Exclusive : Y Combinator Cuts Ties With Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner ProgramBillionaire venture capitalist and Facebook board member Peter Thiel is no longer affiliated with startup accelerator Y Combinator, according to an edited company blog post. Thiel was formerly a part-time partner with the accelerator. BuzzFeed News confirmed his departure with a source familiar with Y Combinator's management structure. On Thursday, a tweet from the account of social networking company Gab – whose founder was kicked out of Y Combinator – noted that a March 2015 blog post announcing Thiel’s appointment as a part-time partner at Y Combinator had been updated. That update currently reads “Edit: Peter Thiel is no longer affiliated with Y Combinator.” [ BuzzFeed ] Stitch Fix IPO: Online styling service's shares jump 14% in stock market debutShares of Stitch Fix Inc., an online clothing styling service, jumped 14% in their stock market debut after the company raised $120 million in an initial public offering. The San Francisco company, which has nearly 2.2 million active users, ships shoppers clothing to try on at home before they buy. Customers pay $20 to receive five items, and they can ship back whatever they don't like. They're charged for anything they keep, minus the $20 fee. [ LA Times ] E778: Greylock's Josh Elman: only metric that matters; Talla's Rob May: should you blockchain/ICO?Media startup Axios raises another $20 millionThere’s a glimpse of hope in new media as Axios just raised $20 million less than a year after its launch, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company already had a pretty big list of investors, and most of the startup’s existing investors are putting more money into Axios. Existing investors Greycroft Partners and Lerer Hippeau Ventures are co-leading today’s founding round (Lerer Hippeau Ventures previously invested in both BuzzFeed and HuffPost). NBCUniversal, Emerson Collective and Greg Penner are investing once again. And WndrCo is putting some money in Axios for the first time. [ TechCrunch ] As Rockets Deliver, Satellite Startups See An Explosion Of Interest From VCsThe voids of space are no longer the sovereign territory of ambitious governments with political points to prove. It’s now popular amongst small cadre of tech billionaires around the globe to regularly blast rockets into space. But delivering matter, specifically satellites, to the upper bounds of our atmosphere remains wildly expensive. However, the promise of lower launch costs, improved tech, and standardization in satellite technology is attracting entrepreneurs with high-flying ambitions and VCs with funds to match. [ CrunchBase ] Food delivery upstart Deliveroo adds another $98M to its latest round, now at $480MThe food-delivery on demand space continues to heat up in Europe. Today, Deliveroo, the London-based startup that at the end of September announced a Series F of $385 million at a valuation of over $2 billion, today announced it is adding another $98 million into the round, led by T. Rowe Price Associates and Fidelity Management & Research Company, bringing the total to $480 million. We have asked, and Deliveroo would not name who is behind this latest infusion into the Series F. In addition to T. Rowe Price Associates and Fidelity Management & Research Company, the round includes a list of previous, top-shelf investors: DST Global, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, and Accel Partners along with unnamed, private investors. [ TechCrunch ] Silicon Valley's Chinese Backers Are Under Threat in CongressIn recent years, Silicon Valley startups have increasingly attracted foreign investment, much of it from China. The jolt of capital has made it easier for young companies to raise money and for U.S. investors to sell their stakes. That influx of foreign money is now under threat. U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation last week that would toughen regulatory scrutiny of foreign investors buying minority stakes in startups. Up to now, U.S. officials have typically paid close heed to deals that would give foreigners all or a majority stake in U.S. targets. The new bill would have implications for such deals as Tencent Holding Ltd.’s 12 percent stake in Snap Inc. and could hamper investments in the hottest areas of technology, including artificial intelligence, augmented reality and robotics. [ Bloomberg ] ARCHIVIST LESLIE BERLIN TACKLES SILICON VALLEY'S PAST IN 'TROUBLEMAKERS'SILICON VALLEY JOB perks are mythic. Self-replenishing snacks. Unlimited vacation. A pile of stock options. But as much as these professional entrapments might seem like dotcom-era phenomena, the practice of sweetening the deal for tech employees dates back to the ’70s as a way to ward off labor unions. Happy workers, explains Stanford historian Leslie Berlin, are less likely to agitate for better conditions. [ WIRED ] Struggling For Investments, Silicon Valley Women Reluctant To Speak Out On HarassmentThis Detroit Furniture Startup Wants To Dethrone IkeaThis day in buyout history: KKR, Bain Capital complete the biggest LBO everHomeless people living in RVs were evicted near the future site of a school funded by Mark ZuckerbergMashable reportedly selling to Ziff Davis for about $50 million |