| Happy Independence Day, ‘Merica. |
| Top News |
| This U.S.-China trade war looks to be getting real: A Chinese court temporarily banned Boise, Idaho-based Micron Technology from selling 26 products, cutting the company off from the world’s largest semiconductor market. Its Taiwanese rival United Microelectronics Corp. delivered the news is an announcement yesterday, as Micron’s shares fell 8 percent. UMC took legal action against Micron in January, saying it infringes on patents in China. Bloomberg has more here. |
| Sponsored By . . . |
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| New Fundings |
| American Well, a 12-year-old, Boston, Ma.-based company that helps hospitals and other physician groups integrate virtual consultations, is closing a $315 million round with backing from a giant new strategic partner: Philips, the healthcare-focused multinational company. CNBC has more here. Dreem, a four-year-old, Paris- and San Francisco-based neuro-technology company, has raised $35 million in funding, including from Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Bpifrance. More here. InAccel, a months-old, Wilmington, De.-based company that’s aiming to help companies speed up their mission-critical applications by using its ready-to-use cloud FPGA-based accelerators, has raised $600,000 in seed funding from the Athens, Greece-based venture firm Marathon Venture Capital. More here. Salamander Solutions, a year-old, Houston, Tex.-based spinout of Shell that sells advanced heater technology to the oil and gas industry, has raised $7 million in Series A funding. Eden Rock Group led the round; other participants include MCAAA Holding, Shell Venture and Frontive Holding. More here. Trillium Secure, a four-year-old, Sunnyvale, Ca.-based maker of cybersecurity protection and secure data management software for vehicles and fleets, has raised $11 million in Series A2 funding. The round was led by Jafco, with participation from Airbus Ventures, Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Tokyo Century Corporation and Plug and Play Ventures. The company has now raised $15 million altogether. More here. WelbeHealth, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based healthcare services company that looks to deliver coordinated and value-based care to medically frail seniors, has raised $15 million in Series B funding co-led by Longitude Capital and Ulysses Diversified Holdings, with participation from Town Hall Ventures and earlier backers F-Prime Capital and .406 Ventures. |
| New Funds |
| ISAI, a French venture capital firm, says it has closed a new, $175 million fund that aims to back later-stage investments (they don’t have to be in Paris, either). TechCrunch has more here. |
| Data |
| Personal loans surged to a record this year and are the fastest-growing U.S. consumer-lending category, according to data from credit bureau TransUnion and reported by Bloomberg. Outstanding balances rose about 18 percent in the first quarter to $120 billion. Fintech companies originated 36 percent of total personal loans in 2017 compared with less than 1 percent in 2010. More here. |
| People |
| Chinese conglomerate HNA Group says its chairman and co-founder Wang Jian died after being injured in an accident during a business trip in France yesterday. To meet production deadlines, Elon Musk has reportedly ordered Tesla engineers to stop doing a “critical” brake test on Model 3s. “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, now serving seven years behind bars for securities fraud, may be blogging biopharma tips from the big house. Former Microsoft COO Kevin Turner has taken the helm of Core Scientific, a stealthy new blockchain and artificial intelligence startup led by veteran tech executives. |
| Essential Reads |
| Uber and Careem are in preliminary talks to combine their Middle Eastern ride-hailing services, hoping to resolve a costly rivalry as Uber prepares for a public offering next year, according to Bloomberg’s sources. Baidu is preparing to launch a driverless service in China — and elsewhere. American law enforcement is doubling down on investigations of Facebook, broadening separate inquiries into Cambridge Analytica to add a focus on the social network. |
| Detours |
| Two strangers, flirting on a plane. So rude, Siri! British newspapers celebrate England’s win over Colombia yesterday. |
| Retail Therapy |
| Sunglasses-slash-bottle-openers. Pure . . . genius? |