Hi, everyone, happy Thursday morning! (Or afternoon, or evening, depending on where you are.)
We don’t have a column for you today. We do, however, have a request for two volunteers to join team StrictlyVC the night of our next event, on September 16. Are you a business school student who is also skilled in checking in guests and handing a microphone from one attendee to another during audience questions? We want to hear from you.
In the meantime, giant thanks again to our friends at Bolt, GLG, and Ludlow Ventures for helping us put the evening together, including making sure we have a top-notch venue, delicious food and drinks, as well as some giveaways for guests.
—–
Top News in the A.M.
Tesla just announced a $500 million common stock offering. (CEO Elon Musk says he’s buying up $20 million worth at the offering price.)
Russia has banned Reddit.
—–
New Fundings
BigBasket, a four-year-old, Bangalore, India-based company that has become one of India’s largest online grocers, just raised $50 million in new funding at $400 million valuation led by Bessemer Venture Partners. And it’s preparing to raise another $150 million soon, according to a local outlet. More here.
PokitDok, a four-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based cloud-based API platform that aims to make healthcare transactions more efficient, just raised $34 million in Series B funding led by Lemhi Ventures. The company has now raised $42.6 million altogether, shows Crunchbase. Its earlier backers include New Atlantic Ventures, Rogers Venture Partners, and Subtraction Capital. More here.
Sarvint Technologies, a year-old, Atlanta, Ga.-based wearables technology company whose “smart shirt” detects and monitors users’ vital signs, has raised $6 million in Series A funding led by CTW Venture Partners, with participation from Monta Vista Capital and Maxim Ventures. More here.
Tanium, an eight-year-old, Emeryville, Ca.-based cyber security startup that can detect and fix enterprise threats in seconds and which is funded solely by Andreessen Horowitz, is raising a new round of funding at a valuation of at least $2.5 billion, according to Fortune. One of the outlet’s sources suggests the final figure could top $3 billion. StrictlyVC talked with Tanium in March when it raised its last big round of funding. (Worth noting: It had hardly touched any of its funding at that point.)
Who What Wear, a nine-year-old, L.A.-based e-commerce fashion site, has raised $8 million in Series B funding from Amazon and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, with participation from earlier investors Greycroft Partners, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Advancit Capital, Mesa Ventures, and Double M Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
View, a nine-year-old, Milpitas, Ca.-based company that makes so-called dynamic glass (it maximizes natural light while reducing heat and glare), has raised $150 million in new funding from NZ Super Fund, Corning Inc., Madrone Capital Partners and unnamed real estate investors. Forbes has more here.
—–
New Funds
Lightspeed Venture Partners, the 15-year-old, Sand Hill Road venture firm which began investing in India in 2004, has raised $135 million for a new, India-dedicated fund, reports Techportal. MediaNama features some of its latest bets here.
—–
IPOs
Pure Storage, a six-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based all-flash enterprise storage company, has filed to go public. The company has raised roughly $530 million from investors over the years, shows Crunchbase. Its biggest backers include Greylock Partners, which owns 17.3 percent of the company; Sutter Hill Ventures, which owns 27.4 percent; and Redpoint Ventures, which holds a 5.7 percent stake. Recode has more here.
—–
Exits
This week, financial services software company Envestnet agreed to buy data aggregator and technology company Yodlee for nearly $590 million — a 50 percent premium over its public market value. Fortune takes a look at why (rich pricing aside) Yodlee sold.
—–
People
Smartphone maker HTC Corp. says it’s cutting 15 percent of its workforce as it struggles to attract customers in a maturing smartphone market. The WSJ has the story.
Harvard student Aran Khanna was preparing to start a coveted internship atFacebook when he launched a browser application from his dorm room that drew attention to a significant privacy flaw — as well as got his internship revoked. The Boston Globe has the story here.
Chris Payne, a former eBay and Microsoft exec who was hired as Tinder‘s CEO in March is leaving, having proved not a good “fit,” according to board member Matt Cohler of Benchmark. Payne is being replaced by company cofounder Sean Rad. Recode has much more here.
—–
Jobs
Andreessen Horowitz is looking to hire a research and data analyst. The job is in Menlo Park, Ca.
—–
Data
Solar funding continues to plummet globally, according to new data from Mercom Capital Group, which shows funding dropped to $5.9 billion in the second quarter from $6.4 billion in the first quarter. The downward trend has persisted over the past five quarters, says the firm. More here.
—-
Essential Reads
Facial recognition software moves from overseas wars to local police.
The tax law that is (unintentionally) hammering Silicon Valley employees.
Last week, Recode reported that NBCUniversal was investing in BuzzFeed and Vox Media. Now those deals are done. More here.
—–
Detours
Americans are having the most babies in these cities.
For KKR employees, nannies fly free.
A treehouse with 80 rooms.
—–
Retail Therapy
Dress your age: Tips from Mr. Porter.