1.
The TikTok drama shines a spotlight on the rare tech investor who is backing Trump
The ultimate fate of TikTok could be shaped in part by the efforts of one billionaire tech investor who has earned the distinction of being a particularly rare type of Silicon Valley unicorn: a major donor to Donald Trump. ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of the hit video sharing app, is in a boxing match with the Trump administration, which has threatened to ban it from the United States next month. But TikTok has an investor who looms large in the drama because of his personal ties and access
to the White House. Doug Leone, one of the leaders of one of Silicon Valley’s most celebrated firms, Sequoia Capital, and his wife together have given about $400,000 over the last two years to Trump’s campaign and affiliated groups such as the Republican National Committee and a pro-Trump super PAC. That makes the Leones two of the very biggest donors to Trump in Silicon Valley, where business leaders have almost entirely run away from publicly backing the President. [ Vox
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2.
Unpacking Duck Creek Technologies’ IPO and hoped-for $2.7B valuation
Tech stocks retain their highs as the second quarter’s earnings season begins to fade into the rearview mirror, and there are still a number of companies looking to go public while the times are good. It looks like a smart move, as public investors are hungry for growth-oriented shares — which is just what tech and venture-backed companies have in spades. The companies currently looking to go public are diverse. China-based real-estate giant KE Holdings — a hybrid listings company and digital transaction portal for housing — is looking to raise as much as $2.3 billion in a U.S. listing. Xpeng, another China-based company that builds electric vehicles, is looking to list in the U.S as well. Xpeng has the distinction of being gross-margin negative in every key time period detailed in its S-1 filing. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
Special:
Skillshare’s Online Learning Platform Receives $66M Series D Boost
Skillshare, which focuses on online learning for creative fields, announced a $66 million Series D funding round led by OMERS Growth Equity , the company said Monday. Existing investors Union Square Ventures, Amasia, Burda Principal Investments and Spero Ventures also participated in the investment. With the latest round, New York-based Skillshare has raised a total of $108 million since its inception in 2010, according to the company. Today’s funding is the largest investment to date and follows a $20 million Series C secured in 2018, according to Crunchbase data. As part of the investment, Saar Pikar, managing director at OMERS Growth Equity, will join the Skillshare board of directors. [ Crunchbase ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
3.
Start-Ups Braced for the Worst. The Worst Never Came.
Getaround, a car sharing start-up, started the year by laying off 150 employees and scaling back some operations after it spent too much on a rapid expansion. Two months later, with the spread of the coronavirus, business got even worse. The company laid off another 100 employees, asked those who remained to volunteer for pay cuts, obtained a government loan of $5 million to $10 million and battled bankruptcy rumors. But in May, something unexpected happened: Business bounced back when people began using the start-up’s cars to get on the road again. Getaround’s revenue in the United States for the year is now 40 percent above where it was a year ago. Last month, it brought back all of its furloughed employees and started hiring again. [ NY Times ]
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4.
Mux raises $37M Series C as its API-based video streaming service scales
This morning, Mux, a startup that provides API-based video streaming tooling and analytics, announced that it has closed a $37 million Series C round of capital. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, which included participation from Accel and
Cobalt. Prior to this funding round, Mux most recently raised a roughly $20 million round in mid-2019. In total, the company had raised a hair under $32 million before its Series C, according to PitchBook data. The Mux round
lands amidst a number of trends that we’re tracking here at TechCrunch, namely API-based startups, which are hot as a group at the moment, and startups that are serving an accelerating digital transformation. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
5.
Incomlend Raises USD20M in Series A Equity Funding
Incomlend, a Singapore-based online invoice trading platform, raised US $20m in Series A funding. The round was led by Sequoia India with participation from CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics. The company intends to use the funds for expansion into Europe, Southeast Asia, and North Asia, while advancing its technological development in digital invoice finance underwriting and processing. Founded in 2016 by Morgan Terigi and Dmitri Kouchnirenko, Incomlend provides a global invoice exchange platform that connects exporters and importers with institutional investors. Through the system, exporters can get paid early for supplied goods and services while importers are able to extend payment terms and minimize the risk of supply chain disruption. Investors, meanwhile, can access a new alternative asset class and accelerate return on capital. Incomlend works with clients across Europe, North America, and Asia among others. [ Finsmes ]
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6.
Polish health tech startup Infermedica raises $10 million Series A
Polish startup Infermedica, creator of an AI-based platform for preliminary diagnosis and triage, has raised $10.25 million in Series A funding. The round was led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and digital health fund Heal Capital, with participation from existing investors Karma Ventures, Inovo Venture Partners, and Dreamit Ventures. The new capital brings total funding to $15 million. [ tech.eu ]
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7.
Hatzerim-based Picodya raises $10 million for rapid diagnostics innovation
After making a fortune from the sale of drip-irrigation company Netafim Ltd. in 2018, Israeli Kibbutz Hatzerim is at it again, with local company Picodya on the verge of completing a $10 million funding round led by SIBF (Southern Israel Bridging Fund) at a valuation of between $80 and $100 million. Hatzerim has invested several million dollars in Picodya, which has developed an in vitro diagnostics (IVD) platform named B-Matrix. The innovative product is able to conduct a panel of tests and analyses by creating thousands of picoliter (10-12) marker droplets for multiple patients in parallel. According to Picodya, results are delivered within 15-20 minutes and the system is able to help diagnose and treat cancer, cardiac dysfunction, and infectious diseases,
including Covid-19, flu and SARS. [ Calcalistech ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
8.
Intel’s Head of Venture Investing, M&A Resigns
Floyd Abrams, one of the most prominent First Amendment lawyers in the country, has a new client: the facial recognition company Clearview AI. Litigation against the start-up “has the potential of leading to a major decision about the interrelationship between privacy claims and First Amendment defenses in the 21st century,” Mr. Abrams said in a phone interview. He said the underlying legal questions could one day reach the Supreme Court. Clearview AI has scraped billions of photos from the internet, including from platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram, and sells access to the resulting database to law
enforcement agencies. When an officer uploads a photo or a video image containing a person’s face, the app tries to match the likeness and provides other photos of that person that can be found online. [ NY Times ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
9.
Conflicting Data on the State of the US Early Stage Market
After I wrote a post on the health of the seed market during COVID, AngelList Venture emailed me saying they observed different patterns in their early-stage data and offered to collaborate. This data set is unique because it records transacted
deals on the AngelList platform. The first post highlighted a 40% reduction in seed investment in Q2 2020 and 42% increase in Series A investment, quarter over quarter. AngelList data shows different patterns. Last, the AngelList team provided data on pre-money valuations, which is rare data! We see pre-seeds have fallen from mid-2018 highs of $10m to about $5m. Seeds persist at $10m pre-money. And Series As oscillate around $30M over the last two years. [ Tomasz Tunguz ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
10.
70 TIP: Global Value Investing w/ Meb Faber
Howard Marks, co-founder and co-chairman at Oaktree Capital, the largest investor in distressed securities worldwide, warns the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury can't keep stimulating the economy forever. He speaks with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker on "Bloomberg Markets." Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
11.
Lunch Money #93: Fortune Global 500, Jimmy Lai, Twitter, Wendy’s, Education, & George W. Bush
Welcome to the 93rd episode of Lunch Money with hosts Anthony "Pomp" Pompliano and Polina Marinova. Remember, while Wall Street is trying to get rich, the rest of us are just trying to get our lunch money right.
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12.
Automation and Robots in The Manufacturing Sector with Tyler and Colby Stilson
Automation and Robots in The Manufacturing Sector with Tyler and Colby Stilson of Operose Manufacturing. The possibilities of automation have hung over the head of manufacturing industries for many decades and while some may shortsightedly characterize robots as replacing human jobs, those with more foresight see the potential innovation and freshness that they can bring to small and big businesses alike. To discuss the current state of automation in their manufacturing shop, we are joined on the show today by Tyler and Colby Stilson of Operose, a relatively small job shop, embracing automation wherever possible and sensible. We get to hear from these brothers about their different routes to the sector and what drove their passion for making things.
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13.
264 TIP. Mastermind Discussion 3Q 2019
14.
Esports: Gathering and Growing Communities with Austin Smith
15.
In Visible Capital S1 E11: Breaking Down the Problems with PPP
PitchBook news executive editor Alec Davis and senior financial journalist James Thorne join the program to discuss the US government’s Paycheck Protection Program, which is set to expire August 8. Topics include a look at how many venture capital and private equity-backed companies received loans (2:30), how some justified taking money (4:28), how affiliation rules impacted who got funds (9:10), the preferential tax treatment that PE and VC investors already enjoy (12:32) and how to treat the unreliable SBA data that some companies have already disputed (16:41). Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
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