The 25 most valuable VC-backed companies in the USSome things haven't changed much in the last year: Uber is still the most valuable VC-backed company in the US—by a longshot—and Airbnb still takes the number two
spot. Girlboss Plans New Social Network for Women EntrepreneursGirlboss, a media company targeting women entrepreneurs, plans to introduce a paid, professional social-networking site called Girlboss Collective in January. Sophia Amoruso, the company’s founder and chief executive,
said the site’s development will be funded by a $3.5 million round that was led by Initialized Capital, the venture-capital firm co-founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Lightspeed Venture Partners, which led Girlboss’ $3.1 million funding round from 2017, also participated in the investment. [ WSJ ] It's Time to Consider SoftBank's Future Without Saudi MoneyWith the growing backlash against Saudi Arabia over the murder of government critic Jamal Khashoggi, SoftBank Group Corp. faces tough decisions in its relationship with the kingdom. Founder Masayoshi Son has had particularly close
ties to Saudi Arabia ever since now-Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to make Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) the largest investor in SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund. [ Bloomberg ] Tiger Global closes biggest venture fund of the decadeTiger Global has picked up $3.75 billion for its 11th flagship venture capital fund, surpassing an initial target of $3 billion, according to multiple reports. Increasing Healthy Human Lifespan, Laura Deming of The Longevity Fund: Y CombinatorLaura Deming is a partner at The Longevity Fund. They invest in companies that will allow us to live longer and healthier lives. Checkout Ycombinator's Deals, Exits and Fund Raised Data. ‘Women Startup Challenge’ comes to Paris hoping to reverse decline in venture capital raised by womenWhen Allyson Kapin began focusing a few years ago on the issue of female entrepreneurs raising venture capital, she was shocked at how low the numbers were in the U.S. But after turning her attention to Europe, where the stats are a bit more favorable, she was alarmed for a different reason. [ Venture Beat ] The advice I give women entrepreneurs about navigating the very male-dominated venture capital worldThe landscape is changing, slowly but promisingly, for women entrepreneurs. Not only are more women starting businesses, including technology-enabled firms across multiple industries, but female entrepreneurs are gaining ground in running more profitable businesses and delivering higher returns to investors. [ QZ ] Bright Machines raises $179mn in venture capitalThe startup, operated by a group of former executives from software giants Autodesk and Flex, aims to utilise a combination of robots and new software to eradicate most of the manual labour from manufacturing electronic devices. [ Manufacturing Global ] Check out Bright Machines's major investor - Construction Tech Sector Funding Rises As Prescient Raises $50M MoreIf we learned anything when I first covered funding in construction technology startupsback in May, it’s that this industry is hot. Construction might not be top of mind when one thinks of sexy sectors in tech; however, that could be exactly why it’s one of the faster-growing sectors when it comes to capturing investor interest. It’s been around forever, with companies conducting many processes in the same old tired (and inefficient) ways for decades. What (multi-trillion dollar) industry could be more ripe for disruption? [ Crunch base ] This 24-Year-Old Built a $5 Billion Hotel Startup in Five YearsFinding clean, affordable hotels in India can be a traveler’s nightmare. Too often, what looks good on a website turns out to be a roach-infested room in a crumbling building where water has to be schlepped to the bathroom in a bucket. [ Bloomberg ] Check out OYO's major investor - Deals, Exits, and Fund Raised data on our platform. |