| Friday! [Rides motorcycle over bank of parked cars.] Hope you have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Per the usual, if you’re looking for something to listen to while you’re tooling around in your car or bike, a few of us recorded a new “Equity” podcast yesterday over at TechCrunch’s offices, with special guest and sheer delight Graham Brown of Lerer Hippeau. |
| Top News |
| Special counsel Robert Mueller has obtained a new indictment charging 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking Democrats during the 2016 presidential election just three days before next week’s unprecedentedly private one-on-one sit-down, which is not being canceled, says the White House. Instead, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are reportedly holding a joint press conference afterward. Microsoft today called for government regulation on facial-recognition software, one of its key technologies, saying such artificial intelligence is too important and potentially dangerous for tech giants to police themselves. |
| New Fundings |
| Allthings, a five-year-old, Basel, Switzerland-based property tech company, has raised $13.5 million in Series A funding led by EarlyBird Venture Capital, with participation from Idinvest Partners, and Kingstone Capital Partners. Tech.eu has more here. ASR Microelectronics, a thee-year-old, Shanghai, China-based semiconductor design company focused on mobile intelligent communication terminals, Internet of things, navigation and other consumer electronics platforms, has raised $100 million in Series B funding led by IDG Capital and Wanrong Hongtu Fund. China Money Network has more here. EndoGastric Solutions, a 15-year-old, Redmond, Wa.-based medical device company that’s hoping to commercialize its minimally invasive transoral incisionless fundoplication (TIF) procedure, has raised $30.5 million in new funding. Earlier investors Advanced Technology Ventures, Canaan Partners, Canepa Healthcare, Chicago Growth Partners, CRG, Radius Ventures, and Sightline Partners participated in the round along with several new healthcare investors. MedCity News has more here. Chowly, a three-year-old, Chicago-based point-of-sale system for restaurants, has raised nearly $4.7 million, according to an SEC filing that lists a target amount of $5.8 million. The company had previously raised $700,000 from Math Venture Partners and others. TechCrunch has more here. GoGoVan, a three-year-old, Hong Kong-based on-demand delivery van service, has raised $250 million in new funding led by InnoVision Capital, with participation from Cainiao, Russia-China Investment Fund, Hongrun Capital, Qianhai Fund of Funds, and 58 Daojia Group. The Business Times has more here. Headout, a four-year-old, New York-based travel app that enables tourists to book outings on very short notice, has raised $10 million in Series A funding from earlier backers Nexus Venture Partners and Version One Ventures. The company has now raised $12 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here. Radiflow, an eight-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based maker of industrial cybersecurity software for critical infrastructure, has raised $18 million in funding led by ST Engineering Ventures, the venture capital unit of the Singaporean technology, defense and engineering group ST Engineering. More here. Verto Analytics, a five-year-old, Helsinki, Finland-based consumer-centric audience measurement company, has raised $13.4 million in funding, including fromConor Venture Partners, Open Ocean Capital, and Finnish Industry Investment, along with numerous individual investors. More here. UrbanVolt, a nearly four-year-old, Dublin, Ireland-based solar power-as-a-service company for corporate clients, has raised $65 million from British investment firmLow Carbon. More here. |
| New Funds |
| Apple has announced a new investment fund to foster clean energy usage in China. More specifically, Apple and 10 of its suppliers have agreed to invest $300 million over the next four years to expand the use of clean energy across the board (and not just in Apple’s own facilities). TechCrunch has more here. Sound Ventures, founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary, is targeting $150 million in capital commitments for its second fund, shows an SEC filing processed earlier this week. CrunchBase News has more here. |
| Exits |
| Intel is acquiring eASIC, the 19-year-old, Santa Clara, Ca.-based fabless semiconductor company that had raised nearly $150 million in funding over the years, including from Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Seagate andCrescendo Ventures. Financial terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed. TechCrunch has more here. From Axios’s Pro Rata today: “Jibo, a Boston-based maker of family-friendly social robots that raised over $60 million in VC funding, is seeking a buyer. The company has laid off all but five employees, including the closure of its California office (the layoffs were first reported last month), but is continuing to sell product in the interim.” |
| People |
| Hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen has invested in Autonomous Partners, a new hedge fund headed by investor Arianna Simpson that acquires both cryptocurrencies and equity in blockchain-related companies. Fortune has more here. Bryan Goldberg, the entrepreneur behind both Bustle and Bleacher Report, put in the winning $1.35 million bid for Gawker.com in an auction held yesterday in Manhattan, the New York Post reports. Edward Yip has been promoted to partner at Norwest Venture Partners, where he focuses on consumer-related opportunities. Yip had joined the firm in 2012 after spending four years with Evercore Partners, as well as founding a collective purchasing startup. Nathan Yu, also known as Yu Ning, former vice president of Chinese automaker Geely Holding Group, has joined NIO Capital, a China-based venture fund established by the Chinese electric car company NIO, as managing partner. Yu worked at Geely for four years and was responsible for its international business. |
| Essential Reads |
| The scooter wars will be a bloodbath and Uber will win, argues a founder whose pioneering ride-hailing company was later crushed by Uber. |
| Detours |
| A body language expert* analyzes Queen Elizabeth’s meeting with Donald Trump. Man with the world’s largest fingernails cuts them 66 years too late for our liking. Perfect roommates you’ll never find. |
| Retail Therapy |
| You are royalty to us. |