PayPal pursues Pinterest, Tesla records record profits again, and what academic jobs and "Squid Game" have in common

(We ran out of time to write much today -- more tomorrow.)

* According to Bloomberg, PayPal is exploring a $45 billion acquisition of Pinterest, in what could be the biggest tech deal of the year and move the payments company closer to its ambitions of becoming a “super app.” According to the outlet's sources, PayPal approached Pinterest and the companies have discussed a price of around $70 a share -- that's a 26% premium over where Pinterest's shares closed today. More here.

* Tesla today reported record profit for the third consecutive quarter, after delivering roughly 73% more vehicles than in the year-ago period. Underpinning that growth was an uptick in sales of vehicles made in China, now home to Tesla’s largest auto plant by output. More in the WSJ.

* The U.S. FDA today authorized booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson and also said any of the three authorized vaccines could be used as a booster in a "mix and match" approach. 

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* Flock Freight, a six-year-old, Encinitas, Ca.-based trucking logistics company, has raised $215 million in Series D financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, Eden Global Partners, SignalFire, GLP Capital Partners, and GV. TechCrunch has more here.

* GoTo Group, formed earlier this year by the merger of Indonesia’s two most valuable startups -- ride-hailing giant Gojek and e-commerce firm PT Tokopedia --  has raised $400 million as a "pre-IPO commitment," says Bloomberg, from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The company is expected to list both at home and in the U.S. and to be valued at upwards of $30 billion.

* Rossum, a four-year-old, U.K. -and Israel-based automated document processing platform, has raised $100 million in Series A funding from General Catalyst, LocalGlobe, Seedcamp, Miton and investor-entrepreneur Elad Gil. VentureBeat has more here.

* CarbonCapture, a 2.5-year-old, Pasadena, Ca.-based company working on machines that the company hopes will trap carbon molecules in the air and store them to be broken down or safely released elsewhere, like underground, has raised $35 million in Series A funding. Prime Movers Lab led the round, joined by the international mining and metals company Rio Tinto, Idealab Studio, Idealab X, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures, and several additional venture firms and family offices. The company has now raised $43 million in equity funding altogether. Dot.LA has more here.

* Countable, a seven-year-old, San Francisco-based "enterprise engagement" startup that works with brands to establish the look of their site, then delivers analytics to those brands about their revenue, their customer communities, and much more, has raised raised $12 million in Series A funding. Earlier investor Canaan Partners led the round, joined by Ulysses Management and Global Catalyst Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

* Deci, a two-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based deep learning acceleration platform that aims to help developers build and optimize ultra-fast models on any hardware, has raised $21 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners. Other participants in the round include Square Peg, Emerge, Jibe Ventures, Samsung Next, Vintage Investment Partners, and Fort Ross Ventures. TechCrunch has more here. 

* Hash, a four-year-old, Brazil-based payment infrastructure startup, has raised $40 million in Series C funding co-led by QED Investors and Kaszek. The round comes just six months after the outfit closed on $15 million in Series B financing led by Alexandria, Virginia-based QED and brings its total funding to nearly $59 million. TechCrunch has more here.

* Hex Technologies, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based data management software startup, has raised $16 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Amplify Partners, Data Community Fund, Geometry, Operator Collective, Tokyo Black, Vandelay Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital and others. TechCrunch has more here. 

* Modern Age, a 14-month-old, Seattle-based startup whose digital tools aim to help users understand their aging options, including telemedicine and in-person treatments, has raised $27 million in Series A funding led by Oak HC/FT. Also participating in the round are GV and founding partner Juxtapose, which provided the company with seed funding last year. The company has now raised $33 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

* Multiverse Computing, a two-year-old, San Sebastian, Spain-based quantum computing startup, has raised €10 million (USD $11.55 million) in seed funding led by JME Ventures. Other participants include Quantonation, EASO Ventures, Inveready, Mondragón Fondo de Promoción, Ikerlan, LKS, and Penja Strategy. More here.

* Picus Security, an eight-year-old, San Francisco- and Turkey-based cybersecurity company, has raised $24 million in Series B funding led by Turkven, with participation from Earlybird Venture Capital, among others. More here.

* Praxis Labs, a three-year-old, New York-based diversity VR startup that sells immersive learning experiences, has raised $15.5 million in Series A funding led by Norwest Venture Partners and Emerson Collective. Fortune has more here.

* Resistant AI, a two-year-old, Prague-based cybersecurity startup focused on financial systems (it looks to discover and prevent financial fraud based on forged documents, manipulated transactions and stolen or synthetic identities) has raised $16.6 million in Series A funding from GV, along with earlier backers Index Ventures, Credo Ventures and Seedcamp. TechCrunch has more here.

* Superplastic, a three-year-old, Burlington, Vt.-based creator of animated synthetic celebrities, designer toys, and apparel, has raised $20 million in Series A funding from a whole lot of investors. Among them is GV, Index Ventures, Founders Fund, Craft Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Mantis VC/The Chainsmokers, and Betaworks. TechCrunch has more here.

* UpEquity, a two-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based digital mortgage company that makes cash offers on a buyer’s behalf, has raised $20 million in equity funding led by S3 Ventures. Other participants in the round include Next Coast Ventures, BP Capital Management, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, Launchpad Capital and Early Light Ventures. The company separately secured $30 million in debt funding. TechCrunch has more here.

* Bluepallet, a four-year-old, Austin-based online marketplace connecting manufacturers with the chemical industry, has raised $5 million in funding led by Vinmar Ventures, the venture arm of a petrochemical distributor called Vinmar International. TechCrunch has more here.

* Doyobi, a 1.5-year-old, Singapore-based professional development platform that wants to give educators more engaging ways of teaching STEM subjects, has raised $2.8 million in pre-Series A funding led by Monk’s Hill Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

* EnergyBank, a two-year old, New Zealand-based energy storage startup, has raised $1.9 million in seed round funding to develop what technology it's trying to develop for medium and long-duration energy storage. Icehouse Ventures led the round, joined by Blackbird Ventures, Promus Ventures, Version One, and Nuance Connected Capital. More here.

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* Drive by DraftKings, a two-year-old, Boston-based venture capital firm, has raised $60 million for its first fund that is investing in sports technology and entertainment companies. The fund's investors include the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots; Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys; Todd Boehly, who owns a stake in the several L.A. sports teams; and Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. Drive has four ounding partners: DraftKings, the fantasy sports and sports betting company, and the venture firms Catalyst, Accomplice and Boston Seed Capital. According to Forbes, it has so far invested in 13 companies, mostly in seed rounds, with the occasional exception, as when it participated in a $100 million Series E round for a wearables technology company called Whoop. More here.

* LiveOak Venture Partners, the nine-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based early stage venture firm, is raising up to $150 million for its third fund, shows a new SEC filing. We'd talked with the firm about its second, $105 million, fund in 2019. More here.

* Vibe Capital, a venture fund cofounded by entrepreneur Ankur Nagpal (he sold his company Teachable last year for a reported $250 millionish), has garnered $60 million in capital commitments to invest in pre-seed and seed startup founders working across all sectors, including physical and mental health. The outfit says it is open to raising another $10 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Equinox, whose gyms are frequented by Wall Street staffers among others, is in talks to go public through a merger with Ares Acquisition Corp. after talks with one of Chamath Palihapitiya’s blank-check companies collapsed, according to Bloomberg. Deliberations are ongoing and may not result in a transaction, the outlet noted.

* Investor Peter Thiel praised cryptocurrencies and slammed central banks during an appearance earlier today in Miami. “I feel like I’ve been underinvested in it.” As Bloomberg reports, Thiel said his only hesitation about investing was that he thought “the secret was already known by everybody.” He added, “I think the answers are still to go long” on Bitcoin . . . Maybe it still is enough of a secret.”

* Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has added Mark Zuckerberg to a lawsuit against Facebook over consumer privacy violations related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. “Our continuing investigation revealed that he was personally involved in decisions related to Cambridge Analytica and Facebook’s failure to protect user data,” Racine said of the decision to name Zuckerberg in the suit. TechCrunch has more here.

* Hindenburg Research, the short-seller that helped launch regulatory investigations into billionaire-backed firms Nikola and Clover Health, said today it's offering a $1 million reward for information leading to previously undisclosed details about cryptocurrency Tether's financial reserves, ramping up potential scrutiny of the so-called stablecoin as regulators warn the virtually unregulated tokens could imperil financial stability. Forbes has more here.

* Tesla said it’s shifting to cheaper lithium-iron-phosphate batteries globally, a move away from the nickel and cobalt used to power most electric cars as prices for these materials soar. The switch to LFP batteries will apply to Tesla’s standard-range vehicles, the company said in its third-quarter earnings release, confirming a strategy flagged last year to use the budget components to deliver lower-cost models. Bloomberg has the story here.

* The return of the Shadowman.

* The hidden costs of living alone.

* Academic job market or "Squid Game"?

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