Microsoft's biggest deal ever, Better's CEO is back somehow, and Brian Chesky hits the road

Microsoft announced today that it will buy video game giant Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion all-cash deal -- its largest acquisition to date. Microsoft reportedly rushed in after the WSJ reported on allegations of a toxic workplace at Activision and investors fled its stock, which ultimately fell more than 40%. The deal, if regulators approve it, will expand Microsoft’s already sizable video game operations. It could also create a very soft landing for Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who will apparently leave the company once the deal, which could take up to 18 months, closes. Kotick, who reportedly knew for years about widespread sexual harassment and discrimination within Activision, could receive as much as $293 million in cash and stock if he departs after a change in control of the company, per Activision's most recent annual filing.

Vishal Garg is back as CEO at Better, a month after firing 900 employees on a Zoom call and then deriding them as "lazy." (This is also the guy who called one of his investors "sewage.") He reportedly does not own a preponderance of "super voting" shares -- which was our best guess as to why he has not been canned -- but it sure does seem like he has some leverage over his board, doesn't it? 

Mastercard has inked what seems like a big deal with Coinbase, the latest in a recent flurry of partnerships between payment and cryptocurrency giants. As part of the agreement, Coinbase customers will be able to use Mastercard credit and debit cards to make purchases on the Coinbase's upcoming NFT marketplace, eliminating the need for them to create digital wallets if they so choose. CNBC has more here.

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Animoca Brands, an eight-year-old, 600-person Hong Kong-based outfit that has managed to put its stamp on many of the world’s most popular NFT and metaverse brands, has raised around $360 million in fresh funding at a valuation of more than $5 billion, the company announced today.

It’s a big leap from the $2.2 billion valuation the company was assigned in October when it raised a $65 million round. The number is even more notable considering that Animoca was valued at $1 billion in an $138 million round that closed as recently as July.

According to Crunchbase data, the company has now raised an estimated $604 million altogether.

According to a spokesperson for the firm, the new capital raise involved the issue of 111,173,515 new shares, which investors bought from Animoca Brands at the equivalent of $3.24 per share in a “pretty standard equity-based raise.” It’s worth noting, given that Animoca — which previously traded on the Australian Securities Exchange and was delisted in early 2020 because “it didn’t like the fact that we were dealing with crypto,” Animoca founder Yat Siu recently told us — now operates as an unlisted public company. (As Siu explained it, the company's roughly 2,500 shareholders can sell their shares privately to other individuals. You just have to know who owns some to buy these.)

“Secondary placement of shares is occurring because there was high demand that could not be fulfilled in the primary placement,” added the spokesperson, “however secondary placement is not considered part of this capital raise and any sums exchanged via secondary sales do not count toward the company’s finances.”

Liberty City Ventures — and earlier investor in Animoca — led the new round, along with a mix of other earlier and new investors.

More here.

Dream Games, a nearly 2.5-year-old, Istanbul, Turkey-based mobile gaming company, has raised $255 million in Series C funding at a $2.75 billion valuation. Earlier investor Index Ventures led the round, joined by BlackRock and other earlier backers, including Kora and Balderton Capital. It was just six months ago that Dream Games raised $155 million in Series B funding co-led by Index and Makers Fund. TechCrunch has more here.

Pinwheel, a 3.5-year-old, New York-based payroll connectivity platform that serves neobanks and fintech startups, has raised $50 million in funding led by GGV Capital, six months after closing on $20 million in Series A funding. TechCrunch has more here.

Verana, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based database for drug and medical device development (the company says it has insights from more than 20,000 healthcare providers), just raised $150 million in funding. J&J and Novo Nordisk co-led the round, joined by GV, Merck, Casdin Capital, Brook Byers, THVC and Breyer Capital. FierceBiotech has more here.

Coinhouse, a six-year-old, Paris-based cryptocurrency management startup, has raised $17 million in Series B funding led by True Global Ventures, with participation from the blockchain software company ConsenSys. Coindesk has more here.

Faeth Therapeutics, a 2.2-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based healthcare startup whose aim is to explore the metabolic basis for cancer (and to develop therapies accordingly), has raised $20 million in seed funding co-led by Khosla Ventures and Future Ventures. Other investors in the round include S2G Ventures, Digitalis, KdT Ventures, Agfunder, Cantos, and Unshackled. TechCrunch has more here.

Metaplex, a year-old company that says it's giving creators the tools, capital, and other resources they need to launch their own NFT storefronts on the Solana blockchain, has raised $46 million in a round co-led by Multicoin Capital and Jump Crypto. Solana Ventures, Alameda Research, and Animoca Brands also joined the round. The Block has more here.

Walnut, a 20-month-old, New York-based no-code platform that says it enables sales teams to create customized product demonstrations quickly that can be integrated easily into their sales and marketing processes, just raised $35 million in Series B funding led by new investor Felicis Ventures. The outfit has now raised $56 million in total funding. TechCrunch has more here.

Float, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based, Ghana-focused fintech that provides credit lines for small businesses, has raised $7 million in funding from Tiger Global and JAM Fund, among others. The outfit has separately secured $10 million in debt funding from Cauris. TechCrunch has more here.

nCore Games, a nearly four-year-old, Bangalore, India-based mobile gaming company that is looking to develop in-game NFTs, has raised $10 million in Series A funding co-led by Animoca Brands and Galaxy Interactive. Polygon, Hyperedge Capital, and a spate of angel investors also joined the round. TechCrunch has more here.

Grind your teeth? Clench your jaw? Remi, a San Francisco-based startup, recently raised an undisclosed funding round by Foundation Capital, G-Squared, and founders/execs from Thrasio, Henry The Dentist, Unilever, and Marcy Venture Partners (Jay-Z's fund). Remi is the leading company in custom night guards and recently launched overnight sensitivity-free teeth whitening. Remi applied the Warby Parker approach of cutting out the middleman to make a better night's sleep 80% less than the dentist and without the office visit. StrictlyVC readers get 20% off with code remi20.

Blossom Capital, a 3.5-year-old, London-based venture firm founded by investor Ophelia Brown, who worked previously for Index Ventures and LocalGlobe, has closed its newest fund with $432 million dollars in capital commitments. It intends to invest up to one third of it in crypto-related startups, too, it tells TechCrunch.

And from the SEC filings (H/T: Axios): Cowboy Ventures is raising $125 million for its fourth fund (and has at least $76 million in capital commitments already); Decibel Partners, an independent VC firm that counts Cisco as its anchor LP (it has additional backing from foundations, endowments and the like), is raising $275 million for its second fund; Lerer Hippeau Ventures is raising $140 million for its eighth early-stage fund and $100 million for an opportunity-type fund; and NextView Ventures is raising $125 million for its fourth fund.

Play-to-earn gaming company Mythical Games has acquired interactive streaming platform Polystream. Polystream allows users to stream real-time 3D content and engage with it without downloading it. The idea is that this approach would enable players on more devices to instantly enjoy the game without needing any additional updates when content changes. The acquisition of Polystream brings the total number of Mythical employees to over 200. In November 2021, Mythical raised a series C of $150 million at a $1.25 billion valuation led by Andreessen Horowitz. The Block has the story here.

Rocket Lab, the 16-year-old, Long Beach, Ca.-based aerospace manufacturer and small satellite launch service, said today that it has struck a deal to acquire SolAero Holdings, a 24-year-old supplier of space solar power products and precision aerospace structures, for $80 million in cash. The deal gives Rocket Lab another key supplier in-house for its satellite manufacturing. TechCrunch has more here.

A special purpose acquisition vehicle backed by investor Chamath Palihapitiya (he has launched 10) has agreed to merge with a healthcare company focusing on kidney disease. The latest deal between his Social Capital Suvretta III Spac and ProKidney, a therapeutics company focusing on treating chronic kidney disease, values the combined company at $2.64 billion, notes The Financial Times. Palihapitiya, who is right now mired in controversy for saying on a recent podcast that “nobody cares” about the repression of Muslim Uyghurs in China, said today that chronic kidney disease affected his late father and that the merger will provide ProKidney with the capital to continue phase 3 trials into its cell therapy treatment. More here.

Airbnb’s CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky says he’ll work remotely and move from city to city every couple of weeks — staying at a different Airbnb rental. He didn't explain the impetus for the decision; presumably he's hoping to encourage other "digital nomads" who've been largely stuck at home during the pandemic and are itching to explore. 

Tesla’s shareholders have urged a judge to find that CEO Elon Musk coerced the company’s board to acquire SolarCity in 2016, a move they allege was a “bailout” of the failing solar company tied to Musk's role as its top shareholder. During a Zoom hearing today, the shareholders asked that Musk be ordered to return the stock he received from the deal and pay Tesla $13 billion. (The all-stock deal was valued at $2.6 billion at the time, but Tesla stock has gone up massively since then, notes TechCrunch.) More here.

Today, Democrats introduced a new bill that would ban nearly all use of digital advertising targeting on ad markets hosted by platforms like Facebook, Google, and other data brokers. The Banning Surveillance Advertising Act prohibits digital advertisers from targeting any ads to users. It makes some small exceptions, like allowing for “broad” location-based targeting. Contextual advertising, like ads that are specifically matched to online content, would be allowed. The Verge has more here.

Intel has signaled that the next generation of Bitcoin mining rigs may ship with “Intel Inside” stickers, as the company has announced plans to at least discuss a “Bonanza Mine” chip for mining Bitcoin at an upcoming conference. PCWorld has more here.

Personal finance company SoFi has won conditional approval in its bid to create a nationally chartered bank. SoFi Bank's conditional approval was announced late today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Notably, the terms of the conditional approval explicitly state that SoFi Bank can't offer crypto services unless the OCC gives the nod, notes The Block.

At Prada, it's in with the old.

Brian Cox can't defend Logan Roy, but he can relate to him.

A near-Earth asteroid the size of the Golden Gate Bridge is hurtling past our planet at 43,754 miles per hour right now. 

The 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible from "Rain Man" will hit the block later this month at Bonhams’s Scottsdale Auction. The roadster belongs to Dustin Hoffman, who acquired it after filming.

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