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Top News
As widely expected, Coinbase shares soared in their first day of trading today, closing at $328.28 in their Nasdaq debut and giving the cryptocurrency exchange an initial market cap of $85.8 billion on a fully diluted basis in the process. Excluding options and restricted stock units, Coinbase closed the day with a market cap of about $62 billion. (A lot of people will see windfalls; more about two of the biggest winners below in "Data.")
The Senate today confirmed Gary Gensler to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, putting in place a "battle-tested Wall Street watchdog at a moment when Democrats are looking to rein in financial market risk," as notes Politico.
Amazon, BlackRock, Google, Warren Buffett and hundreds of other companies and executives signed on to a new statement released today opposing “any discriminatory legislation” that would make it harder for people to vote.
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Sean Lane Built a Billion-Dollar Business, But There Was Pain Along the Way
Several years ago, founder Sean Lane thought he’d achieved product-market fit.
Speaking to attendees at TechCrunch’s Early Stage virtual event earlier this month, Lane said Queue, a secure digital check-in tablet for hospital waiting rooms that reduced wait times by uniting and correcting electronic medical records, was “selling like hotcakes.” But once Lane realized it would only ever address one piece of a much bigger market opportunity, he sold off the product, laid off two-thirds of the people affiliated with it and redirected the employees who were left.
Lane explained that what he really wanted to build is what his company — since renamed Olive — has now become, a robotic process automation (RPA) company that takes on hospital workers’ most tedious tasks so nurses and physicians can spend more time with patients.
Customers seem to like it. According to Lane, more than 600 hospitals use the service to assist employees with tasks like prior authorizations and patient verifications.
Investors clearly approve of what Olive is selling, too: Last year, the company raised three rounds of funding totaling roughly $380 million and valuing the company at $1.5 billion. According to Crunchbase, it’s raised a total of $456 million altogether.
In fact, VCs think so much of Lane that in February, they invested $50 million in another company that Lane runs simultaneously called Circulo, a startup that describes itself as building the “Medicaid insurance company of the future.”
Still, the path from point A to B was painful, and it might not have happened if Lane didn’t have a few things going for him.
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Massive Fundings
Astranis, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based company that's building small, low-cost telecommunications satellites in order to get more people around the world online, has raised $250 million in fresh funding at a post-money valuation of $1.4 billion. BlackRock led the round, joined by Baillie Gifford, Fidelity and more than a dozen earlier investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Venrock. The company has now raised $350 million since its founding. CNBC has more here.
Benchling, a nine-year-old, San Francisco-based startup whose cloud platform is used by pharmaceutical and biotech companies to analyze complex datasets, design DNA and more, has raised $200 million in Series E funding led by Sequoia Capital Global Equities. Other participants in the round include Altimeter Capital, Byers Capital and serial entrepreneur Elad Gil, as well as several previous investors. The company, which has raised $350 million altogether, is now valued at $4 billion, it says. FierceBiotech has more here.
Jaguar Gene Therapy, a two-year-old, Lake Forrest, Ill.-based gene therapy startup, has raised $139 million in Series B funding. Lilly Ventures and Deerfield Management co-led the round, joined by Goldman Sachs, Arch Venture Partners and Nolan Capital. FierceBiotech has more here.
Netstars, an 11-year-old, Tokyo, Japan-based QR code payments company, has raised $60 million in new funding led by KKR, with participation from SIG and LUN Partners. Pymnts.com has more here.
Plex, an 11-year-old, San Francisco-based, ad-supported streaming media service, has raised $50 million in Series C funding from earlier investor Intercap. Variety has more here.
Scale AI, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that provides customers like OpenAI and Nvidia with training data they can use to build their artificial intelligence software, has raised $325 million in Series E funding from Dragoneer, Greenoaks Capital and Tiger Global, with added participation from Wellington Management, Durable Capital Partners and previous backers Coatue, Index Ventures, Founders Fund and YC. The company is now valued at more than $7.3 billion, it says. SiliconAngle has more here.
Seeq, a nine-year-old, Seattle-based maker of analytics software that's used by industrial manufacturers to collect and analyze data from sensors and instrument systems, has raised $50 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led the round; Altira Group, Chevron Technology Ventures, Cisco Investments, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, and Second Avenue Partners also participated. The company has now raised $115 million altogether. GeekWire has more here.
Upstack, a four-year-old, New York-based company that provides tools to large enterprises, government organizations, and smaller businesses to compare offerings and plan out pricing for different scenarios covering a range of IT areas, has raised $50 million from Berkshire Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Zeta, a five-year-old, India-based neo-banking platform, is in late-stage talks with SoftBank Vision Fund 2 to raise around $250 million in Series D funding at a valuation of at least $1 billion, reports TechCrunch. More here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Atrium, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that help sales managers more easily see who is (or isn't) crushing it, just raised $13.5 million in seed funding from Bonfire Ventures, Bullpen Capital, CRV and First Round Capital. We talked with the company here.
Connected Cannabis, an 11-year-old, Sacramento, Ca.-based designer weed cultivator (meaning it grows different strains to pinpoint certain effects that consumers are looking for), has raised $30 million in equity and debt funding from Navy Capital, One Tower Group, Emerald Park Capital and Presidio View Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Slice, an 11-year-old, New York-based startup that helps independent pizzerias build an online business, has raised $40 million in Series D funding led by Cross Creek, with participation from 01 Advisors and earlier backers GGV Capital, KKR and Primary Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Wire, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based end-to-end encrypted messaging app and service that enables users to securely talk with others using text messages, photos, videos and voice messages, has raised a $21 million Series B funding round led by UVC Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Bandwango, a six-year-old, Murray, Ut.-based platform that brings together offers from local restaurants, retailers, wineries, breweries, state parks and more into package deals that are then sold by tourism bureaus, has raised $3.12 million in funding. Investors in the round include Next Frontier Capital, Kickstart Fund, Signal Peak Ventures, SaaS Ventures, Ocean Azul Partners and private investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Heat Media, a digital publication company that is partly the brainchild of Jon Kelly, a former editor at Vanity Fair, and which plans to share annual subscription revenue with its writers, as well as give then equity in the company, has raised $7 million from investors, including TPG and 40 North Media, the investment arm of the industrials company Standard Industries. The New York Times has more here.
Pickle, a nearly three-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based startup that develops robotics for loading and unloading trucks in warehouses, has raised $5.57 million in seed funding. Hyperplane led the round, joined by Third Kind Venture Capital, Box Group and Version One Ventures, among others. TechCrunch has more here.
Pico, a five-year-old, New York-based startup that helps online creators and media companies make money and manage their customer data, has raised $6.5 million in new funding. Bullpen Capital led the round, joined by Precursor Ventures, Stripe, BloombergBeta and Village Global. The company has now raised $10 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Wyng, an 11-year-old, New York-based digital marketing platform, has raised $2 million from earlier investors Edison Partners and Windcrest Partners. More here.
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New Fundings
Pale Blue Dot, an 11-month-old, Malmo, Sweden-based, early-stage venture firm focusing on climate tech (primarily in Europe), has raised €34 million in new capital commitments for its debut fund after initially holding a first close with €53 million. TechCrunch has more here.
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Exits
Personal computer maker Dell said today it will spin off its stake valued at $52 billion in cloud-software company VMware in a bid to strengthen its financial position as it looks at new markets and works to reach clients revamping their digital strategies. The plan should also help shrink the personal-computer maker’s mountain of debt, notes the WSJ. More here.
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Going Public
Cue Health, an 11-year-old, San Diego, Ca.-based maker of portable health testing solutions, including for COVID-19, is planning an IPO as early as this year, says Bloomberg. The company has raised $665 million from private investors, according to Crunchbase. Its tests were used last year by the NBA to help limit the spread of the coronavirus among team members who played and lived in a so-called bubble in Florida. More here.
Squarespace, the 18-year-old, New York-based platform that invites customers to claim a domain, build a website, sell online, and market a brand, is pursuing a direct listing for later this year rather than an IPO, says Bloomberg. The company last month raised $300 million at a $10 billion valuation from Dragoneer, Tiger Global, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Spruce House, among others. More here.
TuSimple, the six-year-old, San Diego-based company that is now the first autonomous vehicle software maker to go public, has raised $1.36 billion at $40 per share, slightly above the high end of its estimate. Shares begin trading tomorrow on NASDAQ. The company has a valuation of $8.49 billion based on its 212 million registered shares. FreightWaves has more here.
Zymergen, the nearly eight-year-old, Bay Area-based synthetic biology company that genetically engineers tiny microbes for a wide variety of customers across industries -- it says it's in the business of "biofacturing" -- revealed plans today to sell 13.6 shares at a price range of between $28 an $31 per share in an IPO that would raise roughly half a billion dollars for the company and establish a market cap of around $3 billion. Zymergen has raised roughly $875 million to date from private investors, including SoftBank. TheStreet has more here.
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People
Former Google exec Surojit Chatterjee joined Coinbase 15 months ago as its chief product officer, and the move is paying off wildly, with a stake worth $180.8 million after Coinbase's first day of trading. He is also set to receive share options within the next five years that are currently worth about $465.5 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Before spending three years as a VP of product management at Google, Chatterjee spent 1.5 years with Flipkart as an SVP and head of product. More here.
Jean-Michel Lemieux, the chief technology officer of Shopify, and chief talent officer Brittany Forsyth announced today on Twitter they are stepping down from their roles in the coming months. Chief legal officer Joe Frasca is also set to step down, according to a report from the Ottawa Business Journal, which noted that all three execs will end their tenures in June. BetaKit has more here.
Bernie Madoff, who was sent to prison in 2009 after admitting to operating the largest private Ponzi scheme in financial history, died today in a federal prison hospital at 82. Madoff sought early release last year from his 150-year sentence, saying he had terminal kidney disease.
Grab CEO Anthony Tan will receive majority voting control at Grab as it merges with the blank-check company Altimeter Growth Corp., a corporate governance decision that will tighten his grip over the startup he co-founded less than a decade ago, observes Bloomberg. According to its report, based on regulatory filings, Tan will end up with 60.4% of the voting power while owning a stake of 2.2%, enabled by different share classes. He holds 2.6% of the current voting power in Grab, matching his ownership of common shares. More here.
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Data
Two of the biggest winners in Coinbase's direct listing offering are Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. As The Information reminds readers, USV led Coinbase’s Series A round, becoming one of the biggest shareholders; it then sold a quarter of its stake in recent years, including to Series B lead a16z, leaving it with its current position of around 5% of the outstanding shares (including options), worth $5.3 billion at the opening trade of $381 today. That's pretty good, considering it spent an estimated $14 million to $18 million (per The Information) to build that position. It's not as good as the spoils a16z will see, however. Between that Series B round and its subsequent investments in Coinbase, it is estimated to have spent upwards of $200 million to build a roughly 11% stake in the cryptocurrency exchange. The value of those shares as of this morning: $11.2 billion. More here.
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Essential Reads
According to a draft of its upcoming rules viewed by Politico, the European Commission would ban certain uses of "high-risk" artificial intelligence systems altogether and limit others from entering the bloc if they don't meet its standards.
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Retail Therapy
Could this be Vibram's most controversial toe-shoe ever? Stay tuned.
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