Meet the unicorn class of 2019After 96 graduates in 2018, a fresh class of unicorns is all set for another trip around the sun. Female-Led Ritual Raises $25M More For Vitamins Tailored To WomenAs a mom-to-be, Katerina Schneider was disappointed in her choices of prenatal vitamins. The ingredients, she found, were questionable and not up to her standards. So the former venture partner at Atom Factory started her own vitamin company. “I was always passionate about health and very conscious about what I was eating and what I was putting on my body,” Schneider told Crunchbase News. “When I got pregnant, I started questioning things even more deeply…. I started taking an even closer look at ingredients and how things were made. When I examined what was in my prenatal vitamin, I wasn’t happy with what I saw. So I decided to do something about it.” [ Crunchbase ] Omidyar Network spins out its fintech investment arm as Flourish, with up to $300 millionAfter 12 years spent investing in impact-oriented financial services startups around the globe, the Omidyar Network, which serves as the family investment office for eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, is spinning off its financial inclusion investment arm as Flourish Ventures. [ Tech Crunch ] Why companies like Lyft and Uber are going public without having profitsLyft filed paperwork to become a public company last week, with a valuation of $15 billion. But the ride-sharing company is still deeply unprofitable. The company had a net loss of nearly $1 billion last year. To put it another way, Lyft lost about $1.47 for every ride* it gave in 2018. Lyft’s main competitor Uber, which is poised to file for an IPO as well, is also posting losses on a per-trip basis (though it’s tricky to estimate how much since Uber includes Uber Eats deliveries and Uber Freight shipments, in addition to taxi and scooter rides, in trip estimates). Uber’s valuation is expected to be anywhere from $76 billion to $120 billion. [ Re/Code ] Grab Confirms $1.46B SoftBank InvestmentSingapore ride-hailing company Grab confirmed that it received a $1.46 billion investmentfrom SoftBank’s Vision Fund, bringing its Series H to $4.5 billion, the company said. This deal has been a long time coming – as it was first reported back in December by TechCrunch, and brings the company’s total funding up to $7.5 billion. [ Crunchbase ] The top 10 most active German VCsHome to the largest economy in Europe, Germany is a veritable treasure trove of successful startups. Big names such as fintech specialist N26 and car-trading platform provider AUTO1 have spawned from the country, which is seeing an increasing amount of VC money pour into its companies. [ Pitchbook ] Eargo raises $52M for virtually invisible, rechargeable hearing aidsEargo wants to become the ultimate consumer hearing brand.The company’s small and virtually invisible direct-to-consumer hearing aids, which come in an AirPods-style chargeable case, are designed to help destigmatize hearing loss. One month after revealing its newest product — the Eargo Neo ($2,550), which can be customized remotely via the case’s Bluetooth connectivity — the startup has closed a $52 million Series D, bringing its total raised to date to $135 million. [ Tech Crunch ] Unicorn Updates, Early March EditionMorning Markets: Let’s check in on the latest from the crowded and illiquid world of unicorns. Years ago, unicorns were rare. Just a handful of companies merited the moniker, making the term “unicorn” apt. There are few unicorns to be found in the wild, and there were about as many companies that met the original terms of the phrase. But in 2019 there are now hordes of unicorns in China, Silicon Valley, and around the world. Let’s take a quick look and see what’s the latest from the cohort. [ Crunchbase ] Daily Crunch: Y Combinator heads northThe Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, 1. The Silicon Valley exodus continues Many of the investors that touted
the exclusivity of “The Valley” have moved north to San Francisco, where they have better access to top entrepreneurs. Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley institution and to many the lifeblood of the startups and venture capital ecosystem, is the latest to pack up shop. [ Tech Crunch ] U.S. Telehealth Startups Offer Cures To Healthcare ChallengesSick of that drive to the doctor’s office and the anxiety that comes from waiting in their office as you grumble at the amount of time and cash it took for you to even get there in the first place? Yeah, you aren’t the only one. Not only have startups emerged to bring healthcare to a digitized level, but investors are seizing on the opportunity. [ Crunchbase ] Pioneer Square Labs is invigorating Seattle’s startup ecosystemThree miles from Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood — better known as Amazonia to locals — sits Pioneer Square. The original heart of the city, the area has managed to hold on to its decades-old charm as other parts of town are besieged by Amazon-contracted architects. On a mission to champion Seattle’s unique entrepreneurial DNA, startup studio Pioneer Square Labs has not only adopted the neighborhood’s moniker but established its
fast-growing HQ at its center. [ Tech Crunch ] Beam Therapeutics Closes Series B Financing Worth $135 MillionCambridge, Mass.-based Beam Therapeutics completed a $135 million Series B financing. The participants included new investors Redmile Group, Cormorant Asset Management, GV, Altitude Life Science Ventures, and undisclosed investors. Existing investors participating including F-Prime Capital, ARCH Venture Partners, Eight Roads Ventures, and Omega Funds. [ biospace ] It’s Official: SoftBank Invests $350 Mn In Delhivery At $1.6 Bn ValuationMasayoshi Son-led Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has invested about $350 Mn in Gurugram-based ecommerce logistics startup Delhivery taking its valuation to $1.6 Bn. Earlier last week (February 27), SoftBank received the final approval from Competition Commission of India (CCI) to pick up 22.44% of the total share capital of Delhivery Pvt. Ltd. CCI also approved acquisition of preference shares in Delhivery by CA Swift Investments. Mauritius-based CA Swift Investments is the special purpose vehicle of Carlyle Group. [ inc42 ] Personalized wine? This Milwaukee company just raised $8.5 million to prove it’s the futureWine buying is daunting for most people, whether it’s online or off a menu or in an aisle filled with so many brands that it’s hard not to buy the same products time after time, just to stay sane. [ Tech Crunch ] aMoon2 Raises $660 Million, Becomes Largest Israeli Venture Capital FirmOnline recurring payment startup Curlec has closed its seed funding round with investment from Captii Ventures, the investors known to back marketplaces, new media, fintech, agritech & enterprise applications. [ jewishpress ] Austin Startup Funding, Acquisitions and Venture Capital Activity in February 2019February seemed to start a bit slow, but it fired up with funding announcements as March approached. A few top deals included Pinpoint’s $13.5 million Series A, SpyCloud’s $21 million Series B and Datical’s $10 million Series C. But pay special attention to all the venture capital firm activity. Springdale Ventures emerged with plans for a $20 million fund for consumer packaged good startups, and Quake Capital, which recently moved to Austin, said it’s planning to raise a $100 million fund. [ americaninno ] AirAsia Targets Startups With New Venture Capital FundAirAsia, one of the world’s most successful budget airlines, has launched a venture capital fund that will focus on early-stage businesses, the company said Monday. The fund, called RedBeat Capital, will invest mostly in consumer-facing companies primarily based in southeast Asia. It has already invested in a voice-technology specialist, though it didn’t share details. [ Skift ] Precursor Ventures just raised a second fund to zero in on pre-seed-stage startupsPrecursor Ventures, a 3.5-year-old, seed-stage investment firm in San Francisco, just closed its second fund, with $31 million in capital commitments, roughly double what it raised for its debut effort in 2017. Somewhat amazingly, it has 75 portfolio companies to show from that first fund, and many more that it has been quietly funding with the second. Not only does it show how far smaller pools of capital can go, but Precursor is run by a single general partner, longtime VC
Charles Hudson, formerly of Uncork Capital. He has help from senior associate Sydney Thomas and, more newly, an analyst, Ayanna Kerrison, but it’s still a lot to manage. [ Tech Crunch ] Munchery hits its expiration date with bankruptcy filingAfter several failed attempts to find a buyer and abruptly suspending operations in January, the San Francisco-based food delivery business has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. [ Pitchbook ] More Atomico promotions sees three new partners at the European VC firmAtomico, the European venture capital firm founded by Skype’s Niklas Zennström, sometimes feels like it’s on a perpetual hiring and promotions spree, even if a number of partners have also departed over the years. Most recently, in November, Sophia Bendz, the former Spotify global director of Marketing, was promoted to partner. Bendz had already spent two and a half years as an executive-in-residence at the London-based VC firm. The same month, partner Carolina Brochado left to join SoftBank’s Vision Fund to help it source more deals in Europe. [ Tech Crunch ] spaceSense finds you ideal office space for your startup in Singapore and negotiates best deals for freeEunice Ooi calls herself a rebellious creature!A Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London, she left her comfortable corporate life as a Project Manager at GIC Singapore managing office fit-out projects, and went on a permanent maternity leave. [ e27 ] |