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September 21, 2020
Hello! Welcome back.:)
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Top News
Donald Trump said today that he would not approve a deal for TikTok if its Chinese owner did not fully sell its interest in the product, a move that would scuttle an arrangement that was expected to help the app avoid a federal ban.
Meanwhile, WeChat users facing a U.S. ban of the social media app starting yesterday got an 11th-hour reprieve from a California judge, who ruled the edict may violate their First Amendment rights. Here's an interesting look at why that's good for real estate, among other things.
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Massive Fundings
Next Insurance, a five-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based digital insurer for small businesses, is in talks to raise around $250 million led by CapitalG at a $2.25 billion valuation, according Bloomberg. As noted by the outlet, the round would roughly double Next Insurance’s valuation; when it last announced a financing, a $250 million round that was led last October by German reinsurer Munich Re, it was assigned a post-money valuation of $1 billion. More here.
Mobile Premier League, a two-year-old, Bangalore, India-based e-sports and mobile gaming platform, has raised $90 million in Series C funding. SIG, RTP Global, and MDI Ventures led the round, joined by earlier investors Sequoia Capital India, Go-Ventures, and Base Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Playco, a three-month-old, Tokyo- and San Francisco-based mobile gaming startup co-created by Game Closure co-founder Michael Carter, Zynga co-founder Justin Waldron, and game producers Takeshi Otsuka and Teddy Cross, has raised $100 million in Series A funding, at a valuation “just north of $1 billion,” according to the company. The round was led by Josh Buckley (who previously cofounded a game studio called Mino Games) and Sequoia Capital, with participation from Sozo Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, KSK Angel Fund, Mistletoe Singapore, Digital Garage, Will Smith’s Dreamers, Makers Fund and others. TechCrunch has more here.
Scopely, a 10-year-old, Culver City, Ca.-based mobile game developer, is reportedly in talks to raise at least $200 million at around a $3 billion valuation co-led by Wellington Management and NewView Capital. According to Crunchbase, the company has already raised roughly $660 million across eight previous rounds. Bloomberg has the story here.
WM Motor, a five-year-old, China-based electric vehicle startup, has raised $1.47 billion in Series D funding, including from Baidu and Tencent. WM Motor is one of the most richly funded EV startups in China alongside NIO, Xpeng and Li Auto, all of which have gone public in New York. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Immune Regulation, a 19-year-old, U.K.-based biotech that's focused on immuno-inflammatory diseases, has raised $40.6 million in Series B funding. Morningside Ventures led the round, joined by 24Haymarket. More here.
Medasense Biometrics, a 12-year-old, Ramat Gan, Israel-based developer of a AI-driven technology for pain-response monitoring, has raised $18 million in Series C funding from from Asabys Partners of Spain, Israeli family offices, and earlier investors Baxter Ventures, Olive Tree Ventures and LGL Capital. More here.
Osso VR, a four-year-old, Palo Alto, Calif.-based surgical training and assessment platform for surgeons, sales teams, and hospital staff, has raised $14 million in Series A funding. Kaiser Permanente Ventures led the round, joined by SignalFire, GSR, Scrum Ventures, Leslie Ventures, and OCA Ventures. More here.
TrueLayer, a four-year-old, London-based fintech startup that makes it easier to integrate financial services like open banking into any app or website, has raised $25 million in funding from existing investors as an extension of its Series C round, taking its total raised up to $72 million. The company's backers include Tencent, Temasek, Northzone and Anthemis. Tech.eu has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Accelercomm, a four-year-old, U.K.-based University of Southampton spinout focused on delivering the error correction decoding required to overcome the effects of noise, interference and poor signal strength in wireless communications, has raised £5.8 million in Series A funding. IQ Capital led the round, joined by earlier investors Bloc Ventures and IP Group. More here.
Ahana, a months-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based company that sells self-service analytics for Presto, has raised $2.3 million in seed funding led by Lux Capital, with participation from GV. More here.
Art of Sport, a two-year-old, Los Angeles-based brand of unisex skin care products that was launched with the help of Kobe Bryant two years ago, has raised $6 million in funding led by CircleUp Growth Partners, with added participation from Mark Cuban, Lightspeed Venture Partners, BAM Ventures, Darco Capital and NBA veteran Wilson Chandler.
Stemson Therapeutics, a two-year-old, San Diego-based developer of hair loss therapeutics, has raised $7.5 million in seed funding co-led by Allergan Aesthetics and Fortunis Capital. More here.
Vurbl, an eight-month-old, L.A.-based startup that says it wants to be the YouTube of audio, has raised $1.3 million in seed funding led by AlphaEdison, with participation from Halogen Ventures, Ten13, and individual investors. Dot. LA has more here.
WireBarley, a 4.5-year-old, Seoul, South Korea-based global remittances startup, has raised $10 million in Series B funding from Magna Investment, Shinsegae I&C and Dt & Investment. More here.
Not-Saying-How-Much Fundings
Rhombus Energy, an eight-year-old, San Diego, Ca.-based company that manufactures electric vehicle charging infrastructure, high-efficiency power conversion systems, and energy management system software for vehicle-to-grid capable EV fleet charging, energy storage and microgrid applications, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding. Emerald Technology Ventures led the round, joined by Cycle Capital Management, Inci Holding, Nabtesco Technology Ventures, Greenhouse Capital Partners and earlier shareholders. More here.
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New Funds
Flying Fish, a two-year-old, Seattle-based venture capital firm that invests in Pacific Northwest startups, is raising its second fund, shows a new SEC filing that lists a target amount of $75 million and lists Flying Fish partners Frank Chang, Geoff Harris, and Heather Redman. The firm's debut fund closed with $80 million; it focuses on startups building artificial intelligence and machine learning technology. Geekwire has more here.
Howzat Partners, a 14-year-old, Luxembourg-based early-stage venture firm, is reportedly expecting to raise up to $120 million (€100 million) in capital commitments for a new fund that will invest in travel startups and other digital businesses. Half of its current 62 active portfolio companies are in travel (26 startups) and transportation (5 startups). According to the outlet Skift, Howzat intends for its new fund to have a similar weighting in travel. More here.
Kindred Capital, a five-year-old, London-based seed-stage venture firm firm that shares its profits with founders across its portfolio, has garnered £81 million in capital commitments for its second fund. TechCrunch has more here.
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Going Public
FirstMark Horizon Acquisition, a tech-focused SPAC formed by FirstMark Capital, filed for a $300 million IPO. The company is led by CEO Richard Heitzmann and Chairman and President Amish Jani, who co-founded venture firm FirstMark Capital in 2008. The company plans on targeting a U.S.-based tech business. More here.
Kronos Bio, a three-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based biotech developing therapies for leukemia and solid tumors, filed for an $100 million IPO on Friday. Read more.
NextGen Acquisition, an industrial and health care-focused SPAC, has filed for a $350 million IPO. More here.
Palantir today filed a sixth(!) amendment to its S-1, following a TechCrunch report questioning founders' ability to "unilaterally adjust their total voting power." More here.
Shattuck Labs, a four-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based biotech that's developing therapies for cancer, filed for an $100 million IPO. Fidelity, Redmile Group, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals back the firm, which announced an $118 million round back in June. More here.
Spruce Biosciences, a six-year-old, Daly City, Ca.-based biotech that's developing therapies for endocrine disorders, plans to raise $86 million in an IPO. Omega Fund Management, HealthCap Advisor, and Abingworth Bioventures back the firm. More here.
The market for IPOs in Europe showed signs of life last week as shares in online retailer THG Holdings soared on their stock market debut, raising hopes among growth-hungry investors that other tech companies could soon follow suit. THG’s strong showing made it the U.K.’s second-largest tech IPO ever. The WSJ has more here.
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Exits
It's official: Grail, which began in 2016 as a spinoff from genetic sequencing giant Illumina and co-founded by longtime Google executive Jeff Huber (who was involved in the creation of the company’s experimental laboratory Google[x]), is now being spun back in to the tune of an $8 billion acquisition announced this morning. TechCrunch has more here.
In what is set to be one of the largest ever acquisitions in the video game industry, Microsoft said today it has reached a deal to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of popular video game publisher Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion. Once the deal is finalized, Bethesda properties, including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, Quake, Starfield and DOOM, will be owned by Microsoft and added to the Xbox Game Pass, a subscription-based cloud gaming service that has topped 15 million subscribers. NPR has more here.
PagerDuty today said that it will spend about $100 million to acquire Rundeck, the maker of a popular software tool for troubleshooting technical issues in information technology systems. The deal is a big exit for San Francisco-based Rundeck, which had raised only $3 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. PagerDuty, which went public last year, will pay 60% of the $100 million transaction value in cash and the rest in stock. SiliconAngle has more here.
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People
Apple CEO Tim Cook said today that he’s been impressed by employees’ ability to operate remotely and predicted that some new work habits will remain after the pandemic, adding he doesn't think Apple will “return to the way we were, because we’ve found that there are some things that actually work really well virtually.” The comments contrast with the views of other executives, such as Netflix’s Reed Hastings, who recently called remote work “a pure negative.” More here.
Nikola founder Trevor Milton has stepped down as executive chairman after a short seller accused Milton and the hydrogen and electric truck startup of misleading investors and overstating the value of a business deal. Milton has also resigned from the company's board, with Stephen Girsky, a former vice chair of General Motors and current board member at Nikola, taking over as chairman, effective immediately. Don't worry, Milton will be okay. According to CNBC, the deal requires him to give up roughly 4.9 million in restricted shares valued at $166 million as of Friday’s closing price, while allowing him to walk away with more than 91.6 million shares that were worth more than $3.1 billion.
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Essential Reads
After six months and $1.8 billion from investors, Quibi wants a new owner. That will be a hard sell.
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Detours
Bruce Springsteen or Stephen King?
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Retail Therapy
Just hitting the market with a $22 million price tag: San Francisco's highest home (by elevation, people).
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