|
|
Fund Brings Returns From Diverse Portfolio
|
|
By Yuliya Chernova, WSJ Pro
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good day. A small seed fund is posting good results by investing in minority and women founders out of an unlikely place, the Portland, Ore. area.
Elevate Capital, led by Managing Director Nitin Rai, has backed six startups so far from its second fund, which recently closed on $26 million toward a $40 million target. Five of the startups are led by Black women, a high rate for the venture industry.
Elevate didn’t have any predetermined targets on demographics, said Rukaiyah Adams, chief investment officer of Meyer Memorial Trust, a Portland-based foundation that anchored both of Elevate’s funds. Rather, the mandate was, “be awesome and don’t be racist,” she said, adding. “As the capital allocator, if I’m clear about values with our GPs, they deliver.”
What helped was that Elevate, founded in 2016, was willing to take a risk on early-stage startups started by diverse teams from the get-go, and that stimulated deal flow from the Pacific Northwest, as well as around the U.S. “Founders won’t come to you when they think you will take a pass,” Mr. Rai said.
Its recent deals include co-leading a $2.17 million Series A round for enterprise software startup Time Study Inc., led by Kishau Rogers, chief executive and founder, as well as participating in a $3.9 million round for fintech startup Goalsetter, whose founder and CEO is Tanya Van Court.
Elevate Capital has posted positive results from its first fund, a $10 million pool that had gross TVPI, or the ratio of total value to paid-in capital, of 1.66 times, as of March 31, 2020, according to Elevate.
“He’s done better in the performance than I expected. He’s done better with women than I expected, and he’s done better with Black women than I expected,” Ms. Adams said.
And now on to the news...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Video platform Vimeo Inc. has raised $300 million at a $5 billion valuation. PHOTO: SEBASTIEN NOGIER/SHUTTERSTOCK
|
|
|
|
Reloading. Video platform Vimeo Inc. has completed a $300 million fundraising round that values the company at $5 billion, an 82% boost from a raise three months ago, WSJ’s Kimberly Chin reports.
-
The round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. and financial-services firm Oberndorf Enterprises LLC. The new capital will be used to fuel its growth, innovation and talent, Vimeo parent IAC/InterActiveCorp said Monday.
-
In November, Vimeo raised $150 million from technology-investment firm Thrive Capital and Singapore’s sovereign-wealth fund GIC Private Ltd. That investment valued the business at $2.75 billion.
-
Last month, IAC, an internet holding company, said it planned to spin off the online-video platform, in a deal expected to close in the second quarter.
|
|
General Atlantic Backs Equality Health in Bet on Value-Based Care
|
|
|
General Atlantic is extending a string of investments in companies that follow the value-based health-care model, backing largely Medicaid-focused Equality Health LLC, Laura Cooper writes.
The Phoenix-based business is a provider of technology, services and support for value-based—or outcome-oriented—care networks covering people with Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act health plans. The company supports care for 20 million people in Arizona, California and Texas through 19 health plans and 60,000 practice sites, according to its website.
|
|
U.S. Mounts a Charge to Take On China, the King of Electric-Vehicle Batteries
|
|
|
The auto industry’s quickening shift to electric cars is spurring investment in another emerging industry in the U.S.: manufacturing lithium-ion batteries for those vehicles, WSJ reports.
China currently dominates the market for producing electric-vehicle batteries. But as auto makers spend billions to build more plug-in models in the U.S., investors are increasing their bets on firms looking to expand the supply chain for batteries and related materials in North America—a region that has long relied on imports for such components.
|
|
Smart-Lock Maker Latch to Use SPAC to Go Public
|
|
|
Latch Inc., a maker of smart locks and building-management software, plans to go public by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company backed by a real-estate giant, the latest startup looking to use a so-called blank-check vehicle to cash in on strong investor interest in tech-enabled businesses, WSJ’s Bowdeya Tweh and Konrad Putzier report.
-
The merger will unite venture-capital-backed Latch with TS Innovation Acquisitions Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company sponsored by New York commercial real-estate firm Tishman Speyer Properties LP that raised $300 million late last year, the companies said Monday. The deal, which values Latch at $1.56 billion, is expected to close in the second quarter, they said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
People
Paro, which matches companies with freelance finance workers, promoted Anita Samojednik from chief operating officer to chief executive officer. Prior to Paro, she held executive leadership positions at Groupon, Ladders and Vonage. Chicago-based Paro is backed by investors including Revolution Ventures and Global Founders Capital.
German digital bank N26, which was valued at $3.5 billion after raising a Series D round in May 2020, appointed Jan Kemper as its chief financial officer. He was previously CFO at ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE and a finance executive at Zalando SE. N26 was founded in 2013 and has raised close to $800 million in funding from investors including Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, Tencent Holdings, Insight Venture Partners, Horizons Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital, Greyhound Capital and Battery Ventures.
Exits
Medsphere Systems Corp., provider of health-care information-technology systems, acquired Marketware Inc., a developer of software focused on managing healthcare relationships, for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2002, Sandy, Utah-based Medsphere has raised funding from investors including Sixth Street Growth, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, Azure Capital Partners and Epic Ventures. Marketware, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, was also backed by Epic Ventures.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Melio, a Tel Aviv-based startup that helps small businesses digitally manage their supplier payments, secured a $110 million investment, bringing the company’s valuation to $1.3 billion. Coatue Management led the round, which included participation from previous investors Accel, Aleph, Bessemer Venture Partners, Corner Ventures, General Catalyst and Latitude.
TScan Therapeutics, a Waltham, Mass.-based developer of T-cell therapies for cancer patients, closed a $100 million Series C round of funding. New investors including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and RA Capital Management were joined by existing backers Longwood Fund, 6 Dimensions Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, GV, Novartis Venture Fund and Pitango HealthTech in the round.
Ocient Inc., a Chicago database and analytics software startup, completed a $40 million Series B round. OCA Ventures and Greycroft led the investment, with participation from Valor Equity Partners, PSP Partners, Hyde Park Angels, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and others.
Together Labs, a Redwood City, Calif.-based developer of avatar app IMVU, picked up more than $35 million in funding from Structural Capital, NetEase Inc. and others. With this investment, IMVU Inc. re-branded as Together Labs.
Roostify Inc., a San Francisco-based home-lending technology provider, fetched $32 million in Series C funding. Ten Coves Capital led the investment, which included additional support from Cota Capital, Mouro Capital, Colchis Capital, Point72 Ventures, JP Morgan Chase Strategic Investments and principals at Stone Point Capital.
Riverlane, a U.K.-based quantum computing startup, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Draper Esprit led the round, which included support from Cambridge Innovation Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners and the University of Cambridge.
Span, a San Francisco-based home energy management provider, added $20 million in financing. Munich Re Ventures led the round, which included contributions from Alexa Fund and existing investors.
Darwin Homes Inc., an Austin, Texas-based rental property management provider, snagged $15 million in Series A funding led by Canvas Ventures. New investor Camber Creek was joined by existing backers including Khosla Ventures, Wave Capital, Pear Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank in the round.
BlackCart, a Toronto- and Los Angeles-based try-before-you-buy platform for ecommerce stores, landed an $8.8 million Series A round. Origin Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners led the funding, which saw participation from Struck Capital, 500 Startups and others. Prashant Shukla of Origin Ventures joined the company’s board.
Yac Inc., a Kissimmee, Fla.,-based online voice message and asynchronous communications platform, collected $7.5 million in funding co-led by GGV Capital and Slack Fund.
Hurdle, a Washington, D.C.-based digital mental health platform focusing on people of color, was seeded with a $5 million investment. Seae Ventures and .406 Ventures co-led the round, which included participation from F-Prime.
GoodTrust Inc., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based digital legacy platform, closed a $2.3 million seed round from Bling Capital, Synetro Ventures, Azure Capital Partners and others.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shoppers lined up Nov. 27 to get video consoles at a GameStop store in Pinellas Park, Fla.
PHOTO: TAMPA BAY TIMES/ZUMA PRESS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
