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Top News
China issued a sweeping warning to its biggest companies today, vowing to tighten oversight of data security and overseas listings less than a week after Didi Global’s contentious decision to go public in the U.S. Bloomberg notes that the statement from China’s State Council was thin on details but that it strongly suggests Beijing is preparing to intensify a crackdown on its corporate sector. More here and here.
The Defense Department said today that it would not go forward with $10 billion cloud-computing Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (known as JEDI) contract that it had awarded to Microsoft and which had become bitterly contested by rival Amazon. A senior administration official tells the New York Times that after the Biden administration took office, a review concluded that the arguments over the contract had been so lengthy that the system would be outdated as soon as it was deployed. Security concerns also played a role in the decision to seek cloud services from multiple companies, officials tell the outlet. More here.
Jeff Bezos's net worth reached a record $211 billion after Amazon's shares rose 4.7% on the JEDI news. The rally raised Bezos’s fortune by $8.4 billion.
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Renegade Partners Rolls Out Its Much-Anticipated Debut Fund with $100 Million
Renegade Partners -- a Bay Area-based venture firm cofounded by veteran VCs Renata Quintini and Roseanne Wincek -- is taking the wraps off a $100 million debut venture fund that's been capturing the imagination of the business press since almost its conception in late 2019.
The effort is interesting for a number of reasons, not least because of the backgrounds of both Quintini and Wincek, both of whom left powerhouse venture firms to join forces. Quintini, a trained attorney, was an investment manager with Stanford University's endowment before being recruited into Felicis Ventures, after which she was poached by Lux Capital. Across those firms, she worked closely with a number of high-flying startups, including the autonomous driving company Cruise, the satellite startup Planet, and the clothing company Bonobos.
Wincek was meanwhile once set on nabbing a PhD at UC Berkeley, instead leaving the school with a master's degree in biophysics to head to Stanford for her MBA. From there, it was on to Canaan as a principal, and from there, she headed to IVP, where she rose through the senior ranks to partner, investing across enterprise and consumer companies that include Glossier, Compass, MasterClass, and TransferWise.
It's not a new trend, successful VCs who happen to be women leaving established firms to create their own outfits. Think Mary Meeker of Bond, Dayna Grayson of Construct Capital, and Beth Seidenberg of Westlake Village BioPartners, just to name a few. But unlike some of its predecessors, Renegade isn't limiting itself to playing a certain role in the venture universe. It isn't bound to any sector. It isn't marketing itself as an early-stage venture firm. What it is looking for is a fairly specific mix of traction, team, and market -- a combination that it is finding in companies that are anywhere from their Series A to Series C stage.
An in-house head data scientist from the insurance giant John Hancock is helping home in on companies in Renegade's sweet spot, say the cofounders. So is a chief people officer with a powerful resume of her own (Uber, Zoom, Milo); principal Chloe Breider, a former IVP investor who worked closely with Wincek; and, as Renegade's "decision scientist," the former professional poker player and best-selling author Annie Duke.
We talked with Quintini and Wincek earlier today to learn more about what they have assembled -- and how Renegade makes its mark in an industry that has never been more competitive. Excerpts from that chat, below, have been edited lightly for length.
People would probably shiv someone to get a job at either firm where you worked. What drove you to leave?
RW: We first met when I was a Canaan and Renata was at Felicis, and back then, there weren't many women in venture, so [women VCs were like] "Oh, there's a new one, 'Come meet everybody.'" Over the years, we looked at a lot of stuff together, and especially after I moved to IVP, I was always bugging Renata about what was in her portfolio.
A few years ago, we were at one of those big, boozy dinners, with a bunch of people of our age at a bunch of firms. We were all having the conversation like, 'Oh, if I had my own firm, I would do this, and I would do that,' and Renata and I were finishing each other's sentences. And I remember going up to her and saying, "We should have this conversation for real but maybe with less wine."
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Massive Fundings
Pleo, a six-year-old, Denmark-based maker of expense management software and "smart" company cards that enables employees to spend more flexibly while within the finance director's control, has raised $150 million in Series C funding. Bain Capital Ventures and Thrive Capital co-led the round, joined by earlier backers Creandum, Kinnevik, Founders, Stripes and Seedcamp. TechCrunch has more here.
ManoMano, an eight-year-old, Paris-based e-commerce platform focused on home improvement and gardening products, has raised $355 million in Series F funding led by Dragoneer Investment Group at a post-money valuation of $2.6 billion. According to Crunchbase, the company has now raised a little more than $700 million altogether. Other backers in its new round include Temasek, General Atlantic, Eurazeo, Bpifrance, Aglaé Ventures, Kismet Holdings and Armat Group are also participating. TechCrunch has more here.
MaxAB, a three-year-old, Cairo, Egypt-based e-commerce marketplace that connects food and grocery retailers to suppliers in the country, has raised $40 million in Series A funding. RMBV led the round, joined by IFC, Flourish Ventures, Crystal Stream, Rise Capital, Endeavour Catalyst, Beco Capital and 4DX Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Pine Labs, a 23-year-old, Singapore-based payments platform for merchants in India and Southeast Asia, has raised $600 million at a $3 billion post-money valuation from Fidelity Management & Research Company, BlackRock, Ishana, a fund advised by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers, IIFL Finance and Kotak. TechCrunch has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Byrd, a five-year-old, Vienna, Austria-based company that develops warehouse and logistics management software, has raised €16 million in Series B funding led by Mouro Capital, with participation from Speedinvest, Verve Ventures, Rider Global and VentureFriends. TechCrunch has more here.
Canopy, a seven-year-old, Lehi, Ut.-based cloud-based maker of software for accounting professionals, has raised $11 million in funding from Ankona Capital, NewView Capital, Pelion Venture Partners, and Tenaya Capital. More here.
Furlenco, a nine-year-old, Bangalore, India--based furniture and appliance rental startup, has raised $20 million in Series D funding. Zinnia Global Fund led the round, joined by CE-Ventures and Lightbox Ventures. The company also announced that it has raised $120 million in debt funding. India's Business Standard has more here.
Wagmo, a three-year-old, New York-based startup selling subscription-based pet insurance, has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding led by Revolution Ventures. Other participants in the round include Female Founders Fund, Clocktower Technology Ventures, and Vestigo Ventures, and numerous angel investors, including Jeffrey Katzenberg. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Allozymes, a year-old, Singapore-based startup applying ultrahigh-throughput microfluidics technology to accelerate enzyme evolution and development, has raised $5 million in seed funding led by SOSV and Temasek, Singapore’s sovereign fund. TechCrunch has more here.
Locad, a year-old, Singapore-based maker of cross-border e-commerce logistics software, has raised $4.9 million in seed funding. Sequoia Capital India led the round, joined by Antler, Febe Ventures, Foxmont, GFC and Hustle Fund. TechCrunch has more here.
Obviously AI, a two-year-old, Berkeley, Ca.-based no-code AI/ML platform, just raised $4.7 million in seed funding from UTEC, Trail Mix Ventures and B Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
ShippyPro, a nearly four-year-old, Florence, Italy-based maker of shipping management software, has raised $5 million from Five Elms Capital. More here.
Single.Earth, a two-year-old, Tallinn, Estonia-based that tokenizes land, forests and other area of ecological significance and enables purchasers to own fractional amounts of those resources, as well as to receive carbon offsets, has raised $7.9 million in seed funding. EQT Ventures led the round; other participants in the round include earlier backer Icebreaker, along with Pipedrive founders Ragnar Sass and Martin Henk. TechCrunch has more here.
Super.mx, a two-year-old, Mexico City, Mexico-based insurtech startup that says it is focused on the emerging Latin American middle class, has raised $7.2 million in Series A funding led by ALLVP, with participation from Goodwater Capital, Kairos Angels and Bridge Partners, among others. TechCrunch has more here.
Toqio, a two-year-old, London-based white label digital finance software that helps its customers launch their own products, has raised €8 million in funding co-led by Seaya Ventures and Speedinvest. TechCrunch has more here.
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(Other) New Funds
IFly.vc. a 5.5-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based venture firm focused on seed and Series A stage companies, with a strong focus on commerce, has closed its second fund with $26 million in capital commitments. TechCrunch has more here.
MAGIC Fund, a four-year-old, Bay Area-based-venture firm with 12 founders who act as general partners and that backs early-stage startups across Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Southeast Asia, has closed its second fund with $30 million in capital commitments. TechCrunch has more here.
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Exits
Weibo chairman Charles Chao and a state investor are in talks to take the Chinese company private in a deal which would value the Twitter-like firm at at least $20 billion and facilitate major shareholder Alibaba Group Holding's exit, Reuters reports. Chao, whose holding company New Wave is the largest shareholder of Weibo with a 45% stake in the company as of February, is reportedly teaming up with a Shanghai-based state firm to form a consortium for the deal.
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Going Public
Nextdoor, the 10-year-old social media app for neighborhoods, said today it will go public through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in a deal valuing the outfit at $4.3 billion. The deal with Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co II includes a private investment of $270 million from Baron Capital Group, accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, and Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest. In September 2019, the company was valued at just over $2 billion, TechCrunch reported at the time. More here and here.
Satellogic, an 11-year-old, Earth observation space startup, plans to go public through a SPAC merger that values the company at $850 million. The company announced today that it will merge with CF Acquisition Corp. V, a SPAC sponsored by the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Satellogic -- which has raised roughly $124 million from investors over the years, including from Tencent and Pitanga Fund, reportedly has 17 commercial satellites in orbit and aims to grow the constellation to more than 300 satellites by 2025. TechCrunch has more here.
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People
Jenieri Cyrus joined the Urban Innovation Fund as an associate. He recently graduated from the Kellogg School of Management. More here.
Andy Jassy just finished his first day as Amazon's CEO.
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A work-from-home showdown on Wall Street.
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Retail Therapy
An electric truck with its own working kitchen. (If Rivian actually delivers its trucks at some point, we want one.)
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