Airbnb Said in Talks to Buy China Home-Rental Rival XiaozhuAirbnb Inc. is in talks to acquire China’s Xiaozhu.com to expand in the nation’s home rental sharing market, according to a person familiar with the matter. The companies have held multiple meetings and the discussions are advanced in nature, the person said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private. A deal is likely, the person said. [ Bloomberg ] Startups Bet on Turkey-in-a-Box to Woo Cooks Back for LasagnaUnder pressure to dress an Instagram-worthy Thanksgiving table, more Americans are turning to meal-kit delivery services, a move those startups are counting on to hook new members who will make it a habit for the more mundane family dinners as well. [ Bloomberg ] The founding story of Spectacles — how a small glasses startup that struggled to raise money turned into the future of $25 billion SnapchatHundreds of people lined up off Venice Beach boardwalk on a sunny November morning to buy Snapchat's Spectacles from a bright yellow vending machine. It was the first day the $130 camera glasses went on sale, and many were there to see what all the buzz was about. Most of them worked or had friends in the tech industry. Some planned to resell the glasses at a hefty markup online. Erick Miller had a different reason to stand in line for Spectacles that morning. He helped invent them. [ Business Insider ] LATEST FUNDING Recursion Raises Additional Funding, Bringing Total Series A to $15.05M for Drug DiscoveryRecursion Pharmaceuticals today announced the close of an additional $2.15M in funding, bringing its Series A round to a total of $15.05M for drug discovery at the intersection of biology and artificial intelligence. [ Business Wire ] Network switching chip startup Barefoot Networks fetches $23 mlnNetwork switching chip startup Barefoot Networks has raised $23 million in additional Series C funding. Alibaba and Tencent led the round. This capital infusion brings the company’s total Series C round to $80 million. [ PE Hub ] Mobile SDK management platform SafeDK raises $3.5MAshton Kutcher’s tech-investment firm Sound Ventures has led a $2.7 million funding round for Apptopia, the intelligence firm. Billionaire Mark Cuban, who also participated in the round, doubled down on a previous seed investment in Apptopia. Aye Finance raises $10.3M to supply micro-loans to small companies in IndiaGoogle has invested a total of $4.5 million CAD ($3.4M US) in AI research in Montreal’s Institute for Learning Algorithms, with an academic fund covering three years that will help pay for seven faculty members across various Montreal academic institutions, including the University of Montreal and McGill. FangCloud Raises $8.4M Series A+ Round Led By Kuaidi Founder Chinese enterprise file management start-up FangCloud Technology has raised US$8.4 million in a series A+ round led by Chen Weixing, founder of Kuaidi Dache, according to Chinese media reports. UMC Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Matrix Partners also participated in the round. [ China money network ] Vymo secures $5M Series A funding from Sequoia IndiaVymo, a startup that provides predictive sales analytics solution, has raised $5 million in a series-A funding round from venture capital firm Sequoia India. This is Sequoia India's third funding announcement this month in the enterprise serving software-as-a-service (SaaS) space, after Freshdesk and Zarget. [ tech economictimes india times ] PayKey raises $6 million in Series A fundingPayKey, a social fintech company that enables banks to provide their users with peer to peer payment options through any social and messaging platform, today announced a $6 million Series A funding round co-led by leading global venture capital firm, e.ventures and Gaby Salem of Wharton Asset Management, with investments from new investors, including financial-sector leaders CommerzVentures, Mastercard and Santander InnoVentures, Digital Leaders Ventures, and follow on investment from Magma VC. Helpshift pulls Cisco into $25 million round for in-app customer supportCisco is joining as an investor into Helpshift‘s previously announced $25 million funding round. That’s a big endorsement for the startup’s business of providing in-app customer support. [ Venture Beat ] Findo grabs $7 mlnMenlo Park, California-based Findo, a smart search assistant, has secured $7 million in funding. The investors in this round included ABBYY, Flint Capital and Foxit. [ PE Hub ] MORE LATEST FUNDING Ashton Kutcher’s firm leads $2.7M investment in ApptopiaTrue Link Financial raises $3.6 million more to further help retirees protect their money Healthtech Startup Cera Raises £1.3M in Funding Sequoia has backed PatSnap, another UK tech startup that's focusing on China LATEST EXITS Dr Pepper Snapple Is Buying This Antioxidant Drink Maker for $1.7 BillionBai Brands, a maker of antioxidant beverages, for $1.7 billion in cash, in the latest example of a soft-drinks maker investing in products that are perceived to be healthier. The purchase price includes a tax benefit of about $400 million on a net present value basis, said Dr Pepper Snapple, which already has a roughly 3% stake in Bai. [ Fortune ] PepsiCo to buy probiotic drinks maker KeVitaPepsiCo Inc said on Tuesday it would buy health beverage maker KeVita Inc, in an effort to diversify its soft drinks business and tap health conscious consumers. California-based KeVita offers more than two dozen flavors of probiotic drinks, and all its drinks are certified organic, gluten-free and vegan, PepsiCo said in a statement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. [ Reuters ] FUND RAISED Biomatics Capital Partners Closes Life Sciences Venture Capital Fund, at $200MBiomatics Capital Partners, a Seattle, WA-based new life sciences venture capital firm, has raised a $200m fund. According to a regulatory form filed with the SEC, 38 investors participated in the offering of Biomatics Capital Partners, L.P. [ Finsmes ] Curated by Venture Pulse Team. Find us on : [ Venturepulse.org, CrunchBase, AngelList ] |