That chip shortage is getting worse, ServiceTitan preps an IPO and the Great Resignation, VC edition

Thursday! It was also the last day of Disrupt (always bittersweet), where among our conversations, we really enjoyed talking with investor Chamath Palihapitiya, who pushed back on a number widespread concerns about SPACs, including some that impact his deals specifically. More from that conversation tomorrow. 

The global semiconductor shortage that has paralyzed automakers for nearly a year shows signs of worsening, as new coronavirus infections halt chip assembly lines in Southeast Asia, forcing more car companies and electronics manufacturers to suspend production, says The Washington Post. It reports that a wave of delta-variant cases in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines is causing production delays at factories that cut and package semiconductors. More here.

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SoftBank is gaga for startups in Latin America. Since first announcing it was planting a stake in the ground in the region in early 2019, the Japanese conglomerate -- from its own balance sheet, it says -- has plugged more than $5 billion into the region, and it expects that number to top $8 billion by year's end.

Its capital contributions are meaningful, to say the least. In 2019, startups across Latin America raised $5.3 billion in funding, according to CB Insights. In 2020, they raised roughly the same amount.

This year, the pace of dealmaking has shifted into overdrive, with $9.3 billion plugged into Latin American startups in the first six months, and SoftBank Group CEO Marcelo Claure believes that by 2023, closer to $30 billion will be invested in the region annually.

"Finally, the world has realized that Latin America has size," said Claure, a native of Bolivia, today at TechCrunch Disrupt. "It's only half of China, but it's two times the size of India, and three times the size of Southeast Asia."

More, he said, people are making money there. "Latin America has the same GDP per capita -- $9,000 to $10,000 per year -- as China, and that's three times (GDP per capita) in India and two times what people are making in Southeast Asia.

Put it all together in an area of the world where "there's bureaucracy, there's problems in health care reform, in education, in transportation . . . and it's perfect for disruption and innovation," he said.

Claure used one of SoftBank's portfolio companies -- Kavak, a Mexico City-based used car marketplace just assigned an $8.7 billion valuation in a round led by General Catalyst -- to underscore the opportunity.

"If you think about selling your car in Mexico, [it used to be] you had to go to a classifieds [site], then you put [in] your address and you're scared somebody is going to go to your home."

More here.

Advance Intelligence, a five-year-old, Singapore-based company that has incubated a string of upstarts under its umbrella in the financial services and retail industries, has raised more than $400 million in Series D funding at a $2 billion valuation, reports Bloomberg. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Warburg-Pincus co-led the round, joined by Northstar, Vision Plus Capital, Gaorong Capital and EDBI.

Hexagon Bio, a five-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based biotech that's trying to design cancer and infectious disease drugs based on insights mined from the DNA in millions of species of fungi, has raised $61 million in funding led by Nextech, with participation from SoftBank, Casdin Capital and earlier investors The Column Group, 8VC and Two Sigma Ventures. The round brings the company's total funding to $108 million. Endpoints News has more here.

NTWRK, a three-year-old, L.A.-based livestream shopping platform, has raised $50 million in a new funding round, bringing its total amount raised to $60 million. The round was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and luxury company Kering, with participation from LionTree Partners and Tenere Capital, among others. Axios has more here.

Ocrolus, a seven-year-old, New York-based financial document analysis automation platform, has raised $80 million in Series C funding. Fin VC led the round, joined by Thomvest Ventures, Mubadala Ventures, Oak HC/FT, FinTech Collective, QED Investors, Bullpen Capital, ValueStream Ventures, Laconia, RiverPark Ventures, Stage II Capital and Cross River Bank. The company has now raised $100 million altogether and is valued at $500 million. TechCrunch has more here. 

Opentrons Labworks, an eight-year-old, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based robotics company focused on helping life scientists automate many of their experiments and processes, is raising $200 million led by SoftBank, says Bloomberg. More here.

Provi, a five-year-old, Chicago-based alcohol e-commerce platform, has raised $75 million in Series C funding led by D1 Capital Partners, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Nosara Capital and CPMG. The company has raised $125 million to date and is now valued at $750 million. More here.

Zola Electric, a 10-year-old, Amsterdam-based solar energy installer focused on sub-Saharan Africa, has raised $45 in equity and $45 million in debt. Investors in the mix include TotalEnergies Ventures, DBL Partners, Helios Investment Partners, Vulcan Capital and Electron Capital Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

1build, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based real-time data platform that helps construction crews optimize their cost estimates, raised $14.5 million in Series A funding led by Greycroft. TechCrunch has more here.

Bigeye, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based data observability platform, has raised $45 million in Series C funding led by Coatue, with participation from earlier backers Sequoia Capital and Costanoa Ventures. Datanami has more here.

Calyxia, a six-year-old, Paris-based startup focused on reducing microplastics through biodegradable microcapsule technology, has raised €15 million ($17.6 million) in Series A funding led by Astanor Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Cobo, a four-year-old, Beijing, China-based DeFi-as-a-service startup, has raised $40 million in Series B funding co-led by DST Global, A&T Capital and IMO Ventures. The Block has more here.

Crosschq, a 3.5-year-old, Danville, Ca.-based recruiting technology startup that enterprises use on a subscription basis, has added $16.5 million to a previously closed Series A round, bringing the round total to $30 million. Tiger Global led the newest tranche,  joined by a mix of new and earlier backers, including GGV Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, SAP, Rocketship.vc and Lattice CEO Jack Altman. More here.

Flieber, a 2.5-year-old, New York-based inventory optimization startup that aims to prevent retailers from overstocking merchandise, has raised $12 million in Series A funding co-led by GGV Capital and Monashees. TechCrunch has more here.

Jiffy Grocery, a 10-year-old, London-based grocery delivery startup, has raised $28 million in Series A funding. Heartland led the round, joined by Flint Capital, Playrix, Baring Vostok Capital Partners and LVL1. TechCrunch has more here.

Loyal, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that's developing therapeutics aimed at extending the lifespan of dogs, has raised $27 million in Series A funding. Earlier backer Khosla Ventures led the round, joined by other earlier backers First Round Capital, Box Group, Collaborative Fund, The Longevity Fund, and investor Lachy Groom. (The company had raised an $11 million seed fund last year.) TechCrunch has more here.

Meru Health, a 5.5-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based digital clinic for mental health, has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Industry Ventures. Other participants in the round included Bold Capital Partners, Freestyle VC, FMZ Ventures and Leksell Social Ventures. The company also secured $8 million in debt from JPMorgan. TechCrunch has more here.

Spotnana, a two-year-old, New York-based maker of business travel software, just raised $34 million in Series A funding. Iconiq and Madrona Venture Group co-led the round, joined by Decibel and Mubadala Capital. GeekWire has more here.

Avenue, a year-old, New York-based operations observability platform, has raised $4 million in seed funding. Accel led the round, joined by Elad Gil, Lachy Groom, AirAngels, Flexport and others. More here.

Cargamos, a three-year-old, Mexico City, Mexico-based startup that's turning excess capacity in malls, parking lots and storage facilities into fulfillment centers, has raised $7 million, including from Nazca, FEMSA and Kayyak Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Climatiq, a months-old, Berlin, Germany-based carbon footprint intelligence startup, has raised $2 million in seed funding led by Cherry Ventures. More here.

Osano, a three-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based software-as-a-service platform that helps companies monitor and manage their risk and compliance with privacy laws, has raised $11 million. Jump Capital led the round, joined by earlier investors LiveOak Venture Partners and Next Coast Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

RemNote, a 1.5-year-old, San Francisco-based smart note-taking tool, raised $3 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst. More here.

Thoughtful Automation, a 1.5-year-old, Chicago-based startup that looks to automate complex workflows so employees can focus their attention elsewhere, has raised $5 million in seed funding led by Drive Capital. More here.

Ubco, a seven-year-old, New Zealand-based maker of electric utility bikes, has raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Taiwan’s TPK Holdings. TechCrunch has more here.

Ukio, a year-old, Barcelona, Spain-based startup focused around premium long-term apartments rentals (think in three-month range), has raised $9 million in funding from unnamed European investors. TechCrunch has more here.

Vinterior, a six-year-old, London-based marketplace for curated vintage furniture and home accessories, raised £8 million in Series A funding led by Active Partners. Tech.eu has more here.

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ServiceTitan, an eight-year-old software startup for tradespeople that was valued at $9.5 billion earlier this year, has kicked off preparations for an IPO in early 2022, according to Reuters.

Jeremy Conrad, the cofounder of the venture firm Lemnos and more recently the founder of Quartz, a remote site-sensing, monitoring, and productivity platform for construction sites that we wrote about last year, says the latter has shut down. "Despite a world class team and investors, I was unable to secure the funding we need to continue," Conrad tweeted today, adding that he's going to "take some time off to recuperate."

Roger Ehrenberg, the founder and managing partner of IA Ventures, the 11-year-old, New York venture firm, announced on Medium today that he is stepping back from life as a VC right now. "The past 18 months have been extraordinarily hard for everyone, me no exception," he writes. "This has led to my decision to step back in my role at IA Ventures to create the space to identify and pursue new passions . . .I needed a life change. I needed to sweep the decks of deep responsibility to figure out my future with a clear mind and a full heart." Ehrenberg says he will no longer be making investments in new companies at IA and paring back most of his board responsibilities. His partners Brad Gillespie and Jesse Beyroute will continue to run the firm, he adds.

David Pakman, a former entrepreneur who has spent the last 12 years as a partner with Venrock in New York, has left the firm to join the blockchain/crypto-native investment firm CoinFund as a managing partner. Writes Pakman of the move: "While I was late to crypto compared to the OG crypto believers of 2012–2015, I have moved from curious to crusader over the last five years. To me, this is the most exciting combination of tech innovation and market opportunity I have witnessed since the birth of the commercial internet in 1995."

Bijan Sabet, who cofounded Spark Capital 17 years ago with Santo Politi and Todd Dagres, said today he is "stepping back." Wrote Sabet in an announcement about the move: [I]t's with a heavy heart that I say the one constant in life is change. Our current set of funds will be my last as a general partner at Spark. I will continue to be an active board member at several of our portfolio companies and a member of the Spark team. But I’m stepping back nonetheless and will transition from being a Spark General Partner to a Spark Limited Partner in our future funds." 

U.S. household net worth surged to a fresh record in the second quarter, thanks to a soaring stock market and the largest-ever increase in the value of their real estate holdings. Household net worth increased by $5.8 trillion, or 4.3%, to $141.7 trillion in the second quarter, a Federal Reserve report out Thursday showed. The advance included a $3.5 trillion gain in the value of equities and a $1.2 trillion improvement in real estate held by households. Bloomberg has the story here.

You can now get paid in bitcoin to use Twitter.

This driver says his Tesla locked up in the middle of a six-lane highway last night.

San Francisco’s bizarre, costly quest for the perfect trash can. 

A Paris architect's micro apartment.

Joke theft is no joke.

A Sea Cliff stunner with glass-filled solariums for $16 million.

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