StrictlyVC: October 9, 2015

Hello, beloved Friday!

No column today, but we’d suggest checking out a take on what’s happening in Silicon Valley by our former colleague, Dan Primack. We recently looked into new worries about the market, but he captures the broader sentiment well.

Have a great weekend, everyone. See you back here in a few days.:)

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Top News in the A.M.

After months of deliberation, the Obama administration has decided that it will not — for now — call for legislation requiring companies to decode messages for law enforcement.

Netflix is raising its prices again. Here’s why.

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New Fundings

CardFlight, a 2.5-year-old, New York-based company that enables app developers to more easily incorporate payment acceptance into mobile apps, has raised $4.2 million in funding from Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, ff Venture Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital, MATH Venture Partners, Plug & Play Ventures and individual investors. More here.

Clue, a two-year-old, Berlin-based app that helps women track their fertility cycles, has raised $7 million in Series A funding from Union Square Ventures and Mosaic Ventures. The company has now raised $10 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

EverSport Media, a 2.5-year-old, San Francisco, Ca.-based digital media network that distributes live and recorded sports broadcast content, has raised $4.2 million in funding from the German TV station ProSieben, Emil Capital and Third Wave Capital, as numerous angel investors. More here.

Glamsquad, a two-year-old, New York-based on-demand beauty company whose app lets users book hair blowouts and get their makeup done in the homes, has raised $15 million in Series B funding led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from Lerer Hippeau Ventures, AOL’s BBG Ventures, Montage Ventures and Softbank. Glamsquad has now raised $24 million altogether. WWD has more here.

HipVan, a two-year-old, Singapore-based furniture and home accessories online retailer, has raised $3.4 million in Series A funding led by the Singapore-based venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures, among other investors. Today has more here.

Nykaa, a 3.5-year-old, Mumbai, India-based online cosmetic and wellness retailer, has raised roughly $9.5 million in Series B funding led by TVS Shriram Growth Fund and Techpro Ventures, with participation from other investors, including the family office of Marico Industries chairman, Harsh Mariwala. Inc 42 has the story here.

Procyrion, a 10-year-old, Houston, Tex.-based company aiming to treat chronic heart failure with an implantable device that pumps blood, has raised $10 million in Series B funding from Fannin Partners, Scientific Health Development and undisclosed strategic and individual investors. More here.

Segment, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based, Y Combinator-backed startup that allows businesses to use a single API for event tracking in order to send data to hundreds of different tools and databases like Google Analytics, MailChimp, and Mixpanel, has raised $27 million in Series B funding. Thrive Capital led the deal, with participation from earlier backers Accel PartnersKleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and former Goldman Sachs president Jon Winkelried. TechCrunch has more here.

Schoolguru, a three-year-old, Mumbai, India-based e-learning company that helps universities launch, run and manage online programs through its platform, has raised a little more than $3 million in Series A funding from unnamed individuals in India and the US. MediaNama has more here.

TVA Medical, a seven-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based medical device company developing minimally invasive therapies for patients suffering from end-stage renal disease, has raised $15 million in Series C funding led by Baxter Ventures, with participation from Boston Scientific Corporation and earlier backers Sante Ventures, S3 Ventures, TriStar Technology Ventures, among others. MedCity News has more here.

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New Funds

Three power players have entered into the VC business together. Stefan Jung, founder and MD of Rocket Internet Southeast Asia and formerly of VC firm Monks Hill Ventures; Rudy Ramawy, Google’s first country manager in Indonesia; and John Riady, director of the Lippo Group, an Indonesian super-conglomerate with more than $15 billion in business assets, have rolled out a $150 million venture fund in Jakarta, Indonesia called Venturra Capital. It plans to focused on the region, where mobile internet adoption is rising rapidly across a population of more than 600 million people. TechCrunch has much more here.

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Exits

Adheron Therapeutics, an 11-year-old, Berkeley, Ca.-based biotech company focusing on the disruption of cell adhesion to treat a variety of diseases, is being acquired by Roche Holding for $105 million in cash,  plus additional contingent payments of up to $475 million. Reuters has more here.

Remote computing company LogMeIn is acquiring the password management service LastPass for $125 million in cash and plans to integrate its technology into a single offering. It isn’t clear whether seven-year-old, Fairfax, Va.-based LastPass ever raised outside funding. The Next Web has the story here.

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People

Makerbot CEO Jonathan Jaglom said yesterday that the company, now owned by parent company Stratasys, is laying off about 20 percent of its 400 employees. The move follows a previous round of layoffs that slashed the original workforce by 20 percent and saw the closing of three retail stores. More here.

The property developer who’s accusing Mark Zuckerberg of breaking a promise to introduce him to Silicon Valley’s elite just lost the lawyer who got him to the brink of trial. Bloomberg has the story.

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Essential Reads

Amazon yesterday announced the launch of its AWS Mobile Hub, a new tool that makes it easier for mobile developer to build the back-end processes for their apps.

Apple’s App Store has removed some root certificate-based ad blockers over privacy concerns.

Highly perseverant Jawbone is now working on an ingestible health-tracking sensor for its newest act.

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Detours

The 21 most dangerous foods in the world.

Elvis Costello reflects on four decades of reinvention.

In case you were curious, Daniel Craig says he’d rather slit his wrists than play James Bond again.

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Retail Therapy

Apple Pay is coming to Starbucks. And KFC. And Chili’s.

Underwater jet packs!


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