SoftBank Tech Fund Invests $500 Million in Drive Safety StartupSoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund agreed to invest $500 million in a U.S. company that gathers and analyzes data on how people drive. Cambridge Mobile Telematics will use the money to accelerate its DriveWell platform used by insurers and others to measure driving risk, the company said in a statement Wednesday. [ Bloomberg ]
Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. Benchmark’s Scott Belsky has four magic words for entrepreneurs: ‘Do your fucking job’When we talk about startups, we overemphasize the exciting launches, exhilarating exits and demoralizing defeats — and we don’t talk enough about the middle part of the story, Adobe Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky says. To rectify this problem, Belsky — the former Behance CEO who now spends his time at Adobe and Benchmark, where he is a venture partner — has written an advice book called “The Messy Middle.” On the latest episode of Recode Decode, he shared some of his favorite pieces of advice, which he said could apply to creative projects and new products as much as they apply to new companies. [ Recode ] Checkout Benchmark's Deals, Exits and Fund Raised Data. Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. Bowtie raises $30M to bring digital insurance model to Hong KongThe digital revolution has spawned ‘challenger’ banks that operate entirely online, with no high street presence. That phenomenon has taken off in Europe — particularly the UK — but over in Hong Kong, one of the world’s key financial hubs, the digital-only push is coming to the insurance industry. Bowtie, a Hong Kong-based digital insurer, just announced a double milestone today: the company has become the first online-only operator to earn a license in the country while it has also revealed it has raised a HK$234 million ($30 million) Series A funding round. [ Tech Crunch ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. Q&A: Sanitary napkins to condoms - Heyday founder Kanoria pitches for biodegradable productsDeepanjali Kanoria was 24 when she quit her job as a financial consultant in New York and returned to India to pursue her dream of seeing her products on store shelves. She researched the FMCG sector and found the feminine hygiene segment ripe for disruption. Kanoria launched Heyday, a biodegradable sanitary napkin, in October 2017. Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. This Meal Delivery Company Was Just Another Struggling Startup Until Wooing Restaurants Paid OffA year ago, DoorDash Inc. looked like just another meal delivery app maker on its way out. The company was burning cash as it struggled to differentiate its software from that of Uber Eats, GrubHub Inc., and other competitors, and it had recently sold shares that valued the company at less than its previous funding round. Then something strange happened: Excluding overhead expenses such as salaries and rent, DoorDash started turning a profit. Granted, that’s a generous definition of the word “profit,” but it was enough for Saudi-backed SoftBank Group Corp., which swooped in to lead a fresh round of investment totaling $535 million. [ Bloomberg ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. LA-Based Sweetgreen Aims to Become Among First $1 Billion Food StartupsLos Angeles-based fast casual salad company Sweetgreen is swinging for the fences, aiming to join the ranks of so-called “unicorn” companies like Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, and WeWork. The unofficial moniker is reserved for those companies (usually found in tech) that have amassed outside investment money at a valuation of over $1 billion. [ Eater ] 10 startups outside of Silicon Valley to watch in 2019Silicon Valley remains the undisputed leader of the U.S. startup scene. But 2018 also left some investors envious of the exits taking place in other parts of the country — with Cisco acquiring Michigan’s Duo Security for $2.35 billion and SAP acquiring Qualtrics for $8 billion. [ Venture Beat ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. SpaceX said to be raising $500M to help fund internet serviceSpaceX is raising $500 million at a valuation of $30.5 billion, according to a WSJ report citing people familiar with the matter. The company is said to be raising the capital in part to help fund its ambitious Starlink internet service project. According to the announced plan, SpaceX intends to launch 11,000 satellites to plaster the globe with internet connectivity. So far, SpaceX has launched just two prototype satellites, even though earlier reports stated SpaceX, at one time, projected it would have 400 satellites in orbit by the end of 2018. [ Tech Crunch ] Research over 15K+ Venture Capital Investors on our platform. How Socially Responsible Investing Lost Its Soul“It’s easy to invest in what you believe.” That’s the pitch for TD Ameritrade’s foray into socially responsible ETFs, one of the year’s hottest financial crazes. today’s activist age has spawned an array of funds designed to appeal to millennials with a cause. And everyone, from BlackRock Inc. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and hedge fund titan Paul Tudor Jones, is jumping on the bandwagon.[ Bloomberg ] This day in buyout history: KKR goes glasses shoppingYou may not know the name National Vision. But if you bought your glasses at a Walmart—or at one of hundreds of other eyewear retailers across the US—you might be wearing the company's product on your face as you read this sentence. [ PitchBook ] QuickTake Explains 2019Bloomberg News reporters in more than 100 cities will cover the stories that matter most in 2019. Here’s a selection of key events, plus links to related QuickTake explainers. QuickTakes unravel complicated subjects and provide a concise, easy-to-read entry point to current debates. [ Bloomberg ] |