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No-Code Startups Take On the Enterprise; Metta World Peace's New App; Cell Therapy Funding
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Happy Friday. The National Venture Capital Association filed formal comments Thursday to the Treasury Department responding to proposed rules that would affect foreign investment in U.S. startups.
The NVCA asked for more clarity in the rules in areas such as the "principal place of business." The industry group also requested a more focused, narrower list of technologies that should be covered under the rules. The NVCA is concerned that, among other things, overly broad rules impact startups with technologies that don't have a national security interest.
The proposals, contained in the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, are part of expanding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or Cfius, a government panel that vets foreign investments and has helped scuttle several deals.
And now on to the news...
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Howie Liu is co-founder and chief executive officer of Airtable, which raised $100 million at a $1.1 billion valuation in November 2018. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Upending the enterprise. No-code and low-code software products occupy a small but expanding part of enterprise technology, WSJ Pro’s Tomio Geron reports.
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Such services are letting companies or teams with little or no technical staffing build software tools, websites or apps more easily, while reducing their reliance on engineers, contractors or third-party vendors.
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Venture capitalists suggest these no-code tools could replace longstanding enterprise software systems and upend traditional software markets, translating into billions of dollars of revenue that can be captured by new startups.
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“The thing people underestimate about no-code products is, if done right, it could scale to the level of replacing major workflow products for corporations,” said Max Gazor, board director at low-code startup Airtable, and general partner at CRV.
Hoops app. Metta World Peace, the former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player, is launching an app aimed at building a community of athletes looking to play basketball, WSJ Pro’s Tomio Geron reports. Mr. World Peace, who also is an angel investor in startups, has founded Los Angeles-based XvsX Inc., a company modeled after the gym-subscription startup ClassPass Inc. For $5 a month, XvsX Sports users get unlimited access to spaces where they can play basketball games.
Cell therapy startup. Venture capitalists are investing $85 million to launch Arsenal Biosciences Inc., a cancer cellular-therapy startup led by the former president of heavily funded cancer-testing company Grail Inc., WSJ Pro’s Brian Gormley reports. Ken Drazan is the founding chief executive of South San Francisco, Calif.-based Arsenal, which launched this year to join a race to treat a range of cancers through new types of cell therapy.
Female-entrepreneurs program. Barclays PLC and venture-capital firm Anthemis Group are looking for women with ideas for financial-technology startups, hoping some of them can start businesses that can eventually sell the London-based bank new software or other products, CIO Journal’s Sara Castellanos reports. The idea behind the Female Innovators Lab is to connect women entrepreneurs with their first round of venture-capital funding.
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Legalist Inc., which focuses on backing small civil lawsuits, has hired Sean Liu as its new chief financial officer, WSJ Pro Private Equity's Laura Kreutzer reports. Mr. Liu joins the San Francisco-based firm from SoftBank Investment Advisers.
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Apparel supply chains. Singapore-based fashion technology startup Zilingo is investing $100 million to launch operations in the U.S. as it builds out its supply-chain business connecting apparel brands with factories and suppliers, Jennifer Smith reports for the Journal's Logistics Report.
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Cigna Corp.’s Express Scripts acquired Verity Solutions for an undisclosed amount. Kirkland, Wash.-based Verity provides software and services developed for administration of the federal 340B drug pricing program. The company coutned Ignition Partners as an investor.
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Canadian fund manager La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said it would commit $50 million to Québec seed funds. Over the last five years, the firm has invested in funds such as Anges Québec Capital, InnovExport and Real Ventures.
Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures said it would invest $20 million startups founded by women. The firm will invest from its $150 million second fund that it launched in May. Founded in 2017, the Future Ventures Fund has invested more than $50 million in 18 startups that align with Northwestern Mutual’s investment strategy and goals.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at a previous meeting in September on Capitol Hill. PHOTO: ZACH GIBSON/GETTY IMAGES
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Zuckerberg rebuffs calls for tighter controls, saying free speech must be preserved. ‘We must continue to stand for free expression,’ the CEO said, as social media draws criticism over its role in the spread of misinformation.
New York lawmakers consider reclassifying gig workers. Business and tech groups urged the development of new ways for app-based contractors to get benefits.
Johnson & Johnson to pay $117 million over surgical device marketing. A multistate settlement follows allegations the company misled patients and health-care providers about transvaginal mesh products.
Juul halts online sales of some flavored e-cigarettes.
The move follows a similar discontinuation in retail stores last year; online sales account for less than 10% of the company’s sales.
Lawmakers pressed to take action on e-cigarettes. At a hearing, some public-health experts urged passage of a bill that would ban flavors and restrict advertising.
The ethics of AI. What happens when humans can’t agree on what is “right?”
How technology will revolutionize public trust. Though Americans increasingly distrust their institutions, digital platforms are spurring them to rely on one another like never before.
Goldman’s chief recruiter gets recruited to Silicon Valley. As he heads out West, Dane Holmes dishes on millennials, the techlash, and what people get wrong about Goldman.
Endeavor formally drops its IPO plans. Hollywood’s largest talent agency and the company behind Miss Universe and UFC didn’t offer a reason for the pullout.
One doctor’s positive experience with AI.
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Plexium Inc., a San Diego-based startup focused on developing treatments for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, closed a $28 million Series A round. DCVC Bio and Column Group led the investment, with participation from M Ventures, CRV and Neotribe Ventures. Kiersten Stead, managing partner of DCVC Bio, and Tim Kutzkey, managing partner of Column Group, have joined the company’s board.
Lemon Way, a Paris-based payment processing services provider, secured a €25 million ($27.8 million) investment from Toscafund Asset Management.
AZTherapies Inc., a Boston-based biopharmaceutical company developing a drug for patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, completed a $26.3 million Series C round. Spinnaker Capital and Cosine co-led the funding, which included participation from RADS Capital, IBS Capital and Wexford Capital.
Curiox Biosystems, a Singapore-based developer of bioinstrumentation technnology used in cell analysis and therapy for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, completed a $15 million Series B round from ZIG Ventures, KB Investment, IMM Investment, QUAD Investment, HB Investment, Dayli Investment and SV Investment.
Winnow, whose technology helps reduce food waste in commercial kitchens, picked up $12 million in Series B funding. Ingka Group and Mustard Seed led the round, with participation from Circularity Capital, D-Ax and Ingenious Group. The company also recently secured an $8 million loan from European Investment Bank. Winnow has offices in London, Singapore, Shanghai, Dubai, Romania and Iowa City, Iowa.
Ekos, a Charlotte, N.C.-based provider of business management software for craft breweries, cideries and wineries, landed $8 million in Series A financing. Noro-Moseley Partners led the round. General Partner Alan Taetle and Principal John Ale will join the company's board.
evervault, a data-privacy startup with offices in Dublin and San Francisco, was seeded with a $3.2 million investment. Sequoia Capital led the round, with contributions from Kleiner Perkins, Frontline and SV Angel.
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Bynder, a digital asset management provider, hired Bert van der Zwan as chief executive. He joins the Amsterdam-based company from Onguard, where he has been CEO. Insight Venture Partners is an investor in Bynder.
San Francisco- and Berlin-based e.ventures appointed Patrick "Pat" Reilly as global chief financial officer. Prior to joining the firm, he was CFO at TCV.
Impel NeuroPharma, which is developing treatments for central nervous system disorders, appointed Diane Wilfong to its board. She is currently senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer at Gilead Sciences Inc. Seattle-based Impel is backed by investors including venBio, 5AM Ventures and Vivo Capital.
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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
The Team: Tomio Geron, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley, Heather Mack, Katie Roof and Marc Vartabedian.
Follow us on Twitter: @wsjvc, @tomiogeron, @ychernova, @BrianPGormley, @1heathermack, @katie_roof, @marcvarta.
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