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November 23, 2020
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Top News
Thomas Moyer, Apple's global head of security, was indicted on bribery charges in Santa Clara County after reportedly promising Apple would donate $70,000 worth of iPads to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office in exchange for concealed weapons permits. The Washington Post has more here.
Uber and Lyft were just awarded a federal contract worth up to $810 million to offer their ride-hail services to public agencies and their more than four million employees and contractors across the country, says Reuters. Observers criticized the move on the heels of the companies' recent win in California, where a passed ballot measure sponsored by the companies will enable them to continue treating drivers as independent contractors. The companies are now expected to pursue federal legislation that similarly protects them in other states.
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AliveCor, Which Helps Users Manage Their Heart Health, Scores Another FDA Approval
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Last week, AliveCor, a nine-year-old, 92-person company whose small, personal electrocardiogram devices help users detect atrial fibrillation, bradycardia, and tachycardia from heart rate readings taken from their own kitchen tables, raised $65 million from investors.
Today, it’s clearer why investors — who’ve now provided the Mountain View, Ca., company with $169 million altogether — are excited about its prospects. AliveCor just received its newest FDA clearance under the agency’s software as a medical device designation for an upgrade that generates enough detail and fidelity that AliveCor says its cardiological services can now serve as stand-in for the vast majority of cases when cardiac patients are not in front of their doctor.
Specifically, the company says the FDA-cleared update can detect premature atrial contractions, premature ventricular contractions, sinus rhythm with wide QRS.
In a world where the pandemic continues to rage and people remain hesitant to visit a hospital, these little steps add up. In fact, CEO Priya Abani, along with AliveCor founder and chief medical officer David Albert, formerly the chief clinical scientist of cardiology at GE, say AliveCor’s “Kardia” devices have been used to record nearly 15 million EKG recordings since March of this year, which is up over 70% year-over-year.
They also claim a 25% increase year-over-year in what they call physician-patient connections, meaning doctors specifically asking their patients to use the device, either at their medical office or at the patient’s home. Indeed, the pair says that while the company has focused historically on consumer sales, so much new business is coming through doctor referrals that roughly one out of every two of its devices is now sold through these recommendations.
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Massive Fundings
AMP Robotics, a six-year-old, Denver-based recycling robotics tech developer, is close to closing on as much as $70 million in new financing, according to TechCrunch. The company last raised $16 million in funding roughly a year ago led by Sequoia Capital. More here.
ATAI Life Sciences, a 2.5-year-old, Berlin-based drug development platform set up to acquire, incubate and develop psychedelics and other drugs that can be used to treat depression, anxiety, addiction and other mental health conditions, has raised $125 million in funding, including from investor Peter Thiel. The company has now raised more than $210 million altogether. NBC has more here.
Manbang Group, a three-year-old, Beijing, China-based platform that connects independent truckers and shippers, then helps them manage their cargo, provides them automotive insurance, and more, has raised $170 million in Series F funding co-led by Fidelity and earlier backers SoftBank Vision Fund and Sequoia Capital China. DealStreetAsia has more here.
Resilience, a new La Jolla, Ca.-based biopharmaceutical company backed by $800 million in financing from investors including ARCH Venture Partners and 8VC, has emerged from stealth to invest heavily in developing new manufacturing technologies across cell and gene therapies, viral vectors, vaccines and proteins. The company was founded by ARCH Venture Partners investor Robert Nelsen. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Boulevard, a four-year-old, L.A.-based spa management and payment platform, has raised $27 million in new funding from Index Ventures, Toba Capital, VMG Partners, Bonfire Ventures, Ludlow Ventures and BoxGroup. TechCrunch has more here.
Cashfree, a five-year-old, Bangalore, India-based startup that offers a wide-range of payments services to businesses, has raised $35.3 million in Series B funding led by Apis Partners, with participation from earlier investors Y Combinator and Smilegate Investments. The company has now raised $42 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Metigy, a 5.5-year-old, Sydney, Australia-based marketing platform created to help small businesses automate more of the decision making in their online ad campaigns, has raised around $14.6 million in Series B funding led by earlier backer Cygnet Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
MeUndies, a nine-year-old, Culver City, Ca.-based underwear, sleepwear, and loungewear brand, has raised $40 million in funding from the growth equity firm Provenance. More here.
Smaller Fundings
Connect Homes, a seven-year-old, L.A.-based prefab home building, has raised $5 million in new funding led by Brick & Mortar Ventures, as well as the company's new CEO, Greg Leung. TechCrunch has more here.
Cure Hydration, a two-year-old, New York-based maker of hydration powders that ostensibly hydrate better than water alone, has raised $2.6 million in seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau, with participation from M3 Ventures, Litani Ventures, and numerous individual investors, including Casper CEO Philip Krim. TechCrunch has more here.
Friday, a nearly five-year-old, Portland, Me.-based remote work orchestration platform, has raised $2.1 million in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Other participants in the round include Active Capital, Underscore VC, El Cap Holdings, TLC Collective and New York Venture Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Hellosaurus, a 1.5-year-old, New York-based mobile app that makes screen time educational and gives creators a way to monetize their content, has raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst. More here.
Lunewave, a three-year-old, Tucson, Az.-based startup developing antenna and radar sensor tech for autonomous vehicles, has raised $7 million in funding from Proeza Ventures, Blue 9 Capital, Tsingyuan Ventures and Intact Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Serenade, a 1.5-year-old, Bay Area-based startup that turns speech into software code, has raised $2.1 million in seed funding led by Amplify Partners and Neo. TechCrunch has more here.
Sleek, a three-year-old, Singapore-based corporate services platform that helps entrepreneurs launch and run new companies in Singapore and Hong Kong, has raised $4 million.The new funding was led by SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of government agency Enterprise Singapore. TechCrunch has more here.
Superpeer, a months-old, Bay Area-based startup that helps experts share and monetize their knowledge online, has raised $8 million in funding from Acrew Capital, Audacious Ventures, Homebrew, and Moxxie Ventures, along with Brianne Kimmel, Scott Belsky and OnDeck, and it brings Superpeer’s total funding to $10 million. TechCrunch has more here.
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New Funds
Contour Venture Partners, a 15-year-old, New York- based seed stage venture firm that's focused on enterprise SaaS, vertical B2B SaaS and financial services, has closed its fourth flagship fund with $82 million in capital commitments. The firm says it also closed a second opportunity fund to invest in breakout companies within its portfolio. More here.
Energize Ventures, a four-year-old, Chicago-based venture capital and private equity firm, is looking to raise up to $250 million for its second fund, shows a new SEC filing. The outfit had closed its debut fund with $165 million in the spring of 2018. Energize focuses on "software for the energy and industrial transition." More here.
Ibex Investors, a nine-year-old, Denver, Co.-based venture firm with offices in Tel Aviv and New York, says it has closed it second Israel-focused fund with $100 million in capital commitments. GeekTime has more here.
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Going Public
Frazier Lifesciences Acquisition, a blank check company formed by Frazier Healthcare Partners targeting the biotech industry, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an IPO. The SPAC is led by Chairman and CEO Jamie Topper, who has co-led the venture capital firm since 2005 as its Managing Partner. Renaissance Capital has more here.
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Exits
Google is reportedly looking to acquire India-based social media platform Sharechat at a valuation of over a billion dollars. The nearly six-year-old company, used by speakers of 15 different Indian languages, has raised $264 million from investors and was most recently valued at $650 million. Business Insider has more here.
Vettery, a six-year-old hobs platform that was acquired two years ago by HR services firm Adecco Group, says it has acquired Hired, the search and recruiting platform that The Information last week reported was being wound down. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, but Hired's longtime CEO Mehul Patel has indeed moved on, with Vettery CEO Josh Brenner becoming CEO of both companies, which will maintain their individual branding for now. Hired had raised $130 million from investors. TechCrunch has more here.
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People
Elizabeth Holmes wants to block jurors from hearing about her luxurious lifestyle as Theranos CEO.
Former Amazon Studios head Roy Price, who was ousted three years ago after allegations of inappropriate behavior, is talking for the first time, but his accuser stands by claims.
Blackstone Group CEO and Trump ally Steve Schwarzman tells Axios of the U.S. presidential election: "I'm a fan of good process . . .But the outcome is very certain today, and the country should move on."
Peter Thiel has joined the board of AbCellera Biologics, a seven-year-old biotech out of British Columbia that's reportedly on the verge of filing for an IPO. Endpoints News has more here.
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Essential Reads
Snapchat has launched a TikTok-like feed called Spotlight.
Tech CEOs are saying goodbye to San Francisco, notes The Information. According to a new report: "Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and Splunk CEO Douglas Merritt both recently bought homes in Austin, with plans to make the Texas capital their permanent residences . . .Brex’s 20-something co-founders, Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, have decamped to Los Angeles and don’t plan to renew the company’s San Francisco office lease next year" and Orion Hindawi, CEO of the security software firm Tanium, says he moved to Seattle recently after a quarter of his employees relocated out of the Bay Area. "I was watching my people vote with their feet," he tells The Information. "As soon as I gave them freedom, they fled." More here.
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Detours
The National Zoo’s panda cub has a name at long last.
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Sponsored By . . .
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