StrictlyVC: November 7, 2016

Hi, everyone, happy Monday!

The U.S. presidential is finally upon us, after this most surreal election season. (Pheeew.) Here’s the latest from FiveThirtyEight on tomorrow’s election forecast, which shows far higher odds of Hillary Clinton winning. Even still, this is the most wagered-on presidential election ever, according to Reuters. More important, there are 868 fewer voting places than in 2012; if you happen to live in one of these counties and haven’t voted, carve out extra time tomorrow if possible. You may be stuck standing in a very long line.

Top News in the A.M.

Soylent just found what it thinks was making people sick: algae.

Scottish Equity Partners Just Raised One of Europe’s Biggest Funds of 2016

Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), a 25-year-old, growth-stage venture capital firm, has closed on £260 million ($322 million) in commitments for its fifth fund, in one of the largest capital raises for a European venture firm this year.

The firm plans to invest the capital mainly in the U.K. and Ireland, but it says investments in companies in other European countries will also be considered. The 45-person firm is now managing more £1 billion in assets across its London, Glasgow and Edinburgh offices.

Managing director Calum Paterson suggests fundraising wasn’t much changed from past years, despite a challenging economic and political backdrop. Asked about the ripple effects Brexit might have on SEP’s business, he notes they “won’t be known until after negotiations have concluded and, in particular, there’s clarity with regard to access to the single market and the free movement of people.” He adds that SEP is “working closely with our portfolio companies to understand the possible implications and ensure that they have plans in place to mitigate against the risks.”

SEP hasn’t had a big exit anytime lately, though one of its most valuable bets is reportedly on the cusp of one. According to an October report in Bloomberg, the global travel search business Skyscanner, which was valued at $1.2 billion back in January, is beginning to explore a possible sale or IPO. The 13-year-old company, based in Edinburgh, is one of few “unicorns” in Scotland; SEP led its Series A round back in 2007.

More here.

New Fundings

Anuvia Plant Nutrients, a 1.5-year-old, Zellwood, Fl.-based plant nutrient company, has raised $23 million in fresh funding led by TPG Alternative & Renewable Technologies, with participation from AIS-JV, Osceola Capital Management, Pontifax AgTech, Florida Opportunity Fund, and Evans Properties. The Orlando Business Journal has more here.

Bizongo, a two-year-old, Mumbai-based online business-to-business marketplace for packaging products, has raised $3 million in Series A funding led by IDG Ventures, with participation from earlier backer Accel Partners. YourStory has more here.

Bonobos, the nine-year-old, New York-based e-commerce-driven clothing brand for men, is reportedly looking to raise $100 million in fresh funding at a post-money valuation of $500 million. The company has raised about $127 million to date, including from Accel Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partnersand Nordstrom. VentureBeat has the story here.

Cohero Health, a four-year-old, New York-based digital health company that helps respiratory patients to engage in their care through through a connected health platform, has raised $9 million in Series A funding led by Three Leaf Ventures, with participation from Zaffre Investments, BioAdvance, GIS Strategic Ventures, Heitkamp & Thumann Group and P5 Health Ventures. More here.

PetCoach, a two-year-old, Plymouth, Pa.-based startup that connects pet owners with veterinarians, trainers, groomers, and nutritionists, has raised $2 million in seed funding led by Comcast Ventures, with participation from Maveron. GeekWire has more here.Periscope Data, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based company that lets data scientists quickly build customized, detailed visualizations of their data, is raising $25 million in Series B funding, according to TechCrunch, whose sources say the company’s pre-funding valuation was $100 million. Earlier backer DFJ is leading the round, says the report. More here.

Rivigo Services, a two-year-old, New Delhi, India-based surface transport logistics provider, has raised $75 million in funding from the private equity firm Warburg Pincus in exchange for a minority stake in its business. The Economic Times has more here.

Tailor Brands, a two-year-old, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based startup that provides quick and easy logo design and branding, has raised $4 million in Series A funding from Mangrove Capital Partners and Disruptive Technologies. TechCrunch has more here.

Urban Volt, a two-year-old, Dublin, Ireland-based LED lighting company, has raised €30 million ($33.2 million) in funding from the Swiss private equity firm Susi Partners, according to the The Irish Times. More here.

Zoox, a two-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based company at work on fully autonomous vehicles, has raised an undisclosed amount of new funding at a $1.55 billion valuation, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Composite Capital, a Hong Kong-based hedge fund that was recently launched by David Ma (previously a partner at Chinese fund manager Hillhouse Capital Group), is among the company’s new backers. More here.

Exits

IT security and data-protection firm Sophos has acquired the two-year-old, Cork, Ireland-based cybersecurity start-up Barricade for undisclosed terms. The startup had raised an undisclosed amount of funding from several investors, including Flight Ventures, Marc Bell Ventures, and Tribal.vc. The Irish Times has more here.

People

Luke Iseman, the head of Y Combinator’s push into hardware has quit, and the famous tech incubator isn’t replacing him. Iseman says not to read too much into his departure, that he’s leaving to focus on being a founder instead. In fact, he tells Bloomberg, he has already been accepted into the winter 2017 YC cohort with his new housing startup.

Snap cofounders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy will control close to 74 percent of the voting rights after the company’s IPO. Which is a lot. Bloomberg has more here.

Magic Leap has yet to release a product, and it quietly lost its top marketing exec, Brian Wallace, last month. Still, it managed to secure yet another glowing profile, this time in Forbes.

Jobs

Launch Angels, a group that oversees alumni funds at Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale, and MIT, is looking for a managing partner for its University of Pennsylvania alumni venture fund. The job is in Philadelphia.

Essential Reads

The billionaire chairman of China’s LeEco says his technology empire is running out of cash. Bloomberg has more here.

Here’s who Goldman Sachs thinks you should pay attention to this year.

Alphabet’s investment arm, Google Capital, quietly made an investment in Snapchat parent company, Snap Inc. The investment was only revealed after Google Capital rebranded itself to CapitalG on Friday and added the Snapchat logo to its portfolio page.

Uber is doubling down on its second business, UberEats. But UberEats has run into conflict with another new business, UberRush, and both programs have themselves run into resistance from the people running Uber’s core ride-sharing business, especially during peak ride-sharing times at night. The Information reports here.

Speaking of Uber, at least two investment banks — JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank — passed on selling shares of Uber to their high-net worth clients — shares eventually sold by other banks in January — because the ride-share company wasn’t willing to provide financial details about its business. Bloomberg has the story here.

Tesla’s network of Superchargers have so far offered free, unlimited use to drivers of Tesla vehicles, but that was never going to last forever.

Why is Benedict Cumberbatch so hot?

Tweaking Kendall Jenner’s Instagram.

Retail Therapy

Bomber jackets galore. (Note: not an endorsement.)