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October 5, 2020
Hello! Welcome back.:)
For what it's worth, if you've founded a mobility startup and are curious to see what several transportation-focused VCs are funding right now, we're interviewing Reilly Brennan of Trucks, Amy Gu of Hemi Ventures, and Olaf Sakkers of Maniv Mobility tomorrow (Tues.) morning, followed by a lengthy Q&A session where attendees can ask whatever they'd like (within reason). It's a two-day event being hosted by TechCrunch; you can learn more here.
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Top News
The multi-state investigation of Alphabet's Google is at risk of splintering further, after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading the probe, was accused by his senior aides of potential crimes, including bribery. Bloomberg has more here.
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Massive Fundings
Cooler Screens, a three-year-old, Chicago-based startup that uses interactive digital displays to replace the glass doors in store cooler aisles, has raised more than $80 million in Series C funding. Backers in the deal include Verizon Ventures, M12, GreatPoint Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank and others. The company has now raised roughly $100 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
GrubMarket, a six-year-old, Bay Area-based company that invites consumers to order produce and other food and home items for delivery, as well as that supplies grocery stores, meal-kit companies and other food tech startups with products that they resell, has raised $60 million in Series D funding from a long list of investors. Among them is BlackRock, Reimagined Ventures, Trinity Capital Investment, Celtic House Venture Partners, Marubeni Ventures, Sixty Degree Capital, and Mojo Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Alucent Biomedical, a 3.5-year-old, Salt Lake City, Ut.-based medical technology company for vascular disease treatments, has raised $35 million in Series B funding, including from Fresenius Medical Care Ventures and an unnamed "large multinational strategic investor." More here.
ScriptDrop, a 4.5-year-old, Columbus, Oh.-based health care tech platform helping doctors and pharmacists complete prior authorization and insurance coverage determination forms for drugs, has raised $15 million in Series A funding. Ohio Innovation Fund led the round, joined by North Coast Ventures, M25 and Rev1Ventures. Crunchbase News has more here.
Uni, a months-old, India-based company that wants to expand the credit card market in the country and whose founder, Nitin Gupta, is a financial services veteran (he co-founded PayU India, then ran the financial services business of the ride-hailing firm Ola), has raised $18.5 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed and Accel. TechCrunch has more here.
Your.MD, a seven-year-old, London-based maker of a self-care app Healthily that invites people to check their symptoms before deciding to see a doctor, has raised $30 million in Series A funding from the health and hygiene company Reckitt Benckiser. Sifted has more here.
BSPK, a two-year-old, Paris, France-based platform that connects luxury brand shoppers with advisors, raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Northern Light Venture Capital. Crunchbase News has more here.
CoreView, a six-year-old, Alpharetta, Ga.-based Microsoft 365 management platform, raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Insight Partners. The regional outlet Hypepotamus has more here.
Engrain, a ten-year-old, Denver, Co.-based interactive mapping technology and data visualization software maker, has raised $3.7 million in funding led by RET Ventures. More here.
Nu Quantum, a two-year-old, Cambridge, England-based quantum photonics company that spun out of the University of Cambridge, has raised £2.1 million in seed funding. Earlier backer Amadeus Capital Partners led the round, joined by Seraphim Capital and other earlier backers Ahren Innovation Capital, IQ Capital, Cambridge Enterprise and Martlet Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Scener, a two-year-old, Seattle, Wa.-based startup that describes itself as a virtual movie theater, where you can interact with friends over video chat while enjoying shows and movies, has raised $2.1 million in seed funding. Spun out of RealNetworks, investors include SeaChange, Glaser Investments, LAUNCH, and RiffTrax. Variety has more here.
Not-Saying-How-Much Fundings
Ridepanda, a months-old, San Francisco-based online shop that sells e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-mopeds, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from General Catalyst and Will Smith's Dreamers Fund. TechCrunch has more here.
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New Funds
Ayala Corp., a Philippines-based conglomerate whose businesses include telecommunications, energy and infrastructure, has raised $180 million for its venture capital fund. That makes it the largest venture fund to come out of the Southeast Asian country to date, reports DealStreetAsia. More here.
SAIF Partners of Hong Kong is raising up to $400 million for its seventh India-focused VC fund, shows a new SEC filing. The firm had closed its previous India-focused fund with $350 million in July 2017. VC Circle has more here.
Seaya Ventures, an eight-year-old venture firm in Spain, says it has reached a first close of €85 million in capital commitments for its third fund. With a target size of €125 million, the fund will remain open to new investors for the next few months. EU Startups has more here.
White Star Capital, a 13-year-old, New York-based multi-stage technology venture capital investment platform, says it has held a first close with $30 million in capital commitments for a new Digital Asset Fund. The fund will invest in crypto networks and blockchain-enabled businesses at each layer of the tech stack, including protocols, infrastructure and applications. More here.
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Going Public
AppLovin, the U.S. mobile app and gaming company backed by private equity firm KKR, has hired Morgan Stanley to lead preparations for IPO that could come early in 2021, according to Reuters. The outlet notes that the eight-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based company is the latest mobile gaming outfit to eye a stock market listing, as demand for video games surges among consumers staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. More here.
Biodesix, a 15-year-old, Boulder, Co.-based maker of diagnostic tests and services for lung disease, has filed for a $75 million IPO. It posted revenue of $24.6 million and a loss of $14.6 million in 2019. According to Crunchbase, the company has raised at least $188 million over the years. Crunchbase News has more here.
C3.ai, an 11-year-old Redwood City, Ca.-based predictive analytics company founded by Tom Siebel (who previously founded Siebel Systems), is preparing for an IPO next year that could value the firm significantly higher than its previous valuation of $3.3 billion, according to Reuters's sources. According to Pitchbook, C3.ai has raised more than $350 million from investors, including BlackRock, TPG and Shell Ventures. More here.
Danimer Scientific, a 16-year-old, Bainbridge, Ga.-based company that makes biopolymers that are biodegradable and compostable as a greener alternative to traditional plastic products, plans to go public via merger with Live Oak Acquisition Corp, a blank-check company, in a deal that could value the firm at $890 million. Live Oak raised $200 million for its SPAC back in May. Reuters has more here.
Deliveroo, the seven-year-old, U.K.-based food delivery company, is planning an IPO in London next year that could value the company at more than £2 billion, according to Sky News. More here.
Ecobee, a 13-year-old, Toronto-based maker of smart thermostats, light switches and other home automation products, is in talks to go public via merger with the blank-check company Canaccord Genuity Growth II Corp., says Bloomberg. More here.
Lefteris Acquisition, a Boston-based blank-check company that plans to focus on fintech and was formed by a co-founder of Vestigo Ventures and a former E*TRADE executive, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $225 million in an IPO. Renaissance Capital has more here.
Opendoor, the seven-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that's planning to merge with one of Chamath Palihapitiya’s blank-check companies, took another step toward a public offering today with an IPO filing that details the company’s nearly $1 billion in losses to date. It's had a particularly trying 2020, according to the filing, which states that Opendoor’s revenue through June 30 was $1.9 billion, down from $2.3 billion during the first half of 2019. The Real Deal has more here.
Romeo Systems, a four-year-old, L.A.-based electric battery company, plans to go public via merger with the blank-check company RMG Acquisition Corp., a SPAC that raised $200 million in February of last year. The combined company will be valued at about $1.3 billion. Reuters has more here.
Sotera Health, a 3.5-year-old, Broadview Heights, Oh.-based company that sterilizes medical equipment and offers quality testing to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, has hired JPMorgan to lead an IPO that could value it at more than $5 billion, says Reuters. The company is currently backed by private equity firms GTCR and Warburg Pincus. More here.
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Exits
Tesla has agreed to acquire ATW Automation, a German supplier assembling battery modules and packs for the auto industry, reports Autoblog. Terms of the deal were not disclosed; the company was reportedly on the brink of liquidation due to a slump in orders. More here.
Bristol Myers Squibb said today that it's buying MyoKardia (which went public in 2015) for about $13 billion to bolster its portfolio of heart disease treatments, ahead of the potential loss of sales exclusivity of some of its blockbuster drugs. The deal comes close on the heels of Bristol Myers’ $74 billion acquisition of Celgene last year, which was aimed at creating an oncology giant and shielding itself from fierce competition for its cancer immunotherapy, Opdivo, from Merck & Co’s Keytruda, says Reuters. Now Bristol is trying to diversify further still. More here.
Vistaprint announced today that its publicly traded parent company Cimpress has acquired the 12-year-old, privately held freelance design marketplace 99designs. Apparently, 99designs will become part of Vistaprint while also operating as a separate brand, with 99designs CEO Patrick Llewelyn continuing to lead his team and reporting to Cimpress and Vistaprint CEO Robert Keane. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but 99designs had raised an estimated $45 million from investors, including Accel. TechCrunch has more here.
Ialy’s Nexi SpA agreed late Sunday to acquire crosstown fintech rival SIA SpA for about €4.6 billion, equivalent to almost $5.4 billion, in a stock deal that creates a European giant in the fast-consolidating payments sector. The WSJ has more here.
The two main crowd-equity fundraising platforms in the U.K., Crowdcube and Seedrs, have agreed to terms on a long-rumored merger, thus creating one of the world’s largest private equity marketplaces. The value of the merged company is $140 million; TechCrunch has more on the deal's structure here.
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People
Cybersecurity entrepreneur and crypto personality John McAfee has been arrested in Spain is facing extradition to the U.S. over charges spanning tax evasion and fraud. The SEC today accused McAfee of being paid more than $23.1 million worth of cryptocurrency assets for promoting a number of ICO token sales without disclosing that he was being paid to do so. TechCrunch has more here.
Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, told Axios in an interview earlier that Donald Trump's efforts to ban TikTok may have already dealt irreversible damage to the digital world.
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Essential Reads
In its retail stores, Apple has stopped selling Bose, Logitech, and Sonos audio products, including popular Bose noise-canceling headphones, reportedly to boost its own line of products. Sonos stock fell more than 2% in extended trading after Bloomberg reported the news.
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Detours
Up, up and away, went the glass roof of one new Tesla Model Y customer.
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