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October 13, 2020
Tuesday!
Quick mention/request: If you happen to be recycling your computers, laptops or tablets, we know of a great home for them: the Bridging Tech Charitable Fund, a nonprofit that was started by two Stanford students to help bridge the digital divide that many students are experiencing in this overwhelmingly digital learning environment. The organization has partners that provide free internet connectivity and software that wipes personal data from donated devices, but what's really needed is more hardware. To learn more, reach out to contact@bridgingtech.com (and thank you!).
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Top News
Eli Lilly’s late-stage trial of its leading monoclonal antibody treatment for the coronavirus has been paused by U.S. health regulators over potential safety concerns. The news comes less than 24 hours after Johnson & Johnson confirmed that its late-stage coronavirus vaccine trial was paused over a participant experienced an adverse event. (Double oof.) CNBC has more here.
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Massive Fundings
Calm, the eight-year-old, San Francisco-based maker of a meditation and sleep app, is exploring a new funding round that could more than double the company’s valuation, according to Bloomberg. It says the startup has discussed raising about $150 million at a $2.2 billion valuation and that the share sale could include a component allowing some early investors to sell. More here.
Deepwatch, a nearly six-year-old, Denver, Co.-based managed security services startup, has raised $53 million in Series B funding. Goldman Sachs led the round, joined by ABS Capital Partners. SecurityWeek has more here.
EdiGene, a nearly six-year-old, Beijing China-cloud-based developer of genome editing technologies, has raised $67 million in Series B funding. 3H Health Investment led the round, joined by Sequoia Capital China, Alwin Capital, Kunlun Capital, and earlier backers IDG Capital, Lilly Asia Venture, Huagai Capital, and Green Pine Capital Partners. FierceBiotech has more here.
Kahoot, an eight-year-old, Oslo, Norway-based gamified online learning platform, has raised $215 million from SoftBank. TechCrunch has more here.
Lark Health, a nine-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based chronic disease prevention and management startup, raised $55 million in Series C funding led by King River Capital. Other investors in the round include Franklin Templeton, SteelSky Ventures, Olive Tree Capital, and earlier backers Lightspeed Venture Partners and Asset Management Ventures. The company separately secured a $15 million debt facility from Trinity Capital and Bridge Bank. MobiHealth News has more here.
N26, a 7.5-year-old, Berlin, Germany-based online bank, is reportedly weighing another round of fundraising. In May, the company added $100 million to its Series D round in a deal that valued the company at $3.5 billion and pushed its total funding to $782 million. More here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
BlackSwan Technologies, a nearly two-year-old, London-based startup that's aiming to make it easier for non-technologists to build AI applications through its low-code/no-code platform that doesn't require companies to use well-curated data sets, has raised $28 million in Series A funding led by investors Prytek, FinTLV and MS&AD Ventures. Business Insider has more here.
Chord Therapeutics, a six-year-old, Geneva, Switzerland-based biotech that's focused on rare autoimmune diseases, has raised $16 million in Series A funding from Omega Funds. More here.
Kasa Living, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based startup company that partners with property managers to transform their holdings into stylish, professionally managed units that cater to business and leisure travelers, has raised $50 million in funding, including $30 million in new Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital and $20 million in Series A funding led by FirstMark Capital less than a year ago. Participating investors also include RET Ventures, Zigg Capital, Allegion Ventures, and BoxGroup. More here.
NinjaCat, an eight-year--old, New York-based maker of a platform to track, store, report, monitor, and analyze marketing performance data, has raised $26 million in Series A funding from Clovis Point Capital. More here.
Nuvemshop, a nine-year-old, São Paulo, Brazil-based e-commerce platform like Shopify, has raised $30 million in funding led by Qualcomm, with participation from FJ Labs, IGNIA, Elevar Equity, former Accel general partner Kevin Efrusy, and earlier backer Kaszek Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Nym, a three-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup that has developed a medical NLU software and service that helps streamline medical coding, has raised $16.5 million in funding led by GV, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Dynamic Loop Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tiger Global, and angel investors including Zach Weinberg and Nat Turner from Flatiron Health. TechCrunch has more here.
Point Pickup, a 5.5-year-old, Greenwich, Ct.-based last-mile delivery startup, has raised $30 million in Series A funding led by BBH Capital Partners. FreightWaves has more here.
Priothera, a months-old, Ireland-based developer of therapies for acute myeloid leukemia patients, has raised €30 million. Fountain Healthcare Partners and HealthCap co-led the round, joined by Tekla Capital Management and EarlyBird VC. FierceBiotech has more here.
Qatalog, a year-old, London-based developer of a SaaS tools rebundling platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Atomico led the round, joined by Salesforce Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Cyberpion, a six-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based enterprise cybersecurity startup that aims to help enterprises identify and neutralize risks that stem from connections to their infrastructure assets, has raised $8.25 million in seed funding co-led by Team8 Capital and Hyperwise Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Glimpse, a 1.5-year-old, Washington, D.C.-based B2B marketplace that helps brands reach new customers by placing their products (think mattresses, coffee machines, furniture, soap) into short-term real estate rentals, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. Origin Ventures led the round, joined by Y Combinator, GSR Ventures, and prominent angel investors, including Julia and Kevin Hartz of Eventbrite. More here.
JAXJOX, a four-year-old, Redmond, Wa.-based fitness technology company that creates compact, smart workout products like dumbbells, has raised $10 million in Series A funding from Dowgate Capital and entrepreneur Nigel Wray. The company has now raised $17 million altogether. GeekWire has more here.
Moment House, a 1.5-year-old, L.A.- based ticketed digital live experiences platform connecting fans with artists, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. Forerunner Ventures led the round, joined by numerous individual investors, including Scooter Braun, Jared Leto, Troy Carter, and Palm Tree Crew. Music Business Worldwide has more here.
Navina, a 2.5-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup that's using artificial intelligence to turn patients' data into 'patient portraits' that help physicians to focus on treatment, has raised $7 million in seed funding led by Grove Ventures. Business Insider has more here.
Urban Umbrella, a four-year-old, New York-based startup that makes elegant steel scaffolding to beautify construction sites, has raised $7 million in equity and an additional $2 million in debt funding from unnamed developers and building owners. The company has now raised $18 million to date. The Real Deal has more here.
Profitboss, a two-year-old, Bay Area-based direct online ordering system for independent restaurants with automatic marketing built-in, has raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Redpoint, with additional participation from Kimbal Musk, Dylan Field, The Chainsmokers and Naval Ravikant, among others. Business Insider has more here.
Not-Saying-How-Much Fundings
Rise Gardens, a 3.5-year-old, Chicago-based maker of in-home, smart hydroponic garden systems, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the Amazon Alexa Fund. Built in Chicago has more here.
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New Funds
Longtime venture firm Canaan Partners announced its newest fund today, saying it expects to funnel a good portion of that money into biotech over the next few years. The technology and life sciences firm said it’s brought in a fresh $800 million to fund early-stage investing. This is Canaan’s 12th such fund and ties the amount it brought in back in June 2017, which it said at the time was a company record. Endpoints News has more here.
David Roux, a co-founder of investment firm Silver Lake, is teaming up with former Blackstone Group executive Anjan Mukherjee to raise a private equity fund, according to Bloomberg. Their new firm, known as BayPine, will reportedly focus on the digital transformation of sectors including health care, industrials, business services and consumer. More here.
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IPOs
McAfee, the cybersecurity company founded by tech eccentric John McAfee, has set the terms for its initial public offering, hoping to raise as much as $682 million in a deal that could value the company at $3.64 billion. McAfee, based in San Jose, plans to sell 37 million shares at a price of $19 to $22 each. The stock will trade on Nasdaq, with the ticker symbol MCFE, the company said in an SEC filing. The Street has more here.
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Exits
Business Insider parent Insider Inc. is nearing a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Morning Brew, a news startup known for a popular email newsletter on business and finance, according to the WSJ. The terms the companies are discussing would value Morning Brew at over $75 million, including certain performance incentives, the people said. The companies haven’t completed a deal, and the talks could still fall apart. More here.
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Sponsored By...
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Essential Reads
Amazon employees are circulating an internal petition calling for the company to give the entire U.S. workforce time off to vote, as have other tech giants like Facebook, Apple, and Twitter. As of earlier tonight, the petition amassed signatures from more than 4,000 Amazon employees.
Another tech company goes remote: San Francisco-based Dropbox announced today that will stop asking employees to come into its offices and instead make remote work the standard practice. For employees that need to meet or work together in person, the company will eventually set up “Dropbox Studios.”
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