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Top News
PG&E today pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter for its role in sparking California’s deadliest wildfire, on the same day that a separate judge said he would clear the way for the company to exit bankruptcy. The San Francisco-based utility became one of the few U.S. corporations to be convicted of homicide related-charges. The WSJ has more here.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that the social network will allow its users to turn off seeing political ads, though he didn't state when. CNBC has more here.
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Chris Sacca Advises New Fund Managers to Strike Right Now
Chris Sacca is a billionaire today, and he credits his success to having an “unfair advantage” 10 years ago when he first launched his fund.
He thinks women and people of color have that same unfair advantage today, which is why he and his wife, Crystal Sacca, have been investing in “dozens and dozens” of funds, including many led by new managers.
In fact, in an interview earlier today with Axios business editor Dan Primack as part of a virtual event hosted by CB Insights, Sacca suggested that others on the sideline jump in while “capital is still readily available” — and while other limited partners are focused on the issues of diversity that have been brought again to the fore over the last month.
It’s never going to be a walk in the park, Sacca noted. In fact, Sacca called his own experience with raising a first fund “heartbreaking” at times because of how personal the process is. Specifically, Sacca — who has a law degree from Georgetown University and spent four years at Google — said that while he was lucky to know a lot of rich people, asking for their financial help was sometimes deeply painful.
“One guy who told me he’d be my anchor LP told me on the day of the fund’s close that there had been a snafu in his paperwork and that he couldn’t participate,” Sacca said. Others who he’d known for years began to ignore him. Meanwhile, every “no” felt like a slight. “When someone says no to your company, you can brush that off; they don’t like or understand your product, whatever. When someone says no to you, that hurts.”
That Sacca eventually got his fund off the ground owes to “generous” friends who did get behind him, along with “an irrational belief in myself,” he said. But he also maintains that he had unfair advantages at the time, including the ability to write very small checks before other seed-stage firms mushroomed around him, and ties to founders he was meeting at networking events and at cocktail parties.
“Once I got married and had kids and stuff, I was out of that flow,” he said, explaining why he is now an investor in other VCs’ funds instead. But he also said that he is particularly keen on backing people of color and women because they have both networks and an understanding about particular products that many established VCs of the white, male variety do not.
One fund he singled out is Base Ventures, a Berkeley, Ca., venture firm led by former investment banker Erik Moore, saying it has already “paid back multiples on their fund.”
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Massive Fundings
CureVac, 20-year-old, Tübingen, Germany-based company that's at work on an mRNA vaccine against Covid-19, has received €300 million in funding from the German government in exchange for 23% of the company. The investment could "be seen as defensive move, as [it] comes on the heels of accusations that the Trump administration had tried to lure the company over to the U.S," notes FierceBiotech. More here.
Immvira, a five-year-old, Shenzhen, China-based developer of oncolytic viruses to treat cancer (they aim to replicate kill cancer cells more effectively in order to induce a stronger immune response) has raised $58 million in Series B funding. Huagai Capital led the round, joined by Apricot Capital and Cowin Capital. More here.
Monzo, the five-year-old, U.K. challenger bank with more than 4 million customers, has officially closed on £60 million in new funding at valuation 40% below that which its investors assigned it during its last financing. Participants in the round are earlier backers Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Accel, Stripe, Goodwater Capital, Orange, Thrive and Passion Capital, along with new investors Reference Capital and Vanderbilt University. TechCrunch has more here.
Shattuck Labs, a four-year-old, Durham, N.C. and Austin, Tex.-based biotech focused on cancer and autoimmune disease, raised $118 million in Series B funding. Redmile Group led the round, joined by Janus Henderson Investors, Fidelity Management & Research Company, EcoR1 Capital, Hatteras Venture Partners, Avidity Partners, Partner Fund Management, Emerson Collective, and Piper Sandler & Co. The Austin-American Statesman has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Abacus Insights, a three-year-old, Boston-based data integration and interoperability platform for health plans, raised a $35 million in Series B funding. Blue Venture Fund led the round, joined by CRV, .406 Ventures, Horizon Healthcare Services, and Echo Health Ventures. Forbes has more here.
Augmedics, a five-year-old, Chicago-based augmented reality surgical image guidance maker, says it raised $15 million in Series B funding from its own 20 employees primarily. Chicago Business Journal has more here.
Brightside, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based financial care platform for companies to offer their employees, raised $35.1 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional backing from earlier investors Comcast Ventures, Trinity Ventures, and others. More here.
Chipper Cash, a San Francisco-based cross-border fintech startup with offices in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria among other countries, has raised $13.8 million Series A funding round led by Deciens Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Clockwise, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based smart calendar assistant, has raised $18 million in Series B funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Accel and Greylock Partners. VentureBeat has more here.
Drishti Technologies, a three-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based company that sells video analytics of factory floors, has raised $25 million in Series B funding. Sozo Ventures led the round, joined by Alpha Intelligence Capital, Toyota AI Ventures, Micron Ventures, Presidio Ventures, Hella Ventures, and earlier investors Emergence Capital, Benhamou Global Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz. Forbes has more here.
Hydrow, a three-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based maker of connected rowing machines, has raised $25 million led by L Catterton, with participation from Rx3 Ventures, co-founded by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The company has now raised $52 million altogether. Bloomberg has more here.
Open Raven, a year-old Los Angeles-based data security platform that recently emerged from stealth mode, has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Upfront Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Salt Security, a four-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based API security company, has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Tenaya Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Starburst, a 2.5-year-old, Boston-based open-source software company, has raised $42 million in Series B funding led by Coatue Ventures. Partner Caryn Marooney, the former communications chief for Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, was the lead on the deal -- her first as a VC. Forbes has more here.
Steady, a three-year-old, Atlanta, Ga.-based job search platform for workers seeking stable income, has raised $15 million in Series B funding led by Recruit Strategic Partners. Other backers in the round include Flourish Ventures, Loeb Enterprises, Propel Venture Partners and CMFG Ventures. Crunchbase News has more here.
Streamlit, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based maker of an app framework that simplifies AI app development, has raised $21 million in Series A funding. GGV Capital and Gradient Ventures co-led the round, with additional participation from Bloomberg Beta and individual investors. VentureBeat has more here.
Swappie, a four-year-old, Helsinki-based online marketplace refurbished smartphones, raised a $40.6 million (€35.8 million) in Series B funding. Investors included TESI, Lifeline Ventures, Reaktor Ventures, and Inventure. More here.
Zycada, a four-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based company that's developing automated technologies to speed up e-commerce experiences (including by speeding up how quickly a page displays content), has raised $19 million in funding led by Khosla Ventures. Others of its backers include Cervin Venturers and Nordic Eye Venture Capital. VentureBeat has more here.
Apprentice.io, a six-year-old, Jersey City, N.J.-based startup developing a conversational AI and augmented reality platform for pharmaceutical, biotech, and chemical companies (to solve for a shortage of lab workers), has raised $7.5 million from Insight Partners. VentureBeat has more here.
BIOMILQ, a months-old, Durham, N.C.-based infant nutrition company that's trying to produce cultured human breastmilk, raised $3.5 million in funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures. More here.
Buymie, a four-year-old, Dublin, Ireland-based online grocery delivery provider, has raised €5.8 million ($6.6 million) in funding led by Wheatsheaf Group. Other investors in the round include Act Venture Capital, Sure Valley Ventures, Haatch Ventures, and HBAN. The Spoon has more here.
Cake, a two-year-old, L.A.-based maker of adult toys and lotions, has raised $1.4 million in seed funding. Investors included Trunk Club cofounder Brian Spaly, Rothy's cofounder Roth Martin, Brand Foundry Ventures, Finn Capital, and others. More here.
Dovly, a three-year-old, Phoenix, Az.-based automated credit repair software that enables companies to sell to subprime customers, has raised $2 million in seed funding from NFX. More here.
SLAMcore, a four-year-old, London-based developer of spatial AI algorithms for robots and drones, has raised $5 million in funding. Octopus Ventures and MMC Ventures led the round. More here.
Tracklib, a six-year-old, Stockholm, Sweden-based platform for legally clearing original music for sampling, has raised $4.5 million. Investors include Eelko van Kooten and Sony Innovation Fund. More here.
Ultromics, a three-year-old, Oxford, England-based maker of software that helps identify cardiovascular disease, raised $10 million in funding from existing shareholders Oxford Sciences Innovation and Nina Capital, with participation from Mayo Clinic. Radiology Business has more here.
Wingly, a five-year-old, Paris-based platform that connects private pilots with passengers interested in sharing a flight, has raised €3 million ($3.4 million) in funding led by Innovacom Fund. More here.
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New Funds
FirstMark Capital, the 12-year-old, New York-based venture firm, says it has closed its fifth early-stage fund with $380 million in capital commitments, and its third, opportunity-type fund for the breakout companies in its portfolio, with $270 million in commitments. TechCrunch has more here.
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IPOs
BlueCity Holdings -- the owner of Blued, China’s biggest LGBTQ dating app -- has filed for a U.S. IPO, and plans to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market. Founded in 2011 by a former policeman, the company also counts users in regions outside of China, including India, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Bloomberg has more here.
Coupang, a SoftBank-backed company that has quickly risen to become South Korea’s top online retailer, is reportedly eyeing an IPO as soon as next year. CNBC has more here.
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Exits
Square has acquired Verse, a Spanish peer-to-peer payment app that works across Europe. Terms of the deal are undisclosed. According to Crunchbase, Verse had raised $37.6 million from Spark Capital, eVentures, Greycroft Partners and others. TechCrunch has more here.
Two business-to-business marketing companies are teaming up, with Demandbase acquiring Engagio. As TechCrunch notes, both companies focus on account-based marketing, wherein marketing and sales coordinate their outreach to specific, high-value accounts. The deal terms aren't being disclosed but Engagio had raised $32.5 million, according to Crunchbase, while Demandbase has raised $158 million. More here.
Credit Sesame, a San Francisco-based free credit score and loan recommendation platform, has bought Canadian digital bank Stack. The deal -- whose terms weren't disclosed -- is Credit Sesame's first acquisition and part of its broader vision to become a banking platform. The company has raised $120 million to date. Business Insider has more here.
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People
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is building a 2,100-acre luxury training camp in rural Colorado for U.S. public school teachers.
Dundee Venture Capital named Ron Watson as a partner. Watson was previously a principal at Lewis & Clark Ventures.
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Essential Reads
Amazon is testing a wearable device that alerts warehouse workers when they’re violating social distancing rules, beginning with an Amazon warehouse in Kent, Washington. Amazon has also experimented with cameras equipped with social distancing software.
Apple is under formal investigation by antitrust regulators in European Union, following a number of complaints related to how it operates the iOS App Store and also its payment offering, Apple Pay.
DoorDash is facing a lawsuit from San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin for “illegally misclassifying employees as independent contractors,” and therefore engaging in unfair labor practices, says the suit.
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Detours
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