| Hello! Happy Wednesday. No column today (too many calls); more tomorrow.:) |
| Top News |
| Chipmaker Broadcom is nearing a deal to buy software company CA Technologies for about $18 billion, according to the WSJ. Broadcom is to pay $44.50 a share for CA, formerly known as Computer Associates, if the deal doesn’t fall apart at the last minute. More here. A new round in the White House’s escalating trade war with China has been rattling global markets today. AT&T has staken an undisclosed stake in the secretive mixed reality headset company Magic Leap. The deal also establishes AT&T as the exclusive wireless distributor of Magic Leap products in the U.S., assuming they’re actually sold at some point. (The company says they are coming this summer, but it still hasn’t offered an exact date or price.) |
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| New Fundings |
| Apollo Fusion, a two-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based satellite propulsion company founded by a former project leader of Google’s Project Loon, has raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Reid Hoffman of Greylock Partners, who is joining the company’s board. SpaceNews has more here. Aurora Labs, a young, Tel Aviv, Israel-based company that has created predictive tools designed to automatically fix problems with software in cars, has raised $8.4 million in Series A financing led by Fraser McCombs Capital, with participation from previous investor MizMaa Ventures. The company just came out of stealth a few months ago. TechCrunch has more here. BIMobject, a seven-year-old, Malmö, Sweden-based company whose cloud-based platform makes digital product information available for Building Information Modeling (BIM), has raised $27.4 million in funding from EQT Ventures. More here. GrubMarket, a 3.5-year-old, Bay Area-based company that sources organic food directly from producers, then delivers it to other businesses like Whole Foods, has raised $32 million in equity and debt. The equity portion is being led by GGV Capital and includes participation from earlier backers Fusion Fund (formerly New Gen Capital) and Great Oaks Venture Capital. TechCrunch has more here. Monday.com, a six-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based maker of workplace collaboration tools, has raised $50 million in Series C funding at what’s reportedly a $500 million pre-money valuation. Stripes led the deal, joined by earlier backers Insight Venture Partners and Entrée Capital. TechCrunch has the scoop here. Movile, a 20-year-old, Sao Paulo-based mobile marketplaces giant, has raised $124 million in primary and secondary funding from earlier investor Naspers Ventures, with participation by Brazilian investment fund Innova Capital. The round marks the single largest in the company’s history. More here. Nestio, a 7.5-year-old, New York-based marketing and leasing platform for multifamily owners and managers, has raised $4.5 million in a round that brings its total funding to $16 million. The round was co-led by Camber Creek and Trinity Ventures, with participation from numerous real estate groups and earlier backers Freestyle Capital and Lazerow Ventures. More here. Next Insurance, a two-year-old, Israel-based digital insurance startup that helps small businesses secure coverage, has raised a whopping $83 million in Series B funding led by Redpoint Ventures. TechCrunch has more here. Olio, a 3.5-year-old, London-based hyperlocal food sharing app that invites users to list and post photos of unwanted food items to be shared with other people in their ‘hood, has raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Octopus Ventures. Earlier investors Accel, Quadia and others also joined the round. TechCrunch has more here. PactSafe, a five-year-old, Indianapolis, Ia.-based maker of cloud-based contract management software, just raised $5.5 million in Series A funding co-led by Mercury Fund and Signal Peak Ventures, with participation from earlier backers Elevate Ventures and Vulpes Testudo. More here. Penrose Studios, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based virtual reality animation house whose CEO, Eugene Chung, was previously head of film and media at Oculus VR, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by TransLink Capital. Other investors in the round include Marc Benioff, Will.i.am, Korea Telecom, Co-Made, and earlier backers Sway Ventures, 8VC and Suffolk Equity. TechCrunch has more here. Pony.ai, a three-year-old, Freemont, Ca.-based startup whose autonomous driving platform powers the first fully self-driving fleet in China, has raised $102 million in funding (just seven months after raising a separate, $112 million in funding). The new round was co-led by China’s ClearVue Partners and Eight Roads. TechCrunch has more here. Xometry, a five-year-old, Gaithersburg, Md.-based on-demand manufacturing platform, just raised $25 million in funding led by Foundry Group. Other investors in the deal include Almaz Capital, BMW i Ventures, GE Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Maryland Venture Fund. The WSJ has more here. |
| People |
| Xiaomi’s IPO in Hong Kong may not have been the smash hit that the company was hoping for, but the listing is a major financial windfall for one former employee: Xiaomi’s ex-head of international, Hugo Barra. Theresa Gouw of Aspect Ventures is now as the richest female venture capitalist in the world, says Forbe, and her wealth is entirely self-made. Uber’s Chief People Officer Liane Hornsey resigned in an email to staff yesterday, following an investigation into how she handled allegations of racial discrimination at the ride-hailing firm. Holy smokes. Kylie Jenner has built a $900 million fortune in less than three years through her cosmetics company, Kylie Cosmetics. (Jenner is 20.) Forbes has more here. A deep dive into the thought processes of Robert Smith, the billionaire founder of Vista Equity Partners, which has been buying up software companies left and right in recent years. (Smith is also the richest African American in the U.S. — ahead of Oprah Winfrey.) Former Apple employee Xialang Zhang was arrested at the San Jose airport this past weekend after downloading a plan for a self-driving car circuit board and booking a flight to China. TechCrunch has more here. |
| Jobs |
| Industry Ventures, the 18-year-old investment firm that invests in venture-backed startups, as well as invests directly in venture funds, is looking to hire a portfolio analyst to maintain a dynamic database that monitors existing investments and report insights to the investment team, finance, and investor relations. The job is in San Francisco. Applicants should write to fanni@industryventures.com |
| Essential Reads |
| A landmark ruling just opened the door for homemade firearms. Forget the paper routes and pathos, says Bloomberg. Today’s prototypical founding story involves an upper-middle-class childhood, early access to a computer, and an elite education.) |
| Detours |
| Why your Twitter follower count is probably going down this week. Inside San Francisco’s Fire Department, which makes its wooden ladders by hand(!). The entire history of steel. |
| Retail Therapy |
| Deerupts. (Looks to us like Adidas is hoping to “deerupt” sales of AllBirds.) |