Good day. The tear that large growth-stage venture capital went on last year is picking up where it left off.

Mega-rounds, or deals of at least $100 million, accounted for nearly half of the record $130 billion that U.S. startups raised in venture funding last year, according to data from analytics firm CB Insights. A rash of big investments in startups last week seemed to indicate the trend would continue in 2021.

Cloud security startup Lacework Inc. raised a $525 million growth round with a valuation of over $1 billion from investors including Sutter Hill Ventures, Altimeter Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Coatue Management and Dragoneer Investment Group.

Videogame company Roblox Corp. raised $520 million in a Series H round led by Altimeter Capital and Dragoneer Investment Group as it prepares to hit public markets via a direct listing.

A handful of other deals, of up to $300 million, also showed the fundraising market is off to a healthy start this year.

And now on to the news...

CES, the world’s largest tech show, is quite something to behold. Or it would be if you could actually behold it in person, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Almost inconceivably sprawling in its pre-pandemic incarnations, the industry extravaganza spanned the entire Las Vegas Convention Center, the nearby Sands Expo and chunks of a dozen or more hotels up and down the Strip. It was like a Disneyland for tech. This year, you actually can see it all—but only from the little screen through which you see pretty much everything else these days. Vegas and CES will be without each other for the first time in decades. No more blimp rides.

The Paycheck Protection Program of forgivable loans will reopen on Monday, the Trump administration said, as the federal government extends efforts to preserve jobs and help businesses weather the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns, WSJ reports. The program, administered by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department, will initially reopen for first-time borrowers, with second-time borrowers eligible to apply on Wednesday.

• Only community-based lenders, such as community-development financial institutions and minority depository institutions, will be allowed to process loan applications for at least two days after the program reopens. Trump administration officials said other lenders would follow soon after, but didn’t specify when.
   
• Congress last month authorized $284 billion to provide forgivable loans to small businesses as part of its broader, $900 billion coronavirus relief bill. The new iteration of PPP will be far smaller than the original, which doled out $525 billion between April and August, and more narrowly focused on smaller businesses that can demonstrate need.

People

Sports tech investor SeventySix Capital promoted Chad Stender to partner. Prior to joining the firm, he worked for the Philadelphia Flyers and Comcast Spectacor.

Cancer therapy developer Erasca Inc. named Wei Lin to the post of chief medical officer, and promoted David Chacko to chief financial officer. Mr. Lin was previously senior vice president and head of development at Nektar Therapeutics. Prior to joining Erasca, Mr. Chacko was a principal at Versant Ventures. San Diego-based Erasca has raised $300 million in financing from investors including ARCH Venture Partners, City Hill Ventures and Cormorant Asset Management.

Exits

Raleigh, N.C.-based Red Hat Inc., which was acquired by International Business Machines Corp. last year, agreed to purchase Kubernetes and container security provider StackRox Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Based in Mountain View, Calif., StackRox is backed by investors including Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Amplify Partners.

Bloomerang acquired nonprofit fundraising software peer Kindful for an undisclosed amount. Indianapolis-based Bloomerang recently secured an investment from growth equity firm JMI Equity. Nashville, Tenn.-based Kindful was backed by Fintop Capital.

IAC’s ANGI Home Services acquired Umbrella Inc., a provider of home services to seniors, for an undisclosed amount. New York-backed Umbrella previously raised funding from Thrive Capital and Inspired Capital.

IPO Tracking

ON24 Inc., which offers webinars and other virtual events, filed preliminary documents for an initial public offering. Number of shares to be offered and the price range were not disclosed. The San Francisco-based company, which was founded in 1998 as NewsDirect Inc., is backed by entities affiliated with U.S. Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Goldman Sachs and Rho Ventures. ON24 intends to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ONTF.”

Affinivax Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup developing a pneumococcal vaccine, closed a $226 million Series C round co-led by new investors Rock Springs Capital and Foresite Capital. Additional new investors T. Rowe Price, Wellington Management, funds and accounts managed by Blackrock, Cormorant Asset Management, Perceptive Advisors, EcoR1 Capital, Surveyor Capital and Logos Capital also participated in the funding, and were joined by returning backers Viking Global Investors, Bain Capital Life Sciences and Ziff Capital Healthcare Ventures. Kris Jenner, founder and partner at Rock Springs Capital, joined the company’s board.

Resident, a mattress and home goods platform, snagged a $130 million Series B investment. Crossover Partners and Nexus Capital Management led the round, which included participation from Baron Capital Group. 

DiCE Molecules, a South San Francisco, Calif.-based biopharmaceutical startup, completed an $80 million Series C round led by RA Capital Management. New investors Eventide Asset Management, New Leaf Venture Partners, Soleus Capital, Driehaus Capital Management, Osage University Partners and Asymmetry Capital Management also participated in the funding, along with existing backers Northpond Ventures, Sands Capital, Sanofi Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Altitude Life Science Ventures and Agent Capital. Jake Simson, partner at RA Capital, will join the board.

Glia, a New York- and Estonia-based digital customer service provider, raised $78 million in Series C funding led by Insight Partners.

Endeavor BioMedicines, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based startup whose idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment candidate will enter Phase II trials later this year, landed $62 million in Series A financing led by Omega Funds, Longitude Capital and Endeavor’s management.

Kira Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass.- and China-based developer of therapies to treat immune-mediated diseases, picked up a $53.5 million Series B+ investment. RA Capital Management and Vivo Capital co-led the round, which included support from Foresite Capital, APlus Partners, Quan Capital and Qiming Venture Partners USA.

LifeMine Therapeutics Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup that uses a genomics-based platform to identify new medicines from fungi, raised $50 million in Series B funding. Rick Klausner and Milky Way Investments led the round, with participation from GV, WuXi Healthcare Ventures, Foresite Capital, Arch Ventures, Blue Pool Capital and MRL Ventures Fund. William G. Kaelin Jr. was appointed to the company’s board.

Oxbotica, a U.K.-based autonomous vehicle software developer, nabbed $47 million in Series B financing from BGF, bp Ventures, Halma, HostPlus, IP Group,Tencent, Venture Science and funds advised by Doxa Partners.

Abcuro Inc., a Newton, Mass.-based startup developing immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, snagged $42 million in Series A1 funding. Mass General Brigham Ventures and Sanofi Ventures co-led the round, which included support from Pontifax Venture Capital, Hongsen Investment Group, RA Capital Management and Samsara BioCapital. In addition to the financing, David de Graaf was appointed chief executive. He was most recently CEO of Comet Therapeutics. Sanofi Ventures’ Jason Hafler, Pontifax’s Iyona Rajkomar, RA Capital’s Ryan Berry and Samsara BioCapital’s Donald McCarthy have joined Abcuro’s board.

Carrum Health Inc., a South San Francisco, Calif.-based digital health-care marketplace, scored a $40 million Series A round. Tiger Global Management led the investment, which saw support from GreatPoint Ventures, Cross Creek, Wildcat Venture Partners and SpringRock Ventures.

Outstanding Foods, a Los Angeles plant-based snack brand, collected $10 million in Series A financing led by SternAegis Ventures.

• Roku acquires rights to Quibi’s content
   
• Cisco spars with Acacia Communications over takeover deal
   
• Apple in talks with Hyundai about car ambitions, auto maker says
   
• Defense bill boosts federal AI research and development

• VCs discuss gaming’s biggest infrastructure investment opportunities in 2021 (TechCrunch)
   
• Google’s productivity guru has some advice for you (Protocol)
   
• The impractical but indisputable rise of retrocomputing (New York Times)

This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

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

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

Follow us on Twitter: @wsjvc, @ychernova, @BrianPGormley, @marcvarta.