Oracle vs Google, an expanded Facebook ban, and the '80s on display in film

October 6, 2020

Hello! Hope you had a fine Tuesday.:)

Top News

A landmark House report that caps a 15-month-long investigation into how to limit the reach of Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook, has been delayed as Democrats and Republicans fight each other over remedies.

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the long-running dispute between Oracle and Google over whether or not an important tool in modern software development can be subject to copyright protection, and the verdict could overturn long-standing practices behind modern software development.

The Trump administration today announced an overhaul of the H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers that will require employers to pay H-1B workers significantly higher wages, narrow the types of degrees that could qualify an applicant and shorten the length of visas for certain contract workers.

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Greycroft Rounds Up $678 Million Across Two New Funds

Greycroft, the New York and L.A.-based venture firm founded in 2006 by investors Alan Patricof, Dana Settle, and Ian Sigalow, has closed on two new funds totaling $678 million in capital commitments. One of those funds is its sixth flagship early-stage fund, and it closed with $310 million dollars. The firm also collected $368 million in commitments for a third growth-stage fund that it will use to support breakout startups from its early-stage portfolio.

The early-stage fund invests between $500,000 and $10 million in a first check, and Greycroft will invest up to $15 million in a portfolio company over multiple rounds. Checks from its growth fund begin at $10 million, and the firm says it will invest up to $50 million in any one company.

Greycroft now counts seven partners altogether across its two offices, including Settle and Sigalow.

Patricof, who early in his career founded the predecessor to Apax Partners, has since launched yet another new firm called Primetime Partners that announced a $32 million fund in summer that is investing in platforms and products for aging Americans.

More here.

Massive Fundings

Chargebee, a nine-year-old, San Francisco- and Chennai, India-based firm that helps businesses set up and manage their billing, subscription, revenue operations and compliance, has raised $55 million in Series F funding led by Insight Partners, with participation from earlier backers Steadview Capital and Tiger Global Management. The company has raised $105 million to date. Techcrunch has more here.

Dialpad, the nine-year-old, San Francisco-based business-centric voice, video and contact-center service, has raised $100 million in Series E funding round led by OMERS Growth Equity. Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, ICONIQ Capital and Work-Bench also joined the round, which brings the company's total funding to $245 million and its post-money valuation to more than $1.2 billion. TechCrunch has more here.

Federation Bio, a two-year-old, South San Francisco -based microbial therapeutics company targeting diseases in which the human microbiome can play a curative role, has raised a $50 million Series A round led by Horizons Ventures. Other backers in the round include Seventure Partners, as well as earlier backers Venrock and Altitude. FierceBiotech has more here.

Onapsis, an 11-year-old, Boston-based company that sells cybersecurity and compliance software for mission-critical applications, has raised $55 million in Series D funding led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and NightDragon, with participation from earlier investors .406 Ventures, LLR Partners and Arsenal Venture Partners. The company has now raised $117 million altogether. SecurityWeek has more here.

Unqork, a four-year-old, New York-based no-code application platform that aims to help large enterprises build complex custom software faster, has raised $207 million in Series C funding at a post-money valuation of $2 billion. The round was led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, with additional participation from Eldridge, Fin Venture Capital, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors and Sunley House Capital Management, a subsidiary of Advent International. The company has raised $365 million altogether. Forbes has more here.

Ÿnsect, the nine-year-old, Paris, France-based startup building the world’s most high-tech bug colony, has raised $139 million in debt and another $65 million in equity to its earlier, $148 million cash haul as it looks to commercialize its business. Investors in the round include Upfront Ventures and the FootPrint Coalition, an investment vehicle funded by actor Robert Downey Jr. and his friends. TechCrunch has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

NormShield, a four-year-old, Boston-based maker of cyber risk monitoring software, has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding. Moore Strategic Ventures led the round, joined by earlier investors Glasswing Ventures and Data Point Capital. The company has now raised $11.1 million in funding altogether. More here.

Smaller Fundings

HUVRdata, a six-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based data analytics company focusing on the energy industry, has raised $5 million in Series A funding led by the regional firm Cottonwood Venture Partners. InnovationMap has more here.

Thirdverse, a four-year-old, Tokyo, Japan-based virtual reality game developer behind “Swords of Gargantua,” has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by JAFCO, with participation from Presence Capital, Sisu Ventures and Incubate Fund. TechCrunch has more here.

Walnut, a 10-month-old, San Francisco-based new platform that helps sales representatives to create, personalize, and manage the sales demo experience, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by NFX, with participation from numerous individual investors. Readwrite has more here.

New Funds

Roughy four years after launching its first, $50 million Impact Fund, Salesforce Ventures has launched a second Impact Fund, saying it will invest $100 million into both promising cloud businesses and startups with a socially positive mission. TechCrunch has more here.

IPOs

Faraday Future, the electric vehicle startup with a messy and complicated past, is planning to go public through a SPACdeal. The company’s chief executive, Carsten Breitfeld, tells Reuters that the company is working on a reverse merger and “will be able to announce something hopefully quite soon.” More here.

FirstMark Horizon Acquisition, a tech-focused SPAC, wound up raising $60 million more than originally planned. The company is led by CEO Richard Heitzmann and Chairman and President Amish Jani, who co-founded venture firm FirstMark Capital in 2008. Renaissance Capital has more here.

People

Antibody drugs that are in testing and were administered to Donald Trump could significantly reduce the death rate from Covid-19 once they are approved by regulators and more widely available, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said today.

I’m a software engineer at Uber and I’m voting against Prop 22.

Data

How the coronavirus changed the retail landscape, in charts.

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Essential Reads

Facebook expanded a ban on QAnon-related content on its various social platforms today. Beyond prohibiting QAnon-related groups that discuss potential violence, the social network is now zapping “any Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts representing QAnon” in an effort to clean up its platform ahead of the U.S. president election. (It should have moved faster, as you might know if anyone has tried warning you of the hidden dangers of "Secret Pizza Party," the story of a raccoon whose only real crime is a love of pizza.)

Detours

Uncouth, cranky and rude: movies circa 1988.

MacArthur ‘Genius’ grant winners for 2020: the full list.

Remembering Eddie Van Halen, inventor.

Everything about this story is wrong. Heavy-duty bolt cutter? Angle grinder?!

Retail Therapy

The Pennsylvania home where Buffalo Bill kept his victims in "Silence of the Lambs" is now for sale. (Psycho sold separately.)

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Oracle vs Google, an expanded Facebook ban, and the '80s on display in film

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