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August 20, 2021
Happy Friday, all.:) We're racing out of here to celebrate an intern's birthday, but before we go, we just "dropped" (yes) the latest StrictlyVC Download. This week's guests including Arianna Simpson, one of the newest general partners at Andreessen Horowitz, who talked with us about getting into venture back in 2015, why a16z thinks "play to earn" is a way to pull the masses into crypto at long last, and the types of later-stage crypto bets the firm is now making.
We also talked with Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, cofounders of Kalshi, a young company that's trying to turn its prediction market -- where investors bet on the outcome of events -- into a fluid financial marketplace. The company has already attracted substantial Series A backing from Sequoia Capital and billionaires Henry Kravis and Charles Schwab; the question now is whether enough investors are willing to trade contracts tied to when the next Drake album will be released, for example.
Giant thanks to TechCrunch for sponsoring this week's episode. Note that TechCrunch Disrupt is coming up in almost exactly one month, and you won't want to miss this one, which you can catch online. Speakers include Brian Armstrong, Chris Sacca, Stewart Butterfield, Katie Haun, Melanie Perkins, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, among many (many) others. Join the community and expand your horizons and your network. Attend for less than $100, or you can get a free Innovator Pass if you're one of the first ten people to register with promo code STRICTLYVCFREE at techcrunch.com/disrupt. It's first come, first served, and once they’re gone, they’re gone!
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Top News
Five Taliban websites that were key to how the militant group delivered its official messages to those inside and outside Afghanistan abruptly went offline today, reports the Washington Post, calling it an indication that moves to limit the Taliban’s online reach are gaining traction. It isn't yet clear who or what took the Taliban sites offline, though all five previously had protection from CloudFlare, the San Francisco-based company that helps websites deliver content and defend against cyberattacks. More here.
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Massive Fundings
D1 Brands, a year-old, New York-based Amazon aggregator looking to capitalize on the success of third-party sellers in online marketplaces, has raised $123 million in Series A funding. CoVenture and Crossbeam Venture Partners co-led the round, joined by ID8 Investments. Forbes has more here.
DriveWealth, a nine-year-old, Chatham, N.J.-based brokerage infrastructure startup that enables companies to embed investing services like fractional trading within their own products, has raised $450 million in Series D funding co-led by Accel and Insight Partners at a $2.85 billion valuation. Other investors include Greyhound Capital, SoftBank, Base 10, FlightDeck, the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and earlier backers Point72 Ventures and Fidelity. DriveWealth had previously raised around $100 million from investors, per Crunchbase data. Bloomberg has more here.
QuintoAndar, an eight-year-old, São Paulo, Brazil-based proptech company, has raised $120 million in extended Series E funding just three months after closing the round with $300 million. New investors Greenoaks Capital and Tencent co-led the latest tranche, which included participation from some earlier backers as well. The company, which has now raised more than $700 million altogether, is being valued by its backers at $5.1 billion, up from $4 billion at the time of its last raise in late May. TechCrunch has more here.
WorldRemit, the nearly 12-year-old, London-based money transfer company, is reportedly seeking to raise cash at a valuation of about $5 billion ahead of a potential IPO. According to Bloomberg, the outfit is in talks with investors about a funding round right now; a public offering for the company could come as soon as 2022, say its sources. According to Crunchbase data, the company has raised roughly $400 million from investors over the years, including TCV and Accel. More here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Balto, a four-year-old, St. Louis, Mo.-based call center automation startup that aims to deliver visual prompts to agents with the "best things to say, live on every call," has raised $37 million in Series B funding. Stripes led the round, joined by RingCentral Ventures, Sierra Ventures, TIA Ventures, OCA Ventures, Stage Venture Partners, SaaS Venture Capital, Sandalphon Capital, Cultivation Capital and Atreides Management. VentureBeat has more here.
Metabase, a nearly seven-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based open-source business intelligence startup, has raised $30 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round, joined by earlier backers Expa and NEA. TechCrunch has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Alerzo, a two-year-old, Ibadan, Nigeria-based B2B e-commerce retail startup, has raised $10.5 million in Series A round led by London-based Nosara Capital. FJ Labs and several family offices from the U.S., Europe and Asia, including that of Michael Novogratz, participated in the round. The outfit has now raised $20 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
Breef, a two-year-old, New York-based agency marketplace that connects brands with agencies for their digital and creative needs, has raised $3.5 million in funding led by Greycroft. Other investors in the round include Rackhouse Ventures, The House Fund, Lance Armstrong and 640 Oxford Ventures. The company has now raised $4.5 million altogether; TechCrunch has more here.
Earbuds, a four-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based social music app that's directly integrated with Spotify and Apple Music, just raised $3 million in Series A funding. Ecliptic Capital led the round, joined by the Andre Agassi Foundation and LFG Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Cardiomatics, a four-year-old, Poland-based health tech AI startup that has developed an electrocardiogram reading automation technology, just announced $3.2 million in seed funding. The Central and Eastern European venture firm Kaya VC led the round, joined by Nina Capital, Nova Capital and Innovation Nest. The round also includes a $1 million non-equity grant from the Polish National Centre of Research and Development. TechCrunch has more here.
Gross-Wen Technologies, a seven-year-old, Slater, Ia.-based company whose wastewater treatment technology uses algae to clean wastewater, has raised $6.5 million in Series A funding co-led by ISA Ventures and the Iowa Farm Bureau's Rural Vitality Fund. Other backers in the round include Next Level Ventures, Mid-American Angels, Ankeny Angels, Ag Startup Engine, Oman Ventures, and 1330 Investments. More here.
Urban Sky, a two-year-old, Denver, Co.-based startup that aims to provide imagery from high-altitude "micro" balloons at much higher resolution than satellites, has raised $4.1 million in seed funding led by Catapult Ventures and Union Labs, with participation from TenOneTen Ventures, NewStack Ventures and Techstars. Space News has more here.
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New Funds
Arthur Ventures, a 13-year-old, Minneapolis, Mn.-based investment firm that says it leads investments in B2B software companies located outside Silicon Valley, is looking to raise up to $225 million in capital commitments for its fourth fund, shows an SEC filing. More here.
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People
Blue Origin has lost more than a dozen key leaders and top engineers this summer, CNBC has learned, with most leaving in the weeks after founder Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight. Several were part of Blue Origin’s astronaut lunar lander program. Earlier this year Blue Origin lost its bid for a valuable NASA development contract. More here.
Hundreds of workers at the personal styling service Stitch Fix have quit their jobs after incoming CEO Elizabeth Spaulding announced earlier this month that employees would no longer be allowed to work any hours they choose, according to interviews with half a dozen former and current employees. BuzzFeed has more here.
Who gets the LLC? Inside a Silicon Valley billionaire's divorce.
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Data
The University of Virginia has disenrolled 238 students ahead of its fall semester for noncompliance with the school’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement; 49 of them were enrolled in fall courses. The Virginian-Pilot has more here.
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Essential Reads
Apple is delaying back-to-work plans for its U.S. corporate offices until early next year; it's also urging employees to get vaccinated.
GM just recalled all(!) Chevy Bolts after a 2020 model caught fire this week.
The European Commission says it's opening a probe into Illumina’s decision to complete its $7.1 billion purchase of its cancer-testing spin-off Grail despite an ongoing antitrust investigation. If the commission decides Illumina breached its rules, the company could be fined up to 10% of its revenue.
Scripps Health, a California-based nonprofit healthcare provider that runs five hospitals and 19 outpatient facilities, said it expects to lose an estimated $106.8 million following a ransomware attack that hit the organization in May.
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Retail Therapy
Fine ($$) watches, up for grabs right now through Sotheby's.
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