1.
At Talkspace, Start-Up Culture Collides With Mental Health Concerns
In 2016, Ricardo Lori was an avid user of Talkspace — an app that lets people text and chat with a licensed therapist throughout the day. A part-time actor in New York City, Mr. Lori struggled with depression and anxiety, and he credited the app with helping him get out of an abusive relationship. He was a believer in Talkspace’s stated mission to make “therapy available and affordable for all,” and when the start-up offered him a job in its customer support department, Mr. Lori was
ecstatic. Talkspace, which has raised more than $100 million from investors, had an office in the old Studio 54 building in Midtown Manhattan, with all the usual perks — a Ping-Pong table in the conference room and beer and wine in the company fridge, plus all the therapy employees wanted. “I felt like I was at the best place in the world,” Mr. Lori said. [ NY Times ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
2.
IPO Launch: Duck Creek Technologies Proposes $300 Million IPO
Duck Creek Technologies (DCT) intends to raise $300 million from the sale of its common stock in an IPO, according to an amended registration statement. The company provides property & casualty insurance companies with improved policy, billing and claims software and workflows. DCT is producing accelerating growth, positive operational cash flow, has strong interest from investors and a reasonable IPO price, so the IPO is a BUY at up to $20.00 per share. Boston, Massachusetts-based Duck Creek
was founded to develop an online platform that provides P&C insurance carriers with software to improve their operational efficiencies for policy administration, claims management and billing functions. [ The Street ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
Special:
How to access ‘America’s Seed Fund,’ the $3 billion SBIR program
One of the best-kept secrets in the world of capital is that the federal government has billions of dollars it’s dying to give away to early-stage founders and inventors — and all you have to do is ask. Well, there’s a bit more to it than that, so here’s a guide to getting in the door of the massive Small Business Innovation Research program. First, as a bit of background: SBIR is a large network of programs, spread across a dozen federal agencies and the military, established some 40 years ago as a way to help out any American with a great idea but little access to
capital. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
3.
Mental health startup Ginger lands $50M backed by Cigna, Kaiser Permanente
San Francisco-based startup Ginger just banked a $50 million Series D funding round to expand its on-demand mental health services. The round, led by Advance Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, included participation from Cigna Ventures and existing investor Jeff Weiner, executive chairman of LinkedIn, as well as Kaiser Permanente Ventures. The startup, which delivers evidence-based behavioral health coaching, therapy and psychiatry right from a smartphone, has raised more than $120 million to date. The current mental healthcare system has long been inadequate, according to Ginger CEO Russell Glass. [ Fierce Healthcare ]
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4.
Intercontinental Exchange to buy mortgage software provider Ellie Mae
Intercontinental Exchange agreed to buy Ellie Mae, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based provider of mortgage finance software, from Thoma Bravo for $11 billion. Why it matters: This is the largest acquisition ever for Intercontinental Exchange, as it only spent $8.2 billion to buy the New York Stock Exchange in 2012. It also pushes ICE much further into the mortgage finance market, following smaller deals for MERS (2016) and Simplifile (2019). - This is a quick and lucrative flip for Thoma Bravo, which last year took Ellie Mae private for $3.75 billion.
- The $11 billion enterprise value is mostly debt. ICE will finance the deal via cash and stock, at an 84%/16% split, with expectations that it closes by year-end.
The bottom line: "Acquiring Ellie Mae would put ICE closer to the origination of home loans, expanding its reach to the mortgage lenders, brokers and other players that come together before a loan is closed.
ICE’s current mortgage business is more focused on warehousing and processing data on home loans after they close," writes the Wall Street Journal. [ Axios ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
5.
Mode raises $33M to supercharge its analytics platform for data scientists
Data science is the name of the game these days for companies that want to improve their decision making by tapping the information they are already amassing in their apps and other systems. And today, a startup called Mode Analytics, which has built a platform incorporating machine learning, business intelligence and big data analytics to help data scientists fulfill that task, is announcing $33 million in funding to continue making its platform ever more sophisticated. [ Tech
Crunch ]
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6.
Thailand’s CP Group to buy ecommerce startup Chilindo for $18m
Thailand’s conglomerate the Charoen Pokphand Group today announced that it will acquire Hong Kong-based ecommerce platform Chilindo for US$18 million via its digital arm Ascend Commerce, Reuters reported. With the
acquisition, it will complement its online marketplace WeMall to help develop Thailand’s ecommerce market during the pandemic, said chief executive Suphachai Chearavanont. [ Tech In Asia ]
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7.
Munich-based 3D printing startup DyeMansion raises $14 million Series B
DyeMansion, a Munich-based industrial 3D printing company, has raised $14 million in Series B funding. Danish growth fund Nordic Alpha Partners joined the startup’s existing investors UVC Partners, btov Partners, KGAL and AM Ventures. The company offers finishing systems, packaged in a three-step ‘Print-to-Product’ workflow, which take freshly 3D printed parts and finalise the production process so items are ready for the market. Products that run through their system include eyewear, personalised car interiors and tailor-made
orthotics. [ tech.eu ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
8.
What Is Decentralized Financing? Takeaways From The First Annual Global DeFi Summit
Thursday’s inaugural Global DeFi Summit provided an in-depth look at understanding the future of decentralized financing aka DeFi. The one-day summit, produced by Draper Goren Holm’s Blockchain Venture Studio, brought together the
blockchain and cryptocurrency communities. It included a full day of people discussing how their innovation and influence will impact the next era of global finance. I virtually attended the “Why Venture Capitalists are Betting Big on DeFi” session to get a sense of the conversation. [ Crunchbase ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
9.
The most-funded VC companies in July 2020
Across industries, verticals and stages, more than 1,300 VC companies received funding in July 2020. The 10 companies highlighted below operate across multiple industry verticals and emerging spaces, including healthcare, transportation and
foodtech. From San Francisco to London and Berlin to Beijing, these startups stretch across the globe and raised a combined $4.61 billion dollars last month. According to PitchBook data as of August 5, 2020, these are the most-funded venture capital startups from July 2020. [ Pitchbook ]
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10.
TikTok Tug-of-War Ensnares App’s Affable Billionaire Founder
TikTok founder Zhang Yiming built his tech empire by fending off giants like Alibaba and Tencent at home and humbling Facebook abroad. Now all that could get torn apart at the hands of the brawling, nationalistic leaders of the world’s
two most powerful countries. U.S President Donald Trump hit TikTok in its most lucrative market Thursday when he moved to ban it -- along with Tencent’s super-app WeChat -- in 45 days. That followed efforts by Trump to get Zhang to sell off TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft Corp. or another American suitor by Sept. 15. When Chinese President Xi
Jinping’s military became embroiled in a deadly border clash with India in June, a surge of anti-China sentiment led to the banning of more than 60 Chinese apps -- including TikTok in the country where it has the most downloads. [ Blomberg ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
11.
Startups To Watch: Stix, Sanzo, WorkPatterns, Jamm, Ceresa, BRIO Systems, Proper, Tetra Insights
12.
How a potential merger can shake up Vietnam’s $23b ecommerce market
Hoang Vu said he has recently closed his fashion-focused stores on Tiki and Sendo, arguably the two most notable homegrown names in Vietnam’s fast-growing ecommerce space. The merchant cited high return rates and fees as well as a lack of
support for sellers as his reasons for the move. But beyond these concerns, Vu also said that online marketplaces Shopee and Lazada as well as social media platforms Facebook and Instagram have proven to be much more effective in attracting Vietnamese consumers. [ Tech In Asia ]
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13.
The Changing Venture Capital Investment Climate For AI
The venture capital (VC) world often follows the general trends of the markets. When social media is the in-thing, investors will flock to all manner of social media startups. The same goes for any area of investing from mobile apps to live-work-play co-working places and everything in between. So too is the investor perspective on artificial intelligence. When it became clear less than a decade ago that AI was the latest, hottest place to build companies that could grow from tiny startups to huge public market exits of acquisitions, the VC community got all in. [ Fobes ]
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14.
Mashroom raises £4M for its ‘end-to-end’ lettings and property management service
Mashroom, the London proptech that offers an “end-to-end” lettings and property management service, has raised £4 million in new funding. Backing comes from existing unnamed private investors and matched funding from the U.K. taxpayer-funded Future Fund. It brings total
funding to date for the company to £7 million. Pitching itself as going “beyond the tenant-finding service” to include the entire rental journey — from property advertising, arranging viewings, credit history checks and maintenance to end of tenancy and dispute resolution — the self-service platform lets landlords list their property, which tenants can then rent easily. [ Tech Crunch ]
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15.
E1093: Keith Rabois on China’s grand plan, TikTok, Taiwan, Big Tech & more
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