Trump's app debuts, Antetokounmpo signs with WhatsApp, and Brian Armstrong gets slammed over Super Bowl ad

Happy Monday! We know many of you have the day off and, in some cases, even the week off, for "ski week." We hope you're thoroughly enjoying it and not behind someone who's having a meltdown in the lift line. (“You’re looking at someone and thinking, ‘I don’t think this is about the cheese.’”)

Stock futures fell sharply tonight as traders monitor heightening tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down by 476 43 points, or 1.4%. S&P 500 futures slid 1.7%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were off by 2.2%. The U.S. stock market was closed today (President’s Day).

Storm clouds hang over SoftBank Group as it prepares to report third-quarter earnings tomorrow, with the valuations of top portfolio companies slipping and heavyweights jumping ship. Jeffries analyst Atul Goyal said in a note that SoftBank is likely to trim its stake in e-commerce giant Alibaba as it continues plowing money into startups and repurchasing its shares. SoftBank sold 20 million Alibaba shares in the last quarter and "will need to sell more in 2022," Goyal reportedly wrote.

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Amber Group, a four-year-old, Singapore-based cryptocurrency-trading platform that was founded by five former Morgan Stanley traders, has raised $200 million in funding from Temasek, along with earlier backers Sequoia China, Pantera Capital and Tiger Global. The deal reportedly values the company at $3 billion, just weeks after the city-state cracked down on marketing by crypto firms, triple the valuation it was assigned during its last round in June of 2021. Bloomberg has the story here.

Fenbeitong, a seven-year-old, Beijing, China-based payment and expense management software company, has raised $140 million in Series C funding led by DST Global, with participation from D1 Capital Partners and Whale Rock Capital. Earlier backers also joined the round, including Hillhouse Capital, Ribbit Capital, Eight Roads Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, and BitRock Capital. Asia Venture Capital Journal has more here.

PrimaryBid, a 10-year-old, London-based company that gives individual investors access to public companies that are raising capital, has raised $190 million in Series C funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from earlier (unnamed) investors. TechCrunch has more here.

Groundfloor, a nine-year-old, Atlanta, Ga.-based real estate crowdfunding platform, has raised $18 million in Series B funding from Israeli real estate company Medipower, along with more than 3,600 individual investors who backed Groundfloor through the crowdfunding platform SeedInvest and another 86 individuals who also participated in the round directly through the Groundfloor app. TechCrunch has more here.

Increff, a six-year-old, Bangalore, India-based company whose software helps e-commerce, fashion, and retail brands to optimize their inventory, has raised $12 million in Series B funding led by TVS Capital Funds, Premji Invest, and Binny Bansal’s 021 Capital. The Economic Times has more here.

PayMongo, a nearly three-year-old, Philippines-based fintech that enables merchants to accept digital payments, just raised $31 million in Series B funding. Investors include JAM Fund, ICCP-SBI Venture Partners and Kaya Founders, along with returning investors Global Founders Capital and SOMA Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Jambo, a Congo-based startup building web3 "play-to-earn" crypto business (because, says founder James Zhang, almost all of the wealth in Africa has accrued to 1% of the population, and 99% doesn't have much to bank yet), just raised $7.5 million in seed funding. Backers in the round include Coinbase Ventures, Three Arrows Capital, Alameda Research, Tiger Global, Delphi Ventures, AllianceDAO, DeFiance Capital, Yield Guild Games and Polygon Studios. TechCrunch has more here.

Upflowy, a nearly two-year-old, Sydney, Australia-based platform to help developers build, optimize, and AB test their lead and signup flow without any code engine, has raised $4 million in funding led by Counterpart Ventures, with participation from earlier backers Tidal, Global Founders Capital, Black Nova and Antler. TechCrunch has more here.

Join Affinity on February 24th at 10am PT/1pm ET as the team discusses the evolving venture capital market landscape, including funding trends impacting dealmakers, as well as the role of relationship intelligence in finding the investments that could turn into unicorns. Register here.

Chiratae Ventures, the 16-year-old, Bangalore, India-based venture firm, says it's looking to raise up to $700 million for two new funds to invest in regional companies: a $500 million earlier-stage vehicle and a $200 million opportunity-type fund. Asian Venture Capital Journal has more here.

NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo has signed a long-term deal with WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Meta Platforms, to promote the brand around the world. The agreement is the first celebrity endorsement deal for WhatsApp. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Donald Trump's new social media venture, Truth Social, launched yesterday in Apple's App Store. Those looking to check it out are having trouble signing up, however.

Brian Armstrong was "burned" by an ad exec who says her agency pitched to Coinbase the Super Bowl ad that Armstrong publicly credited his own team with imagining. (Visitors to Hacker News are all over this one.)

White-collar professionals are seeing big pay gains as worker bargaining power spreads across the U.S. economy. Pay for finance, information and professional employees rose 4.4% in January from a year earlier, outpacing 4% wage growth for all workers, according to the Atlanta Fed’s wage tracker. 

Apple is reportedly gearing up to release several new Macs with an M2 chip later this year, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. He says to expect the company to debut a 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, 24-inch iMac, and a redesigned MacBook Air, all outfitted with the rumored M2 chip.

Crypto exchange FTX is launching its own gaming unit, aimed at encouraging more game publishers to embrace cryptocurrencies, blockchain networks and non-fungible tokens, reports Bloomberg. Operating via FTX’s U.S. affiliate, FTX Gaming will debut with a “crypto-as-a-service” platform through which gaming companies can launch tokens and offer support for NFTs. 

Amazon’s grocery endeavors have cost many billions of dollars over the past 15 years but have yet to yield a coherent strategy, say people familiar with the business. CNBC has the story here.

Crypto scammers'  new target: dating apps.

Yale’s "happiness" professor says anxiety is destroying her students.

Pickleball is ready for prime time.

The trajectory of love.

Saudi Golf League?

A bed for cool cats.

A 500-year-old English manor has hit the market at a most 2022 price.

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