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January 26, 2021
Hi, hope you had a fine Tuesday.:) Ours has been getting more dramatic with every passing hour. It sounds like we're right on the ocean (we are not).
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Top News
The bullish stance on GameStop of "Big Short" investor Michael Burry in 2019 helped "lay the foundations for one of the biggest retail investor frenzies in recent memory," observes Bloomberg. But now he is warning that GameStop’s manic rally has gotten out of hand. “[W]hat is going on now – there should be legal and regulatory repercussions. This is unnatural, insane, and dangerous.” More here.
Related: The GameStop stock frenzy explained.
Microsoft stock rose as much as 6% in extended trading today after the company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings. CNBC has more here.
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Joanne Chen Just Became the First Woman GP at Foundation Capital Since Firm Founder Kathryn Gould
Joanne Chen just became the second general partner in the history of the now 26-year-old, Silicon Valley venture firm, Foundation Capital.
Were she still alive, Foundation's founder, Kathryn Gould, would undoubtedly cheer the development.
Known for her big personality, Gould first met Chen when Chen was an MBA student at the University of Chicago. Gould was recovering from a bout with cancer at the time, and after being introduced to Chen through one of Chen's professors, she initially advised Chen not to go into venture. As Gould herself discovered early on, doors open more easily to men in the venture world, which is why she'd started her own firm in the first place.
Yet, like Gould, being dissuaded only motivated Chen more.
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Massive Fundings
Albert, a five-year-old, Culver City, Ca.-based financial services companies that's looking to compete with incumbent institutions by offering more personalized services, has raised $100 million in Series C funding led by General Atlantic, which was joined by CapitalG, Portag3, and QED. The company has now raised $173 million altogether. Reuters has more here.
Didi Chuxing, the nearly nine-year-old, Beijing, China-based ride-hailing giant, is finalizing a $1.5 billion round of funding for its on-demand trucking unit, says Bloomberg, from investors that include Temasek, Yunfeng Capital and IDG Capital among others. Explains Bloomberg of the interest: "China’s economy roared back to pre-pandemic growth rates in the fourth quarter . . .and tech giants such as Alibaba Group Holding are now introducing technology to try and streamline the shipping process, connecting merchants with truckers and delivery firms." More here.
Bloomreach, a nearly 12-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based API company that helps e-commerce customers through a content management component that lets customers build websites, and search tech that powers the search box, navigation and merchandising, has raised $150 million in fresh funding at a post-money valuation of $900 million valuation. It also acquired Exponea, a Slovakian marketing automation company. Sixth Street Growth provided the new funding. TechCrunch has more here.
Fast, a year-old, San Francisco-based startup building one-click, passwordless checkout for internet shoppers, has raised $102 million in Series B funding just months after launching its first checkout product. Privately held payments giant Stripe co-led the round with Lee Fixel's Addition; they were joined by Index Ventures and other earlier investors. CNBC has more here.
FreeWire Technologies, a seven-year-old, San Leandro, Ca.-based EV charging company that says it can deliver up to 480 driving miles with a one-hour charge, has raised $50 million in Series C funding. Riverstone Holdings led the round, joined by earlier backers BP, Energy Innovation Capital, TRIREC and Alumni Ventures Group. More here.
Kardium, a 13-year-old, Vancouver, Canada-based developer of a mapping and ablation system for treating atrial fibrillation, has raised $115 million in funding led by Fidelity, with participation from T. Rowe Price. BetaKit has more here.
Pilot, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that sells bookkeeping, tax, and CFO services to growing businesses, has raised $60 million in Series C funding led by Sequoia Capital at a $600 million post-money valuation. with participation from the payments giant Stripe and earlier backer Index Ventures. Pilot, whose three founders have together sold companies to Oracle and Dropbox previously, has now raised $120 million altogether. Business Insider has more here.
Rhino, a four-year-old, New York-based insurance agency that gives renters financial alternatives to security deposits (i.e. insurance instead), has raised $95 million at a post-money valuation of $500 million led by Tiger Global Management. TechCrunch has more here.
Ringover, a nearly 16-year-old, Paris-based company that sells cloud-based voice-video-chat-SMS-call center communication software to businesses, has raised €10 million ($12.2 million) in Series A funding led by Expedition Growth Capital. UKTN has more here.
Sidecar Health, a three-year-old, Los Angeles-based low-cash, cash-pay health insurance startup, has raised $125 million in funding, including from Drive Capital, Bond, Tiger Global Management, and Menlo Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Sila Nano, a 9.5-year-old, Alameda, Ca.-based battery materials company, has raised $590 million in Series F funding at a $3.3 billion post-money valuation. Coatue led the round, joined by T. Rowe Price and earlier investors 8VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, CPPIB and Sutter Hill Ventures. Forbes has more here.
Vimeo, the now 16-year-old, New York-based video platform being spun out of IAC in the second quarter, has raised $300 million in funding at a post-money valuation of $5 billion, an 82% boost from a raise three months ago. The round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates and financial-services firm Oberndorf Enterprises. In November, Vimeo raised $150 million from Thrive Capital and GIC that valued the business at $2.75 billion. The WSJ has the story here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Airspace, a seven-year-old, Carlsbad, Ca.-based shipping startup that specializes in time-critical logistics and delivery services for industries such as healthcare (think organs), aerospace and high-tech machinery, has raised $38 million in Series C funding. Telstra Ventures led the round, joined by Qualcomm Ventures, HarbourVest, Prologis Ventures and earlier investors Scale Ventures and Defy Partners. The company has now raised $70 million altogether. Forbes has more here.
Calibrate, a year-old, New York-based telemedicine metabolic health platform that aims to help users lose weight, has raised $22.5 million in Series A funding. Threshold Ventures led the round, joined by previous investors Forerunner Ventures and Redesign Health. Crunchbase News has more here.
ClassDojo, a nine-year-old, San Francisco-based edtech company, has raised $30 million in fresh funding led by ProductHunt CEO Josh Buckley, with participation from numerous other notable individual investors, including Superhuman CEO Rahul Vohra. ClassDojo raised its last round of funding, a 435 million Series C round, in 2019. TechCrunch has more here.
Ocient, a 4.5-year-old, Chicago-based data analytics startup, has raised $40 million in Series B funding. OCA Ventures and Greycroft co-led the round, joined by Valor Equity Partners, PSP Partners, Hyde Park Angels, Pritzker Group VC, Gaingels and Alumni Venture Group. The new round follows a $15 million round that closed last June and brings the company's total funding to date to $65 million. Built in Chicago has more here.
Roostify, a nine-year-old, San Francisco-based digital platform for mortgage lenders, has raised $32 million in Series C funding led by Ten Coves Capital, with added participation from Stone Point Capital and earlier backers Cota Capital, Mouro Capital, Colchis Capital, Point72 Ventures and JPMorgan Chase. Crunchbase News has more here.
Run.ai, a three-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup that develops an automated distributed training technology that virtualizes and accelerates deep learning, has raised $30 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round, joined by previous investors TLV Partners and S-Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
SOMA Global, a four-year-old, Tampa, Fla.-based maker of public safety tech, has raised $22.5 million from Weatherford Capital. Government Technology has more here.
Span, a 2.5-year-old, San Francisco-based maker of smart electrical panels to help users monitor and control energy use in their homes, has raised $20 million co-led by the Alexa Fund and Munich Re Ventures. More here.
Smaller Fundings
Club Feast, a months-old, San Francisco-based restaurant delivery service that's trying sell and deliver meals that cost $5.99 per dish at most (plus a $2 delivery fee), has raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst. TechCrunch has more here.
dYdX, a nearly four-year-old, San Francisco-based open trading platform for crypto assets, has raised $10 million in Series B funding. Three Arrows Capital and DeFiance Capital led the round, joined by Wintermute, a16z, Polychain Capital, Kindred Ventures, investor Elad Gil, and Coinbase cofounder Fred Ehrsam, among others. Coindesk has more here.
Esme Learning, a 1.5-year-old, Boston-based digital learning platform that aims to provide executives with technical skills and business best practices from experts on a range topics from cybersecurity to fintech, has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding led by Adit Ventures. More here.
Joshu, a months-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based startup that helps insurance carriers launch online distribution channels quickly, has raised $3.7 million in funding led by Blumberg Capital, with additional participation from Engineering Capital, Correlation Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and Sure Ventures. More here.
Kevala, a year-old, Seattle-based company that's building an intelligent workforce management platform for long-term-care facilities, has raised $4 million in seed funding led by Vulcan Capital, with participation from Costanoa Ventures, High Alpha and PSL Ventures. GeekWire has more here.
Mealco, a 1.5-year-old, New York-based startup promising to help chefs launch new restaurants designed around delivery (they basically fork over their recipes, then Mealco preps the dishes from its own kitchen and ships off the food via standard delivery apps), has raised $7 million in seed funding. Rucker Park Capital led the round, joined by FJLabs, Reshape, 2048.vc, Oceans Ventures, WLP and angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Opal, a year-old, New York-based company whose iOS-focused tech helps users block distracting websites and apps, set schedules around app usage, lock down apps for stricter usage and carve out more quiet periods, has raised $4.3 million in seed funding. Adjacent, a mobile-focused venture fund, led the round, joined by Speedinvest and roughly a dozen other backers. TechCrunch has more here.
Preciate, a four-year-old, Dallas, Tex.-based social network startup focused around the workplace, has raised $4.6 million in seed funding led by Inspiration Ventures, with added participation from Founders Capital Partners and the Santa Barbara Angel Alliance. More here.
Preemadonna, a nearly-eight-year-old, Sunnyvale, Ca.-based maker of a connected at-home manicure device (the "nailbot"), has raised $5.6 million in seed funding led by Halogen Ventures, with participation from Version One Ventures and the Amazon Alexa Fund. More here.
SmileMD, a six-year-old, Dublin, Oh.-based on-site anesthesia services company that provides anesthesia to pediatric and adult dental practices in their office setting, has raised $5 million in Series A funding. SpringRock Ventures led the round, joined by Loud Capital. More here.
S’More, a two-year-old, New York-based dating app with an "interactive way to learn more about a person before evaluating them on appearance," has raised $2.1 million. Benson Oak Ventures led the round, joined by Workplay Ventures (Mark Pincus), Gaingels, and half a dozen other investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Stacker, a nearly four-year-old, London-based startup that helps non-developers create software from spreadsheets, has raised $1.7 million in funding. Initialized Capital led the round, joined by Y Combinator, Pioneer Fund, and Makerpad. TechCrunch has more here.
Talent Hack, a 1.5-year-old, New York-based tech platform for solo fitness professionals that aims to help extend their scalability, has raised $4.7 million in seed funding led by Global Founders Capital, with added participation from The Fund and individual investors. More here.
Not-Saying-How-Much Fundings
Catalytic, a 3.5-year-old, Chicago-based SaaS platform designed to automate between half and all of a company's manual data processing tasks, has raised an undisclosed amount of strategic funding from In-Q-Tel. The company last announced funding roughly two years ago -- a $30 million Series B round led by Intel Capital. More here.
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Exits
Twitter has acquired Revue, a five-year-old newsletter platform for writers and publishers that had raised just $318,000, according to Crunchbase. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, but Twitter is acquiring the startup's six-person team and plans to expand it once onboard. Revue offers free and paid newsletter options. The free version allows authors to send newsletters to up to 50 people, while the paid version enables them to email up to 40,000 people. Axios has more here.
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People
Atomico, the European venture capital fund that typically invests at Series A and Series B, has made a number of internal promotions, including making SaaS and enterprise-focused investor Ben Blume a partner at the firm.
Ann Bordetsky, a former director of business development at Uber, has joined NEA as a partner in Menlo Park, Ca., while Sheila Lirio Marcelo, founder and former CEO and chairwoman of Care.com has joins as a venture partner based in the firm’s New York office.
Chewy.com co-founder Ryan Cohen has seen an investment he made in the video game retailer GameStop last year soar by 1,700%, turning his $76 million bet into [jaw falls] one valued at $1.4 billion.
Elon Musk is "super fired up" about the Biden administration. In an interview with Fortune, he says he feels "very optimistic about the future of sustainable energy with the new administration" and that with a changing of the guard the "the wind is at our back for solving the climate crisis." More here.
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Jobs
MetaProp, the six-year-old New York-based venture firm focused on real estate tech, is hiring a principal. You can learn more and also apply here.
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Essential Reads
Chinese internet giant ByteDance has reportedly told employees in India that it is cutting jobs in the country after New Delhi renewed its ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps last week.
PepsiCo and Beyond Meat are joining forces to hawk new plant-based food and beverages to consumers.
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