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March 22, 2021
Hello! Quick mention: On Friday, we didn't grab the full link to our podcast interview with Blackstone Growth's global chief Jon Korngold, which is why it didn't appear at all (as some of you noted!). If you'd like to hear what he has to say about the go-go late-stage investing universe right now, you can check that out that conversation here.
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Top News
The U.S. Supreme Court today turned away Facebook's bid to pare back a $15 billion class action lawsuit accusing the company of illegally tracking the activities of internet users even when they are logged out of the social media platform. Reuters has more here.
Discord is going through a sales process now that could result in a purchase of the communications and chat platform for much more than $10 billion, according to GamesBeat, and Bloomberg says the potential buyer is Microsoft. The deal, if it comes together, would represent a big jump from the $7 billion valuation that Discord was assigned by investors when it last raised funding in the amount of $140 million just three months ago.
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Sivo, a Young "Stripe for Debt," Suggests Investors Like What They're Hearing
Kate Hiscox is having a moment. Her company, Sivo, founded eight months ago, has already raised $5 million from investors at a post-money valuation of $100 million, and she says she is in active talks with others who would like her to consider accepting Series A funding from them.
Surely the attention owes partly to the fact that Hiscox is part of the newest graduating class of the popular accelerator Y Combinator, along with roughly 350 other companies. If there’s anything venture capitalists like, it’s freshly minted YC grads. Partly, fintech continues to be seen as a hugely lucrative area of investment.
But they also might like what Sivo aims to do, which is to strike deals with debt providers for gigantic credit lines that it will then, through its API, work with both big and small companies to disburse via their own lending products. Yes, Sivo is making interest off money that it’s simply divvying up into smaller amounts. But the real magic, says Hiscox, is in the risk management that Sivo provides. It doesn’t just parcel out debt; it helps its customers that don’t have their own risk management practices figure out who is worthy of a loan and how much.
Hiscox — who has founded a number over the years, one of which she took public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2018 — calls it a Stripe for debt. But one question is how Stripe, among its other rivals, might feel about Sivo. Stripe was also once a YC company, it also lends debt to its customers, and it seemingly doesn’t like when its investors fund emerging potential threats. Another question is how a company like Sivo fares when interest rates rise and the debt it borrows is no longer cheap.
Hiscox suggests she’s not worried about many roadblocks right now. We talked with her on Friday about the company in a conversation that follows, edited lightly for length and clarity.
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Massive Fundings
Axis Security, a two-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based access security company that originally launched out of Israel, has raised $50 million in Series C funding led by Spark Capital, with participation from Canaan Partners, Ten Eleven Ventures, and Cyberstarts. NoCamels has more here.
Camunda, a nearly 13-year-old, Berlin, Germany-based open source robotic process automation company, has raised €82 million ($100 million) led by Insight Partners, with participation from Highland Europe, among others. TechCrunch has more here.
Epic Games, the 30-year-old, Cary, N.C.-based game maker behind "Fortnite," is finalizing the terms of a $1 billion round of funding that could value it at $28 billion, according to Sky News. Just seven months ago, Epic closed a round of capital from investors, including Sony and Baillie Gifford, at a valuation of $17.3 billion More here.
Flex Logix, a six-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based startup that's designing AI chips for edge enterprise applications, has raised $55 million in Series D funding. Mithril Capital Management led the round, joined by Lux Capital, Eclipse Ventures, and the Tate Family Trust. TechCrunch has more here.
Komodo Health, a seven-year-old, San Francisco and New York-based healthcare data startup, says it has raised $220 million in Series E funding led by Tiger Global Management, with added participation from Casdin Capital and earlier investors ICONIQ Growth, Andreessen Horowitz, and SVB Capital. The company had closed on $44 million in Series D funding last year. More here.
Nuvemshop, a 10-year-old, São Paulo- and in Buenos Aires-based commerce platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses develop and promote their own online presence, has raised $90 million in Series D funding. Accel led the round, joined by ThornTree Capital, Kaszek, and Qualcomm Ventures. Crunchbase News has more here.
Ro, the four-year-old, New York-based online pharmacy and health tech company, has raised $500 million Series D fundraising at what Bloomberg says is a post-money valuation of $5 billion. Earlier backers General Catalyst, FirstMark Capital and TQ Ventures led the round. They were joined by other earlier investors SignalFire, Torch and BoxGroup and new backers Altimeter, Baupost, Dragoneer, Shawspring, Radcliff, and Seven Seven Six (whose founder, Alexis Ohanian, also invested in the company earlier on through earlier firm Initialized Capital). The Series D brings Ro’s total fundraising since its founding in 2017 to $876 million and may have some (okay, us) wondering why it didn't taken the SPAC route instead, as did rival Hims. More here.
Side, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based real estate tech company that aims to turn agents and independent brokerages into boutique brands and businesses, has raised $150 million at a post-money valuation of $1 billion. Coatue Management led the round, joined by earlier backers Matrix Partners, Trinity Ventures and Sapphire Ventures. The company has now raised more than $200 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Ardoq, an eight-year-old, Oslo, Norway-based company focused on enterprise architecture, has raised $26 million in Series C funding, including from Altitude Capital and Norselab. More here.
Purplle, a nine-year-old, Mumbai, India-based e-commerce platform for beauty products, says it has raised $45 million in Series D funding from Sequoia Capital India and earlier investors Verlinvest, Blume Ventures, and JSW Ventures. The new round values the startup — which has raised $95 million to date — at about $300 million, says TechCrunch. More here.
Smaller Fundings
86 Repairs, a three-year-old, Chicago, Ill.-based subscription-based service that offers equipment repair and maintenance to restaurants, has raised $2 million in seed funding, including from TDF Ventures, HAVI, Gordon Food Service, GHS Holdings, and earlier backer Tamarind Hill, which led a separate, $1.5 million seed round in the company in 2019. More here.
Baubap, a three-year-old, Mexico-based mobile lending platform, has raised $3 million in funding from Grupo Alfin. Crunchbase News has more here.
Chums, a 20-month-old, New York-based social shopping service that helps friends suggest products to their pals (and that just passed through Y Combinator), has raised $3.5 million across two pre-seed investments from Ludlow Ventures, Shrug Capital, Contrary Capital and Fuel Capital, among other firms and individuals. TechCrunch has more here.
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New Funds
M Capital Management, a two-year-old, Singapore-based venture firm, has closed its debut fund with $30.85 million in capital commitments, it says. The fund, which invests primarily in Southeast Asia in both business-to-business and business-to-business-to-consumer models, plans to fund roughly 40 startups with the capital by writing checks of up to $500,000. YourStory has more here.
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Exits
U.S. cloud services provide Box is exploring a sale amid pressure from hedge fund Starboard Value over its stock performance, according to CNBC. Its shares jumped more than 6% today on the news.
TikTok's owner, ByteDance, is buying the Shanghai, China-based videogame developer Moonton Technology as it looks to expand its video game business, says Reuters. The outlet says the deal values the gaming studio at roughly $4 billion. More here.
Optimizely, a company that provides cloud services that help enterprises manage their websites and target visitors with personalized marketing and that was acquired last fall by Insight Partners, has acquired Zaius, a Boston-based customer data platform. Zaius is another portfolio company of Insight. Others of the startup's backers include Underscore VC, and Matrix Partners. Financial terms of the deal aren't being disclosed. Silicon Angle has more here.
PatientPing, an eight-year-old, Boston-based software company that has raised around $100 million over the years to ease care transitions between nursing homes and other settings, is reportedly set to sell for $500 million to the data analytics firm Appriss, which is itself backed by the private equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners. Skilled Nursing News has more here.
Peloton recently acquired three companies, adding expertise in wearable devices, artificial intelligence, digital voice assistants, and interactive workout mats by snapping up Aiqudo in February, and Atlas Wearables and Otari late last year. Bloomberg has the story here.
Renaissance, a 35-year-old, Wisconsin Rapids, Wi-backed company that sells cloud-based, pre-K–12 educational software and is backed by backed by investors including the private equity firm Francisco Partners, has acquired Lalilo, a nearly five-year-old, Paris-based maker of a literacy program that's backed in part by Partech. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Tech.eu has more here.
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Going Public
Coinbase, the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is now aiming to go public in April after its plans for a direct listing this month were pushed back, according to Bloomberg. The outlet notes that the SEC has been reviewing Coinbase's plans for a direct listing. The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission, to which Coinbase recently paid $6.5 million to settle a fine without admitting to or denying its allegations, is looking into separate incidents at Coinbase, too, the company said in its listing paperwork.
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People
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has sold his first tweet as an NFT for $2,915,835.47. The winning bidder was Sina Estavi, whose Twitter profile says he is based in Malaysia and is CEO of the blockchain company Bridge Oracle (there is exceedingly little online about Estavi or the outfit). Dorsey says he's donating the proceeds to GiveDirectly, an organization helping those living in poverty in Africa; the account of Estavi meanwhile tweeted: "I think years later people will realize the true value of this tweet, like the Mona Lisa painting."
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Data
According to forthcoming estimates from IRS researchers and academic economists, the top 1% of American households fail to report about 21% of their income, partly due to sophisticated strategies that random audits don’t detect. For the top 0.1%, unreported income may be nearly twice as large as conventional IRS methodologies would suggest. The WSJ has more here.
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Essential Reads
A judge has certified a class action suit against Apple for its fragile butterfly keyboard design. The suit covers anyone who purchased an Apple MacBook with a butterfly keyboard in seven states: California, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, and Michigan. That includes people who bought a MacBook model dating between 2015 and 2017, a MacBook Pro model between 2016 and 2019, or a MacBook Air between 2018 and 2019. The Verge has more here.
Spark Capital last night announced it would "sever all ties" with the photo-sharing app Dispo following sexual assault allegations against a close associate of its founder, YouTube star David Dobrik. Spark didn't disclose what it plans to do with its stake in the company (it says it's making arrangements to ensure it doesn't profit from it). Meanwhile, others of the app’s earliest investors -- Seven Seven Six and Unshackled Ventures -- have similarly backed away from the company and say they will donate any profits from the investment. Dobrik himself has stepped away from Dispo so as "not to distract from the company's growth," the company said in a statement.
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Retail Therapy
Dagsmejan pajamas. You can *almost* get away with working all day in these (so we're told).
Fifty of the rarest Nike sneakers ever are up for auction right now at Sotheby's.
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