StrictlyVC: October 6, 2016

One more day. You can do this! (We’re projecting here, but you’re with us, right?)

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Top News in the A.M.

U.S. venture capital firms have raised $32.4 billion through the third quarter, putting 2016 on pace for a record-breaking year, the National Venture Capital Association and Pitchbook said today. You can check out their full report here.

Remember when Disney was interested in buying Twitter? That’s apparently no longer the case. Google and Apple aren’t planning to make bids, either, reportedly.

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Twyla, Which Sells Artists’ Prints, Just Raised $14 Million Led by GV

Twyla, a year-and-a-half-year-old startup that collaborates with artists to create exclusive prints for sale at its site, at prices that range from $1,000 to $5,000, has raised $14 million in new funding led by GV, with participation from earlier investors IVP and Redpoint Ventures. The company has now raised $19 million altogether.

Twyla was cofounded by HomeAway cofounder Brian Sharples and employs 30 people in Austin, Tex., and it’s pitching itself a win for artists and art lovers a like. While it’s making accessible the work of people who’ve shown at top museums and galleries, including LACMA, MoMA, and the Whitney Museum, it says a limited-edition licensing model that it employs should also provide these artists with valuable revenue and exposure to a wider audience.

To make things even easier, the artist chooses a frame for customers, which is included in its price. To make the prints easier to consider in person, the company is beginning to partner with venues like boutique hotels that can act as “showrooms” for its pieces.

Twyla has plenty of competition, starting with 18-year-old Art.com and including younger companies Curioos and Juniqe, among others. We were in touch last night with Sharples’ cofounder and company CEO Matt Randall — who previously cofounded the POP Austin International Art Show — to ask why that isn’t stopping the company.

More here.

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New Fundings

Botfactory, a 3.5-year-old, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based startup developing an electronic circuit printer, has raised $1.3 million from investors led by NY Angels. TechCrunch has more here.

Code Climate, a 5.5-year-year-old, New York-based company that consolidates the results from a suite of static analysis tools into a single, real-time report, has raised $4.5 million in Series A funding from Union Square Ventures, NextView Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Trinity Ventures and Fuel Capital. More here.

CognitiveScale, three-year-old, Austin, Tx.-based startup specializing in artificial intelligence and machine learning, has raised $25 million in funding including a strategic investment from Microsoft Ventures. Silicon Hills News has more here.

Cybric, a 1.5-year-old, Boston-based cloud-based platform that checks applications, integrations, operating systems, data centers, and other components of an enterprise network for anomalies using a shadow environment, has raised $6.3 million in seed funding from Capstone Ventures and Petrillo Capital. More here.

DiCentral Corporatiion, a 16-year-old, Houston, Tex.-based IT services firm, has raised $15 million in outside financing from the private equity firm Kayne Partners. More here.

Enable Injections, a 6.5-year-old, Cincinnati, Oh.-based maker of wearable, large volume “injectors” for the subcutaneous delivery of biologics and high volume drugs, has raised $30 million in Series A funding led by ORI Healthcare Fund. More here.

Goby, a year-old, New York-based electric toothbrush subscription service, has raised $2 million in seed funding from a long list of investors, including Lerer Hippeau Ventures, BBG Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Galvanize, and Red Sea Ventures. More here.

Happycar, a three-year-old, Hamburg, Germany-based car rental comparison startup, has raised a fresh €2.6 million ($2.9 million) in funding led by Creathor Venture, with participation from HR Ventures, Capnamic Ventures, NWZ Digital, and TruVenturo. TechCrunch has more here.

Madefire, a five-year-old, New York-based motion book tool provider for content creators, has raised $6.5 million in Series B funding from investors that include Plus Capital, Kevin Spacey, Drake (yes), True Ventures, Big Loud Capital, Anthem Ventures and Framestore Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

OpenGamma, a seven-year-old, London-based company that makes risk analytics software for the derivatives markets, has raised $13.3 million in funding led by Accel Partners and ICAP. Tech.eu has more here.

Welltok, a seven-year-old, Denver, Co.-based consumer enterprise platform for the healthcare industry, has raised $33.7 million in Series E funding from a long list of investors that New Enterprise Associates, Bessemer Venture Partners, Georgian Partners, Emergence Capital, InterWest Partners, Sigma Partners, HLM Venture Partners, Flare Capital Partners, Okapi Venture Capital and Miramar Ventures. The Denver Post has more here.

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New Funds

Corazon Capital, a 2.5-year-old, Chicago-based venture firm founded by serial entrepreneur Sam Yagan, has raised $37 million for its second fund, according to an SEC filing that lists a $39.9 million target. The firm closed its debut fund with $13 million. ChicagoInno has more here.

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IPOs

Shares of Coupa Software, a U.S. maker of cloud-based software that helps companies manage spending, hit the trading floor this morning, more than doubling in their debut. The stock rose to a high of $39.50 in early trading on the Nasdaq, valuing the company at $1.9 billion. Fortune has more here.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times asks: Can rising momentum amid unicorn stocks last?

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Exits

eBay has acquired Corrigon, an eight-year-old, Israel-based startup that specializes in computer vision and visual search technology. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by eBay. The Israeli newspaper The Marker is reporting a price of $30 million but TechCrunch sources say the deal was for a smaller amount. It isn’t clear how much Corrigon had raised from investors. More here.

Samsung is acquiring four-year-old Viv, an AI and assistant system co-founded by Siri creators Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham. Presumably, Samsung will use the tech to compete with Siri’s acquirer, Apple. (Quel scandale!) TechCrunch has the scoop here.

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People

Jim Freeman, a longtime Amazon executive who’d been vice president of video since early 2015 and was considered the chief engineering architect of the platform, quietly left for German retailer Zalando last month, and Jeff Blackburn, a top lieutenant of Jeff Bezos is now directly overseeing Amazon’s video division. It seems a signal of videos importance to Amazon’s business, reports The Information (subscription required).

Vanity Fair published its annual New Establishment list yesterday.

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Jobs

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, formed nearly a year ago by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, is looking to bring aboard a principal to help identify investment opportunities in for-profit companies that are trying to transform learning. The job is in San Francisco.

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Essential Reads

Uber Slayer: How China’s Didi beat the ride-hailing superpower.

Mark Zuckerberg in Lagos land.

Poor Theranos. It’s closing its labs and wellness centers to focus on another product that academics don’t seem all that excited about, either.

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Detours

Tilting house.

Why voices deepen and thin over time.

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Retail Therapy

Solar hats to keep your iPhones charged. (Hey, we’ll do what it takes.)


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