Ramp's big deal, Anthony Levandowski's latest moonshot, and Melinda French Gates's philanthropy surprise

Wednesday! Hello.:)

P.S. Quick thanks to those of you who noted that Benchmark has, on rare occasion, brought in an investor in a role other than general partner. (It's a famously flat organization, so we wondered aloud about this in yesterday's newsletter.) 

Facebook parent Meta Platforms said today that user additions stalled in the fourth quarter. It also offered a disappointing forecast for the current period, raising concerns about its future growth. Shares plunged as much as 24% in late trading.

Shares of Spotify plunged 13% in after-hours trading today after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings. The numbers mostly beat expectations, notes CNBC, but projections for user growth in Q1 were barely in line with analysts’ projections

PayPal also had a rough day, too, losing roughly $50 billion in market value after the company lowered its 2022 profit outlook and scrapped an ambitious growth strategy it put in place last year. The WSJ has more here.

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There are many reasons to think the traditional venture industry may be at a tipping point after a very good run. The most obvious indication are the sizzling returns private investors have made in recent years, while public shareholders haven’t fared so well. Consider data published yesterday by the WSJ, showing that venture-backed darlings to go public over the last 13 months, including DoorDash, Oscar, UIPath, Compass, Robinhood and Coupang, are respectively trading at -40%, -81%, -56%, -59%, and -28% from their first-day closing prices.

Things aren’t looking so healthy at the other end of the spectrum, either. As TechCrunch noted last week, seed-, Series A-, and Series B-stage companies, have been generating far less revenue in recent quarters than in years past. Likely, it’s because startups are raising money at a much faster clip (you can only make so much progress in a few months’ time!). But investors are also playing it looser than ever. No progress? No big deal, goes the apparent thinking. It’s the bet on the founder that matters.

Yet the strongest indicator that VC could maybe use a reset ties to VCs' eagerness to fund people who've yet to even start a company. ”It’s not a new trend,” says Niko Bonatsos, a managing director with General Catalyst. “But it’s becoming more visible now because of the massive rise of pre-seed and seed investing,” he continues. “There are a ton of general partners, bigger funds, and more deals, and we’re all getting paid to invest the capital.”

Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures is doing it. “Let’s say we knew you at Riot Games, we knew you at Snapchat, we knew you at Facebook, we knew you when you were working at Stripe or PayPal,” Suster told us last fall. “We will back you at formation — at day zero.”

Ashu Garg, a managing director with Foundation Capital, shared what sounded like a similar strategy just last week. “Our goal is to have a handshake deal with someone as they’re ready to start the company. That’s the business that we’re in. There is no company. That is our business model.”

Ask many established venture firms and you’ll hear much the same.

Chris Farmer, who founded the venture firm SignalFire in 2013, was one of the earliest, and most public, advocates of “quantitative” venture investing. Back then, SignalFire’s platform, Beacon, was tracking more than half a trillion data points from two million data sources, from patents to academics publications to open source contributions to financial filings in an effort to determine the comings and goings of engineering talent, among other things.

Farmer was the only one using that data as a marketing tool at the time, but many have since adopted similar, if less intensive, systems, including using pubic and private data to track down individuals who haven’t left work, or who’ve left work but haven’t announced any plans, or who’ve merely registered a company as a first step.

Some of it is absurdly easy. More here.

Dune Analytics, a four-year-old, Oslo, Norway-based crypto analytics company, has raised $69.4 million in Series B funding at a $1 billion valuation led by earlier backer Coatue, with participation from Multicoin Capital and Dragonfly Capital. Coatue led an $8 million Series A round for the outfit back in August. TechCrunch has more here.

Island, an 18-month-old, Dallas, Tex.-based secure web browser for businesses that's being led buy Mike Fey, previously president at Symantec and general manager of McAfee, says it has closed on $100 million across two rounds from firms like Insight Partners and Sequoia Capital. Bloomberg has more here.

Koho, an eight-year-old, Toronto, Ontario -based personal savings and prepaid card startup, raised $165.7 (USD) in Series D funding. Eldridge led the round, joined by HOOPP, Round13, BDC and earlier backers Drive Capital and TTV Capital. The Canadian Press has more here. 

Pecan AI, a nearly six-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based predictive analytics platform for enterprises, has raised $66 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led the round,  joined by S-Capital, GGV, Dell Technologies Capital, Mindset Ventures and Vintage Investment Partners. The company has now raised $117.5 million altogether. VentureBeat has more here.

Pixel Vault, a year-old, Atlanta, Ga.-based NFT collection of superheroes that has the goal of growing into a decentralized Marvel-esque empire, has raised a whopping $100 million in funding from Adam Bain and Dick Costolo’s 01 Advisors and Velvet Sea Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

PlexTrac, a nearly six-year-old, Boise, Id.-based outfit that aims to automate mundane tasks for security teams, has raised $70 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round, joined by earlier backers Madrona Venture Group, Noro-Moseley Partners and StageDotO Ventures. VentureBeat has more here.

Ramp, a 2.5-year-old, TK-based corporate credit card and spending management software startup, has raised at least $200 million in fresh funding led by Founders Fund at a stunning $8 billion valuation, reports The Information. That doubles the $4 billion valuation the company was assigned back in August . . . and also led by Founders Fund. More here.

Rudderstack, a nearly three-year-old, San Francisco-based platform that focuses on helping businesses build their customer data platforms to improve their analytics and marketing efforts, just raised $56 million in Series B funding led by Insight Partners. Earlier backers Kleiner Perkins and S28 Capital also joined the round, which brings the company's total funding to $82 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Torii, a nearly five-year-old, New York- and Israel-based automated SaaS management platform, says it has raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global. Earlier investors Wing VC, GFC, Uncork Capital, Entree Capital and Scopus Ventures also participated in the round. The outfit has now raised $65 million altogether. Globes has more here. 

Anotell, a four-year-old, Sweden-based startup whose software aims to assess the performance of autonomous systems’ perception capabilities, has raised $24 million in Series A funding. Metaplanet, which is headed by Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, co-led the round with NordicNinja, a Japan-based deep tech investor. TechCrunch has more here.

Headout, a seven-year-old, New York-based company that helps that consumers book tours, events and other experiences and activities around the world, has raised $30 million in funding led by earlier investor Glade Brook Capital. Other previous backers Nexus Venture Partners, FJ Labs and 500 Startups, also joined the round, among others. TechCrunch has more here.

Melonn, a 16-month-old, Colombia-based startup that provides fulfillment and software services to small and medium-sized e-commerce companies in Latin America, has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by QED Investors. Earlier backers NFX, Pear and Wollef, which is a Mexico-based firm, also joined the round. TechCrunch has more here.

Midnite, a 3.5-year-old, London-based esports betting platform, has raised $16 million in Series A funding. Raine Group led the round, joined by earlier backers Makers Fund and Venrex. VentureBeat has more here.

Nestcoin, a six-month-old, Nigeria-based web3 app builder, has raised $6.5 million in seed funding, including from Alameda Research, Distributed Global, Alter Global, Serena Ventures, A&T Capital, MSA Capital and 4DX Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

OpenGamma, a 12-year-old, London-based derivatives analytics firm, just raised $21 million led by Allianz X. More here.

Stoggles, a 20-month-old, L.A.-based maker of safety goggles that look like classic eyewear and that are sold directly to consumers, has raised $40 million from The Chernin Group. More here.

Veed, a 3.5-year-old, London-based startup that has built an online-only, web-based platform for video creators to edit and publish their work, raised $35 million in funding (its first outside funding) entirely from Sequoia Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Waldo, a four-year-old, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based startup offering a “no code” automated testing tool to mobile development teams, has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners, with participation from Matrix Partners, First Round Capital, and individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.

Zero Acre Farms, a two-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based vegetable oil alternative startup involving microorganisms and fermentation, raised $37 million in Series A funding co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Fifty Years, with participation from S2G Ventures, Virgin Group, Collaborative Fund and FootPrint Coalition. TechCrunch has more here.

Afya Rekod, a three-year-old, Kenya-based digital health data platform, has raised $2 million in seed funding led by MaC Venture Capital, with participation from Next Chymia, an outfit focused on blockchain companies. Tech Cabal has more here.

Casava, a 5.5-year-old, Lagos, Nigeria-based digital insurance startup, just raised $4 million in pre-seed funding led by Target Global, with participation from Entrée Capital and numerous individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.

CertifyOS, a year-old, New York-based healthcare credentialing and licensing startup, raised $4.6 million in seed funding led by Upfront Ventures. Other backers in the round include Max Ventures, Arkitekt Ventures, Goldline Ventures and Hustle Fund. AlleyWatch has more here.

Onehouse, a 14-month-old, Bay Area-based cloud-native managed lakehouse service built on Apache Hudi, disclosed today that it raised $8 million in funding last year from Greylock and Addition. TechCrunch has more here.

Synapticure, a three-year-old, Chicago-based teleneurology startup focused on patients with ALS, has raised $6 million in seed funding led by GV. Other backers in the round include LifeForce Capital, Martin Ventures, Byers Capital, Y Combinator and individual investors, including Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann and longtime investor Ron Conway. The New York Times has story here.

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The privately held, fast-growing defense tech outfit Anduril Industries today announced it has acquired Boston-based start-up Dive Technologies, a maker of autonomous underwater vehicles. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but Dive previously raised at least $7 million from investors, according to Crunchbase data. More here.

ConsenSys, the blockchain company valued by VCs at $3.2b, acquired MyCrypto, a Redondo Beach, Calif.-based wallet for managing ethereum accounts that had been backed by Polychain Capital. http://axios.link/myRX

Zepz, a 12-year-old, London-based money transfer service previously known as WorldRemit, is prepping a U.S. IPO at around a $6 billion valuation, says Bloomberg. Much more here.

Melinda French Gates now plans to give most of her wealth to a range of philanthropies other than the Gates Foundation, reports the WSJ.

Famed (notorious?) autonomous vehicle entrepreneur Anthony Levandowski’s latest moonshot is a peer-to-peer telecom network powered by cryptocurrency. “The reason why is simple," he told TechCrunch earlier today. "We needed reliable, affordable mobile connectivity for our AVs and we couldn’t find it. So we built our own and realized it could be something others want.”

Powerful TV executive Jeff Zucker today resigned from his role as president of CNN, after a consensual relationship with another senior executive was uncovered during an investigation into former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo. ThinkProgress founder Judd Legum attempts to connects the dots, while former Harvard classmate Bill Oakley (known for his work on "The Simpsons") hints at why some of Zucker's old peers might be enjoying all of this.

Mark Zuckerberg could see $24 billion erased from his personal fortune should Meta's drop in share price hold That would [clutches buttons] push him outside the list of the Top 10 wealthiest people in the world for the first time since July 2015, notes Bloomberg.

Dapper Labs, the Vancouver-based blockchain outfit behind "Cryptokitties" and "NBA Top Shot," is hiring a corporate development strategy lead. This senior management role is remote. More here.

How one company took over the NFT trade.

The radical woman behind "Goodnight Moon."

Steve-O is still taking it in the nuts.

Why is Matt Damon shilling for crypto?

A private island in Connecticut is now "on sale" for $100 million. (The owners were asking for $175 million six years ago. Then they tried $120 million. Then they gave up for a while.)

Can XRP wipe away half of US debt? What is the utility of XRP, why is it relevant and how might it affect global economics? How does XRP compete with a system as large as SWIFT? The market is ripe for disruption when it comes to cross border payments, is XRP the solution? Join Linqto Learn this Thursday, February 3rd at 9am PT to hear from the experts re all things XRP; advantages, disadvantages and future what if scenarios. Sign up HERE.