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May 8, 2020
Hello! Welcome back.:)
Today flew past, so let's jump into things before it's time to send out another of these(!).
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Top News
More than 140 scientists funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are urging Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to enforce stricter policies around the spread of misinformation and incitements to violence. More in the Washington Post.
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Wing, Founded by Veterans of Accel and Sequoia, Rounds up $450 Million for its Third Fund
Wing, an early-stage, Palo Alto, Ca.-based venture firm that was formed in 2013 by veteran VCs Peter Wagner and Gaurav Garg, has closed its third fund with $450 million in capital commitments. That’s substantially larger than the $300 million that the firm raised for its second fund — and it was raised entirely virtually, says Wagner.
What’s so interesting that investors agreed to back Wing through highly uncertain market conditions? A few things, seemingly, beginning with the team itself. Wagner previously spent more than 14 years as a partner with Accel, while Garg was a partner with Sequoia Capital for roughly a dozen years, and institutional investors like that kind of pedigree.
The duo has also slowly been building out their investment team, bringing in a younger partner, Zach Dewitt, in 2017 and more recently recruiting three other investing partners: Sara Choi, formerly of Google; Jake Flomenberg, formerly of Accel; and Aaref Hilaly, formerly of Sequoia.
Wing’s focus on startups that enable the “modern enterprise,” meaning workplaces built on data and powered by AI, is a particularly appealing pitch right now, too, as companies more quickly shift to remote work and cloud-based services.
Indeed, the firm has already seen a three of its portfolio companies acquired, including Aporeto’s $150 million sale to Palo Alto Networks last November, Shape Security’s December acquisition by F5 Networks for $1 billion, and sale of Cumulus Networks to Nvidia just last month, for undisclosed terms.
The icing on the cake, presumably: Wing is also a seed investor in Snowflake Computing and has participated in every round that the company has conducted since. Considering that Snowflake was valued at $12.4 billion when it closed a massive financing in February, that bet has to have Wing’s investors excited, especially with an IPO imminent.
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Massive Fundings
Asana, a 12-year-old, San Francisco-based team productivity software maker cofounded by Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein, have raised $200 million in convertible debt ahead of a planned direct listing later this year, says Bloomberg. According to the report, Moskovitz, who was a cofounder of Facebook, has a net worth of $13.8 billion and is the main lender in the deal. More here.
Fivetran, an eight-year-old, Oakland, Ca.-based startup that helps companies move data from disparate repositories to data warehouses, is in advanced talks to raise funding at a valuation above $1 billion from investors including General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), according to Bloomberg. The company had closed on $44 million in Series B funding last September led by a16z. More here.
Tiki, a 10-year-old, Vietnam-based online marketplace that began life as a bookselling platform and has grown into an all-encompassing e-commerce platform, has raised $130 million in funding led by Singapore-based private equity firm Northstar Group. DealStreetAsia has more here.
Zuoyebang, a six-old, Beijing, China-based online education platform where K-12 students can upload homework questions and search for solutions or pay a teacher affiliated with the company for a related, virtual one-on-one session, is reportedly in talks to raise between $600 million to $800 million at a $6.5 billion valuation. More on company, which spun out of Baidu in 2015, in Reuters.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Lilium, a five-old, Munich, Germany-based company that's designing an all-electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft that it plans to build into a taxi-style fleet to ferry passengers within and between cities, has added $35 million in funding to a $240 million round that the company closed in March. The new funds come from the Scottish investor Baillie Gifford and bring Lilium's total funding to $375 million and its post-money valuation to more than $1 billion. TechCrunch has more here.
Silverfin, a seven-year-old, Belgium-based startup that's aiming to build the cloud service for small and big accounting firms,has raised an estimated $30 million in funding led by Hg Capital, reports TechCrunch. The company's Series A round had been led by Index Ventures. More here.
Wahed Invest, a five-year-old, New York-based online Islamic investment platform, has raised $25 million from Saudi Aramco, with participation from Dubai Cultiv8 and earlier backers BECO Capital and Cue Ball Group. Crunchbase News has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Bitsensing, a two-year-old, Seoul, South Korea-based radar technology startup, has raised $5.8 million in pre-Series A funding led by LB Investment, with participation from Mando Corporation, Hansae, SB Partners, Future Play and SJ Investment Partners. The company has now raised $7 million altogether. More here.
ClassTag, a five-year-old, New York-based parent-teacher communication platform that supports more than 60 languages, has raised $5 million in seed funding from a group of investors that include AlleyCorp, Contour Ventures, Founder Collective, John Martinson of Edison Ventures, Newark Venture Partners, Smart Hub and TMT Investments. TechCrunch has more here.
Clean Crop Technologies, a 16-month-old, Northampton, Ma.-based startup whose high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) technology aims to reduce molds, toxins, and pests across the global grain and nut sectors, has raised $2.75 million in seed funding. Prime Impact Fund led the round, joined by Factor[e] Ventures, Innova Memphis, the Syndicate Fund, and the Alchemy Fund. More here.
Quaise, a two-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based energy company using millimeter wave drilling to access deep geothermal energy, has raised $6 million in seed funding. The Engine led the round, joined by Vinod Khosla (who reportedly helped found the company) and Collaborative Fund. AmericanInno has more here.
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(Other) New Funds
Bungalow Capital, a Monrovia, Ca.-based seed-stage fund, is looking to raise up to $30 million for its debut seed fund, show an SEC filing. The firm's cofounders include Matthew Ziskie, who previously spent five years with Airbnb as a sales and business development executive, and David Ambrose, who was most recently making venture-like investments on behalf of a hedge fund called Steadfast Capital.
True Ventures, the early-stage, Bay Area-based venture fund, is raising $415 million for its seventh early stage fund and $340 million for its fourth opportunity-type fund, according to SEC filings. The firm last raised $635 million across two funds (early and opportunity) in the fall of 2018.
Pitango Venture Capital of Israel has raised $175 million for its eighth fund. Calcalist has more here.
In Bloomberg: "France is creating a fund to protect home-grown technology companies that may become “prey” for foreign buyers, adding the vehicle to its bailout package for startups. The Finance Ministry has created an initial 150 million euro ($170 million) fund through state-backed lender Bpifrance Financement SA to invest in local companies if they’re approached by an unsolicited foreign investor, it said in a statement on Friday. The government may increase the fund to 500 million euros from early next year." More here.
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IPOs
Lemonade, a New York-based insurance company backed by SoftBank, registered plans to go public today with the SEC, listing a placeholder amount. The startup, valued by its private investors at more than $2 billion, has raised $480 million altogether. Notably, it's also losing a lot of money. TechCrunch has more here.
Online used car seller Vroom raised $467.5 million in its U.S. IPO, the company said today, as the IPO market picks up momentum after the COVID-19 pandemic placed many debuts on hold. Reuters has more here.
As business picks up again, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tells Bloomberg a 2020 IPO is still an option. “We’re not ruling out going public this year and we’re not committing to it."
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People
A South Korean court has denied an arrest warrant request for Samsung Group heir apparent Jay Y. Lee, saying that although prosecutors’ secured “a considerable amount of evidence,” it was still not enough to detain Lee. Prosecutors filed for the warrant last week, accusing Lee of accounting fraud and stock manipulation. TechCrunch has more here.
“Black founders are often over-mentored and under-invested,” says VC-turned-founder Monique Woodard. “If you have the ability to write a check, but you will only offer mentorship to black founders, that is only helpful to your ego.”
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Jobs
Valo Ventures, a multi-stage, thematic venture capital firm, is looking to bring on board a full-time associate. The job is in Palo Alto, Ca.
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