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May 26, 2020
Tuesday! Welcome back.:)
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Top News
Twitter today refuted inaccuracies in Donald Trump's tweets for the first time. The social media company added links late this afternoon to two of his tweets in which he had posted about mail-in ballots, claiming they would cause the November presidential election to be “rigged.” The links urged people to “get the facts” about voting by mail. (More here.) Reacting to Twitter’s decision to label two of his tweets, Trump attacked the company, repeated his claims, and threatened the company with unspecified retaliation. More here.
Meanwhile, According to a new report in the WSJ, Facebook internally studied how it polarizes users, research that showed its algorithms exploit the human brain’s attraction to divisiveness . . . then it largely shelved the research.
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Why Automattic Aims to Pays Its Employees the Same Across Geographies
A growing number of tech companies is telling their employees they can work from anywhere, even after this pandemic has passed. A looming question, however, is how.
Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees that Facebook will adjust the pay of those who choose to move out of the Bay Area and work in different, presumably less expensive, geographies. But others figuring out their own remote-work strategies might also look to Automattic, the now 15-year-old, heavily venture-backed company that is parent to the publishing platform WordPress; the platform for discovering long-form writing content, Longreads; the comment-filtering service Akismet; and, as of last year, the former social media giant Tumblr; among other businesses.
Automattic, which now employs more than 1,000 employees, has been nearly fully distributed from its founding days and became entirely so in 2017, when the company shut its San Francisco office and told employees they could work from wherever they choose. At the time, founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg told Quartz that most employees were already opting not to come into the coworking space it was providing, so it reasoned its money could be better spent elsewhere.
Because Automattic has always proudly shared its remote-work playbook — including giving employees a stipend to set up their home offices and paying for travel — we couldn’t help but wonder how it pays its those employees and whether there might be lessons for companies now moving toward a more dispersed future, too. Here’s what we learned from Mullenweg, who answered our related questions via email over the weekend.
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Massive Fundings
Apeel Sciences, an eight-year-old, Santa Barbara, Ca.-based developer of food-based coatings to extend produce freshness, just raised $250 million in Series D funding. GIC led the round, joined by Tao Capital Partners, Rock Creek Group and earlier backers Viking Global Investors and Upfront Ventures. Oprah Winfrey and Katy Perry also joined the round. TechCrunch has more here.
BigBasket, a nearly nine-year-old, Bengaluru, India-based online grocer, has reportedly hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to help it raise between $150 million and $200 million in new funding. According to Crunchbase, the company has raised $1.1 billion from investors to date. Livemint has more here.
Bluecore, a seven-year-old, New York-based maker of AI-based marketing automation tools used by online brands, has raised $50 million in Series D funding from earlier backers Georgian Partners, FirstMark and Norwest Venture Partners. The company has now raised $110 million to date. TechCrunch has more here.
Bolt, an Estonia-based rival to Uber that was formerly known as Taxify, has raised €100 million ($109 million) in convertible notes, valuing it at €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion). Naya Capital Management, an earlier backer, is the investor. The company has now raised more than €300 million including debt and equity. TechCrunch has more here.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a three-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based company aiming to build a compact fusion power plant based on the ARC tokamak concept, has raised $84 million in Series A2 funding. Temasek led the round, joined by Equinor and Devonshire Investors. Bloomberg has more here.
Exscientia, an eight-year-old, U.K.-based AI drug discovery company, has raised $60 million in Series C funding. Novo Holdings led the round, joined by Evotec, Bristol Myers Squibb, and GT Healthcare Capital. Tech.eu has more here.
Insitro, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based machine-learning driven drug discovery platform founded by Daphne Koller, has raised $143 million in Series B funding. Previous investor Andreessen Horowitz led the round, joined by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, T. Rowe Price Associates, BlackRock, Casdin Capital, HOF Capital, and WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund. Koller, who previously cofounded the online education company Coursera, spoke at a StrictlyVC event last May. More here.
Scandit, an 11-year-old, Zurich, Switzerland-based enterprise barcode scanner company, has raised $80 million in Series C funding. G2VP led the round, joined by Atomico, GV, Kreos, NGP Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and Swisscom Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
CalciMedica, a 13-year-old, La Jolla, Ca.-based clinical-stage biotechnology company treating acute and severe inflammatory diseases, has raised $15 million in Series C funding. Valence Life Sciences led the round, joined by Bering Capital, Mesa Verde Venture Partners and earlier investor Sanderling Ventures. More here.
Fundbox, an eight-year-old, San Francisco-based startup focused on technology for business-to-business payments, has raised $20 million in additional Series C funding from MUFG Innovation Partners, the corporate venture capital arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Fundbox had announced back in September that it had locked down $176 million in equity and a separate, $150 million credit line. Calcalist has more here.
GoBear, a five-year-old, Singapore-based fintech that works with banks and insurance providers that it helps to judge lending risk based on alternative sources of data, has raised $17 million from earlier backers Walvis Participaties, a Dutch venture capital firm, and Aegon N.V., a life insurance and asset management provider. The funding brings GoBear’s total funding to $97 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Medwing, a three-year-old, Berlin, Germany-based job matching platform for healthcare workers, has raised €28 million ($30 million) in Series B funding. Cathay Innovation led the round, joined by Northzone, Cherry Ventures, and Atlantic Labs. TechCrunch has more here.
Milkman, a five-year-old, Milan, Italy-based last-mile logistics platform, has raised €25 million ($27.3 million) in funding. Investors include Poste Italiane, P101 sgr, Italia500, Vertis and 360 Capital. Tech.eu has more here.
Oncology Analytics, an 11-year-old, Atlanta, Ga.-based data analytics platform for oncology, has raised $28 million in Series C funding. Baird Capital led the round, joined by Oak HC/FT, McKesson Ventures, and The Blue Venture Fund. American
Platform Science, a six-year-old, La Jolla, Ca.-based company whose software lets trucking operators add a customized mix of third-party software and connectivity services without having to install an array of aftermarket hardware, has raised $42 million in Series B funding. Prologis led the round, with participation from Daimler, 8VC, NewRoad Capital Partners, Schematic Ventures, and Cambridge Capital. The WSJ has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Curu, a 3.5-year-old, Denver, Co.-based automated lead recovery service that's focused on helping lenders fund more loans by quickly building their applicant's eligibility, has raised $3 million in seed funding. Vestigo Ventures led the round, with participation from Harlem Capital, Matchstick Ventures, Carolina Fintech Ventures, Techstars Ventures, Holt Accelerator, Chingona Ventures, and Upscale Fund. More here.
Datch, a two-year-old, Santa Monica, Ca.-based intelligent voice interface for industrial environments, has raised $3.2 million in seed funding. Blue Bear Capital led the round, joined by Stage Venture Partners, Tuhua Ventures, Lorimer Ventures, Predictive Venture Partners, and Plug and Play Ventures. More here.
Looking Glass Factory, a nearly six-year-old, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based developer of 3D holographic display tech, has raised $7.5 million in new funding, shows a new SEC filing first flagged by Axios. Backers include Foundry Group and Uncork Capital. More here.
Spectrm, a four-year-old, Berlin-based conversational marketing platform that powers chatbots, has raised $3 million in seed funding from Runa Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Thriva, a nearly five-year-old, London-based at-home blood-testing startup focused on customers who more about their bodies, has raised £4 million in extended Series A funding from Target Global. The company has now raised £11 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
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IPOs
Reliance Industries is prepping a public offering of its digital and wireless business, Jio Platforms, after it raised more than $10 billion from American companies in less than a month, reports the Times of India. The conglomerate, backed by Mukesh Ambani, could stage the offering within the next 12 to 24 months, according to its report, which says no listing venue has yet been chosen. More here.
Five-year-old Burning Rock Biotech on Friday filed for a U.S. IPO, making it the latest Chinese firm to opt for an American listing amid tighter rules by lawmakers. The firm, which focuses on precision oncology and early cancer detection, set a placeholder amount of $100 million and did not specify the size of its offering. Reuters has more here.
Pliant Therapeutics, a five-year-old, South San Francisco-based developer of fibrosis treatments, set IPO terms to 6 million shares at $14 to $16. The company has raised over $280 million in venture funding and counts Third Rock Ventures as its biggest shareholder, with a roughly one-third stake in the company. According to Reuters, Pliant plans to use $70 million in IPO proceeds to fund clinical development of its lead product candidate. More here.
Vaxcyte, a seven-year-old, Foster City, Ca.-based developer of pneumococcal vaccines that was formerly known as SutroVax, has registered plans to go public with what appears to be a placeholder amount. The company had filed confidentially back in October. Its shareholders include Abingworth, Longitude Venture Partners, TPG, Frazier Life Sciences, Pivotal bioVentures, Janus Henderson, and RA Capital Management. According to Crunchbase, it has raised at least $277 million in funding to date. More here.
Warner Music Group, the music recording and publishing company owned by Len Blavatnik's Access Industries, is trying to cash in on the streaming boom with a listing that would value it at up to $13.3 billion. Access Industries paid $3.3 billion for the company in 2011. The New York Times has more here.
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Exits
Amazon, which has been aggressively funding autonomous vehicle technology in recent years, is reportedly in advanced talks to buy Zoox, a Silicon Valley startup at work on its self-driving cars. The companies are discussing a deal that would value Zoox at less than the $3.2 billion it achieved in a funding round in 2018, according to the WSJ. (We're thinking considerably less, potentially, considering that Zoox began seeking out a fresh round of funding last summer that doesn't appear to have closed and it reportedly hired the investment bank Qatalyst more recently to find it a home). An agreement may be weeks away and the discussions could still fall apart, say the Journal's sources.
Feedr, the food tech startup that delivers personalized meals to office workers as an alternative to companies setting up their own canteens, has been acquired by Compass Group, a publicly listed foodservice company. TechCrunch sources place the price "in the region” of $24 million. Feedr was founded four years ago and raised £2.7 million from investors, including Founders Factory. More here.
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Data
According to Bloomberg, TikTok parent-company ByteDance generated more than $17 billion in revenue and more than $3 billion in net profit last year. That's more then double the company’s revenue of about $7.4 billion in 2018, say its sources. More here.
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Detours
Everything you need to know about the internet speeds driving you to the brink of insanity.
J.K. Rowling published the first chapters about a monster known as the Ickabog today, and she plans to publish one or more chapters daily though July 10 at the Ickabog site.
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