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Top News
In today’s antitrust hearing in the U.S. Senate, Apple and Google representatives were asked whether they have a “strict firewall” or other internal policies in place that prevent them from leveraging the data from third-party businesses operating on their app stores to inform the development of their own competitive products. Apple, in particular, was called out for the practice of copying other hardware and software, including a Tile-like tracker it debuted just yesterday (boldly). TechCrunch has the story here.
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Sponsored By ...
The Fed has committed to printing $120 billion every month and over $2.9 trillion in the next two years. Add in $1.9 trillion of fiscal stimulus and a $2 trillion infrastructure program, and it's easy to see why many investors are looking to protect their portfolio from inflation by investing in real, tangible assets, like art. Masterworks is an exclusive community of art investors who are looking to take advantage of a historically inefficient market. From 1995 to 2020 contemporary art prices rose 13.6%, had a lower loss rate than gold, and only a 0.01 correlation factor to equities. StrictlyVC subscribers can skip the 12,500 person waitlist to start investing in artists like Basquiat and Banksy today. (See important information).
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Oath Care Just Raised $2 Million to Build Out a Social, Health-Focused App That Groups Expectant and New Parents
Being an expectant mom can be frightening, as can mothering an infant or toddler. The answers don't come automatically, and while there’s no shortage of books and websites (and advice from grandparents) about how to parent at every stage, finding satisfying information often proves a lot harder than imagined.
There are online social groups that deliver some of the social and emotional support that new parents need, no matter where they live. There are many dozens of mom communities on Facebook, for example. However, it’s because there’s room for improvement on this theme — big groups can feel isolating, bad information abounds —that Oath Care, a young, four-person San Francisco-based startup, just raised $2 million in seed funding from XYZ Ventures, General Catalyst, and Eros Resmini, former CMO of Discord and managing partner of the Mini Fund.
What is it building? Founder Camilla Hermann describes it as a subscription-based mobile app that’s focused on improving the lives of new mothers by combining parents with a whole lot in common with healthcare specialists and moderators who can guide them in group chats, as well as one-on-one video calls.
More specifically, she says, for $20 per month, Oath matches pregnant and postpartum moms in circles of up to 10 based on factors like stage of pregnancy, age of child, location, and career so they can ask questions of each other, with the help of a trained moderator (who is sometimes a mother with older children).
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Massive Fundings
ActiveCampaign, an 18-year-old, Chicago-based company that enable its small- and medium-size business customers to run digital campaigns, then follow up automatically to boost that sales and marketing effort, has raised $240 million in Series C funding at a valuation north of $3 billion. Tiger Global led the round, joined by Dragoneer and earlier backers Susquehanna Growth Equity and Silversmith Capital Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Deel, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that provides payroll, compliance tools and other services to help businesses hire remotely, just raised $156 million in Series C funding, six months after raising $30 million in Series b funding. YC Continuity Fund led the round, joined by earlier backers Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital and a long list of individual investors, including Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Lachy Groom (a former Stripe product head), and entertainment mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg. TechCrunch has more here.
Digital Asset Holdings, a seven-year-old, New York-based company whose flagship product is a distributed ledger technology for banks and other financial, health care, and insurance institutions, has raised $120 million in Series D funding from 7Ridge and Eldridge. VentureBeat has more here.
EdiGene, a six-year-old, Beijing, China-based developer of genome editing tech, raised around $62 million in new Series B funding. Loyal Valley Capital led the round, joined by BioTrack Capital, Sherpa Healthcare Partners and earlier backers IDG Capital, Lilly Asia Venture, 3H Health Investment, Huagai Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Alwin Capital and Kunlun Capital. China Daily has more here.
Janux Therapeutics, a four-year-old, San Diego-based biotech startup with a technology that aims to selectively and safely direct T cells to strike cancer cells (it also has an R&D partnership with Merck), has raised $125 million in Series b funding, just seven weeks after announcing $56 million in Series A funding. RA Capital Management led the new round, joined by BVF Partners, EcoR1 Capital, Hartford HealthCare Endowment, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, Samsara BioCapital and Surveyor Capital. Earlier backers also participated. MedCity News has more here.
Laiye, a six-year-old, Beijing, China-based robotic process automation company whose software mimics mundane workplace tasks like keyboard strokes and mouse clicks, has raised $50 million in extended Series C funding co-led by Ping An Global Voyager Fund and a Shanghai government-backed fund called Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Equity Investment Fund, with added participation from Lightspeed China Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia China and Wu Capital. The company has now raised $130 million altogether, estimates TechCrunch. More here.
Misfits Market, a nearly three-year-old, Philadelphia, Pa.-based subscription service for “ugly” produce, has raised $200 million in Series C funding at a valuation north of $1 billion. Accel and D1 Capital Partners co-led, and were joined by insiders Valor Equity Partners, Greenoaks Capital, Sound Ventures and Third Kind Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Ornikar, a seven-year-old, Paris-based startup that prepares people for driving tests by providing online drivers education courses, has raised €100 million ($120 million) in Series C funding led by KKR, with participation from earlier investors Idinvest, BPI, Elaia, Brighteye, and H14. The company has raised $175 million altogether and is now valued at around $750 million, says TechCrunch. More here.
RapidAPI, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based platform that helps developers find, manage, and test application programming interfaces, has raised $60 million in Series C funding led by Green Bay Ventures, with participation from Stripes. VentureBeat has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Aisera, a four-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based workflow automation platform that's focused on tasks across IT, sales, and customer service, has raised $40 million in Series C funding. Icon Ventures led the round, joined by World Innovation Lab and earlier investors True Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Webb Investment Network, and Sherpalo. The company has now raised $90 million altogether. VentureBeat has more here.
AppOmni, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based maker of security management software as a service, has $40 million in Series B funding. Scale Venture Partners led the round, joined by investors including Salesforce Ventures and ServiceNow Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Cape Privacy, a three-year-old, New York-based company data privacy platform, has raised $20 million in Series A funding. Evolution Equity Partners led the round, joined by Tiger Global, Ridgeline Partners, Downing Lane and earlier backers Boldstart Ventures, Version One Ventures, Haystack and Radical Ventures. The company has now raised $25 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Catch & Release, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based content licensing startup, raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Accel, with participation from Cervin Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Class, an eight-month-old, Washington, D.C.-base remote teaching startup that integrates with Zoom (and was founded by serial entrepreneur Michael Chasen), has raised $12.25 million from Salesforce Ventures, Sound Ventures and famed NFL quarterback Tom Brady (who is increasingly focused on the tech world, seemingly). TechCrunch has more here.
ExecOnline, a nine-year-old, New York-based online leadership course, has raised $45 million in Series D funding led by OMERS Growth Equity. Earlier backers Kaplan, ABS Capital Partners, NewSpring and Osage Venture Partners also joined the round. More here.
Orca AI, a three-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based computer vision startup that can be retrofitted to cargo ships and improve navigation and collision avoidance, has raised $13 million in Series A funding led by OCV Partners, with participation from Mizmaa Ventures and Playfair Capital. The company has now raised $15.5 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Proximie, a London-based telehealth platform that helps surgeons virtually join operations, has raised $38 million in Series B funding. F-Prime Capital led the round, joined by Questa Capital, Eight Roads Ventures, Maverick Ventures and earlier investors Global Ventures, BECO Capital and Cedar Mundi Ventures. MobiHealth News has more here.
Seed Health, a five-year-old, Venice, Ca.-based microbial sciences company that wants to break into both supplements and medicines, has raised $40 million in Series A funding. The Craftory led the round, joined by ARTIS Ventures, GISEV, Founders Fund, and 8VC. Business Insider has more here.
Small Door Veterinary, a four-year-old, New York-based, tech-enabled, subscription-based veterinary startup that was co-founded by former SoftBank Capital partner Josh Guttman and just opened its second location in New York in December, has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Toba Capital. Pentland Group and earlier investors Lerer Hippeau, Primary Ventures and Brand Foundry also joined the round. More here.
Synthesia, a four-year-old, London-based startup that promises that it can produce professional-looking AI videos from text in minutes, raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. FirstMark Capital led the round, joined by LDV Capital, MMC Ventures, Seedcamp, investor Mark Cuban and others. TechCrunch has more here.
Tribal Credit, a five-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based company that uses its proprietary underwriting approval process to evaluate businesses and approve them for credit lines, has raised $34.3 million in a combined Series A and debt round led by QED Investors and Partners for Growth. Earlier backers BECO Capital, Global Ventures, OTG Ventures and Endure Capital also joined the round, along with new investor Endeavor Catalyst. As part of the round, Tribal also received $3 million from the Stellar Development Foundation, a nonprofit organization. TechCrunch has more here.
Welcome Tech, an 11-year-old, L.A.-based tech platform for immigrant families, has raised $35 million in Series B funding co-led by TTV Capital, Owl Ventures and SoftBank. Other participants in the round include Crosscut Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Next Play Capital and Owl Capital. The company has now raised $50 million altogether. Crunchbase News has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Causal, a two-year-old, U.K.-based startup with a data-driven, collaborative number-crunching tool, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding led by Accel. Earlier backers Coatue, Passion Capital and Verissimo Ventures also joined the round. TechCrunch has more here.
Okra, a two-year-old, Lagos, Nigeria-based fintech startup that creates a secure portal and process to exchange real-time financial information between customers, applications and banks, has raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Susa Ventures led the round, joined by Accenture Ventures, earlier backer TLcom Capital, and individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Per Diem, a months-old, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based startup that aims to make it easy for local businesses to sell subscriptions online (to build their own Amazon Prime, says the company), has raised $2.3 million in seed funding led by Two Sigma Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Plooto, a five-year-old, Toronto-based B2B payments startup focused on cash flow automation for small and mid-size businesses, has raised a $6.3 million (CAD $8 million) in Series A funding from FINTOP Capital, Luge Capital and Inovia Capital. Crunchbase News has more here.
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New Funds
Inovo, a 10-year-old, Warsaw, Poland-based venture capital fund investing in tech startups across Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, has closed its second fund with €54 million in capital commitments, including its cornerstone investor, the European Investment Fund (EIF). Business Leader has more here.
Digital Alpha Advisors, a five-year-old, Henderson, Nevada-based digital infrastructure-focused investment firm, says it has closed its second fund with $1 billion in capital commitments. According to Pensions & Investments, $300 million of that capital has already been committed across three deals. The firm reportedly focuses on digital infrastructure assets, companies and revenue-share agreements and zeroes in on three things specifically, which are next-generation networks, such as 5G infrastructure investments; cloud computing; and IoT-enabled smart city solutions. More here.
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Going Public
DoubleVerify, a 13-year-old, New York-based maker of digital media engagement tracking software, saw its shares jump nearly 30% in their U.S. market debut today, giving the business a market value of about $5.4 billion. DoubleVerify's shares opened at $35, compared with the initial public offering price of $27 per share. The company, backed by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners and hedge fund Tiger Global Management, sold more than 13 million shares in its offering to raise about $360 million. Reuters has more here.
SmartRent.com, a four-year-old, Scottsdale, Az.-based company sells smart home-technology systems to apartment-building owners and developers, intends to go public through a merger with a blank-check company that values the startup at $2.2 billion, according to the WSJ. SmartRent plans to announce as early as tomorrow that it will merge with Fifth Wall Acquisition Corp., which raised about $345 million in an IPO earlier this year. Fifth Wall, the venture-capital firm, had invested in SmartRent last year through one of its funds. More here.
UiPath, whose software business helps businesses automate repetitive tasks, rose 23% in its stock market debut today after the company and its investors raised $1.34 billion in its IPO. If underwriters buy their allotted shares, notes CNBC, UiPath’s offering will be the third-biggest ever for a U.S. software company, behind only cloud database vendor Snowflake, which raised $3.9 billion in September, and Qualtrics, which raised $1.78 billion in January after spinning out of SAP. More here.
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People
Jeremy Achin, who co-founded DataRobot in 2012, said last month that he leaving the company to focus on "all matter of natural security" which has become his "real passion." But The Information reports he resigned under pressure from DataRobot’s board of directors, which had grown frustrated with his management of the company, which could go public as early as late summer.
Lina Khan, nominated to a seat on the Federal Trade Commission, appeared on track to win confirmation after a hearing today showed she has broad Democratic support—and might win some Republican votes. The WSJ has more here.
Namratha Kothapalli joined Frontline Ventures as a principal; she was most recently a senior associate with Speedinvest for two years.
Jen Rubio has been appointed CEO, effective today, of Away, the travel brand she cofounded in 2015. Rubio has previously served as president and chief brand officer of the business and had been serving in the CEO role on an interim basis since the February departure of Stuart Haselden.
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Data
In the first quarter this year, U.S. startups raised $69 billion from investors—41% more than the previous record, set in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to data firm PitchBook. The average valuation for startups at all stages also reached a new high and more than tripled from last year to $1.6 billion for late-stage companies. “I’ve never seen it this frenzied,” one investor tells the WSJ.
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Essential Reads
A Clubhouse bug let people lurk in rooms invisibly.
Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn is drastically scaling back a planned $10 billion factory in Wisconsin, confirming its retreat from a project that former Donald Trump once called “the eighth wonder of the world.” Under a deal with the state announced yesterday, Foxconn will reduce its planned investment to $672 million from $10 billion and cut the number of new jobs to 1,454 from 13,000. CNBC has more here.
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Retail Therapy
Cadillac takes the wraps off the Lyriq, its first EV. More here and here.
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