Wishing you a happy summer weekend, all! If you want to get up to speed on one of the newest emerging funds founded by veteran VCs, check this week's podcast with Renegade Partners, founded by Renata Quintini (formerly of Lux Capital and Felicis Ventures) and Roseanne Wincek (formerly of IVP and Canaan). We talked with them about what they see as the biggest opportunity in venture capital right now, exactly, they are placing their bets. We enjoyed talking with them about the pleasure (and pain) of building a new brand; we hope you'll enjoy it, too.
Much thanks to our partner in tonight's episode, TechCrunch. After wrapping up its most recent event, TechCrunch Early Stage, this afternoon, TC is zooming toward its last remaining events of this year: TC Disrupt (Sept 21-23), TC Sessions: SaaS (October 27) and TC Sessions: Space (December 14-15). Want to get fully up to speed on what's happening in the world of startups? Grab your tickets here.
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Top News
President Joe Biden’s executive order today to promote greater competition across American industries takes direct aim at technology companies, promising to deepen scrutiny of deal-making and their collection of massive amounts of personal data. Bloomberg takes a look here.
The Federal Trade Commission today opened an in-depth investigation into Amazon's $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, according to The Information. As the outlet observes, an investigation suggests that even relatively small acquisitions by Amazon in industries where it doesn't have a strong position are going to be scrutinized by the FTC under new head honcho Lina Khan.
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Beyond 'Netflix Party': Startups Bet We'll Browse More of the Web Together
Last year, during the pandemic, a free browser extension called Netflix Party gained traction because it enabled people trapped in their homes to connect with far-flung friends and family by watching the same Netflix TV shows and movies simultaneously. It also enabled them to dish about the action in a side bar chat.
Yet that company -- later renamed Teleparty -- was just the beginning, argue two young companies that have raised seed funding. One, a year-old upstart in London that launched in December, just closed its round this week led by Craft Ventures. The other, a four-year-old, Bay Area-based startup, has raised $3 million in previously undisclosed seed funding, including from 500 Startups.
Both believe that while investors have thrown money at virtual events and edtech companies, there is an even bigger opportunity in developing a kind of multiplayer browsing experience that enables people to do much more together online. From watching sports to watching movies to perhaps even reviewing X-rays with one's doctor some day, both say more web surfing together is inevitable, particularly for younger users.
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Massive Fundings
Coda, a seven-year-old, Los Altos, Ca.-based doc sharing startup that offers customizable and collaborative documents, has raised $100 million at a $1.4 billion valuation, more than double where it was valued a year ago. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board led the round; other participants in the round include Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Greylock, Khosla Ventures, Madrona Ventures, Underscore VC, NGP Capital, and Renegade Partners. Coda has now raised at least $240 million, per Crunchbase data. Forbes has more here.
Enpal, a four-year-old, Berlin, Germany-based photovoltaic systems company, has raised €100 million. HV Capital led the round, joined by E.R. Capital, FRIBA Investment and Heliad Equity Partners. Tech.eu has more here.
Entrata, an 18-year-old, Lehi, Ut.-based multifamily property tech company, just raised a whopping $507 million in funding led by Silver Lake, Qualtrics founder Ryan Smith, and Vivint founder Todd Pedersen. Dragoneer and Domo founder Josh James also joined the round.
Instawork, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based on-demand staffing app for gig workers and hospitality businesses, has raised $60 million in Series C funding led by Craft Ventures, which was joined by Greylock, Corner Ventures, Four River Group, WndrCo and Tilman Fertitta, owner of Landry’s and the Houston Rockets. Earlier investors Benchmark, Spark Capital, GV, Burst Capital and SV Angel also participated. More here.
Kurly, a six-year-old, South Korean grocery delivery startup, has raised $200 million in Series F funding at a $2.2 billion valuation co-led by earlier backers by Aspex Management, DST Global, Sequoia Capital China and Hillhouse Capital. CJ Logistics and Millennium Management also joined the round, which brings the company's total funding to roughly $480 million, per Crunchbase data. TechCrunch has more here.
Muna Therapeutics, a 15-month-old, Copenhagen-based developer of treatments for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, has raised $73 million in Series A funding from Novo Holdings, Sofinnova Partners, Droia Ventures and LSP Dementia Fund. FierceBiotech has more here.
Netskope, an eight-year-old, Santa Clara, Ca.-based cloud security company, just raised $300 million in new funding at a post-money valuation of $7.5 billion, it says. Earlier backer ICONIQ Growth led the round, joined by fellow previous investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, Base Partners, Sapphire Ventures and Geodesic Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Ola, the nearly 11-year-old, Mumbai, India-based ride-hail firm, has raised $500 million from Temasek and Warburg Pincus. Cofounder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal also joined the round, says the company. TechCrunch has more here.
Thrive Global, a nearly five-year-old, New York-based employee wellness company founded by Arianna Huffington, has raised $80 million in Series C funding co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Owl Ventures. Kleiner's Mamoon Hamid tells Bloomberg he invested because he is optimistic that Thrive can eventually go public. Huffington, meanwhile, says the company is “definitely” open to being acquired. More here.
Twelve, a six-year-old, Berkeley, Ca.-based startup that says its technology eliminates emissions by turning CO2 into essential products that are made today from fossil fuels, raised $57 million in Series A funding. Capricorn Technology Impact Fund and Carbon Direct Capital Management led the round, joined by DCVC, Munich Re Ventures, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Breakout Ventures, and Evok Innovations. More here.
Xilis, a two-year-old, Durham, N.C.-based cancer-treatment company that takes tissue samples from cancer patients and turns them into thousands of micro replicas that it can then test with various treatment options to determine which one might be most effective, has raised $70 million in Series A funding. Mubadala Capital led the round, joined by GV, Felicis Ventures and LSP. FierceBiotech has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Didomi, a four-year-old, Paris-based data consent and preferences management platform, has raised $40 million in Series B funding co-led by Elephant and Breega. VentureBeat has more here.
Flash, a two-year-old, São Paulo, Brazil-based startup that has developed a flexible benefits platform for Brazilian companies and employees, just raised $22 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global, with participation from Citius, Kauffman Fellows, and earlier backer Monashees and Global Founders Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Made Renovation, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based bathroom renovation company (that we wrote about here when it launched last year), just raised $23 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round, joined by earlier backers Base10 Partners, Founders Fund, and Felicis Ventures.
Tise, a seven-year-old, Norway-based second-hand items exchange, has raised $11 million in new funding led by VNW Global. Tech.eu has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Daupler, a 5.5-year-old, Overland Park, Ka.-based maker of first response software for utilities and public works, has raised $4 million in funding led by San Francisco-based Burnt Island Ventures, with participation from Revolution Fund, Runway Venture Partners, Knoll Ventures, and KCRise Fund. Startland News has more here.
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New Funds
SoftBank Group plans to invest an additional $5 billion in Latin American companies, according to Bloomberg. The new capital allocation would double the Japanese conglomerate's commitment to the region to $10 billion. According to Bloomberg, SoftBank will also expand the scope of its investments in the region to span from seed and Series A startups to taking stakes in public companies. More here.
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Exits
App research company App Annie is exploring its strategic options, including the possibility of making an acquisition or going public, CEO Ted Krantz tells the WSJ. The 10-year-old, San Francisco-baesd company is also exploring a possible sale, according to the outlet.
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Going Public
China just proposed new rules that would require nearly all companies seeking to list in foreign countries to undergo a cybersecurity review, a move that would significantly tighten oversight over its internet giants. Companies holding data on more than one million users must now apply for cybersecurity approval when seeking listings in other nations because of the risk that such data and personal information could be “affected, controlled, and maliciously exploited by foreign governments,” the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement. Bloomberg has the story here.
Noom, the 13-year-old, New York-based venture-backed operator of the popular U.S. weight loss app, has hired Goldman Sachs Group to lead its preparations for an IPO, reports Reuters, noting that Noom has seen the popularity of its fitness platform soar during the COVID-19 pandemic. More here.
Stripe, the 11-year-old, San Francisco-based digital payments processing company, has hired a law firm to make preparations for an IPO, according to Reuters, which says the company is considering a direct listing. More here.
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People
Yossi Cohen, the former head of the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, has been hired by SoftBank to serve as the conglomerate's operations head in the country, reports Globes. It says Cohen will be working most closely with SoftBank's teams in Europe and the Middle East and that he will be helping to deploy capital from its second Vision Fund. (H/T: Axios.) More here.
Cyrpus native Firat Ileri has been promoted to managing partner of the seed-stage venture firm Hummingbird VC as founding partner Barend Van den Brande takes on a more strategic role at the firm, says TechCrunch. Ileri, who has engineering degrees from MIT and is based in London, has been working for the firm since 2012. More here.
"F--- him": Media mogul Rupert Murdoch personally approved Fox News's decision to declare Arizona for Biden on election night, enraging Trump, says a new book.
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Essential Reads
TikTok is rolling out a new system that will allow the company to automatically block videos that violate its policies when they're uploaded, it says.
Tencent Games says it has been using facial recognition to enforce China’s rules on how much time people under 18 can spend playing video games.
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Detours
Barry Diller says the movie business is dead.
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Sponsored By ...
In the latest report from Shareworks by Morgan Stanley, “Transparency: 2021: Addressing Gaps in Equity Compensation,” we surveyed hundreds of public and private companies and found that when it comes to equity compensation, there are clear gaps that exist between employees of different races and ethnicities, as well as between men and women. Even for individuals in the same role, equity compensation was not equal. Download the report to discover more ways to identify and address gaps in equity compensation at your company, and if you’d like to learn more about how Shareworks can help you better manage your equity plans, please let us know.
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