Morningstar agrees to buy remaining stake in venture capital data provider PitchBook for $180 million
PitchBook specializes in compiling venture capital, IPO and M&A data on tens of thousands of companies, offering investors, journalists and analysts a treasure trove of information about the latest deals and investment activity. Now, the Seattle-based company has become its very own data point. Financial information juggernaut Morningstar announced this morning that it intends to purchase the remaining shares of PitchBook that it did not already own for $180 million. The transaction values PitchBook — which employs more than 300 at offices in Seattle, New York and London — at $225 million. [ Geekwire ]
How a 27-Year-Old College Dropout Is Simplifying Health Care
Grant Verstandig of Rally Health is trying to put health back in the consumer’s hands. At the risk of inducing hives, I would like to ask you to take a moment to think about your health care plan. Do you know all the benefits you’re entitled to? Do you know if you have a health savings account, and if so, how much it contains? Do you know if there are steps you can take to reduce your premium and what those steps are? If you’re shopping for a new plan, do you know if you should get an HMO, a PPO, or a point-of-service plan based on your biometrics, prior family history, location, income? Do you even know your biometrics? [ Fortune ]
Meet Jordan Hewson: The Tech Entrepreneur Who’s No Longer Just ‘Bono’s Daughter’
You can describe Jordan Hewson in many ways — a social activist, a first-time tech entrepreneur, a 27-year-old living in Brooklyn, New York. But that’s not what you’ll find when you Google her. Instead, in headline after headline the same two-word description precedes her name: “Bono’s daughter.” [ Fortune ]
Will You Trust Marcus (And Goldman Sachs) With Your Debt?
The shadow of the financial crisis continues to haunt big banks. Can digital products like Marcus exorcise those ghosts? One hundred and sixty-eight years ago, at a time when U.S. states still minted their own currency and the Statue of Liberty had yet to be built, a Bavarian immigrant by the name of Marcus Goldman first stepped foot on American soil. For two decades our humble hero made a living as a peddler and shopkeeper. Then, in 1869, he reinvented himself as a banker, brokering IOUs from a basement office next to a coal chute in the shadow of Wall Street. He died at age 82, father to five children and the beginnings of a financial empire. [ Fast Company ]
LATEST FUNDING
Digital Publishers Come Together as Group Nine Media, Backed by $100 Million From Discovery
The digital media industry is facing an extremely competitive revenue landscape. In times like this, it's sometimes better to link arms with other, similar, companies, backed by an even bigger, more profitable company.Discovery Communications on Thursday announced a $100 million minority investment in a new entity that will merge three digital media companies --Thrillist Media Group, NowThis Media, and The Dodo -- with two companies, Seeker and SourceFed Studios, that are already owned by Discovery. [ Adage ]
mParticle lands $17.5 million to boost access to ‘third wave’ of mobile data
Mobile data is key to a brand’s marketing and engineering success. To be data-driven in a world where the smartphone is only ever three feet away from the average consumer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week means collecting mobile data above everything. Today, mParticle — a mobile data platform that allows brands to gather and connect customer information — has announced a Series B funding round of $17.5 million, led by new investor Bain Capital Ventures, along with existing investor Social Capital.
[ Venture Beat ]
Pluto TV Lands $30M Financing From Scripps Networks And ProSiebenSat.1
Pluto TV, a free online television startup based in Los Angeles, has landed $30 million in Series B financing round led by German media company ProSiebenSat.1, with participation from Scripps Network Interactive. Launched in March 2014, Pluto TV has amassed more than five million monthly viewers who tune into its 100-plus live TV channels that feature a mix of serious news, mainstream entertainment and light Internet fare. The latest round brings Pluto TV’s total venture haul to $43 million and gives the fledgling company a $140 million valuation. [ Forbes ]
TouchBistro raises $13 million to serve restaurants with iPad-powered point-of-sale smarts
TouchBistro, a provider of point-of-sale technology for restaurants, has raised CDN$17 million (USD$13 million) in a Series B round led by BDC IT Venture Fund, with participation from Round13 Capital, Huff Capital, Relay Ventures, and Kensington Capital Partners. Founded in 2011, New York-headquartered TouchBistro offers iPad point-of-sale (POS) apps and analytics for cafes, bars, restaurants, food trucks, and anyone operating in the food-and-drink realm. Available in 37 countries, TouchBistro enables servers to take customer orders and beam them straight to the kitchen / bar. Additionally, the app can calculate and split bills based any way a customer requests, integrate with third-party card terminals and mobile wallets, and provide sales analytics and reports. [ Venture Beat ]
FourKites raises $13 million to track trucks on the road for customers like Staples
FourKites, a two-year-old, Chicago-based company aiming to make sense of the fragmented trucking industry for vendors trying to ship their goods, has raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from earlier backers Hyde Park Venture Partners, Hyde Park Angels, and Otter. What the platform is promising more specifically is visibility into where each truck is traveling at any point in time, so that problems — a breakdown, an unforeseen delay — can be addressed quickly. [ Tech Crunch ]
axialHealthcare Accelerates Care and Capabilities with $16.5 Million in Series B Funding
Axial Healthcare, Inc., the nation’s leading pain care solutions company, announced today it has closed a $16.5 million Series B round of financing. Oak HC/FT, a venture growth-equity fund investing in healthcare services, led the funding round, which will be used to further drive expansion of axial’s suite of pain management capabilities, including a cloud-based, provider decision-support platform for pain treatment. Previous investors, .406 Ventures, BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, and Sandbox Advantage Fund, also participated in this latest round of financing. “Over the last four years, axial has curated the country’s most comprehensive database of
evidence-based best practices for pain treatment,” said Nancy Brown, Venture Partner at Oak HC/FT. “The rate of opioid misuse, abuse or overdose underscores the need for a smarter, information-driven approach to pain treatment that payers, providers and patients can use. axialHealthcare has pioneered evidence-based pain management solutions and is leading the way in addressing barriers to safe and effective pain treatment. I am excited to join their Board of Directors to continue to solve these issues.”
[ Business Wire ]
ComplyAdvantage raises $8.2M Series A to help firms manage compliance
Back in the days when I did a startup I almost de-railed our VC funding after discovering my passport had expired. Without it I couldn’t pass the anti-money laundering checks imposed on the fancy and overpriced London law firm we’d hired. Then we almost failed to open a bank account so we could actually receive the money because we were unable to fly over all of our investors from Eastern and Central Europe to pass ID checks in person. The takeaway: compliance is a pain in the ass. Enter ComplyAdvantage, a London-based startup that claims to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to help firms manage compliance obligations and at reduced cost. The young company is
announcing $8.2 million in Series A funding led by Balderton Capital, money it plans to plough into growth across Europe and the U.S., including opening a New York office this week.
[ Tech Crunch ]
Hyperloop One Raises $50 Million in Fresh Funding, Hires Senior Finance Executive
Hyperloop One Inc. has hired a senior financial executive and raised $50 million in new financing to keep its development on track after an acrimonious lawsuit with the transportation startup’s co-founder. Brent Callinicos, previously chief financial officer at Uber Technologies Inc., joined Hyperloop One this week as chief financial adviser. The role is important for the company as it tries to fund the costly development of a transportation network that can shuttle people and cargo through tubes at nearly the speed of sound. [ WSJ ]
LATEST EXITS
Dutch Waste Management Firm Attero Draws Chinese Bidders
China Gezhouba Group Corp., builder of the world’s biggest hydropower dam, and Beijing Enterprises Holdings Ltd. are among companies that made first-round bids for Dutch waste management company Attero, people with knowledge of the matter said. China Communications Construction Co., the nation’s second-biggest construction firm by market value, and state-owned China Energy Conservation & Environmental Protection Group, known as CECEP, also submitted indicative offers by the deadline at the end of September, according to the people. The sale, which has also drawn interest from Beijing Capital Group Co., could value Attero at about $800 million to $1 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. [ Bloomberg ]
FUND RAISE
Former Chairman of the NVCA and Two Kauffman Fellows Join Forces to Launch Impact Venture Capital and Announce Venture Summit in California
Dixon Doll, Eric Ball, and Jack Crawford announced today that they are launching a new venture capital firm named Impact Venture Capital with California investment offices in Burlingame and Sacramento. Impact Venture Capital will also host a large-scale global venture summit event this year in California at the new Golden 1 Center, widely recognized as the most high-tech arena in the world. The firm will make investments alongside corporate venture groups in early stage information technology startups, with a focus on software and data analytics, and a commitment to serving one of four “global challenges”: security and government; energy and transportation; agriculture and health; and education and media. [ Business Wire ]
Arsenal Doubles Down on Industrial and Healthcare M&A with Fourth Fund
Arsenal Capital Partners has closed its fourth private equity fund, called Arsenal Capital Fund IV LP, at $1.3 billion. The firm has raised nearly $2.98 billion in investments since its inception in 2002. Headquartered in New York City, Arsenal is a lower middle market private equity firm focused on industrial and healthcare companies with up to $250 million in enterprise value. More than 85 percent of previous investors re-upped in Fund IV. The remaining portion are new investors such as California State Teachers’ Retirement System, PensionDanmark and Sentry Insurance. Previous investors who committed to Fund IV include: The Regents of University of California, Northwestern Mutual and PPM America. “The Arsenal high-growth, buy and build strategy and model continue to win in the market, as evidenced by the 34 platform investments and 21 realizations completed since inception, generating excellent returns for our investors,” says Arsenal co-founder Jeffery Kovach. [ the middle market ]
