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Top News
Bitcoin topped $50,000 for the first time today, doubling in value in less than two months. CNBC has more here.
New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, sued Amazon tonight, arguing that the company provided inadequate safety protection for workers in New York City during the pandemic and retaliated against employees who raised concerns over the conditions. The New York Times has more here.
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Onboard Has Raised $1.25 Million in Seed Funding to Help SaaS Companies Get Their New Customers Up and Running
While companies have embraced the offerings of software-as-a-service companies with growing vigor, getting those new offerings to work in a seamless way from the outset isn’t so easy, with some business customers feeling forgotten as soon as the digital ink dries.
Enter Onboard, a 10-month-old startup that aims to help SaaS businesses delight those new customers instead of turning them off.
The company was co-founded by CEO Jeff Epstein, who previously launched the referral marketing and affiliate marketing software company Ambassador, which sold in 2018, eight years after it was founded.
Terms of the sale to West Corporation — now Intrado — were never disclosed, but Epstein says it was a “good outcome” for shareholders. (Ambassador was sold again last month to a small Seattle company.)
As for how Onboard works, Epstein makes the process sound straightforward.
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Massive Fundings
Axiom Space, a six-year-old, Houston, Tex.-based company that has been tapped by NASA to add privately developed space station modules to the ISS, has raised $130 million in Series B funding led by C5 Capital, a round that brings its total funding to $150 million. TechCrunch has more here.
BlockFi, a nearly four-year-old, San Francisco-based crypto financial services company that lends money to cryptocurrency holders (who don't want to cash out), is reportedly looking to raise $150 million ahead of launching a credit card project. According to the outlet The Block, the deal would assign the company a $2.85 billion pre-money valuation. More here.
Matillion, an 11-year-old, Cheshire, England-based company that says it can help companies integrate data into their workflows more quickly, just raised $100 million in funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Other backers in the round include Battery Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank Capital. VentureBeat has more here.
Notch Therapeutics, a three-year-old, Toronto, Canada-based biotech company whose immune cell therapy centers on a next-generation pipeline that focuses on initial cancer cells, has raised $85 million in Series A funding. The lead investor was not disclosed. Other investors included Allogene Therapeutics, Lumira Ventures, and CCRM Enterprises Holdings. More here.
Pex, a nearly seven-year-old, L.A.-based startup aiming to giving rights-holders more control over how their content is used and reused online, has raised $57 million in funding. The capital came from earlier backers, including Susa Ventures and Illuminate Ventures, as well as new investors Tencent, Tencent Music Entertainment, the CueBall Group, NexGen Ventures Partners, Amaranthine and others. TechCrunch has more here.
SpaceX, the nearly 18-year-old, Hawthorne, Ca.-based space company, closed on $850 million last week at a post-money valuation of $74 billion, according to CNBC. The raise represents a jump of about 60% in the company’s valuation from its previous round in August, when SpaceX raised near $2 billion at a $46 billion valuation. More here.
Valoreo, a year-old, Mexico City, Mexico-based acquirer of e-commerce businesses, says it has raised $50 million in equity and debt financing from Upper90, FJ Labs, Angel Ventures, Presight Capital and a slew of angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Sagimet Biosciences, a 14-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based biotechnology company developing treatments for diseases including for cancer, raised $80 million. The lead investor was not disclosed. Other investors included Ascletis, Kleiner Perkins, New Enterprise Associates, and Rock Springs Capital. More here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
AdmitHub, a six-year-old, Boston-based startup that's developing a chatbot platform aimed at boosting student enrollment and graduation rates, has raised $14 million in Series B funding led by Rethink Education. Other investors in the round include ECMC Group’s Education Impact Fund and Kresge Foundation’s impact investment fund. VentureBeat has more here.
Eavor, a four-year-old, Calgary, Alberta-based geothermal energy startup, raised $40 million from an investor group that includes the venture arms of Chevron and BP, Temasek, BDC Capital, Vickers Venture Partners and the Eversource pension fund. CNBC has more here.
HemoShear Therapeutics, a 13-year-old, Charlottesville, Va.-based biotech company focused on developing treatments for children's rare metabolic disorders, has raised $40 million in Series A funding. Suvretta Capital led the round, joined by Janus Henderson Investors and Adage Capital Management. More here.
Interplay Learning, an 11-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based training platform for trade workers, has raised $18 million in Series B funding. Owl Ventures and S3 Ventures led the round, joined by Strada Education Network, The Venture Reality Fund, SJF Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Holt Ventures, Wild Basin Investments, and Shelter Capital Partners. More here.
Metropolis, a four-year-old, L.A.-based car services startup focused around automated parking payment and management, has raised $41 million in Series A funding led by 3L. Other backers in the round include Starwood Capital, 01 Advisors, Dragoneer, Slow Ventures, Zigg Capital, DivcoWest, RXR and Dan Doctoroff of Sidewalk Labs, among others. TechCrunch has more here.
Q’Apel Medical, a nearly six-year-old, Fremont, Ca.-based company making devices for neurovascular disorders, has raised $22 million in Series C funding from River Cities Capital, Soleus Capital, and Research Corporation Technologies. More here.
Opiniion, a four-year-old, Lindon, Ut.-based online resident relations and reputation management platform, has raised $3 million in funding led by the Frazier Group, with participation from RET Ventures, AIM Ventura Capital and Tamarak Capital Partners. More here.
Redefine Meat, a three-year-old, Israel-based startup that has developed technology to produce plant-based meat substitutes on 3D printers, has raised $29 million in Series A funding co-led by Happiness Capital and Hanaco Ventures. Other investors in the round include CPT Capital, Losa Group, Sake Bosch, and K3 Ventures. Reuters has more here.
Solidatus, a four-year-old, London-based data management company, has raised £14 million ($19.2 million) in Series A funding led by AlbionVC, with added participation from HSBC Ventures and Citi. Tech.eu has more here.
SUPER73, a 10-year-old, Irvine, Ca.-based electric motorbike company, has raised $20 million in funding from Volition Capital, whose other early consumer bets include the sonic toothbrush business Burst and Chewy. More here.
Titan, a 3.5-year-old, New York-based startup that is building a retail investment management platform aimed at millennials, has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding led by General Catalyst. Other participants in the round include Sound Ventures, Scribble VC, BoxGroup, Y Combinator, South Park Commons, Instagram founder Mike Krieger, and investor Lee Fixel. TechCrunch has more here.
Zolve, a three-month-old, Bangalore, India-based neobank founded by Raghunandan G, the founder of ride-hailing firm TaxiForSure (sold to local giant Ola), has raised $15 million in seed funding. Accel and Lightspeed India led the round, joined by Blume Ventures and several high-profile angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Zomentum, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based sales platform for IT channel partners, has raised $13 million in Series A funding. Greenoaks Capital led the round, joined by Elevation Capital, Accel and Eight Roads Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Circle, a year-old, New York-based startup that's looking to make engaging with paying customers -- and thus building creator businesses -- as effortless as possible, has raised $4 million in seed funding led by Notation Capital, which also led the company’s $1.5 million pre-seed round last year. TechCrunch has more here.
EnginZyme, a seven-year-old, Stockholm, Switzerland-based company that has developed an enzyme-based platform to produce chemicals for high-performance cosmetics, food applications, alternative sweeteners, and flavors and fragrance, just raised €4.4 million ($5.3 million) in extended Series A funding. Industrifonden led the round. More here.
Krisp, a three-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based startup that uses machine learning to remove background noise from audio in real time, has raised $9 million in extended Series A funding (after the company originally announced a $5 million round last summer). The company's investors include Storm Ventures, Sierra Ventures, TechNexus and Hive Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Marble, a year-old, New York-based digital wallet where customers can manage all of their personal insurance details and payments, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Investors include IA Capital Group, MS&AD Ventures, Reciprocal Ventures, Fintech Ventures Fund, The Takoma Group, and HU Investments. More here.
Ozette, a seven-month-old, Seattle-based startup that aims to apply artificial intelligence to immune monitoring to gain greater insight into a cancer patient's immune system, has raised $6 million in seed funding. The financing was led by Madrona Venture Group, with participation from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, where Ozette was incubated, and Vulcan Capital. MedCity News has more here.
Pattern Health, a nine-year-old, Durham, N.C.-based company that aims to simplify the process of creating and validating digital health research and care programs, has raised $1.5 million from Cofounders Capital and The Launch Place. More here.
Pawlicy Advisor, a three-year-old, New York-based pet insurance marketplace, has raised $6.5 million in Series A funding led by Rho Capital Partners, with participation from Slow Ventures and earlier backer Defy Partners. CityBizList has more here.
PayZen, a two-year-old, San Francisco, Ca.-based that pays hospitals upfront for patient invoices and offers patients zero-interest, fee-free payments, has raised $5 million in seed funding. Viola Ventures incubated and provided some of that early funding to the business, joined by Picus Capital and TWO39 Ventures. Calcalist has more here.
Sh1ft One, a three-year-old, Minneapolis, Mn.-based marketplace aimed at pairing warehouse and logistics workers for last-mile logistics and delivery, e-commerce fulfillment and large-scale event management (its founder was a GM at Uber at one point) has raised $5.2 million in funding. City Light Capital and Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen’s JAM fund co-led the round, joined by K50 Ventures, Ventura Investments and Human Ventures, as well as angel Felipe Villamarin. TechCrunch has more here.
Talkshoplive, a three-year-old, L.A.-based livestream commerce company, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Spero Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Tru.ID, a year-old, London-based mobile authentication company, has raised £3 million ($3.6 million) in funding, including from Episode 1, MMC Ventures, and NHN Ventures. UKTN has more here.
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New Funds
Li Jin, a former investor with Andreessen Horowitz for nearly four years and, before that, a product manager with the shopping app Shopkick for nearly three years, has closed on $13 million in capital commitments for the debut fund of her firm, Atelier Ventures. Typical check sizes will range from $100,000 to $300,000; Jin, the firm's sole general partner, is reportedly focused on companies that support a “human-centered vision of the future of work,” and has already made investments in Substack, Stir, Geneva, Streamloots, Descript, and Dumpling. This interview with her by former Airbnb product manager Lenny Rachitsky is worth a read.
Revent, a new, Berlin-based early-stage venture fund focused on European startups, has held a first close on a debut fund that is targeting €50 million ($60 million), says TechCrunch. More here.
Uncovered Fund, a two-year-old, Tokyo-based Africa-focused, early-stage venture firm led by former Leapfrog Ventures CEO Takuma Terakubo, has raised $15 million for its debut fund. The idea is to write checks of between $50,000 and $500,000 to startups at the seed and Series A stage. TechCrunch has more here.
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Exits
Amazon has acquired Selz, a seven-year-old, Sydney, Australia-baed startup that helps entrepreneurs sell products online. The deal signals Amazon’s continued focus on third-party sellers as it faces potential competition from Shopify, notes GeekWire. Selz appears to have raised just $11 million from investors. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed. More here.
Zillow last week announced a definitive agreement to buy ShowingTime for $500 million. A 22-year-old, Chicago-based software company, ShowingTime's products automate the showing, scheduling and management processes for real estate agents and agent associations. ShowingTime doesn't appear to have raised much outside funding; HousingWire has more here.
Tribune Publishing, publisher of the Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers, has agreed to be acquired by Alden Global Capital in a deal valued at $630 million. According to the Tribune itself, the deal follows weeks of negotiations between a special committee of Tribune Publishing’s board and Alden, a "hedge fund with a history of deep cost-cutting at its other newspaper properties." Alden was already Tribune Publishing’s largest shareholder with a 31.6% stake; it's paying $431 million for the 68% of the shares it doesn’t already own. More here.
Oyo Hotels & Homes — the SoftBank-backed budget hotel startup — is pulling out of Latin America, says the WSJ.
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Going Public
Matterport, a nearly 10-year-old company synonymous with 3D photos and home video tours, is going public with a SPAC. The deal, with a blank-check firm backed by billionaire Alec Gores, values the company at $2.9 billion. Matterport will receive $640 million in cash proceeds, including $295 million from investors Tiger Global, Dragoneer and Fidelity. According to an investor presentation cited by the Real Deal, Matterport’s estimated revenue for 2020 jumped 87 percent to $85.9 million, up from $46 million a year prior, though it still lost $3.9 million on an EBITDA basis, an improvement from a $27 million loss in 2019. With a 3% stake after the deal closes, the outlet further notes, Gores is set to make $87 million on the deal.
Owlet Baby Care, a nine-year-old, Lehi, Utah-based maker of baby health wearables, agreed to go public at a $1.07 billion valuation via reverse merger with Sandbridge Acquisition Corp (NYSE: SBG), a SPAC sponsored by Sandbridge Capital. Owlet had raised $57 million in venture funding. Reuters has more here.
Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners, a blank check company targeting AI, cloud services, and auto-tech, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an IPO. The company is led by chairman Eric Ball, who currently serves as a general partner with Impact Venture Capital. More here.
Levere Holdings, an EMEA SPAC led by serial entrepreneur Martín Varsavsky, filed for a $250 million IPO. Renaissance Capital has more here.
Reinvent Technology Partners Y, the third blank check company formed by Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus targeting the tech sector, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $850 million in an IPO. The two are already reportedly in talks to merge their first two SPACs with Hippo Insurance and Joby Aviation, respectively. More here.
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People
The billionaire Warren Buffett has added two more big, American brands to Berkshire Hathaway’s investment portfolio. His conglomerate has purchased $8.6 billion in stock in Verizon Communications, the largest U.S. mobile carrier, and $4.1 billion in the oil company Chevron, according to a snapshot of investments held in the quarter ended Dec. 31. The WSJ has more here.
Last month, entrepreneur Peter Diamandis invited dozens of attendees to an indoor presentation that he pledged would be safe thanks to regular testing, vitamins and doctors on-site. Instead, nearly three weeks later, at least 24 people who attended the conference have tested positive for the coronavirus — including Diamandis himself.
Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson, who ran the world’s largest hotel company, died yesterday at age 62 after being diagnosed with stage-2 pancreatic cancer in May 2019. The WSJ notes he was first person outside the company’s founding family to head the hotel operator. More here.
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Data
Fully 79% of all EVs registered in the U.S. last year were Teslas. Yes, that many.
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Essential Reads
President Xi Jinping of China late last year quashed Ant Group’s IPO because he was worried that Ant was adding risk to the financial system and furious at its founder, Jack Ma, for criticizing his campaign to strengthen financial oversight. But there was another reason, says the WSJ. According to its investigation, well-connected Chinese power players, including some with links to political families that represent a potential challenge to the Chinese leader, were behind some of the investment vehicles that would have benefited from the offering. More here.
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Retail Therapy
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