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March 17, 2021
Happy St. Patrick's Day.:)
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Top News
The Biden administration said today that it has served subpoenas on multiple Chinese companies to seek information on possible national security risks, showing that at least some of the Trump administration’s tough policies on China are taking root in the new administration. The Washington Post has more here.
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Visualping, Which Scans the Web for Changes (Including New Vaccination Slots), Raises $2 Million
Years ago, Serge Salager, a Vancouver-based entrepreneur who’d taken a small company public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, was approached by deep-pocketed buyer who was interested in buying the business. Flattered but also nervous about who else the potential acquirer was talking with, Salager found himself scouring the web obsessively for news about other possible takeover targets, from changes to their pricing and features to job offers.
Salager was right to be paranoid. The buyer acquired a rival company. On the bright side, Salager had a new business idea — to create a much better service than existed at the time to track altered information across the web.
Enter Visualping, a now six-year-old, 16-person freemium service that monitors the entire internet for changes and has amassed 1.5 million users, an undisclosed percentage of which pay the company a monthly subscription fee based on how many web pages and keywords they are following. (Two searches per day are free; 660 per day will set users back $100 per month.)
Journalists like the service as it helps them keep tabs on the people and companies they cover. Law firms use it to stay on top of changing regulations, along with other information. Employees of Apple use it to keep track of what is being said about the company and where.
The use cases are almost endless, which works in Visualping’s favor, as does its apparent ease of use. Users simply provide the company with a screenshot of a page or the part of the page they want to keep tabs on, along with any keywords, and Visualping then informs them via email as soon as a site has been altered or a keyword has appeared somewhere.
Visualping — which has a browser extension and says a mobile app is coming this summer — has also benefited from the pandemic.
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Massive Fundings
Coalition, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based cyber insurance and security company, has raised $175 million in Series D funding at a post-money valuation of $1.75 billion led by Index Ventures, with participation from General Atlantic and others of the company's earlier backers. ZDNet has more here.
Happify Health, a nearly nine-year-old, New York-based software-enabled health care platform designed to improve mental and physical health, has raised $73 million in Series D funding led by Deerfield Management, with added participation from Omega Capital Partners and ION Crossover Fund. The company has now raised $123 million altogether. Crunchbase News has more here.
Incredibuild, an 18-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based developer of grid computing software, has raised $140 million from Insight Partners. VentureBeat has more here.
PayFit, a six-year-old, Paris-based company that automates payroll and HR processes for small and mid-size businesses, has raised $107 million in Series D funding round led by Eurazeo Growth and Bpifrance, with participation from earlier backers, including Accel. TechCrunch has more here.
Vulcan Cyber, a three-year-old, Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity startup that helps businesses prioritize and fix security vulnerabilities, has raised $21 million in Series B funding led by Dawn Capital, with participation from Wipro Ventures and earlier investors YL Ventures and Ten Eleven Ventures. The company has now raised $35 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
MyGlamm, a six-year-old, Mumbai, India-based cruelty-free cosmetics brand, has raised $24 million in Series C funding led by Amazon, with participation from Ascent Capital and Wipro Consumer. The Economic Times notes that Amazon has been actively investing in India-based startups, but says the deal appears to be the company's first bet on India's burgeoning personal care and beauty industry. More here.
Republic, a five-year-old, New York-based broker-dealer that funnels capital to startups from non-accredited investors, has raised $36 million in Series A funding led by Galaxy Interactive, with participation by Tribe Capital, Motley Fool Ventures, and Broadhaven Ventures. Crowdfund Insider has more here.
Seon, a four-year-old, Hungary-based startup focused on helping online businesses fight online fraud like fake accounts, has raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Creandum, with participation from PortfoLion, which is part of OTP Bank. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
3DLook, a nearly five-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based company that makes mobile body scanning software, has raised $6.5 million in Series A funding led by Almaz Capital, with participation from TMT Investments and Zubr Capital. More here.
Aerovel, a nearly 15-year-old, White Salmon, Wa.-based developer of autonomous long-range robotic aircraft that the company says can perform reconnaissance and detect threats at military bases, has raised $2.5 million in Series B funding from unnamed angel investors. More here.
Capdesk, a six-year-old, U.K.-based equity management platform, has raised £5 million in extended Series A funding co-led by Fidelity and MiddleGame Ventures. The company had initially closed on £3 million in Series A funding last year, led by Fuel Ventures; it has raised £11.7 million altogether. Crunchbase News has more here.
Copy.ai, a year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based AI powered digital ad and marketing copy meant to save its customers' time and increase their conversation rates, has raised $2.9 million in seed funding led by Craft Ventures, with added participation from Atelier Ventures and Sequoia Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Cymbio, a six-year-old, Tel Aviv-based drop-ship and marketplace platform that says it supports more than 600 digital brands, has raised $7 million in Series A funding. The new funding was led by Vertex Ventures, with participation from Udian Investments, Payoneer founder Yuval Tal and Sapiens co-founder Ron Zuckerman. TechCrunch has more here.
Harmonize Health, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based remote monitoring and care platform that helps leading medical organizations better serve high-risk patients, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Launchpad Digital Health, with participation from Stanford University, Gaingels and existing investors Trinity Ventures and Liquid 2 Ventures. More here.
Mediar Therapeutics, an eight-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based preclinical-stage biotech company that's developing treatments for fibrosis, has raised seed funding from Pfizer Ventures and Ono Venture Investment. More here.
Minded, a year-old, New York-based online psychiatric practice to help people who regularly take medication for anxiety, depression and insomnia manage their prescriptions, has raised $2.2 million in funding, including from Streamlined Ventures and Link Ventures. The company has now raised $5 million altogether. More here.
Oso, a three-year-old, New York-based startup that helps developers build authorization in their applications, has raised $8.2 million in Series A led by Sequoia Capital. Other participants in the round (which brings the company's total funding to $10.9 million), include SV Angel, Company Ventures, Highland Capital and numerous angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Unagi, a three-year-old, Oakland, Ca.-based startup that makes portable electric scooters and rents them on a monthly subscription basis, raised $10.5 million in Series A funding led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund, with participation from Menlo Ventures, Broadway Angels and Gaingels. TechCrunch has more here.
WorkChew, a two-year-old, Washington, D.C.-based startup looking to connect remote workers with restaurants and hotels that need to make use of their space, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Harlem Capital led the round, joined by Wilshire Lane, Invictus Advisory Group, Relish Works and Techstars Ventures. Kabbage co-founder Kathryn Petralia and Etsy co-founder Chris Maguire were among the angel investors who also participated in the round. Crunchbase News has more here.
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New Funds
Norrsken Foundation, a five-year-old, Stockholm, Sweden-based nonprofit that says it invests in both for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations when they have a positive impact on society, is reportedly about to close on a €125 million investment vehicle. TechCrunch has more here.
Revelation Partners, an eight-year-old, Bay Area-based San Francisco-based healthcare firm that buys up the shares of healthcare investors, founders and employees, as well as makes direct primary investments in outfits, says it has collected $350 million in capital commitments for its third fund. The outfit now has $900 million in assets under management. More here.
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Exits
Snap today confirmed that it has acquired Fit Analytics, a Berlin-based startup whose tech helps shoppers find the right-sized apparel and footwear from online retailers, as well as makes a wider set of personalization tools and other analytics to help retailers sell more overall. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed. TechCrunch takes a look at the deal.
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People
Andy Harrison has joined the tech and healthcare-focused venture outfit Section 32 as managing partner. Harrison joins from Alphabet, where he spent more than four years as an executive with Verily, the company's life sciences unit. More here.
Venture capitalist Keith Rabois is forming a Miami-based company called OpenStore that intends to buy a number of small e-commerce businesses, according to Axios. The outlet says Rabois is working on the effort with another new-to-Miami transplant, Jack Abraham of the startup studio Atomic, who we talked with earlier this month. More here.
Laura Yao has been been promoted to general partner at EQT Ventures. Before joining the firm in 2018, Yao was the head of strategy for Kairos Aerospace, a senior investment associate with Bridgewater Associates, and spent two years in journalism, including at the WSJ and The Washington Post. More here.
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Essential Reads
New firms like Thrasio are raising billions of dollars to buy up popular Amazon listings, minting millionaires along the way. Here’s how it works.
In an apparent rebuttal to "road shows," Coinbase said today it will answer questions from potential investors ahead of its direct listing via a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" thread.
Morgan Stanley reportedly told its financial advisors today in an internal memo that it is launching access to three funds that enable ownership of bitcoin, including two from Galaxy Digital, the crypto firm founded by former hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz.
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Retail Therapy
Even last year's viral video world of a guy on his skateboard, gulping Ocean Spray to Fleetwood Mac, is now selling as an NFT. Minus the song. And with the Ocean Spray brand blurred (copyrights). And for a starting bid of $500,000.
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