Hi, everyone, welcome back!
We forgot to mention anything Friday, but we hope our Greek and other Orthodox readers had a very happy Easter yesterday.:)
No column today. (Swamped.)
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Top News in the A.M.
So much for a market correction? As the WSJ reports, Fidelity Investmentsreversed course in March, marking up many of the stakes in closely held technology companies it had previously cut. Much more here.
What we know about Craig Steven Wright, the businessman who just claimed today that he’s the inventor of Bitcoin, via the Washington Post.
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New Fundings
Acquisio, a 13-year-old, Brossard, Quebec-based performance marketing software company that sells to small businesses, has raised an undisclosed amount of capital from Wellington Financial. More here.
Airstoc, a 2.5-year-old, Sheffield, U.K.-based online marketplace that connects professional drone pilots with companies looking for aerial videography, has raised $700,000 in seed funding from Point Nine Capital, Launchub, and Thibaud Elziere. Tech.eu has more here.
Bnbsitter, a three-year-old, Paris, France-based on-demand marketplace for concierge-related services, has raised $2.5 million in Series A funding from Frederic Mazzella and CapDecisif Management. TechCrunch has more here.
Brightwheel, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based mobile platform for early education, has raised $600,000 from investors Mark Cuban and Chris Sacca, who met the company on the ABC television show “Shark Tank.” You can watch the pitch, which aired Friday night, here. Brightwheel had previously raised $2.2 million in seed funding from RRE Ventures and Eniac Ventures.
CarVi, a two-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based company whose dashboard device analyzes a driver’s actions and surroundings in real time to provide feedback and warnings when necessary, has raised $5 million in Series A funding from Samsung Ventures, Korea Telecom Investment, and POSCO. Crowdfund Insider has more here.
Certrax, a months-old, Woodbridge, N.J.-based company whose app helps real estate owners, property managers and service providers manage third-party risk, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from WorldQuant Ventures. More here.
CodeCombat, a three-year-old, San Francisco, Ca.-based platform for kids to learn computer science, has raised $2 million in seed funding from Third Kind Venture Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Allen & Company. More here.
DocsApp, a year-old, Bangalore, India-based medical consultation app, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding, including from Rebright Partners and angel investors Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan. Inc42 has more here.
EclecticIQ, a two-year-old, Amsterdam, Netherlands-based threat intelligence software company, has raised €5.5m ($6.3 million) in Series A funding, including from Inked Capital and Kpn Ventures. The company has now raised roughly $7.3 million altogether. More here.
Graybug Vision, a Redwood City, Ca.-based early stage pharmaceutical company that’s developing ophthalmology products, has raised $44.5 million in Series B funding led by Deerfield Management Company. More here.
Home Chef, a three-year-old, Chicago-based startup that delivers recipes and ingredients to its customers to make home cooking easier, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Shining Capital and Guild Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Homology Medicines, a year-old, Lexington, Ma.-based gene editing and gene therapy company focused on developing treatments for patients with rare diseases, has raised $43.5 million in Series A funding from 5AM Ventures and ARCH Venture Partners, with participation from Temasek and Deerfield Management. Xconomy has more here.
LocBox, a five-year-old, San Francisco, Ca-based startup that provides local businesses with a multi-channel marketing platform, has raised $5.1 million in Series A funding from InterWest Partners, Accel Partners, Google Ventures, 500 Startups, and numerous angel investors.
MyNFO, a 1.5-year-old, Tampa, Fla.-based media platform for marketers and consumers, has raised $6.8 million in Series A funding led by Almaz Capital. More here.
Nuki, a 1.5-year-old, Graz, Austria-based maker of a Bluetooth smartlock, has raised €2 million ($2.3 million) in seed funding from Up to Eleven, Venta Beteiligungs GmbH, and aws Austria Wirtschaftsservice GesmbH, among others.
SAM Labs, a two-year-old, London-based company that makes an internet-connected kit for aspiring inventors and coders, has raised £3.2 million ($4.5 million) from a group of investors led by Imperial Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, a Westlake Village, Ca.-based aesthetics and medical dermatology startup, has raised $34 million in Series A funding led by ARCH Venture Partners, with participation from Altitude Life Science Ventures, Partner Fund Management and Venvest Capital. L.A. Biz has more here.
Sqreen, a year-old, Paris, France-based app security startup whose SaaS platform is used to inspect apps and protect them real-time, has raised $2.3 million in funding from Alven Capital, Point Nine Capital, Kima Ventures,50 Partners and numerous angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.
Varo Money, an eight-month-old, San Francisco, Ca.-based mobile-only banking startup, has raised $27 million in funding led by Warburg Pincus, with David Coulter, a special limited partner of Warburg Pincus, joining Varo’s board of directors. More here.
WeCounsel, a five-year-old, Chattanooga, Tn.-based telemedicine software company, has raised $3.5 million in Series A funding from Longmeadow Capital Partners, Point Judith Capital and CVH Holdings. More here.
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New Funds
According to Fortune, Heritage Group, a 30-year-old, Nashville, Tn.-based venture and growth equity firm that focuses on healthcare, has closed its second fund with roughly $220 million in capital commitments. Heritage closed its last fund with $170 million in 2011. More here.
Leerink Capital Partners, a three-year-old, Boston-based, healthcare-focused venture firm (that’s affiliated with Leerink Partners, a 21-year-old, Boston-based investment bank), is hoping to raise up to $250 million for a new fund, shows an SEC filing.
Rothenberg Ventures, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based seed and early-stage VC firm, is looking to raise up to $50 million for its next fund, according to an SEC filing that shows it has closed on at least $17 million in commitments thus far.
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Exits
ACT, the college and career readiness assessment company, has acquired OpenEd, a 2.5-year-old, Los Gatos, Ca.-based K-12 standards-aligned educational resource startup. Terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed. According to CrunchBase, OpenEd had raised $2 million in seed funding from PivotNorth Capital.
Oracle is shelling out $532 million for Opower, a SaaS-based customer engagement and energy efficiency company that went pubic in 2014 and whose market cap was roughly $427 million as of earlier this morning. TechCrunch has more here.
Vimeo, an IAC subsidiary that’s more recently been investing in its own original content and creator community, has acquired VHX, a company that provides a platform for premium over-the-top subscription video channels. Deal terms were not revealed, but according to CrunchBase, five-year-old VHX had raised $10.25 million from investors, including Comcast Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and others. TechCrunch has more here.
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People
Video games pioneer Nolan Bushnell is planning to revive the “hardcore fundamental game design” of arcades to make mobile titles worth playing.
Do you earn less than a Silicon Valley intern?
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Jobs
RRE Ventures is looking to bring aboard an undergraduate student to be its content platform intern for 10 hours a week during the school year and full-time in summer. The job is in New York.
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Essential Reads
The government wants your fingerprint to unlock your phone. Should that be allowed?
WhatsApp was just blocked in Brazil for the second time in less than six months for failing to comply with an order to turn over data in a criminal investigation.
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Detours
Shelby Bonnie’s iPad took quite a vacation last month.
What happens when Amy Schumer takes over your Tinder.
It isn’t your imagination. TSA lines have gotten a lot worse (and they look to stay that way through year end).
The hoverboard we’ve all been dreaming about.
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Retail Therapy
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wants to start waking your ass up with this, his new motivational alarm clock app.