Good day. Data on the growth of venture rounds across stages, from pre-seed to pre-IPO, is well-established and recognized. But it has been less clear whether or not the larger amounts are being deployed into more advanced startups.

Now Embroker Inc., a provider of business insurance to startups—and a venture-backed startup itself—has analyzed data on some 500 of its clients to come up with some telling stats.

Embroker's data show that 26% of companies that raised a Series A round so far this year had no revenue. And the average revenue run-rate of startups that raised Series A rounds was well under $1 million.

The data seems to be counter to the narrative suggesting that the growth in seed rounds has increased expectations for Series A rounds and moved the bar higher. Indeed, it appears that the venture industry is perfectly content to deploy more capital into unproven businesses.

Please note that WSJ Pro Venture Capital won't be published on Thursday and Friday. We will return on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving!

And now on to the news...

• Some $19.3 billion was invested in early-stage venture funds in the first three quarters of this year, more than any full year since the dot-com era, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
   
• Mr. Ling previously worked in product management at Google and worked at Facebook before joining Khosla Ventures. Mr. Ling previously has invested as an angel in companies such as Square Inc., Palantir Technologies Inc. and PagerDuty Inc.
   
• Examples of Bling’s recent portfolio companies include Vise AI, which combines artificial intelligence with financial advice, and Edify Labs Inc., which helps businesses manage customer engagement.

VC blues. The Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index dropped below its 16-year average. The survey that measures the confidence level among Silicon Valley venture capitalists in the future high-growth entrepreneurial environment, is conducted every quarter by Prof. Mark Cannice, professor of entrepreneurship and innovation with the University of San Francisco School of Management. For the third quarter of the year, the index stood at 3.58, down from the previous quarter’s 3.76, and below the 3.7 average. That is on a five-point scale, with 1 indicating low confidence. Venture investors are worried about overblown valuations in undifferentiated businesses, amid trade and policy uncertainty, the report said.

Social ban. Messaging startup Telegram Group Inc. has banned thousands of bots and channels linked to terrorist propaganda—including those of Islamic State—since the beginning of the month, The Wall Street Journal reports. “After the ISIS attacks in Europe, we have zero tolerance for their propaganda on our platform,” founder Pavel Durov said in a post on the app.

Siemens AG acquired MultiMechanics Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The Omaha, Neb.-based company makes material modeling and simulation software and will be added to Siemens’ Digital Industries Software group. MultiMechanics’ investors included Anzu Partners, Solvay Ventures and Invest Nebraska.

U.S. tech companies prop up China’s vast surveillance network. Intel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others aided and profited from China’s multibillion-dollar surveillance industry, used in its Muslim crackdown.

How investigators busted a huge online child-porn site. IRS agents followed the bitcoin, got a few breaks, and helped bust more than 300 users world-wide. 

New York City bans flavored e-cigarettes. Effort aims to make it tougher for young people to vape, and will take effect July 1.

Alibaba shares enjoy a strong start in Hong Kong. The Chinese e-commerce company’s shares gained nearly 7% on their first day of trading in the Asian financial center.

Apple settles allegations of U.S. sanctions violations. The tech giant allegedly dealt with a blacklisted entity for more than two years, the Treasury Department said.

Crypto startup Gladius Network calls it quits after a regulatory reprieve. Failure could spell the end of the SEC’s "advantageous settlements" for such companies.

Senate Democrats float privacy bill, but bipartisan deal remains elusive. Legislation from Democrat Maria Cantwell would give consumers more control over personal data.

U.S. seeks to unwind business deals that pose telecommunications security threat. Proposed rules give the commerce secretary the power to ban equipment that is purchased from a "foreign adversary."

BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti on the dress, the dossier, and the next pivot to video. (NYMag)

Impossible Foods eyes doubling valuation with new funding. (Reuters)

TheSkimm has been looking for an investor or buyer as user growth slows. (Business Insider)

NYSE proposes allowing companies to raise fresh capital in direct listings. (CNBC)

Elizabeth Warren says Silicon Valley’s power “is a pocketbook issue.” Is she right? (Recode) 

Small social networks are in vogue. (Axios)

Ruthless quotas at Amazon are maiming employees. (Atlantic)

What’s a digital Bill of Rights without enforcement? (Wired)

The case for sending robots to day care, like toddlers. (Wired)

Version One Ventures compiled a best-practices handbook for post-seed to pre-Series B startups. (Version One)

Appier, a Taipei-based artificial intelligence technology startup, raised an $80 million Series D round from TGVest Capital, HOPU-Arm Innovation Fund, Pavilion Capital, Insignia Venture Partners, Jafco Investment and UMC Capital.

Tray.io Inc., a San Francisco-based startup that enables people to integrate various cloud-based tools to automate tasks in sales, marketing, support or other departments, closed a $50 million Series C round. Meritech Capital led the round, which included participation from Spark Capital, GGV Capital and True Ventures.

Genvid Technologies Inc., a New York-based maker of software for game developers, secured $27 million in Series B funding. Galaxy Interactive led the round, with Sam Englebardt joining the company’s board. New investors Valor Equity Partners and K5 Global also participated, along with existing backers March Capital Partners, OCA Ventures, Makers Fund and Horizons Ventures.

Pricefx, a German cloud-pricing software developer, added €23 million ($25.4 million) in Series B financing, bringing the round total to €48 million ($52.9 million). Digital+ Partners and Bain & Co. led the add-on funding, and were joined by Talis Capital.

V2food, an Australian plant-based meat startup, snagged 35 million Australian dollars ($23.8 million) in Series A funding from Main Sequence Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Marinya Capital and others.

Detectify AB, a Stockholm-based web security provider, picked up a €21.5 million ($23.7 million) investment. Balderton Capital led the funding, with participation from Paua Ventures, Inventure and Insight Partners.

Advanced Navigation, a Sydney-based robotics and artificial intelligence sensor technology startup, grabbed $13 million in Series A financing. Main Sequence Ventures led the round, which included participation from Brick & Mortar Ventures and In-Q-Tel. Martin Duursma, a partner at Main Sequence; and Curtis Rodgers, a principal at Brick & Mortar, will join the company’s board.

Coralogix, a San Francisco-based log analytics startup, raised a $10 million Series A round. Aleph led the investment, with contributions from StageOne Ventures, Janvest Capital Partners and 2B Angels. Matt Handler, former vice president of sales and channel at Sumo Logic, will join the company's board.

Altruist Corp., a Los Angeles-based digital brokerage platform for financial advisers, landed $8.5 million in Series A funding. Venrock led the round, with Partner Nick Beim joining the company's board.

Kasada, a New York-based startup whose technology detects and mitigates malicious bot traffic, completed a $7 million Series A round from investors including In-Q-Tel.

Vivun Inc., an Oakland, Calif.-based presales management startup, was seeded with a $3 million investment led by Unusual Ventures.

We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

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