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Top News
Twitter held talks with Clubhouse about a potential acquisition of the live drop-in audio networking platform, with a deal value somewhere around $4 billion, according to Bloomberg. Discussions are no longer ongoing, and the outlet's sources say it’s unclear why they stalled (though given how similar these companies' missions are, you have to wonder how much information was actually exchanged here). More here.
Facebook did not notify the more than 530 million users whose details were obtained through the misuse of a feature before 2019 and recently made public in a database, and it does not currently have plans to do so, a company spokesman tells Reuters. Meanwhile, the Verge has advice about how to check if you're part of the data breach.
ShareChat, a five-year-old, India-based social media company, has raised $502 million in funding to grow its popular short-video app Moj, says the Financial Times. The round comes just months after the Indian government banned ByteDance-owned rival TikTok from the country. The round -- whose backers include Twitter, Snap, and Tiger Global Management -- assigns the company a post-money valuation of $2.1 billion. According to the FT, the ShareChat app currently has 160 million monthly active users, while Moj has amassed more than 120 million monthly active users within nine months of its launch. More here.
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Massive Fundings
Bryter, a three-year-old, Berlin, Germany-based no-code service automation platform that says it enables experts to build, manage and sell interactive applications without any coding skills, has raised $66 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global Management. Earlier backers Accel, Dawn Capital, Notion Capital and Cavalry Ventures also joined the round, as did a long list of notable individual investors. The company has now raised $90 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Canva, the eight-year-old, Sydney, Australia-based graphic design software company, has raised $71 million in new funding at a post-money valuation of $15 billion, making it the most highly valued startup to come out of the country since Atlassian. The round -- led by T. Rowe Price and Dragoneer, with participation from Blackbird Ventures and Skip Capital -- brings the company's total funding to $372.6 million, according to Crunchbase. SiliconAngle has more here.
Groww, a five-year-old, Bangalore, India-based investment app and online investment platform, has raised $83 million in Series D funding at a post-money valuation of $1 billion. Tiger Global Management led the round, joined by Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, YC Continuity, and Propel Venture Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Icosavax, a three-year-old, Seattle-based biotech company whose approach to vaccine production centers on creating computer-designed, virus-like particles that are used in vaccines to trigger immune responses, has raised $100 million in Series B funding. RA Capital Management led the round, joined by a long list of other backers. The company had last raised $51 million in the fall of 2019. GeekWire has more here.
Kavak, a 4.5-year-old, Mexico City, Mexico-based used car platform, has raised $485 million in Series D funding at a post-money valuation of $4 billion. That's more than triple the valuation set for the company when it closed its most recent round in October. The newest financing was led by D1 Capital Partners, Ribbit Capital, BOND and Founders Fund and brings the company's total funding to date to $900 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Pendulum Therapeutics, a nine-year-old, San Francisco-based biotech focused on the microbiome (last year it began selling a medical probiotic shown to lower blood sugar spikes), has raised $54 million in Series C funding led by Meritech Capital, with participation from earlier backers Sequoia Capital, True Ventures, and Khosla Ventures. The company has now raised $111 altogether, it says. Crunchbase News has more here.
Redis Labs, a 10-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based data processing startup, has raised $110 million in Series G funding led by Tiger Global Management; it was joined by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and TCV, which, in addition to the funding, acquired additional ownership of the company through a $200 million secondary transaction. Redis is now valued by its backers at $2 billion. Tech.eu has more here.
Trax, an 11-year-old, Singapore-based image recognition company focused on retail analytics, just raised a whopping $640 million in Series E funding. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the round, joined by BlackRock, OMERS, and Sony Innovation Fund by IGV. Before closing the new round, Trax had raised $360 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Blue Dot, an eight-year-old, Amstelveen, Netherlands-based maker of tax-compliance software that was formerly known as VATBox, has raised $32 million in new funding led by. Lutetia Capital led the round, joined by Lamaison Partners, Viola, and Target Global. The company has now raised $96 million altogether. VentureBeat has more here.
CaptivateIQ, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based no-code sales commission platform, just raised $46 million in Series B funding led by Accel. Earlier backers Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, Amity, and S28 Capital also joined the round, which brings the company's total funding to $63 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Flash Coffee, a two-year-old, Singapore-based coffee chain, has raised $15 million in Series A funding. White Star Capital led the round, joined by DX Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Conny & Co. Tech in Asia has more here.
MasterClass, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based company that sells subscriptions to online courses taught by experts, is raising new funding led by Fidelity at a $2.5 billion valuation, says Axios. It last raised money in mid-2020 in another Fidelity-led round, at a reported $800 million valuation. More here.
Nuvocargo, a four-year-old, New York-based logistics platform for cross-border trade between the U.S and Mexico, has raised $12 million in Series A funding led by QED Investors, FJ Labs, Clocktower, NFX, and ALLVP along with a long list of notable individual investors, including Nubank CEO David Velez and former SoftBank investor Michael Ronen. The company has now raised $17.3 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Pathlight, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based performance management platform for customer-facing teams like sales, field service and support, has raised $25 million in new funding led by Insight Partners, with participation from Uncorrelated Ventures, earlier backers Kleiner Perkins and Quiet Capital, and a long list of individual investors, including CAA cofounder Michael Ovitz. The company has now raised $35 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Pica8, an 11-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based open networking software maker, has raised $20 million in Series C funding. WI Harper Group and Aspiro Capital Management led the round, joined by Vantage Point Ventures. More here.
Snorkel AI, a two-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based startup that's focused on automating data labeling in machine learning, has raised $35 million in Series B funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, joined by Walden, BlackRock and earlier investors Greylock, GV, In-Q-Tel and Nepenthe Capital. The company says it has now raised $50 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Streamlit, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based app framework built specifically for machine learning and data science teams, has raised $35 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from earlier backers Gradient Ventures and GGV Capital. The company has now raised $62 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Swyft, a year-old, Toronto, Canada-based startup whose software application integrates with merchant shopping carts on e-commerce platforms to offer same-day delivery (It grants courier companies free access to its software, too, creating a network of warehouses and delivery drivers)has raised $17.5 million in Series A funding. Inovia Capital and Forerunner Ventures co-led the round, joined by Shopify and earlier investors Golden Ventures and Trucks VC. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Ark, a four-year-old, Boston-based investor portal designed for private equity, venture capital and real estate fund managers, raised $3.4 million in Series A funding. Vitruvian Partners led the round. More here.
Charles, a year-old, Berlin, Germany-based “conversational-commerce” SaaS startup serving businesses that want to sell on WhatsApp and other chat apps, has raised €6.4 million ($7.6 million) in seed funding co-led by Accel and HV Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Dopple, a four-year-old, New York-based e-commerce platform that sends out curated bundles of children’s outfits from different brands on a subscription basis, has raised $9.8 million in seed funding. Bullpen Capital and Precursor Ventures led the round. Other participants in the financing include WorldQuant Ventures, Pierre Lamond, Lior Susan, David and Kelsey Lamond, and Chad and Kristine Boeding. Fashion Network has more here.
Guardian Agriculture, a four-year-old, Boston-based crop protection company that employs both an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, along with accompanying software that tracks where farmers fertilize and how much, has raised $10.5 million in seed funding. Leaps by Bayer led the round, joined by FMC Ventures, Cavallo Ventures, Fall Line Capital, the MIT-affiliated E14 Fund, Pillar VC, and Neoteny. Forbes has more here.
Mickey, a two-year-old, New York-based online platform that aims to allow buyers from all over the world to purchase natural resources directly from independent suppliers without brokers or commission, has raised $10 million in funding from Lerer Hippeau and Lightbank. More here.
NoCap, an 11-month-old, Malibu, Ca.-based live-streaming concert platform, has raised $3 million in seed funding. Michael Eisner's Tornante led the round, joined by Saltwater, Goodwater Capital, LionTree, video game streamer Richard Tyler Blevins (Ninja), and restaurateur Guy Fieri. More here.
Orchid, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based maker of a kit to screen a couple's genetics and how it may impact a child’s health, has raised $4.5 million in seed funding. Investors included Refactor Capital, Village Global, Day One Ventures, Olive Capital, and Boom Capital. Crunchbase News has more here.
PlayerData, a nearly four-year-old, Edinburgh, Scotland-based maker of wearable tech for athletes that provides feedback on their training, has raised $2.3 million from Hiro Capital and former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy. TechCrunch has more here.
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Collaborative Fund, the 11-year-old, New York-based early-stage venture firm, has closed on $125 million in capital commitments for its fifth fund, shows an SEC filing. The outfit, founded by investor Craig Shapiro, closed its last fund with $100 million in 2018. More here.
Insight Partners, the 26-year-old, New York-based investing giant, has spun up a $100 million public equities fund, per an SEC filing.
Peter Liu, a former investor with Pritzker Group Venture Capital, is raising up to $10 million for his own, New Orleans, La.-based seed-stage venture firm, Revelry Venture Partners, shows an SEC filing. More here.
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Exits
Avant, an online lender that has raised over $600 million in equity, announced today that it has acquired Zero Financial and its neobank brand, Level, to further its mission of becoming a digital bank for the masses. Founded in 2012, Chicago-based Avant started out primarily as an online lender targeting so-called underserved consumers but is evolving into digital banking with this acquisition. Founded in 2016, San Francisco-based Zero Financial has raised $147 million in debt and equity, according to Crunchbase. New Enterprise Associates led its $20 million Series A in May of 2019. TechCrunch has more here.
According to The Information, Snap has acquired an app called Screenshop to bolster a new feature that will recommend clothes users can buy based on photos they upload to the messaging app. Terms of the deal haven't been learned yet. (Apparently, Screenshop still hasn't publicly disclosed that it's owned by Snap.) More here.
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Going Public
Self-driving truck startup TuSimple said on Wednesday it was targeting a valuation of more than $8 billion in its U.S. IPO. Reuters notes that TuSimple is the third company that announced plans today to raise more than a billion dollars through share sales "as companies continue to tap into the red-hot U.S. IPO market." More here.
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People
Former Google engineer Emi Nietfeld details sexism at Google in new opinion piece in the New York Times, saying she loved, and felt loved, at Google -- until she filed a complaint with HR about a tech lead's behavior.
Investor Peter Thiel today urged the U.S. government to consider tighter regulations on cryptocurrencies, saying during a virtual event held for members of the Richard Nixon Foundation: “I do wonder whether at this point, Bitcoin should also be thought [of] in part as a Chinese financial weapon against the U.S. . . It threatens fiat money, but it especially threatens the U.S. dollar . . .[If] China’s long Bitcoin, perhaps from a geopolitical perspective, the U.S. should be asking some tougher questions about exactly how that works.” According to Bloomberg, Thiel went on to criticize tech giants Apple and Google and even, to a lesser extent, Facebook, on whose board he has been a director since 2005. More here.
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Essential Reads
Best Buy is piloting an annual membership program in select stores that will cost $199.99 per year and include perks like free shipping, unlimited tech support from the Geek Squad and exclusive membership pricing. (For what it's worth, Best Buy currently boasts a $30 billion market cap; its shares have risen fivefold over the last five years.)
Virginia's Democratic-controlled Legislature passed a bill legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana on Wednesday, making it the 16th state to take the step. Still, it could be several years before the state begins licensing recreational marijuana retailers, and unlike other states, the law won't allow the commonwealth's existing medical dispensaries to begin selling to all adults immediately. NPR has more here.
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Detours
What the hell are you supposed to do with your vaccine card?
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