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October 16, 2020
Before we go, as promised, our newest StrictlyVC Download episode with this week's guest Bradley Tusk, Ubers's first lobbyist-turned-venture investor-turned chairman of a new blank-check company. Given Tusk's varied interests, we covered a lot of ground, from who is really funding SPACs to what he expects will happen with the upcoming U.S. election and why. You may not always agree with Tusk (some question whether his work around mobile voting will gain traction), but he's never boring. Hope you enjoy it.
Much thanks the intelligence platform Affinity for sponsoring the program.
Have a terrific weekend; more Monday.
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Top News
Today, Twitter began letting users share links to an unsubstantiated New York Post article about Hunter Biden that it had previously blocked from its service. The company originally said that sharing the article violated its policy that prohibits users from spreading hacked information. It also said the emails in the story contained private information, so sharing the piece would violate its privacy policies. The New York Times has more here.
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Pear Hosted Its Invite-Only Demo Day Online This Year; Here's What You Might Have Missed
Pear, the eight-year-old, Palo Alto, Calif.-based seed-stage venture firm that has, from its outset, attracted the attention of VCs who think the firm has an eye for nascent talent, staged its seventh annual demo day earlier this week, and while it was virtual, one of the startups has already signed a term sheet from a top-tier venture firm.
To give the rest of you a sneak peak, here's a bit about all of the startups that presented, in broad strokes.
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Massive Fundings
Disco, a nearly eight-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based company that makes products and provides services for the cloud-based investigation and litigation marketplace, has raised $60 million in funding led by Georgian Partners. Other investors in the round include Breyer Capital and earlier backers Bessemer Venture Partners, LiveOak Venture Partners, and The Stephens Group. Silicon Hills has more here.
Hopin, a 1.5-old, London-based remote live online events company that raised $6.5 million in seed funding led by Accel back in February, is reportedly in talks with investors about a new round of funding that would value the young startup at $2 billion. The Information has the story here.
VectivBio, a year-old, Basel, Switzerland-based biotech that's focused on short bowel syndrome, has raised $110 million, nine months after raising an initial $35 million in funding. Surveyor Capital, Cormorant Capital, and Eventide Asset Management were joined by earlier backers Versant Ventures, OrbiMed, Novo Holdings, BPI France, Tekla Healthcare Investors, Inserm Transfert and Cowen Healthcare. More here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Knowledgehook, a six-year-old, Toronto, Ontario-based math learning platform, has raised C$20 million ($15.2 million) in Series A funding. The lead investor was not disclosed, but other participants in the round include Mesoamerica, Nelson Education, Ideal Ventures, and Nicoya Ventures. Betakit has more here.
Savana, a six-year-old, Madrid, Spain-based machine learning-based service that turns clinical notes into structured patient information for physicians and pharmacists, just raised $15 million. Cathay Innovation led, and was joined by MACSF and return backer Seaya Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Sonrai Security, a nearly three-year-old, New York-based public cloud security startup, has raised $20 million in Series B funding. Menlo Ventures led the round, joined by earlier backers Polaris Partners and Ten Eleven Ventures. The company has now raised $8 million altogether. More here.
Vineti, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based maker of logistics software for cell and gene therapies, has raised $33 million in extended Series C funding that brings the company's total funding to $68 million. Cardinal Health led the extension, and was joined by Marc Benioff and earlier backers Canaan Partners, Threshold Ventures, Section 32, Casdin Capital, Novartis Pharma AG, McKesson Ventures, and LifeForce Capital. More here.
Smaller Fundings
Alpaca, a five-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based API-powered commission-free equities trading service, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Portag3. Other investors in the round include Social Leverage, Spark Capital, Fathom Capital, and Abstract Ventures. The company has now raised $22 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Elenas, a 2.5-year-old, Bogota, Colombia-based social commerce platform that's helping tens of thousands of women sell their products on WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media sites, has raised $2 million in seed funding from Alpha4 Ventures, Amador Holdings, Polymath Ventures, and Meesho. Crunchbase News has more here.
Future, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based online fitness startup promising its customers access to elite training for $5 a day, has raised $24 million Series B led by Trustbridge Partners, with added participation from Caffeinated Capital and earlier backer Kleiner Perkins. TechCrunch has more here.
Lawmatics, a three-year-old, San Diego startup that’s building marketing and CRM software for lawyers, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding co-led by Eniac Ventures and Forefront Venture Partners, with participation from Revel Ventures and Bridge Venture Partners.
Speedscale, a months-old, Atlanta-based API test automation startup, has raised its first $2.2 million, including from Sierra Ventures and Tech Square Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Zora, a six-month-old, San Francisco-based marketplace that's aiming to allow creators or artists to launch products and then continue to participate in their second market value, has raised 42 million in seed funding led by Kindred Ventures, with added participation from numerous individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.
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New Funds
Altimeter Capital, a 12-year-old, Boston and Menlo Park, Ca.-based venture firm, is raising $480 million for its fifth growth equity fund, according to a new SEC filing. Its fourth growth equity fund had targeted $400 million and closed in early 2019. More here.
Boldstart Ventures, a 10-year-old, New York-based early-stage venture outfit, is raising $155 million for its fifth fund, according to an SEC filing. The firm had closed on $157 million across two funds last November: One fund is a $112 million seed and early-stage vehicle; it also closed a $45 million in commitments for an opportunity-type fund. More here.
Define Ventures, a digital health-focused venture firm founded in 2019 by a former health-care investor with Kleiner Perkins, Lynne Chou O’Keefe, is in the market for a second fund less than a year after announcing it had raised $87 million for its debut vehicle. Its target, according to an SEC filing, is $180 million. More here.
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Going Public
Nextdoor, the 12-year-old social network for neighbors to share gossip or trade goods and services, is considering various options to go public, reports Bloomberg, whose sources say the company is targeting a valuation in the range of $4 billion to $5 billion. Nextdoor has raised about $470 million and was last valued at $2.2 billion after a funding round in September 2019, according to PitchBook. Its investors include Benchmark, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Riverwood Capital, Axel Springer and Tiger Global Management. More here.
Aligos Therapeutics, focusing on chronic hepatitis B and NASH, submitted its S1 paperwork to the SEC in late September and hit the market today, its share initially rising, then sinking, then settling in at roughly their offering price. The IPO was priced late yesterday at $15 a share, in the middle of the expected range of between $14 and $16 a share. It raised $150 million in the IPO. MarketWatch has more here.
Eargo, a 10-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based maker of hearing aids, meanwhile saw its shares "rocket" as much as 143% in their market debut today. The stock opened at $36, double its $18 IPO price, then hit a high of $43.80. Shares closed at $33.68, up 87.1%. The strong performance came after Eargo increased the size of its deal, raising $141.3 million late yesterday. Eargo sold 7.85 million shares at $18 each, up from the 6.7 million it had planned to sell at $14 to $16. Barron's has more here.
IN8bio, a four-year-old, New York-based Phase 1 biotech developing allogeneic T cell therapies for cancer and solid tumors, filed today with the SEC to raise up to $86 million in an IPO offering. Renaissance Capital has more here.
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People
Last summer, Fast Company was subpoenaed by tech investor and entrepreneur Shervin Pishevar for information on a confidential source used in a 2017 article on Pishevar’s U.K. arrest that year. Now, a federal judge has ordered senior news editor Marcus Baram to release the source’s identity by tomorrow, Oct. 17.
According to Axios, Vista Equity Partners founder Robert Smith called a virtual meeting of Vista's managing directors and certain other employees yesterday to discuss the details of his settlement with the Justice Department and he took the opportunity to announce that Brian Sheth, Vista's co-founder and president, is likely to be leaving. Sheth himself was not on the call, and it "does not appear that he was invited to participate," says Axios. Its sources suggest Smith's tax troubles are a contributing factor.
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Essential Reads
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, once uninterested in politics, has transformed himself into an active political operator in the Trump era, says the WSJ in a new deep dive.
Uber said today it will invest more than $150 million in a joint venture and partnership with South Korea's SK Telecom, which is proposing to split off its mobility business. As Reuters notes, the move is Uber’s latest attempt to expand in a market where it has faced tough competition, opposition from taxi drivers, and regulations that forced it to stop using private cars for its ride-hailing service in 2015.
Some new coronavirus cancellations are just the latest example of Netflix adjusting its thinking on how long shows should run -- and how much it cares about being seen as talent friendly.
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