Ant Financial Raises $14B To Fund Global ExpansionChina’s Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba, has completed a mega-funding round that raised a total of $14 billion from domestic and international investors. The fundraising was made up of a yuan-denominated tranche that came mainly from existing shareholders, as well as a dollar-denominated tranche raised from global institutional investors that included Singapore’s sovereign wealth funds GIC and Temasek, Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional Berhad and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.Private equity groups like Warburg Pincus, Silver Lake Partners and General Atlantic also participated in the dollar tranche, according to a statement from Ant Financial. [ Forbes ] Jessica Alba's Honest Co. just got a $200 million lifelineThe consumer goods company co-founded by the actress announced Wednesday it's receiving a fresh round of funding from L Catterton, a private equity firm that invests in various health and wellness brands. The minority stake is worth $200 million. Honest said the investment will help the company reach a global audience. CEO Nick Vlahos said in a statement that L Catterton was the "right partner," because of the firm's expertise in global supply chains. Viahos said Honest will focus its business on its baby and beauty categories going forward, hoping the strategy and investment "will fuel our evolution into an iconic global brand." [ CNN ] America’s Startup Scene Is Looking AnemicWhy aren’t people starting more startups? That might seem like a weird question to ask, in an age when Silicon Valley ventures are hot commoditiesand money and talent is flooding into machine learning companies. But in fact, Americans don’t start businesses like they used to: Some of this decline has come from the decline of small businesses. When national chains like Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. can come to town and muscle out the competition, there’s not much point in opening a mom-and-pop shop. Online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. just compound the effect. Research indicates that this has been responsible for much of the overall decline in entrepreneurship. [ Bloomberg ] Gett raises $80M led by VW at a $1.4B valuation, says it will be profitable by Q1 of next yearWhile Uber is growing its business with a net loss on its balance sheet, a smaller rival has confirmed a round of funding, and projects that it will be profitable by Q1 of next year. Gett, the transportation-on-demand startup that competes with the likes of Uber but also traditional taxi cabs, has raised $80 million led by existing investor VW with participation from other previous investors. [ TechCrunch ] Index Ventures Expects A $2 Billion Windfall From Early Bets On FintechNeil Rimer is leading his venture capital fund to a $2 billion windfall from fintech, but just be careful how you describe the industry. “You know, I actually hate that word,” Rimer interrupted when I met him last month. The Canadian-born, American-accented, Swiss national has a tongue just as sharp as his investments. [ Forbes ] Intel-Backed Startup Wants to Become the Uber of the SkiesForget autonomous cars -- your next taxi might whiz you across town through the air. Volocopter GmbH, a German startup backed by Intel Corp.and Daimler AG, has built a drone-like electric helicopter to ferry travelers across city skies. The company expects to offer its first commercial trips in the next three to five years, after completing test flights in Dubai and Las Vegas. It’s now seeking at least $100 million to gear up manufacturing of the flying taxis. [ Bloomberg ] The Hybrid and Gaza Sky Geeks are helping Arab-Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs overcome adversityImagine trying to build a business in a country where 90 percent of the water is undrinkable, electricity only works four hours a day and your travel is restricted to an area four times the size of Manhattan, and where in-person meetings are impossible because your partners can’t enter your country to meet you. [ TechCrunch ] Lyft is also building an ‘Amazon of transportation,’ just like UberUber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said his company wants to become the “Amazon of transportation.” Now Lyft is following that lead. The company wants to be the one-stop shop for any city’s transportation options — even those that don’t include a Lyft ride. Companies like Uber and Lyft have long wanted to become viable first- and last-mile solutions that connect riders to transit and other modes of transportation. [ Re/Code ] Lockheed gives big boost to venture capital armStartup Grind - Emily Melton and Maryanna Saenko (DFJ) The 5 Forces Driving Startup Valuations TodaySelf-driving robot delivery startup Starship Technologies raises $25 millionSaaStr Live with Jason Lemkin: Europa Edition!7 US Startups Off To A Strong M&A Run In 2018 Qumulo raises $93M to tackle hybrid cloud file storage, total funding now $230MReverse pitch: Investors on stageSilicon Valley's culture of breaking things is totally brokenUnchained Capital Raises $3M To Lend Fiat To HODLers Asia news roundup: Qulian lands $234m, Ant pivots, and Meituan eyes IPOPACIFIC • The 'Women in Tech' problem is worse than you thinkThe Largest Buys Of Tech’s Big Five: A Look At M&A Deals lands $11.5M Series B led by Sequoia IndiaPE firm partners with MLB to buy Rawlings for $395MThese are the competitive pressures driving automakers to accelerate new tech adoption Crypto's 32-Year-Old Billionaire Mining King Considers an IPO
Coinbase is acquiring a securities dealer in order to trade your startup tokens Fintech start-up Revolut grabs 2 million users and plans to launch commission-free trading serviceWomen-owned companies raise less funding but generate more revenue, report findsWomen in tech: shameful numbers hide our heroic change-makersZebra Medical Vision gets $30M Series C to create AI-based tools for radiologistsDevo scores $25 million and cool new name |