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September 23, 2020
Wednesday! (We're not going to lie. It was a long one over at SVC HQ. Hope yours was better than ours.)
More tomorrow.:)
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Top News
California will phase out sales of new, gasoline-powered cars by 2035 as part of its fight against climate change, Governor Gavin Newsom announced today. The move comes as California battles wildfires that have already burned 3.6 million acres so far this year.
TikTok parent ByteDance today asked a federal judge to stop Donald Trump from enforcing a ban that would remove the popular social app from U.S. app stores this weekend. It filed for the temporary block on the ban even as it continues to pursue approvals from the White House for a sale of its U.S. operations to Oracle and Walmart.
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Massive Fundings
Better.com, a six-year-old, New York-based online mortgage loan startup, is nearing a deal to raise more than $100 million in new funding that would value the company at about $4 billion, up from about $720 million last year, says The Information. The company's earlier backers include Kleiner Perkins, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs; it has already raised roughly $250 million from its investors, according to Crunchbase. More here.
Beyond Limits, a 10-year-old, L.A.-based company whose software is used to analyze and characterize data and thus support decision-making processes in industrial settings, has raised $113 million in Series C funding. Group 42 led the round, joined by BP Ventures. Crunchbase News has more here.
GOAT, a five-year-old, L.A.-based company that resells collectible kicks and kits both offline and online, has raised $100 million in fresh funding at a post-money valuation of $1.75 billion. D1 Capital Partners led the round. The company has now raised roughly $300 million altogether. The WSJ has more here.
Robinhood, the seven-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based stock trading app, has added $460 million to the $200 million Series G round it announced last month. While D1 Capital Partners led that tranche, the new capital is coming from a mix of new and existing investors, including D1, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, Ribbit Capital, and 9Yards Capital. Reuters has more here.
Salsify, a nine-year-old, Boston-based company whose tools help brands manage customer interactions, including by collecting feedback, has raised $155 million in Series E funding led by Warburg Pincus. TechCrunch has more here.
Willow, a six-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based maker of wearable breast pumps, has raised $55 million in Series C funding co-led by NEA and Meritech Capital Partners, with participation from Lightstone Ventures and Perceptive Advisors. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Freeletics, a seven-year-old, Munich, Germany-based fitness coaching app, has raised $25 million in Series B funding. Jazz Venture Partners and Causeway Media Partners co-led the round, joined by KKCG. TechCrunch has more here.
IRL, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based event discovery startup, has raised $16 million in Series B funding. Goodwater Capital led the round, joined by Founders Fund, Floodgate, and Raine Ventures. Pulse 2.0 has more here.
Quanto, a four-year-old, São Paulo, Brazil-based open banking platform that helps banks and fintechs connect more seamlessly with their users, has raised $15 million from Bradesco and Itaú Unibanco. TechCrunch has more here.
Servify, a five-year-old, Mumbai, India-based company that sells device-related services like product diagnosis, queue management, warranty and protection plans to its clients, has raised $23 million in Series C funding. Iron Pillar led the round, joined by earlier backers Blume Ventures, Beenext, and Tetrao SPF. TechCrunch has more here.
Uncapped, a year-old, London-headquartered and Warsaw-based startup that offers revenue-based financing to European businesses so founders needn't raise as much venture capital, has raised $26 million in new funding. The round was led by Mouro Capital (previously known as Santander InnoVentures), with participation from Iron Ventures and earlier investors Global Founders Capital, Seedcamp, and White Star Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Endel, a two-year-old, Berlin-based startup focused around personalized sound environments to reduce stress, increase focus and improve sleep, has raised $5 million in Series A funding led by True Ventures, with participation from SleepScore Ventures, Techstars Ventures, Impulse Ventures, Plus 8 Equity Partners, Waverley Capital, Amazon Alexa Fund, Target Global and various angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Kard, a two-year-old, Paris-based company that's building a challenger bank designed to address the needs of teenagers, has raised $3.5 million in extended seed funding that brings the round to $7 million. Founders Future is leading the round; numerous individual investors also participated. TechCrunch has more here.
RoadRunner Recycling, a six-year-old, Pittsburgh, Pa.-based company whose technology aims to understand how cities' waste stream compositions differ among generators and where opportunities may be due to local ordinances or other factors, has raised $10 million in Series C funding from Avery Dennison and Valo Ventures. More here.
Not-Saying-How-Much Fundings
Point Predictive, a seven-year-old, San Diego-based company whose software aims to help lenders (including in the automotive, mortgage and online retail industries) mitigate their risk, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series B funding. Napier Park Financial Partners led the round, joined by earlier backer Mosaik Partners. More here.
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New Funds
Peterson Ventures, a 12-year-old, Salt Lake City, Ut.-based seed-stage fund whose past bets include Allbirds, Bonobos, and Lucid Software, has closed its third fund with $65 million in capital commitments. The firm closed its first venture fund with $25 million in 2012 and its second fund with $33 million in 2016. We have a bit more here.
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IPOs
Laird Superfood, the direct-to-consumer company cofounded by famed surfer Laird Hamilton, yesterday increased the number of shares it's offering in its IPO, and upped their expected pricing to between $21 and $22 from $18 to $20 a share. The Oregon-based outfit is now looking to raise up to $58.3 million and to be valued at up to $184.3 million. MarketWatch has more here.
Billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li have created a SPAC targeting “new economy” technology, financial services and media companies in Southeast Asia. In a new filing with the SEC, Bridgetown Holdings describes itself as “a blank check company” created to recombine businesses through purchases, reorganizations and other means. It is seeking to raise $575 million. Bloomberg has more here.
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Exits
The privately held accounting software company Freshbooks has acquired Facturama, a San Luis Potosi, Mexico-based company that offers electronic invoice management for small businesses and startups. As Betakit notes, the deal is the latest move by 18-year-old, Toronto-based Freshbooks, which has been expanding its international footprint over the last couple of years and claims to now have customers in more than 25 Latin American and Caribbean countries. More here.
WeWork is selling a majority stake in its China business as the co-working giant continues to pare down its expenses, the company said today. Trustbridge Partners, an existing investor in WeWork’s China subsidiary, has invested an additional $200 million and now owns more than half of the business, with WeWork parent We Co. giving up operating control of the unit, but continuing to receive an annual service fee in exchange for the use of the WeWork brand and services. Bloomberg has more here.
Variety and Hollywood Reporter, once fierce rivals, are now under the same roof thanks to a merger unveiled today by their publishers. The New York Post has more here.
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People
Jeff Bezos is weeks away from opening the first Bezos Academy, a year-round, "Montessori-inspired" preschool for underserved kids. More here.
Mike Morhaime, the cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment, has launched a new, Ivrine, Ca.-based game company called Dreamhaven, and it has established two new game studios: Moonshot and Secret Door. VentureBeat has more here.
In an interview with CNET, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says of the deal announced between TikTok, Oracle, and Walmart last week: "It's not something I recognize, and it's definitely not the deal I bid on."
Bottled-water and vaccine tycoon Zhong Shanshan became China’s wealthiest person today, after his net worth reached $58.7 billion today, $2 billion more than Jack Ma’s, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zhong is now Asia’s second-richest person, behind India’s Mukesh Ambani.
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Data
Young people are more likely to believe virus misinformation, according to a new study conducted by researchers from Harvard University, Rutgers University, Northeastern University and Northwestern University. More here.
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Essential Reads
Amazon said today that it's not true that it's affiliated with the "Prime Bike," a $500 clone of Peleton's $1,900 product, and it is not only distancing itself from the equipment maker that produced it but it has removed the product from its site.
Talks between electric-truck maker Nikola and several potential partners, including BP, to build hydrogen-refueling stations have stalled following allegations the company had misled investors, according to the WSJ.
After rolling out audio tweets for iOS in June, Twitter is now experimenting with the idea of letting people record and send voice messages through direct messages
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