|
Top News
The Arizona House of Representatives today passed landmark app store legislation in a 31-29 vote that could have far-reaching consequences for Apple and Google and their respective mobile operating systems. The Verge explains here.
Snowflake, the data storage company that staged a highly successful IPO last fall, today announced the elimination of its dual-class share structure, giving all shareholders one vote per share. Dual-class structures tend to give founders and early investors more control, and it’s unusual to reverse them, notes CNBC.
|
|
|
Mary Meeker's Bond is Raising $2 Billion for Fund Two
Bond, the growth-stage firm that spun out of the Kleiner Perkins Digital Growth Fund in late 2018, is closing a second fund with $2 billion, suggests a new SEC filing that says the amount has not yet been raised, though investment firms sometimes file their paperwork at the final stages of their fundraising and even long afterward.
Axios was first to flag the paperwork.
Earlier today, we reached out to the firm — which closed its debut fund with $1.25 billion in 2019 — and are awaiting more information. But that Bond would be raising almost twice as much capital for its second vehicle is unsurprising for numerous reasons.
For one, thing, the outfit, spearheaded by famed former investment banker Mary Meeker, has been adding to its investing roster. Though the outfit exclusively featured Kleiner alums at the outset, including Mood Rowghani, Noah Knauf, Juliet de Baubigny, Daegwon Chae, and Paul Vronksky, Bond brought aboard Jay Simons to lead its global enterprise practice late last year.
Simons knows a thing or two about scaling a business as the former president of Atlassian, the maker of business development and collaboration software that went public in 2015 at a $4.3 billion valuation and now boasts a market cap of nearly $57 billion. (Simons joined the outfit in 2008 as its VP of sales and was promoted to president three years later, spending the next nine years in that role before leaving last summer.)
|
|
Massive Fundings
Century Therapeutics, a three-year-old, Philadelphia, Pa.-based cell therapy company that's developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapies in immuno-oncology, has raised $160 million in Series C funding led by Casdin Capital. A slew of new investors participated in the round, as did founding investors Versant Ventures and Leaps by Bayer. More here.
Clari, a nearly nine-year-old, Sunnyvale, Ca.-based revenue forecasting startup, has raised $150 million at a $1.6 billion valuation led by Silver Lake, with participation from B Capital Group, Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and Sapphire Ventures. The valuation is triple what it was assigned during its last round of funding in 2019. TechCrunch has more here.
Deliverr, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based e-commerce fulfillment company, has raised $135 million in Series D funding and a $35 million convertible note. Coatue and Brookfield Technology Partners (which we talked with last week) led the round, joined by Activant Capital, 8VC and GLP. FreightWaves has more here.
DTx Pharma, a four-year-old, San Diego, Ca.-based biotech developing RNA-based therapeutics for genetic diseases, has raised $100 million in Series B funding. RA Capital Management led the round, joined by Access Biotechnology, Surveyor Capital, and Cormorant Asset Management, among numerous others. The company had last raised $10.6 million in Series A funding a year ago. The San Diego Union-Tribune has more here.
eGenesis, a six-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based company focused on xenotransplantation (the process of grafting or transplanting organs or tissues between members of different species as demand for lifesaving organs outstrips what's available for patients), has raised $125 million in Series C funding from a long list of investors. Among them is Polaris Partners, HBM Healthcare, Invus, and Samsara BioCapital. More here.
Janux Therapeutics, a nearly four-year-old, San Diego, Ca.-based biotech that's focused on developing T-cell engagers (TCEs), has raised $56 million in new funding led by Avalon Ventures, where CEO David Campbell spent more than six years as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Avalon was joined by OrbiMed, RA Capital Management and earlier backers Bregua and Correlation Ventures. FierceBiotech has more here.
Rohlik Group, a nearly seven-year-old, Prague-based online grocery business, has raised €190 million ($230 million) in funding led by Partech, with added participation from Index Ventures, EBRD, J&T Banka, Quadrille Capital, R2G and earlier investor Enern. EU Startups has more here.
TaxBit, a four-year-old, Salt Lake City, Ut.-based cryptocurrency tax and accounting software platform, has raised $100 million in Series A funding led by Paradigm and Tiger Global Management. PayPal Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Winklevoss Capital also joined the round. Coindesk has more here.
Turntide Technologies, an eight-year-old, Sunnyvale, Ca.-based company that has developed an electric motor with just one moving part -- a solid steel rotor that turns in a switchable magnetic field -- raised $80 million in funding in October in a round that brought its total funding to $180 million altogether. (It just today disclosed the round.) Its backers include Footprint Coalition, an investment firm cofounded by actor Robert Downey Jr.; Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures; Fifth Wall Ventures; Amazon Climate Fund, Keyframe Capital; Tony Fadell’s Future Shape, and BMW’s iVentures, among others. TechCrunch has more here.
Vestiaire Collective, an 11-year-old, Paris, France-based marketplace for secondhand luxury and fashion items, has raised €178 million ($216 million) at a valuation north of $1 billion. Kerig led the round, joined by Tiger Global Management. TechCrunch has more here.
Volocopter, a nine-year-old, Bruchsal, Germany-based "flying taxi" startup, has raised €200 million ($241 million) in Series D funding from BlackRock, Atlantia, Avala Capital, Tokyo Century, NTT and auto parts giant Continental AG, along with earlier backers Geely, Daimler, DB Schenker, Intel Capital, btov Partners, Team Europe and Klocke Holding. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Cashify, an eight-year-old, Gurgaon, India-based startup that operates both online and physical stores and kiosks through which customers buy and sell used smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, laptops, desktops, and gaming consoles, has raised $15 million in new funding from Olympus Capital Asia. The company has now raised $42 million to date. TechCrunch has more here.
Cutover, an eight-year-old, London-based workplace organization and analytics platform, has raised $35 million in Series B funding. Eldridge led the round, joined by Index Ventures, Sussex Place Ventures and Contour Ventures. VentureBeat has more here.
Dooly, a 6.5-year-old, Vancouver, Canada-based startup that has built a set of AI-based tools that automate the busywork that goes into updating data in sales software, says it has raised $20.3 million in seed and Series A funding. Lee Fixel's Addition led the company's $17 million Series A on the heels of a $3.3 million seed round led by Boldstart Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Harvest Hosts, an 11-year-old, Vail, Co.-based membership program for RV users, just raised $37 million led by Stripes. VentureBeat has more here.
Identiq, a three-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based fraud prevention startup, has raised $47 million in Series A funding co-led by Insight Partners and Entrée Capital. Other investors in the round include Amdocs, Sony Innovation Fund and earlier backers Vertex Ventures Israel, Oryzn Capital and Slow Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Nuvolo, an eight-year-old, Paramus, N.J.-based cloud-based connected workplace platform that helps businesses optimize their facilities, staff, and assets, has raised $31 million in Series C funding led by Insight Partners. VentureBeat has more here.
PocketPills, a three-year-old, British Columbia, Canada-based online pharmacy, has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by TELUS Ventures, with participation from earlier backer WaterBridge Ventures. More here.
Postscript, a two-year-old, Scottsdale, Az.-based text message marketing platform for Shopify stores, has raised $35 million in Series B funding led by Greylock, with participation from YC Continuity Fund, OpenView, and others. More here.
Simplebet, a three-year-old, New York-based developer of sports betting software that allows users to wager on quick odds, like which player will make the next catch in football, has raised $15 million in funding from Aristocrat, Florida Funders, and GGCP Partnership Fund. The company has now raised $50 million altogether. CNBC has more here.
SpineZone, a 21-year-old, San Diego, Ca.-based developer of personalized treatment programs for neck and back pain, has raised $12 million in Series A funding co-led by Polaris Partners and Providence Ventures, with added participation from Martin Ventures. MobiHealth News has more here.
Yugabyte, a five-year-old, Sunnyvale, Ca.-based SQL database company, has raised $48 million in funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Greenspring Associates, Dell Technologies Capital, Wipro Ventures, and 8VC. TechCrunch has more here.
Advotics, a five-year-old, Jakarta, Indonesia-based supply chain startup, says it recently raised $2.75 million led by East Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Blend, a two-year-old, L.A.-based on-demand translation service, has raised $10 million in funding led by earlier investor Fortissimo Capital. Tech.eu has more here.
CoSell, a year-old, Austin, Tex.-based SaaS platform for B2B companies to find customer overlaps with partners and to facilitate warms introductions, says it recently raised $2 million in funding from PivotNorth and SaaStr. More here.
Fillogic, a two-year-old, New York-based retail logistics-as-a-service platform, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by Food Retail Ventures. More here.
Spark Advisors, a year-old, New York-based retirement Medicare benefits brokerage, has raised $3.6 million in funding led by Primary Ventures, with participation from Vine Ventures and Torch Capital. More here.
URB-E, a six-year-old, L.A.-based startup that's hitching compact storage containers to bike messengers for last-mile delivery, has raised $5 million in Series A funding led by UBS Group. More here.
|
|
New Funds
Sofinnova Partners, the 48-year-old, Paris, London, and Milan-based life sciences venture firm, has raised €445 million for a late-stage healthcare crossover fund. Tech.eu has more here.
|
|
Exits
According to Bloomberg, Cruise, majority owned by General Motors, is in talks to acquire Voyage, a four-year-old Palo Alto-based autonomous tech startup that is focused on low-speed self-driving cars to ferry elderly passengers around retirement communities. No deal is imminent, adds the outlet. Voyage has raised about $52 million in venture capital funding, including from SV Angel, CRV, Khosla Ventures, and Chevron. More here.
Epic Games is acquiring video game studio Mediatonic, the maker of smash hit "Fall Guys," for an undisclosed sum, the companies announced yesterday. The "deal marks one of Epic’s higher-profile acquisitions of late, following its 2019 purchases of social video app Houseparty and Rocket League developer Psyonix," notes The Verge. The acquisition includes both Mediatonic and Fortitude Games, both of which are owned by parent company Tonic Games Group. More here.
Michaels Companies, the nearly 50-year-old, Texas-based publicly traded national craft store chain, is selling to PE firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion. RetailDive has more here.
Okta, the publicly traded identity and access management company based in San Francisco, said today that it's acquiring the cloud identity company Auth0 for $6.5 billion. It's a big number, considering the startup had a valuation of $1.92 billion when it raised $120 million led by Salesforce Ventures last July. As TechCrunch explains of the deal, it gives Okta a cloud identity company that helps developers embed identity management into applications, adding an entirely new dimension to its identity platform. Eight-year-old, Bellevue, Wa.-based Auth0 had raised roughly $330 million altogether from investors, according to Crunchbase. More here.
Toro, the lawn-mowing giant, has announced its intentions to acquire Left Hand Robotics, a five-year-old, Colorado-based startup behind autonomous outdoor robots that are capable of mowing large lawns and clearing snow from sidewalks. Left Hand had raised $8.9 million to date. Details of the transaction have not been disclosed. TechCrunch has more here.
|
|
Going Public
Dragoneer Growth Opportunities III, the third SPAC from Dragoneer Investment Group, has registered plans to raise $400 million. Renaissance Capital has more here.
Icon Health & Fitness is exploring an initial public offering that could value the exercise-machine maker at more than $7 billion, according to Bloomberg. The outlet says the company is working with Morgan Stanley and Bank of America on a potential listing that could come this year. Icon had raised a $200 million round of funding at a $7 billion valuation last fall led by L Catterton, Bloomberg had reported. More here.
LAVA Therapeutics, a five-year-old, Utrecht, Netherlands-based biotech using gamma-delta T cells to treat cancer, has registered plans to raise $100 million in an IPO. The company's biggest outside investor is Versant Venture. Renaissance Capital has more here.
Priced to perfection, almost(?). Oscar Health, the nine-year-old, New York-based insurtech company, saw its shares close down 10.7% on the company's first day of trading. The stock began trading at $36 per share and closed at $34.80 on the New York Stock Exchange. Oscar had priced its shares at $39 apiece, above its target range of $36 to $38. At $36 per share, it has a roughly $7.1 billion market cap. CNBC has more here.
ThredUp, the 11-year-old, Oakland, Ca.-based online marketplace for secondhand clothing, has filed for a U.S. IPO and, in its paperwork, disclosed both growing revenue and losses. The company was expected to file soon. A rival company, Poshmark, went public in January and saw its valuation more than double in the process to $7 billion. Its market cap has since fallen fairly dramatically, to $4 billion. Bloomberg has more on ThredUp, backed by Trinity Ventures and Redpoint, among others, here.
Two, the second SPAC by Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz -- who has teamed up with the former CFO of Opendoor Gautam Gupta; Troy Steckenrider (who is also helping to manage Hartz's first blank-check company), and famed veteran VC Pierre Lamond, who is chairman of the new blank check company. Renaissance Capital has more here.
|
|
People
Morgan Gerlak has joined ForgePoint Global, the cybersecurity-focused venture firm, as a principal. Gerlak most recently spent three years at Goldman Sachs. More here.
|
|
Sponsored By ...
Tegus is the most extensive primary research platform available to investors. Get up to speed on new names faster with Tegus’s on-demand platform, where investors share their expert calls and you get instant access to insights on fast-growing companies like Stripe, Samsara, and Gong. Try it yourself with a free trial.
|
|
Essential Reads
Kings of Leon is about to become the first band to release an album as an NFT, with tokens that unlock special perks, including limited-edition vinyl, front-row seats to future concerts, and audiovisual art. Rolling Stone has more here.
Opendoor, the home flipping company taken public in December through one of Chamath Palihapitiya's blank-check companies, is embracing a new way to wield its software, says Bloomberg: helping buyers make cash offers. "With inventory scarce across U.S. housing markets, the company is working with prospective buyers to make no-contingency offers that often win out over similarly priced bids. In the new system, Opendoor promises the seller that it will buy their home with cash if its client – a would be buyer – fails to qualify for a mortgage." More from its report here.
|
|
Detours
The Louvre turns to merch.
|
StrictlyVC StrictlyVC, LLC, 1 Blackfield Drive, No. 239, Tiburon, CA 94920 Unsubscribe - Unsubscribe Preferences |
|
|
|
|
|
