WeWork to Cut Around 17% of WorkforceTroubled office-space startup WeWork said it would shed around 2,400 jobs following its botched initial public offering in an effort to reduce mounting losses. We Co., as its parent company is formally known, said Thursday that the layoffs are necessary to create a more efficient organization. [ WSJ ] Boldstart Ventures Drops Interest in Enterprise BlockchainThe enterprise blockchain experiment is over for Boldstart Ventures. The seed investment firm has decided to limit its pursuit of blockchain technology in its new $112 million fund after exploring the sector in its previous fund. [ WSJ ] Radar imaging startup Vayyar nabs $109M to help expand across myriad industriesRoughly eight years ago, an electrical engineer from Israel first envisioned affordable imaging technology to detect early-stage breast cancer. Now, his company's sensors are being applied for that specific need and an ever-growing range of use cases—from automotive and robotics to retail and smart homes. [ Pitchbook ] European tech startups break records with $34bn in venture capital funding this yearEuropean tech startups won a record $34bn in venture capital funding this year, up 40% from 2018, outshining the Asian and US markets, which saw a dip in investment. The sharp jump, highlighted in Atomico’s latest report on the State of European Tech, adds to a growing sentiment that the European tech ecosystem is finally coming of age. [ sifted ] Celonis, a leader in big data process mining for enterprises, nabs $290M on a $2.5B valuationMore than $1 trillion is spent by enterprises annually on “digital transformation” — the investments that organizations make to update their IT systems to get more out of them and reduce costs — and today one of the bigger startups that’s built a platform to help get the ball rolling is announcing a huge round of funding. [ Tech Crunch ] Hellos and a (partial) goodbye: Continued growth and evolution at PrimaryGenerally, the end of the year is a time of reflection, gratitude, and growth. At Primary, we’re feeling the change in the air and wanted to update you about changes and growth in our family. We’re officially welcoming Curtis Lee and Cassie Young as Venture Partner and Operating Partner respectively, and we’re sadly saying goodbye to Steve Schlafman as a full-time member of the team. [ Medium ] Idan Ofer’s Israel Corp. to Invest Up to $500 Million in Growth Stage CompaniesTel Aviv-listed holding company Israel Corp. Ltd. announced in a stock filing Monday its plans to invest between $350 million and $500 million in growth-stage companies in the fields of foodtech, agtech, health, and industry 4.0. Israel Corp. intends to focus on companies based in Israel and Europe, investing between $70 million and $100 million in each in return for equity. [ calcalistech ] China’s harsh startup-financing winter may soon relent: VCSince last year, tech funding in China has undergone a ‘capital winter’—referring to the significant slowdown in investment and fundraising activities. However, areas such as cloud, AI, and blockchain, are still generating excitement among investors, representatives from multiple domestic venture capital firms told TechNode at TechCrunch Shenzhen on Monday. [ Tech Node ] Venture will focus on ‘grand challenges of A.I. such as self-driving cars and global facial recognition,’ former Yahoo CEO saysMarissa Mayer vanished from the Silicon Valley landscape two years ago when she resigned from Yahoo Inc. shortly after it was sold to Verizon Communications Inc. for $4.48 billion. Her tumultuous 5-year reign at the eponymous tech media company, on the heels of a historic run at Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL, -0.13% GOOG, -0.13% Google in the search division, made her one of the industry’s most recognizable faces — to her professional benefit and personal dismay. [ Market Watch ] In Keith Rabois’ Silicon Valley, Nice Guys Finish LastKeith Rabois, a prominent venture capital investor, has publicly blasted tech companies who take money linked to Saudi Arabia on the grounds that the kingdom discriminates against Jews, gays and women. Yet among the firms that have benefited from Saudi support is Opendoor, a tech-fueled real estate startup that Rabois helped found in 2014. SoftBank’s Vision Fund, the giant investment pool heavily financed by Saudi Arabia, committed $400 million to the startup last September. [ The Information ] Our Investment in Abnormal SecurityWe are excited to announce that Greylock led a $24M Series A investment in Abnormal Security, a company initiated and incubated in 2018 at Greylock offices. Founded by Evan Reiser and Sanjay Jeyakumar, two exceptional technologists and entrepreneurs, Abnormal is officially launching their product today: a next generation cloud email security platform that leverages data science to protect organizations from sophisticated targeted email attacks, including unknown threats that existing solutions miss. [ Medium ] Kalanick Sells Almost $1.5 Billion of Uber in Weeks After LockupTravis Kalanick’s November selling spree has almost reached $1.5 billion. The Uber Technologies Inc. co-founder sold off about $578 million of stock over three days this week, extending a series of transactions since a lockup ended Nov. 6. More disposals may be coming with a Nov. 11 filing signaling Kalanick could offload his entire stake. [ Bloomberg ] This ex-Rackspace director's startup Gravitational just raised $25 million to 'liberate' customers from Amazon Web Services and MicrosoftWhy Corporate Venture Capital Is More Important Than Ever For The Fortune 500Nio co-founder Jack Cheng has left his position as executive vice president and will transition to the role of adviser after four years of helping build the company. The development is the latest in a series of blows for the Chinese electric vehicle maker after rapid downsizing, massive recalls, and huge losses. [ Tech Node ] Werewolf Therapeutics uncloaks with $56M and shape-shifting cancer medsIt’s a full moon for Werewolf Therapeutics as the company comes out of stealth with $56 million and an approach it believes can cut through the toxic effects that have limited the use of certain cancer-killing agents. [ Fierce Biotech ] Vouch raises $45M led by YC Continuity for business insurance that targets startups“Move fast and break things” is a term we usually associate with Facebook (at least, until 2014) and the general startup ethos of being disruptive. Now, in true entrepreneurial fashion, the phrase is finding itself as the center of — what else — a startup itself, which today is announcing a sizeable Series B as it gains traction. [ Tech Crunch ] German unicorn Celonis' bumper round adds to record year for European VCSoftware startup Celonis has raised around $290 million for its Series C, becoming Germany's third most valuable startup, per PitchBook data. With the investment, the company has more than doubled its 2018 valuation of $1 billion to $2.5 billion. The capital will be used to reinforce its US and global sales and marketing activities as well as expand its platform. [ Pitchbook ] Real-Estate Brokerage Compass Buys AI Startup DetecticaUrban Compass Inc., a SoftBank-backed real-estate brokerage company, announced Tuesday that it had acquired an artificial-intelligence startup to help improve the buying and selling process for its agents and their clients.[ WSJ ] Kleiner Perkins joins $25.5M funding led by Blockchain Capital for Bison TrailsKleiner Perkins has joined a $25.5 million Series A funding round for Bison Trails, a provider of blockchain protocols, which was led by Blockchain Capital to develop the firm’s infrastructure services. [ Tech Crunch ] WeWork moves to curb costs, but bond prices tumbleFor the past several weeks, WeWork has been in damage-control mode following its aborted attempt to go public. On Thursday, the beleaguered company that was once valued at $47 billion took its first concrete steps to stem the flow of red ink, in hopes of regaining some measure of confidence among investors and creditors. Curated by Venture Pulse Team. Find us on : [ Venturepulse.org, CrunchBase, AngelList ] |