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* Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will be moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, Ca. to Austin, Texas. He announced the news today at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting, which took place at the Tesla Austin gigafactory, rather than in the Bay Area as in previous years. According to TechCrunch, he also said that Tesla will be expanding its activities in California.
* Google will no longer allow digital ads bought on its platform to appear next to online content that denies climate change, a ban that will also apply to YouTube. The ban applies to “content that contradicts the well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change,” including content denying that human activity or greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change.
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Masterworks.io is now valued at over $1B after a successful Series A funding round led by Left Lane Capital. We leverage AI, big data, and groundbreaking technology to qualify and securitize multimillion-dollar art through the SEC. Masterworks’ vision is for everyone to allocate to art just as they do with stocks and bonds. Currently, we dominate art as an asset class. For reference, 18,998 platforms trade crypto, whereas Masterworks is the ONLY platform for investing in art. And early investors realized a 32% annualized return from their Banksy sale in 2020. Strictly VC subscribers get priority access to their newest offerings here.* See important disclosures.
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* Chronosphere, a two-year-old, New York-based startup helping enterprises analyze machine-generated data from their technology infrastructure, has closed $200 million in Series C funding led by General Atlantic. Other participants in the round include Founders Fund and earlier backers Addition, Greylock, and Lux Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
* Neumora Therapeutics, a two-year-old, Watertown, Ma.-based developer of precision medicines for brain diseases, has raised $500 million in Series A(!) funding. Arch Venture Partners led the round, joined by Amgen, Alexandria Venture Investments, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Catalio Capital Management, F-Prime Capital, Invus, Logos Capital, Mubadala, Newpath Partners, Polaris Partners, re.Mind Capital, SoftBank, Surveyor Capital and Waycross Ventures. FierceBiotech has more here.
* Rebel Foods, a 10-year-old, India-based dark kitchen network, has raised $175 million in Series F funding at a $1.4 billion valuation. Qatar Investment Authority led the round, joined by earlier backers Coatue and Evolvence. Rebel is the third India-based startup to become a so-called unicorn this week, notes TechCrunch. More here.
* Solo.io, a 4.5-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based service mesh startup, raised $135 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation. Altimeter Capital led the round, joined by earlier investors Redpoint Ventures and True Ventures. The company has now raised $171.5 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
* Zum Services, a seven-year-old, Redwood City, Ca.-based company that's aiming to build a trusted platform for children's transportation (be it through buses or other means), has raised $130 million in new funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from earlier backers Sequoia Capital and BMW iVentures. More here.
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| Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
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* CH4 Global, a 2.5-year-old, Henderson, Nev.-based startup that uses seaweed to reduce methane emissions, has raised $13 million led by DCVC. More here.
* Copper Banking, a two-year-old, Seattle-based digital bank for teens that says it incorporates financial education into its offerings, has raised $13.3 million in seed funding. PSL Ventures led the round, joined by Clocktower Ventures, Index Ventures Scout Fund, Launchpad Capital, Financial Venture Studio, Maven Ventures, Fiat Ventures and Arnold Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
* Cord, a nearly two-year-old, London-based API for real-time collaboration, has raised $17.5 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from earlier investors NFX and Stride. TechCrunch has more here.
* Kentik, a seven-year-old, San Francisco-based network observability startup, has raised $40 million in Series C funding. Third Point Ventures led the round, joined by Golub Capital, Gaingels, Delta-v Capital and earlier backers August Capital, Tahoma Ventures, DCVC, Engineering Capital and Vistara Growth. More here.
* Lightship, a three-year-old, El Segundo, Ca.-based maker of virtual clinical trial software, has raised $40 million in funding co-led by Define Ventures and Brook Byers, with participation from Khosla Ventures, McKesson Ventures and Time Ventures. FierceBiotech has more here.
* Parade, a three-year-old, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based direct-to-consumer underwear brand that boasts sustainable fabrics, has raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Stripes. Retail Dive has more here.
* Persuit, a 5.5-year-old, Melbourne, Australia-based legal technology company whose platform helps companies engage outside counsel, has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by OpenView. Reuters has more here.
* Toch.ai, a five-year-old, Mumbai, India-based video editing startup, has raised $11.8 million in Series A funding from Moneta Ventures, Baring PE, Ventureast, Huashan Capital, 9 Unicorns, Anthill Ventures, Cathexis Ventures, SOSV, Artesian and Innoven Capital. Business Insider has more here.
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* Better Brand, a months-old, L.A.-based food-tech startup focused on carbs (like bagels that have the same amount of carbs as two banana slices), has raised $2.5 million led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six. More here.
* Facemoji, a four-year-old, New York-based startup that's building a plug-and-play tech platform to help game and app developers put avatar systems into their apps, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Singapore-based Play Ventures. Other participants in the round include Twitter, Roosh Ventures, and angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.
* Klasha, a nearly four-year-old, Lagos, Nigeria, and San Francisco-based startup that's focused on borderless payments for commerce in Africa, has raised $2.4 million in funding led by Greylock. TechCrunch has more here.
* Matter, a new, San Francisco-based new reading app whose cofounders were a former product lead and an engineer, respectively, from Nextdoor, just raised $7 million in Series A funding led by GV. TechCrunch has more here.
* Medly, a three-year-old, New York-based group coaching platform that focuses on both personal and professional development, raised $3.7 million. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, joined by Aglaé Ventures, Foundation Capital and numerous individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.
* MindLabs, an 18-month-old, London-based live mental health platform, has raised $3.5 million in seed funding. PROFounders Capital led the round, joined by Slack Fund, Passion Capital and Seedcamp. TechCrunch has more here.
* Playbook, a months-old, San Francisco-based financial app for higher-earning millennials with a focus on tax optimization, has raised $6 million in seed funding from founding investor Atomic. More here.
* Trioscope, a two-year-old, Atlanta, Ga.-based animation studio, has raised $5.25 million in seed funding led by Bitkraft Ventures. Other participants in the round include Sony Innovation Fund, Transcend Fund, Cordillera Investment Partners and Thomas Vu/Axis Mundi Capital. More here.
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* Microsoft announced today that it has acquired Ally.io, a four-year-old, Seattle-based software service that helps companies measure their progress against OKRs (objectives and key results). While Microsoft declined to share the price of the transaction, PitchBook data indicates that Ally last raised capital at a $345 million post-money valuation; the company, founded by former Microsoft product unit manager Vetri Vellore, had raised $76 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.
* Grocery delivery platform Instacart announced this morning that it’s acquiring FoodStorm, a 14-year-old, SaaS order management system (OMS) that powers end-to-end order-ahead and catering for grocery retailers. The companies have not disclosed the financial details of the deal, but as part of the acquisition, Instacart will integrate FoodStorm’s tech into its suite of enterprise grocery e-commerce software. TechCrunch has more here.
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* At an online investor presentation today, WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani painted a bright future, saying the company's September revenue reached $228 million, its highest monthly sales this year and that occupancy rates continued to climb, hitting 60% at the end of September, up from 52% in the prior quarter. Two years ago, its occupancy rates hovered above 70%. WeWork is preparing to list on the NYSE this month via a $9 billion merger with a SPAC. Bloomberg has more here.
* Investors who bought Kuaishou Technology after the TikTok rival went public in Hong Kong have notched the widest peak-to-trough slump among global initial public offerings this year. As Bloomberg reports, its shares are down 80% since it hit a Feb. 17 peak less than two weeks after it raised $5.4 billion in Hong Kong’s largest float in 2021.
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Shernaz Daver, a longtime advisor to 10x Genomics and to GV, has been hired by Khosla Ventures as a senior operating partner and CMO.
Grace Isford has been promoted to principal at the venture firm Canvas. Isford joined the firm five years ago after brief stints at Stripes Group and Stanford Management Company. More here.
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* Global startups raised $158 billion in the third quarter, an all-time record.
* The median price for a home in California is set to jump north of $800,000 next year, according to a forecast by the California Association of Realtors. Yikes.
* From Pensions & Investments: San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System disclosed new private equity commitments totaling $127 million in a report ahead of its Oct. 13 board meeting. The $36.1 billion pension fund committed $50 million to Sofinnova Venture Partners XI, a venture capital fund managed by Sofinnova Investments; $30 million and $10 million, respectively, to China-focused venture capital funds Lightspeed China Partners V and Lightspeed China Partners Select II, both managed by Lightspeed Venture Partners; $25 million to CBC S-I, a private equity co-investment fund managed by CBC Group; and $12 million to venture capital fund Long Hill Capital Venture Partners 2 Plus. More here.
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* The 'Titanic' is one of the biggest Lego sets ever.
* A remastered and electrified Aston Martin. (Vroom, vroom, hubba hubba.)
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What do JAZZ Venture Partners, Obvious Ventures, Fifth Wall, Maven Ventures, and Fika Ventures have in common? They were all emerging funds featured at the RAISE Global Summit over the past five years. The RAISE Global Summit helps LPs identify and invest in the best emerging venture funds, before they make it big. Which new rising stars will emerge from this year's class? Click here to request an invite.
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