Tesla hikes its prices, NFTs are coming to Instagram, and former Meta employees raise $200M to try again

Quick note: apologies to readers and Genies and to prospective investors of Genies, a company that we included yesterday in our "massive fundings" section, suggesting it had newly raised $100 million per a WSJ story to which we linked but misinterpreted. The four-year-old startup has raised $100 million since its founding.

TikTok is censoring its content in Russia more heavily than it said it would, blocking access to most overseas accounts, and leaving a content vacuum that is being partially filled by state media propaganda, reports the WSJ.

(In related news, what Ukraine war news looks like from Russia.)

Slack, now owned by Salesforce, has begun cutting off access to some customers in Russia as it looks to comply with international sanctions and the policies of its parent company. Axios has more here.

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Mercury, a well-funded, three-year-old startup that offers a host of banking services to startups, is today rolling out a new offering for its customers: venture debt.

The idea is to loan out $200 million this year and up to $1 billion next year to startups that have already raised $2 million in funding from at least one institutional investor. The product is for early-stage startups only, with Mercury offering between 25% to 50% of a startup’s equity round in debt.

The move puts the 250-person, San Francisco-based outfit — which says it already has 60,000 businesses on its platform — on a collision course with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Mercury co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund says that’s very much the idea, too.

Like a lot of fintech startups, Mercury — which is not a bank itself but a banking platform that offers FDIC-insured products through an Arkansas-based bank called Evolve Bank & Trust — says bigger rivals like SVB are cumbersome and don’t understand the changing expectations of its customers.

“These banks have just never had to build a product, so the idea that you go to a website, fill out a form and connect to QuickBooks is not something any bank would normally think of,” Akhund says. “It seems obvious as a product entrepreneur, but that’s just how these experiences are built at banks. Everything is still happening over email and PDFs. There are a ton of calls back and forth, a lot of Excel spreadsheets.”

While a growing number of startups have begun securing debt nevertheless while either raising a round or soon afterward to extend their runway — SVB says a whopping 63% of U.S. companies to go public in the first half of last year were customers — Mercury’s advantage over SVB is that it’s a “product-first” startup, argues Akhund.

More here.

Akeneo, a nine-year-old, Nantes, France-based product experience management startup, has raised $135 million in Series D funding led by Summit Partners, with participation from Alven and Partech. More here.

Aptos, a year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based blockchain startup founded by some of the same employees who were trying to launch a crypto payments network at Meta (the experiment ended earlier this year when that work was sold for $182 million to an acquirer), has raised $200 million in funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round. Other backers include Tiger Global, the new firm of former a16z general partner Katie Haun, Multicoin Capital, 3 Arrows Capital, FTX Ventures and Coinbase Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Bazaar, a 1.5-year-old, Karachi, Pakistan-based B2B e-commerce marketplace looking to work with the country's five million small and medium-size businesses and enterprises, has raised $70 million in Series B funding. Dragoneer and Tiger Global co-led the round, joined by earlier backers Valley Capital, Defy Partners, Acrew Capital, Wavemaker Partners, B&Y Venture Partners and Zayn Capital. The outfit has now raised $100 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

Bear Robotics, a five-year-old, Redwood City, Ca.-based company using robots to serve food restaurants, just raised $81 million in Series B funding led by the South Korean private equity firm IMM, with participation from Cleveland Avenue (a venture capital firm founded by a former McDonald's chief executive) and other investors. Reuters has more here.

ChannelEngine, a nine-year-old, Leiden, Netherlands-based omni-channel retail management platform that helps retailers connect with and sell through more than 200 marketplaces, has raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Atomico, with participation from General Catalyst, Inkef Capital and Airbridge Equity Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

ConsenSys, the nearly eight-year-old, New York-based Ethereum application and infrastructure company cofounded by Joseph Lubin, a cofounder of Ethereum, says it has closed a $450 million Series D round at a post-money valuation of $7 billion (which more than doubles ConsenSys's valuation following its $200 million fundraise in November). ParaFi Capital led the round, joined by Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Microsoft and earlier backers, including Third Point and Marshall Wace. CNBC has more here.

Cowbell Cyber, a three-year-old, Pleasanton, Ca.-based insurance company that sells cyber insurance to small and midsize businesses, has raised $100 million in funding led by Anthemis, with participation from Permira, PruVen Capital, NYCA Partners and Viola Fintech. TechCrunch has more here. 

Doctolib, a nine-year-old, Paris, France-based online and mobile booking platform that helps to find a specialist doctor nearby (or virtually) and make an appointment, has raised €500 million in equity and debt funding led by Eurazeo. Bpifrance and General Atlantic also joined the round. TechCrunch has more here.

Hex Trust, a four-year-old, Hong Kong-based outfit that provides custody services for digital assets, has raised $88 million in Series B funding co-led by Animoca Brands and Liberty City Ventures. Bloomberg has more here.

Mori, a six-year-old, Boston-based food tech company focused on extending shelf-life through a micro coating that it has developed, just raised $50 million in Series B1 funding led by Prelude Ventures. Built in Boston has more here.

Once Upon a Farm, a seven-year-old, Berkeley, Ca.-based children’s organic foods company that counts actress Jennifer Garner among its cofounders, has raised $52 million in Series D funding led by CAVU Venture Partners. S2G Ventures, Cambridge and Beechwood also joined the round. Food Business News has more here.

Perlego, a six-year-old, London-based online textbook subscription service that aims to become the "Spotify for textbooks," has raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Mediahuis Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Snappt, a 4.5-year-old, L.A.-based proptech startup that helps landlords detect fraudulent rental application documents, has raised $100 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners. Dot.LA has more here.  

Staffbase, an eight-year-old, Chemnitz, Germany-based employee communications management company, has raised $115 million in Series E funding led by General Atlantic, with participation from earlier backer Insight Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

Talent.com, a two-year-old, Montreal, Quebec-based job search platform, has raised $120 million in Series B funding led by Inovia Capital, with participation from Investissement Québec, Climb Ventures, BDC Capital, Fondaction, HarbourVest Partners, and earlier backer Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The company has now raised $150 million altogether. Betakit has more here.

AcreTrader, a four-year-old, Fayetteville, Ak.-based online farmland investment company, has tacked on $20 million to a $40 million Series B fund announced in January, bringing the round to more than $60 million. Drive Capital led the newest tranche. Arkansas Money & Politics has more here.

Bobbie, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based organic infant formula company, raised $40 million in Series B funding led by Park West. TechCrunch has more here.

House Rx, a year-old, San Francisco-based pharmacy startup that's aiming to makes specialty medications more accessible, just raised $25 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. HIT Consultant has more here.

RightBound, a 3.5-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based autonomous sales prospecting startup, has raised $15.5 million in extended Series A funding led by Innovation Endeavors, with added participation from IBI Tech Fund. VentureBeat has more here.

Selector, a three-year-old, Santa Clara, Ca.-based network monitoring and analytics software platform, has raised $28 million in Series A funding led by Two Bear Capital, SineWave Ventures, and Atlantic Bridge. More here.

Synthetaic, a three-year-old, Deerfield, Wi.-based rapid automatic image categorization (RAIC) startup, just raised $13 million in Series A funding. Lupa Systems (the private investment company of James Murdoch) led the round, joined by TitleTown Tech, Betaworks, Booz Allen Hamilton and Esri. More here.

Tender Foods, an 18-month-old, Boston-based developer of plant-based meals, just raised $12 million in seed funding. Lowercarbon Capital led the round. Food Business News has more here.

Draftea, a year-old, Mexico-based daily fantasy sports startup, raised $4 million from Sequoia Capital, Kaszek, Mantis VC, Courtside Ventures, CCN Advisers, Arrive, Thirty Five Ventures and numerous pro athletes. TechCrunch has more here.

Naco, a 12-year-old, Riga, Latvia-based nano-coating solutions provider for manufacturers, raised €1.5 million ($1.65 million) in funding led by Untitled Ventures and was joined by investors including Buildit Accelerator and others. Tech.eu has more here.

Kamino, a months-old, São Paulo, Brazil-based startup that's launching a product to help other LatAm startups raise money from global funds, has raised $6.1 million in pre-seed funding led by Inspired Capital. Bloomberg has more here.

OneLayer, a young, Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity startup focused on enterprise LTE/5G networks, has raised $8.2 million in seed funding co-led by Grove Ventures and Viola Ventures. SecurityWeek has more here.  

Perch Energy, a year-old, Boston-based community and retail solar startup that helps its customers track their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint, has raised $6.2 million in Series A funding led by Arborview Capital. More here.

Stellar, a months-old, Austin, Tex.-based credit-building startup, has raised $7 million in funding co-led by Acrew Capital and Trust Ventures. Accomplice, Fiat Ventures, Vera Equity, Permit Ventures and Kindergarten Ventures also joined the round. More here.

Sundays for Dogs, a two-year-old, New York-based pet food brand, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Imaginary Ventures. More here.

TravelX, a four-year-old, Fremont, Ca.-based blockchain-based distribution protocol for the travel industry, has raised $10 million in seed funding. Borderless Capital led the round,  joined by GoldenTree, Algorand, Draper Cygnus, Myelin Capital and Monday Capital. More here.

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Pappas Capital, a 28-year-old, Durham, N.C.-based venture firm focused exclusively on life sciences companies, is looking to raise up to $250 million for its sixth flagship fund, per an SEC filing, The mount is more than triple the $85.8 million the firm raised for its fifth fund in 2019. More here.

SentinelOne says it's acquiring Attivo Networks, an 11-year-old, Fremont, Ca.-based-based identity security and movement protection company, in a cash-and-tock deal valued at $616.5 million. Calcalist has more here.

Zomato, a listed Indian food delivery firm, has agreed to buy Indian instant delivery service Blinkit for between $700 million and $750 million in stock, says TechCrunch. Blinkit had raised more than $700 million from its backers, including SoftBank and Zomato itself (which invested $100 million in the company, formerly known as Grofers). More here.

GoTo Group will push ahead with a stock-market debut in Indonesia that values the ride-hailing, e-commerce and fintech company at as high as $28.8 billion, reports Bloomberg. Jakarta-based GoTo, formed last year by the merger of Indonesia’s two most valuable internet startups, plans to raise about 18 trillion rupiah ($1.26 billion) in its IPO, according to a prospectus filing. 

Nearly 80 former and current employees of BuzzFeed have accused the company in complaints of bungling its stock market debut and denying the workers the chance to sell their shares at a higher price. The groups are asking for compensatory damages estimated at more than $8.7 million. More here.

Chetan Chaudhary joined NewView Capital as a partner. He was most recently chief revenue officer at Scale.ai. More here.

Michele Korver has joined Andreessen Horowitz as head of crypto regulatory. She’s a former DOJ official who also served a short stint as the first chief digital currency advisor of the the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a role she took up last July. More here.

David Marcus, the former Meta executive who led the company's cryptocurrency initiatives before stepping down last year, has purchased a $37 million mansion in L.A., according to the WSJ. The six-bedroom Bel-Air home is said to include a tri-level waterfall feature that flows into a reflecting pool, a swimming pool, a large outdoor deck, a gym and wellness area, a 20-person theater and a temperature-controlled wine room. The property was listed for $41 million.

Ted Wang stepped down as a general partner with Cowboy Ventures after a five-year run to launch what he describes as a coaching business for founders. More here.

Nearly 5 million Americans say they have moved since 2020 — and 18.9 million more are planning to do so — on account of remote work, according to a survey released this past week by Upwork. The WSJ has more here.

Intel said today it will invest $36 billion in chip production and research across Europe, including a new chip-making complex in Germany, to keep pace with surging demand for semiconductors.

China's Tencent is reportedly facing a potential record fine for violations of some central bank regulations by its WeChat Pay mobile network, as Beijing toughens regulations in order to stem money laundering activities. Shares of the tech giant hit their lowest price in two years on the news.

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed today that the company is building the technical functionality so that users can display their NFTs on Instagram -- and even “mint” some NFTs within the app. 

Tesla just hiked car prices in the U.S. and China, after Elon Musk warned of inflation pressure on the business.

Why so many Russian billionaires are called oligarchs.

The 50 best fantasy books of all time.

These are Netflix's most popular shows, according to Netflix.

Fixing the zipline without permission.

Steve McQueen’s refurbished 1972 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL can now be yours as long as you are willing to bid more than $46,000.

Caravan by Habitas, a glamping experience for the modern nomad.

The best duffle bags.

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