strategic options" including a sale, according to Bloomberg's sources. Though First Republic and SVB competed for business, unlike SVB, which counted startups and venture firms among its biggest clients, First Republic has said that no sector represents more than 9% of total business deposits. So what's the problem? Both S&P Global Ratings and Moody's have flagged the growing risk of deposit withdrawals for First Republic and that it faces increased pressure on its profitability if it resorts to more expensive funding options than deposits. More here.
A lot of questions are being asked about Silicon Valley Bank, but another piece of the equation that remains unanswered is what happens to SVB Capital, a fund of funds with $8.8 billion in assets that have largely been plowed already into many of the bank's venture customers' funds. Accel, Sequoia Capital, Redpoint, Felicis, Ribbit Capital, Spark Capital -- they're all backed in part by the 30-plus-person team, which is led by John China, who formerly headed up technology banking for Silicon Valley Bank and became president of SVB Capital nearly four years ago; Julia Feldman, a former Goldman Sachs exec who is also helping to run the show, and Beau Laskey, a former investor with Steamboat Ventures who oversees the team's direct investments into startups.
A source tells us that just around 3% of SVB Capital's capital came from the bank. Will it now spin out into an independent entity? Will it sell its stakes to a variety of different buyers? Will someone come along and swallow it whole and does this prospect of new owners make VCs nervous about who might come to own a slice of their funds? We're trying to find out more for you; in the meantime, The Information has more detail on how much money SVB Capital has plugged into 10 venture firms between
2018 and last year.
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Lenskart, a 12-year-old eyewear outfit in India, has signed a definitive agreement to raise $500 million from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Some of the capital will be used to be primary shares; some will buy out earlier backers at the $4.5 billion valuation the company was assigned in July, when it raised $200 million in funding led by Alpha Wave Global. TechCrunch has more here.
Mediar Therapeutics, a four-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that is developing antibody treatments to to address fibrotic disease, raised an $85 million Series A round co-led by Novartis Venture Fund and Sofinnova Partners, with Pfizer Ventures, Mission BioCapital, Gimv, Pureos, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly & Co., Ono Venture Investment, and Mass General Brigham Ventures also piling on. The company has raised a total of $116.8 million. FierceBiotech has more here.
Stripe, the 13-year-old San Francisco-based payments processing giant, said today it has raised more than $6.5 billion at a $50 billion valuation. As Axios notes, it's more than the company expected to raise, but at a lower valuation. All proceeds will be used to help Stripe employees cover tax obligations related to the pending expiration of restricted stock units, plus to fund a new stock tender offer for current and former employees. (Eligible employees can sell up to 100% of their vested shares if they want.)
Backers in the round include GIC, Goldman Sachs Asset and Wealth Management and Temasek. Earlier investors Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, MSD Partners and Thrive Capital also participated. More here.
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| Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
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Apexx Global, a seven-year-old London startup whose platform offers merchants API access to payments providers and BNPL services, raised a $25 million Series B round. Previous investors MMC Ventures, Alliance Ventures, and Forward Partners participated in the deal. The company has raised a total of $37 million. PYMNTS.com has more here.
Carbonomy, a New York startup whose platform enables farms to earn carbon credits by adopting sustainable practices such as reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides and implementing renewable energy solutions, raised a $16 million Series A round at a $130 million valuation. Hedonova was the deal lead. More here.
Fount, a startup based in Culver City, Ca., that claims its programs combined with one-on-one coaching can optimize users' energy, longevity, fertility and more, raised a $12 million Series A round led by Amity Ventures, with Elysian Park Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Allen & Co., and Champion Hill Ventures also contributing. Axios has more here.
Graft, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to analyze text, images, video, audio, and graphs within an organization, raised a $15 million round. Radical Ventures led the transaction. Axios has more here.
Invenda, a six-year-old Swiss startup that has developed an operating system for vending machines, smart fridges, and micro-market kiosks, raised a $19 million Series B round led by Point Break Capital Management, with previous investor Mutschler Ventures also participating. The company has raised more than $30 million. Vending Marketwatch has more here.
Medwing, a six-year-old Berlin startup whose staffing platform matches hospitals and clinics with nurses and elderly caregivers, raised a $46.6 million Series C round. Investors included Northzone, Cathay Innovation, Cherry Ventures, Quadrille Capital, Atlantic Labs, Hambro Perks, and SVB Capital. The company has raised a total of $77.7 million. TechCrunch has more here.
OpenLoop, a three-year-old startup based in Des Moines, Ia., that provides tele-health services to all 50 states, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Nava Ventures, with UnityPoint Health Ventures, and PrimeTime Ventures as well as previous investors SpringTide Ventures and ManchesterStory also chipping in. HIT Consultant has more here.
SolarCycle, an Oakland, Ca.-based solar panel recycling company, has raised $30 million in Series A funding. Fifth Wall and HG Ventures led the round, and were joined by Prologis Ventures, Urban Innovation Fund, and Closed Loop Partners. Forbes has more here.
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Alex, a crypto startup that is building a decentralized exchange on Bitcoin, raised a $2.5 million round from Trust Machines and Gossamer Capital. The Block has more here.
Broom, a two-year-old Jakarta startup that wants to help used car dealers work more efficiently by applying an asset-backed lending model to their businesses, raised a $10 million pre-Series A round led by Openspace Ventures and including MUFG Innovation Partners and BRI Ventures as well as previous investors AC Venture and Quona Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
FrontM, a seven-year-old London startup that provides advanced communication between ship-shore teams, such as telehealth, video conferencing, remote assistance, and the tracking and monitoring of ships, raised a $1.5 million pre-Series A round. Jenson Funding Partners, Tradeworks.vc, and Motion Ventures were the co-leads. The company has raised a total of $3.7 million. Tech.eu has more here.
Mayan, a three-year-old Las Vegas startup that enables Amazon brands and sellers to optimize keyword expansion, campaign creation, and competitor targeting campaigns, raised a $5 million Series A round. Bright Pixel was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $7 million. More here.
Monitaur, a four-year-old Boston startup that helps businesses keep their documentation in one place in order to provide assurance to regulators, auditors, and customers that they are using AI properly, raised a $4.6 million round led by Cultivation Capital, with additional investment provided by Rockmont Partners, Presidio Ventures, Plug and Play, and Studio VC. The company has raised a total of $6.7 million. Fortune has more here.
One Impression, a five-year-old startup based in Gurgaon, India, that has built an influencer marketing platform spanning Indonesia, Dubai, Europe, and the U.S., raised a $10 million round. Krafton was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $11.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Upduo, a three-year-old San Francisco startup whose platform educates sales and retail workers through peer-to-peer learning practices, raised a $4 million seed round led by Impact Venture Capital and joined by Sky9. More here.
Zed, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based a code editor that says it's focused on “multiplayer” experiences, performance and a streamlined, minimalist design, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures. Root Ventures, Matchstick Ventures and V1.VC also joined the round, along with angel investors, including including Figma’s Dylan Field and GitHub’s Tom Preston Werner. TechCrunch has more here.
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| None-of-Your-Beeswax Fundings |
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Tilia, a one-year-old San Francisco spin-off of Linden Labs that has built a payment platform intended for gaming platforms, virtual world publishers, mobile application developers, and NFT providers, raised an undisclosed round. JPMorgan Payments and Dunamu led the deal. The company has raised a total of $22 million. TechCrunch has more here.
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Affinity spoke to investors at Menlo Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, and Nexa Partners for their tips to make outbound deal sourcing more efficient. Get their top 5 best practices in the dealmaker’s email playbook. Download your copy today.
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It was a good day for Ryan Reynolds. T-Mobile has acquired Mint Mobile, the nearly seven-year-old budget wireless provider backed by Reynolds, for $1.35 billion in a combination of 39% cash and 61% stock, the final purchase price being based on Mint’s performance during certain periods before and after the closing. Bloomberg reported that the two companies were talks dating back to early January; it noted then that Reynolds -- who is also Mint Mobile's spokesperson -- is believed to own 25% of Mint Mobile. TechCrunch has more here.
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More on Tim Mayopoulos, the person in charge of what remains of Silicon Valley Bank.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers stopped by CNN earlier tonight to weigh on the banking system and tell viewers, “I don't think this is a time for panic or alarm. This is not 2008, where people needed to be worried about whether they could get their money from the ATM machine. It absolutely is not that.”
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Crypto platform Anchorage Digital, based in California, has announced that it will lay off 20% of its workforce, equivalent to around 75 employees. The parent company of Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the country, said regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. played a role in its decision to cut staff, in addition "to broad macroeconomic challenges and crypto market volatility." CoinDesk has more here.
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The FDIC deposited $40 billion back into the U.S. Treasury General Account yesterday, reversing a $40 billion withdrawal on Friday as the regulator took control of Silicon Valley Bank, Treasury financial data released today and flagged by Reuters. More here.
Highway fatalities continue to rise, owing largely to distracted driving, with a reported 46,000 in the U.S. last year, up a stunning 22% from 2019. The L.A. Times has more here.
The Federal Trade Commission has finalized an order requiring "Fortnite" maker Epic Games to pay $245 million to consumers to settle charges that the company used dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases and let children rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement. More here.
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The Biden administration is demanding that TikTok’s Chinese owners sell their stakes in the video-sharing app or face a possible U.S. ban of the app, according to the WSJ. TikTok said today that a forced sale wouldn’t address the perceived security risk and has pledged to spend $1.5 billion on a program to safeguard U.S. user data and content from Chinese government access or influence. Either way, a resolution could be months away, notes the outlet.
Founders and key employees of the collapsed FTX group of crypto firms received $3.2 billion in payments and loans, mainly from trading house Alameda Research, according to court filings. The sum includes about $2.2 billion for Sam Bankman-Fried, the filings show.
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