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Top News
Apple is pushing retail staff to work remotely as the virus forces the company to shut some of its stores again, reports Bloomberg. It is also reportedly shipping Covid-19 test kits to employees’ homes, and told staff in a memo that a full return to U.S. offices won’t occur before the end of the year. More here.
Google said today that it plans to invest $10 billion in India in the next five to seven years as the search giant looks to help accelerate adoption of digital services in the country. As TechCrunch notes, gaining a foothold in India has become increasingly criticial for American tech giants that have been largely shut out from doing business in China.
The Nasdaq may have hit a near-term top today, after a sharp reversal from new highs this morning, strategists tell CNBC. Tesla surged more than 16% this morning to a new high . . . before dramatically reversing course. Other names to get socked in a selloff: Amazon, NVIDIA and Facebook. More here.
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Massive Fundings
Reliance Jio Platforms, the Indian telecom operator that has been selling stakes in its business on what seems like a weekly basis (or else it's announcing these investments that way), has sold its newest stake -- 0.15% -- to Qualcomm. TechCrunch has more here.
Robinhood, the seven-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based no-fee digital brokerage, has raised $320 million in new Series F funding at an $8.6 billion valuation from the private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners and IVP. This follows a $280 million first close on the round that was announced in May led by Sequoia Capital. Bloomberg has more here.
Skydio, a six-year-old, Redwood City, Ca.-based maker of autonomous drones that can track objects and people, has raised $100 million in Series C funding led by Next47. Levitate Capital and NTT DOCOMO Ventures also joined the round, alongside earlier backers Andreessen Horowitz, IVP and Playground Global. TechCrunch has more here.
UiPath, a 15-year-old, New York-based developer of robotic process automation software, has raised $225 million in Series E funding, at a $10.2 billion post-money valuation. Alkeon led the round, joined by Accel, Coatue, Dragoneer, IVP, Madrona Venture Group, Sequoia Capital, Tencent, Tiger Global, Wellington Management, and T. Rowe Price. The company has now raised a little more than $1.2 billion altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Kindbody, a two-year-old, New York-based health tech company providing fertility, gynecology, and wellness services, just raised $32 million in Series B funding led by Perceptive Advisors, with participation from existing investors RRE, GV and Freemark Capital, along with numerous other new backers. It has now raised $64 million altogether. More here.
Lanistar, a 1.5-year-old, London-based personal finance management startup, raised £15 million ($18.9 million) from Milaya Capital. Finextra has more here.
Meishubao , a six-year-old, China-based online painting platform (it apparently features an online community that helps high school students who intend to pursue an art degree in college and offer painting courses targeted at younger children), has raised $40 million in extended Series C funding. Tencent led the round, joined by earlier backers Shunwei Capital, BlueRun Ventures and BHG Long Hills Capital Management. Meishubao has now raised 800 million yuan ($114 million) altogether. Caixin has more here.
Paige, a two-year-old, New York-based computational pathology startup that's focused on cancer and originally spun out of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, has raised $20 million in additional Series B funding from Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking and Healthcare Venture Partners. The capital brings the round to $70 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Warren, a three-year-old, Sao Paulo, Brazil-based digital brokerage startup, just raised $22.2 million in Series B funding led by QED Investors, with participation from MeLi, WPA and Quartz, along with earlier backers Kaszek Ventures, Chromo Invest and Ribbit. More here.
Beekeeper, a nine-year-old, Zurich, Switzerland-based communications and operations platform for frontline workers in health care, hospitality and other industries, has raised $10 million in extended Series B funding that brings the round to $60 million altogether. Energize Ventures led the newest tranche, joined by HighSage Ventures, SwissCanto, Thayer, Swisscom, Investiere, Alpana Ventures, and Swiss Post. Hotel Technology News has more here.
CompanyCam, a five-year-old, Lincoln, Ne.-based photo app that helps contractors monitor and manage projects, has raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Blueprint Equity, a fund in San Diego. The Lincoln Journal Star has more here.
Honey Mama's, an eight-year-old, Portland, Ore.-based maker of honey-cocoa bars, raised $4.5 million from Amberstone Ventures. The Portland Business Journal has more here.
Karana, a two-year-old, Singapore-based company at work on a pork substitute made from jackfruit that's sourced in Sri Lanka, has raised $1.7 million in seed funding from Big Idea Ventures, Germi8, and several individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Swap, a two-year-old, Brazil-based startup that aims to help financial institutions create their own internal financial technology businesses faster and more effectively, has raised $3.3 million in Series A funding led by OneVC. Crunchbase News has more here.
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New Funds
TrueBridge Capital Partners, the 13-year-old, Chapel Hill, N.C.-based venture capital investment firm, closed its sixth venture capital fund-of-funds, TrueBridge Capital Partners Fund VI, with $600 million in capital commitments from what it says are new and previous limited partners worldwide, including foundations and endowments, pension funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals. More here.
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Exits
4C Insights, a nine-year-old, 100-person, Chicago-based company that helps advertisers coordinate their ads across social media and TV, is being acquired for almost $200 million, according to the Chicago Tribune. The buyer is New York-based Mediaocean, which says it processes $150 billion in ad purchases annually. Mediaocean was itself acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2015 and has since made 10 acquisitions, including this one. 4C Insights was founded by Alok Choudhary, a professor at Northwestern University. According to Crunchbase, it raised $31 million from investors, including Jump Capital and Kayne Partners. More here.
Semiconductor maker Analog Devices announced plans today to buy rival Maxim Integrated Products for about $21 billion in a deal aimed at boosting its market share in automotive and 5G chipmaking. It's the biggest acquisition of the year, says Reuters, further observing that the deal, which is also ADI’s biggest, will "create a chipmaking force with a combined enterprise value of about $68 billion that will compete with larger rivals including Texas Instruments." More here.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has agreed to pay $925 million to acquire Silver Peak Systems, a 16-year-old, Santa Clara, Ca.-based networking company that had raised over $200 million from investors over the years, including Greylock, Benchmark, Artis Ventures and TCV. As Reuters explains it, the deal is an "effort by HPE to strengthen its software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) capabilities, at time when demand for the service is increasing with many workers doing jobs remotely due" because of the pandemic. More here.
Sirius XM Holdings is paying $325 million to buy E.W. Scripps Co ’s Stitcher podcasting unit as it tries to expand more aggressively into podcasting. Stitcher runs a free podcast listening app and a premium $4.99 monthly service that lets subscribers listen to podcasts without ads. It also owns podcast networks, including Earwolf, whose "Conan O' Brien Needs a Friend" show is [floating hearts] our favorite. TechCrunch has more here.
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IPOs
As expected, BigCommerce, an 11-year-old, Austin-Tex.-based subscription business that sells services to e-commerce business, has filed to go public, listing a placeholder amount for the time being. The company has raised more than $200 million from investors over the years; its biggest outside shareholders include SoftBank, General Catalyst, GGV Capital, and Revolution. Bloomberg reported last month that preparations were in the work for an offering that could value the company at $1 billion. TechCrunch has more here.
Li Auto, a five-year-old, China-based electric vehicle startup, has filed for a U.S. IPO as the loss-making company hunts for fresh capital to bankroll its growth, reports Caixan Global. More here.
Marqeta, 10-year-old, Oakland, Ca.-based payment card issuing start-up whose investors include Goldman Sachs Groupc, is looking to hire investment banks to advise on a potential IPO, according to Reuters's sources. Per Crunchbase, Marqeta has raised roughly half a billion dollars from investors over the years -- $528 million -- including from IA Capital Group, 83North, Commerce Ventures, Visa, and Iconiq Capital, among others. More here.
Trax, a 10-year-old, Singapore-based retail tech and computer vision firm, is reportedly in discussions to conduct a U.S. IPO. The company said publicly a year ago that it planned to go public, likely on the Nasdaq, within 18 to 24 months. Some of its investors include Warburg Pincus, Boyu Capital, Investec, and GIC. DealStreetAsia has more here.
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People
Bessemer Venture Partners promoted Trevor Neff to vice president. Neff joined the firm in 2018 after spending a couple of years as an associate with Spectrum Equity.
Grant Imahara, an electrical engineer and roboticist who hosted the popular science show "MythBusters" and Netflix's "White Rabbit Project," has died following a brain aneurysm. He was 49. Hollywood Reporter has more here.
Michael Kratsios, the White House's chief technology officer, just became the Pentagon’s top techie, too. Kratsios found his way to Trump administration through Trump's early advisor Peter Thiel. Kratsios was previously a principal and the chief of staff at Thiel Capital and, before that, the CFO of Thiel's since-shuttered hedge fund Clarium Capital Management. Geekwire has more here.
The "CEO of a San Francisco tech firm" has resigned after footage surfaced of him attacking an Asian family with racist comments at a California restaurant. Michael Lofthouse confirmed his resignation in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle over the weekend (though LinkedIn only ever listed Lofthouse as affiliated with this firm, along with a second employee in the Philippines, so Lofthouse seemingly didn't have a lot from which to resign).
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Essential Reads
Huawei, the privately-owned Chinese telecom giant, reported a 13.1% year-over-year revenue growth in the first half of 2020, the company said today -- this despite that countries around the world continue to weigh bans on its equipment. TechCrunch has more here.
Nineteen tech companies and associations are now backing a lawsuit to overturn a recent Trump administration directive that would send foreign students home in the fall if their classes go entirely online. In an amicus brief filed today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with Facebook, Google, Twitter, Salesforce, Microsoft and more, sided with Harvard and MIT in their lawsuit against the U.S. government. Protocol has more here.
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Detours
AI-generated portraits of historical figures.
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Retail Therapy
VC Todd Chaffee is moving to Southern California and selling his $30 million house in Marin County.
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