Korean hotel platform Yanolja raises $180M at a valuation of over $1BThe travel tech industry has got another unicorn. Following the likes of Airbnb, OYO, Traveloka and Klook, Korea’s Yanolja said today it has closed a $180 million Series D round that takes it valuation beyond $1 billion. The investment is led by GIC, a Singapore sovereign wealth fund, and Booking Holdings, the U.S. firm behind travel services such as Booking.com, Agoda.com and more. The company had previously raised around $60 million, according to Crunchbase data. In 2017, Bloomberg reported that its valuation was over $500 million. [ Tech Crunch ] Luxembourg to get €100M investment from Chinese payments startup PingpongFor financial services firms looking to enter Europe, Luxembourg has historically been a popular anchoring point because of its political and economic stability, as well as a favorable regulatory environment. Another bucketload of capital is coming to the country after Chinese fintech startup Pingpong announced it will invest more than €100 million ($113 million) in Luxembourg in the coming years. [ Tech Crunch ] What top VCs look for in women’s fertility startupsAnumber of promising women’s health tech companies have popped up in the last few years, from fertility apps to ovulation bracelets — even Apple has jumped into the subject with the addition of period tracking built into the latest edition of the watch. But there hasn’t been much in the way of innovation in women’s sexual health for decades. [ Tech Crunch ] Afterpay is raising $330 million to chase the US marketAfterpay Touch is raising AU$330 million in new capital in a new share placement as it pushes towards a 2022 goal of quadrupling sales to AU$20 billion gross merchandise volume (GMV). Shares in the Melbourne-based buy now, pay later fintech were suspended on the ASX today ahead of the announcement, which will also see founders Anthony Eisen and Nicholas Molnar, plus executive director David Hancock, offloading 2.5 million shares – a combined 1.9% stake worth $100 million – to Julian Robertson’s US hedge fund, Tiger Management, and New York-based hedge fund Woodson Capital Management. Hancock is selling 400,000 shares with the remainder split between the co-founders. [ Startup Daily ] WHY PRODUCT INNOVATION SLOWS AFTER THE SERIES AYou’ve found product market fit. You’ve hired a team, including some managers. Your initial, small customer base is very happy. You’ve discovered an initial channel of customer acquisition that’s working. You’ve raised a meaningful round of capital. And then, right then, product innovation decelerates to zero. [ TOMASZ TUNGUZ ] Desmarais-backed venture capital platform closes new $55-million tech fundA venture capital platform with the backing of Quebec’s Desmarais family has closed a second fund to finance technology startups primarily in financial services, this time with $55 million to invest. Francois Lafortune, chief executive of Diagram Ventures, said the first $30-million fund has already invested in or co-founded five companies since it launched in 2017 with a target of seven investments, and the plan is for the second fund to back about a dozen more. [ finan cialpost ] E28 "Angel": Ryan Hoover, Weekend Fund & Product Hunt: early VC, new markets, creating communitiesE28: "Angel" podcast: Ryan Hoover, Founder of Weekend Fund & Product Hunt, shares lessons from building his early-stage fund, harnessing excitement for new markets, betting on founders with strong perspectives & unique qualities, & bringing his expertise & passion for creating communities to venture capital. Fiat Chrysler partners with Amazon-backed start-up Aurora on self-driving carsFiat Chrysler is forming a partnership with autonomous vehicle start-up Aurora to develop self-driving vehicles for corporate clients. “This would allow for a variety of customized solutions for commercial vehicle customers at a time when changing lifestyles and online shopping patterns are creating logistical opportunities,” Fiat Chrysler said in a statement announcing the agreement. [ CNBC ] When an Eight-Figure IPO Windfall Can Mean a Zero-Digit Tax BillEarly investors and employees at Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., and other tech companies are getting a double reward this year: a wave of initial public offerings that puts billions of dollars in their pockets, and a quirk in the law that means some of that money will be tax-free. Entrepreneurs, venture capital firms, and early startup employees are using the Qualified Small Business Stock, or QSBS, provision to partially or totally wipe out their tax bills. “It’s an awesome way to mitigate tax,” says Richard Scarpelli, head of financial planning at First Republic Private Wealth Management. Of all the strategies that investors and business owners use to lower capital-gains taxes, he says, “this is by far the best.” You've reached your free article limit. [ Bloomberg ] Spacemaker scores $25M Series A to let property developers use AISpacemaker, a Norway-based startup that’s created AI software to help property developers and architects make better design decisions, has picked up $25 million in Series A funding.[ Tech Crunch ] Innoviz Technologies' Series C Funding Round Closes at $170M, Strengthens the Company's Leadership Position in the Solid-State LiDAR and Perception Software SpaceInnoviz Technologies, a leading provider of high-performance, solid-state LiDAR sensors and perception software, announced today that it has closed its Series C funding round with $170Msecured. The close of the Series C round brings Innoviz's total funding to $252M. [ PR Nnews Wire ] UK-based data privacy startup Privitar raises $40 millionLondon-based data privacy software startup Privitar has secured a funding round of $40 million led by Accel, with participation from existing investors Partech, Salesforce Ventures, 24Haymarket, and IQ Capital. Seth Pierrepont, partner at Accel, will join Privitar’s board of directors. [ Tech.Eu ] Vectra lands $100M Series E investment for AI-driven network securityVectra, a seven-year-old company that helps customers detect intrusions at the network level, whether in the cloud or on premises, announced a $100 million Series E funding round today led by TCV. Existing investors, including Khosla Ventures and Accel, also participated in the round, which brings the total raised to more than $200 million, according to the company. [ Tech Crunch ] Russian video-on-demand service ivi raises $40 millionivi, one of Russia’s largest over the top (OTT) video-on-demand platforms, has secured $40 million in funding from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Mubadala Investment Company (UAE), Baring Vostok, Flashpoint VC, RTP Global, and Winter Capital. [ Tech.Eu ] Here are a few ways corporations can stick up for people who aren’t shareholdersEric Ries is building a new stock exchange. But he’s also trying to build a new way for corporations to think about who they ultimately serve. Public corporations serve their shareholders, but Ries — the founder of a new idea called the Long-Term Stock Exchange — thinks that’s a limited purview for a company in 2019. Customers could be a stakeholder. The environment could be a stakeholder. Contract workers could be a stakeholder. Who’s looking out for them? [ Vox ] OkCredit Raises $15.5 Mn From Tiger Global, Y Combinator And OthersBengaluru-based digital application provider for micro-merchants OkCredit, has raised $15.5 Mn in a Series A funding round led by New York-based investment fund Tiger Global. Morningside Venture Capital, Lightspeed India Partners, Venture Highway and Y Combinator also participated in this round of funding. [ inc42 ] Workhorse gets $25 million needed to finish electric delivery vanWorkhorse Group, the electric vehicle company that grabbed headlines last month over a proposed deal to buy General Motors’ Lordstown, Ohio factory, has raised $25 million from a group of unnamed investors. The money will not go toward the factory. Instead, it will be used for the more pressing matter of keeping the company running. Under terms of the deal, investors will receive preferred stock and warrants to buy shares. An annual dividend will be paid out in shares of Workhorse stock. [ Tech Crunch ] Another Space Start-Up Bites the DustFor the first five months, 2019 was a good year for investors in the space industry. There was nary a bad headline, nor any indication that one of its high-flying start-ups was about to flame out in a blaze of bankruptcy. But all good things must come to an end. [ Fool ] Any time is a good time to start a company - your startup fix to the weekWhen should you start up to make it a guaranteed success? Should you wait for a big opportunity or something very innovative or pick on trend? Well, it's none of them and all of them. Basically, it's when you've got the conviction on an idea. You can certainly encash on market, trends, and opportunities later on. [ Your Story ] Dentons Venture Capital Practice 'Got the Call' Amid 'Increasingly Global' EconomyDentons’ venture technology practice, based in the firm’s Short Hills office, was busy in 2018—according to the firm, it “collectively closed 200+ deals, ranging from M&A to early stage venture capital to seed round representations.” Engagements included its representation of ElectroCore Inc. in its initial public offering in a transaction valued at $89 million, its involvement in Providence Equity Partners’ acquisition of software company DoubleVerify, and representation of real estate transaction portal OfferPad for its Series B financing. Also in 2018, the firm held the inaugural “Women in Tech Roundtable,” which is to be a quarterly series of events. [ law.com ] Curated by Venture Pulse Team. Find us on : [ Venturepulse.org, CrunchBase, AngelList ] |