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June 15, 2020
Monday! Hello.:)
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The FDA has revoked its emergency-use authorization for two malaria drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, for the treatment of Covid-19. “It is no longer reasonable to believe” the two drugs “may be effective in treating Covid-19,” said the FDA’s chief scientist said in letter today. More in the WSJ.
Echoing much of the existing data and research on the subject, San Francisco-based Color released data today showing that, based on its own testing program, most individuals who test positive for COVID-19 display either mild or no symptoms, including even running a fever. TechCrunch has more here.
(Above: a photo taken outside a barbershop in San Francisco, while our great- and great-great-grandparents were suffering through the 1918 flu pandemic. H/T: Historic San Francisco.)
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A New Silicon Valley Venture Report Shocks -- Because of How Little the Pandemic Has Impacted Dealmaking
The law firm Fenwick & West has published some new data to highlight how Covid-19 has impacted the world of venture capital in Silicon Valley. The biggest surprise? It’s how little impact the global pandemic seems to have had on dealmaking this spring.
Consider first that valuations in April were actually higher than in March, and that despite massive layoffs in the tech sector, so-called up-rounds only declined modestly, from 72% in March to 70% in April.
In fact, though you’d think the massive disruptions prompted by virus would accelerate things wildly, it looks more like the steady continuation of a trend that began last year, when 83% of financings saw companies receive higher valuations.
Our guess is this shift really happened around the time of WeWork’s pulled IPO last fall, which seemingly reminded investors that what goes up — and up — sometimes comes down fast, too. But it does beg the question: what about down rounds? Surely, there were a lot of these this spring (you might imagine), including startups in the travel industry or that count the travel industry as a customer.
Yet again, Fenwick’s data, at least, tells a different story. The number of deals that were marked down by investors accounted for just 12% of all deal volume in April; that’s even lower than in March, when 16% of companies experienced down rounds.
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Massive Fundings
BYD Co., a 25-year-old, publicly traded, Shenzhen, China-based auto giant that's backed by Warren Buffett, said it a new funding that it has secured 800 million yuan ($113 million) in Series A+ funding for its chipmaking arm, BYD Semiconductor. TechCrunch has more here.
Epic Games, the nearly 30-year-old, Cary, N.C., company that developed the battle game "Fortnite" and last year acquired the networking app Houseparty, is close to raising a $750 million round of funding at a valuation of about $17 billion, according to Bloomberg. It says that new investors T. Rowe Price Group and Baillie Gifford are participating, along with earlier backers that include KKR. The company was valued at $15 billion when it last raised money from investors in 2018. More here.
Jio Platforms, the digital and mobile telecom subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, has raised $598 million in new equity funding from TPG Capital and $249 million from L Catterton. TechCrunch has more here.
Miaoshou Doctor, a five-year-old, Beijing, China-based patient management and communications platform, has raised $85 million in Series D1 funding from Sequoia Capital China, Qiming Venture Partners, INCE Capital, and CITIC Securities. Crunchbase News has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Bit Bio, a four-year-old, Cambridge, England-based cell reproduction startup at work on reprogramming human cells used in research, drug discovery, and cell therapy, has raised $41.5 million from Foresite Capital, Blueyard Capital, and Arch Venture Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Homeday, a six-year-old, Berlin, Germany-based real estate brokerage startup, has raised €40 million from Axel Springer and Purplebricks. Tech.eu has more here.
Kalderos, a four-year-old, Chicago-based company developing tools that help pharmaceutical providers and manufacturers manage drug discounts, has raised $28 million in Series B funding from Bain Capital Ventures and Mercato Partners. VentureBeat has more here.
Nanox, a nine-year-old, Japan- and Israel-based developer of digital X-ray beds, has raised $20 million from SK Telecom. Earlier this year, the company closed a separate, $26 million round led by the Taiwanese electronics multinational Foxconn. FierceBiotech has more here.
Tonik Financial, a two-year-old, Singapore-based digital banking startup, has raised $21 million in Series A funding co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Point72 Ventures, with participation from earlier backers Insignia and Credence. TechCrunch has more here.
Tropic Bioscience, a four-year-old, Norwich, England- based ag-tech company focused on tropical crops, including novel banana varieties, has has raised £22.5 million in Series B funding. Temasek led the round, joined by Sumitomo Corporation Europe, Genoa Ventures, Agronomics, Skyviews Life Science, and Pontifax AgTech. BusinessCloud has more here.
Wandelbots, a three-year-old, Dresden, Germany-based startup dedicated to making it easier for non-programmers to instruct industrial robots how to do specific tasks, has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by 83North, with participation from Next47 and M12. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Beta Media, a six-year-old, Vietnamese cinema chain with 12 locations across the country, has raised $8 million from Japan’s Daiwa PI Partners at a post-money valuation of $43 million, according to the startup. DealStreetAsia has more here.
Codi, a two-year-old, Berkeley, Ca.-based company that turns homes into co-working spaces (it's very akin to what Globe is doing), has raised $2.9 million in funding, per an SEC filing first flagged by Fortune. The company previously raised from investors including NFX. More here.
Lane, a six-year-old, Toronto, Ontario-based workplace experience platform, has raised C$10 million in Series A funding. Round13 Capital led the round, joined by Alate Partners and Panache Ventures. More here.
Noteable, an 11-month-old, Cupertino, Ca.-based collaborative notebook platform for teams, has raised more than $4 million from Wing VC among others, per an SEC filing flagged by Axios. The firm's CEO, Michelle (Fehling) Ufford, was formerly an engineering manager at Netflix and GoDaddy. More here.
Quolum, a year-old, Dublin, Ca.-based company that's helping its customers help track their SaaS spend, has raised $2.8 million in seed funding, including from Sequoia Capital and Nexus Venture Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
SuperAnnotate, a two-year-old, Sunnyvale, Ca.-based AI-powered annotation platform for data scientists, has raised $3 million in seed funding. Point Nine Capital led the round, joined by Runa Capital and Fathom Capital. Previous investors Berkeley SkyDeck Fund and Plug and Play Ventures also participated. Crunchbase News has more here.
Trade Hounds, a four-year-old, Boston, Ma.-based mobile app connecting trade workers to job-related discussions and employment opportunities, has raised $3.2 million in seed funding. Corigin Ventures and Brick & Mortar Ventures co-led the round, joined by Suffolk Construction and CCS Construction Staffing. Crunchbase News has more it.
Unum ID, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based customer that says it can create a single customer identity that can be shared across all business units and even across companies, has raised $2 million in seed funding led by Draper Associates, with participation from earlier backer Samsung NEXT. The company has now raised $3.2 million altogether. More here.
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New Funds
Insight Partners is set to acquire the fifth fund of Gemini Israel Ventures, an Israeli venture firm, for $500 million, reports Calcalist. Gemini had raised the fund, its last, in 2008. More here.
Telescope Partners, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based growth equity firm that was founded by former Sequoia partner Mickey Arabelovic, is looking to raise up to $120 million for its second fund, shows a new SEC filing. More here.
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Exits
Stockwell, the nearly three-year-old, venture-backed vending machine startup formerly known as Bodega, is shutting down July 1. TechCrunch has the story here.
SoftBank, which owns about 25% of T-Mobile US (following the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint last year), has confirmed reports that it's nearing a deal to sell part of its stake, reportedly as part of a broader effort to liquidate roughly $41 billion in assets to buy back shares and pay down debt. Bloomberg has more here.
Proteus Digital Health, a 16-year-old, Redwood City, Ca.-based company that develops ingestible sensors that communicate when medicines are taken (plus a wearable patch that monitors the response), has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At one point, the company was valued at $1.5 billion, according to Forbes. CNBC has more here.
Walmart is acquiring technology and intellectual property from CareZone, a 10-year-old start-up that makes it easier for people to manage multiple medications and which developed a technology for users to scan insurance cards and prescription drug labels. A CNBC source says Walmart is paying $200 million. More here.
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IPOs
Royalty Pharma, a 24-year-old buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties, is poised with its shareholders to price a U.S. IPO at or above the top of the marketed range, says Bloomberg, noting the company has marketed 70 million shares for $25 to $28 each. At top end of the range, the offering would raise $1.96 billion, making it the second-biggest IPO of 2020. More here.
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People
Amazon signaled it is willing to make its CEO, Jeff Bezos, available to testify to Congress as part of lawmakers’ wide-ranging antitrust probe into the tech industry -- under certain conditions.
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Layoffs
Grab, the large, SoftBank-backed ride-hailing platform in Southeast Asia, is laying off about 360 people, or slightly under 5% of its employees. Co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan made the announcement in a letter to Grab employees today. More here.
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Essential Reads
Walmart is partnering with e-commerce shopping platform, Shopify, which is now used by over 1 million businesses. The deal will open Walmart’s Marketplace to Shopify’s small business sellers with the goal of this year bringing 1,200 Shopify sellers to the marketplace -- which claims 120 million monthly visitors. TechCrunch has more here.
The FDA today for the first time gave a green light to a game-based therapeutic: a video game meant to be prescribed to kids with ADHD. STAT News has more here.
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Detours
City enters Phase 4 of pretending the coronavirus is over.
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