1.
Russia's Ozon targets $750 million in IPO as e-commerce booms: sources
Russian online retailer Ozon plans to raise about $750 million in an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States to help fund its expansion in a rapidly-growing e-commerce market at home, three financial market sources said. Russia's fragmented e-commerce market is forecast to grow by more than 40% to 2.5 trillion roubles ($32.4 billion) this year, according to Euromonitor research group, and by 10-15% a year over the next five years. Revenues at Ozon, a Russian version of U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>, surged as much as 70% in the first nine months of the year, as people switched to online shopping in the coronavirus pandemic. Ozon was initially aiming for $500 million in the IPO, but has since raised that to $750 million,
the sources said. Ozon declined to comment. [ Yahoo ]
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2.
The VC and founder winners in Airbnb’s IPO
After a tumultuous year for the travel industry, Airbnb’s long-awaited IPO filing just dropped. One thing is clear: there is still plenty of juice left in the home-sharing platform, and a smattering of VCs and the company’s founders are positioned to receive some serious returns. My colleague Alex Wilhelm has an overview article on Airbnb’s financial picture and overall metrics. It’s a mixed bag, but perhaps stronger than might otherwise be expected, given the global collapse
of tourism due to the pandemic. Revenues are stabilizing, growth is up and bookings aren’t catastrophic. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
Special:
Venture firm's tech SPAC 10X Capital Venture Acquisition lowers deal size by 20% ahead of $175 million IPO
10X Capital Venture Acquisition, a blank check company formed by 10X Capital targeting a tech-enabled business, lowered the proposed deal size for its upcoming IPO on Monday. In its latest filing, the company also removed Cantor Fitzgerald as an underwriter and added Wells Fargo Securities. The New York, NY-based company now plans to raise $175 million by offering 17.5 million units at a price of $10. The company had previously filed to offer 22 million units at the same price. Each unit will still consist of one share of common stock and one-half of a warrant, exercisable at $11.50. At the revised deal size, 10X Capital Venture Acquisition will raise -20% less in proceeds than previously anticipated. [ nasdaq ]
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3.
Baidu to acquire Joyy’s Chinese live-streaming service YY for $3.6B
Baidu said on Monday it is acquiring Joyy’s live-streaming service YY Live in China for $3.6 billion in an all-cash deal as the Chinese internet giant makes a further push to diversify beyond its core search business. The announcement, which Baidu shared on the sidelines of its quarterly earnings, is the Chinese firm’s biggest foray into the growing market of video streaming. It comes at a time when the company has been struggling to fight new comers such as ByteDance. YY has amassed more than 4 million paying subscribers who watch influencers perform and sell a range of items on the video app. The streaming service last year bought a stake worth $1.45 billion in Bigo, a Singapore-based startup that operates streaming apps Bigo Live and Like in a push to expand outside of China. [ Tech Crunch ]
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4.
A billionaire investor dubbed 'the next Warren Buffett' just revealed a $400 million bet on Bill Ackman's SPAC
- Seth Klarman's Baupost Group is betting that billionaire investor Bill Ackman and "Moneyball" star Billy Beane can make shrewd acquisitions in the coming months.
- The billionaire's hedge fund disclosed in a regulatory filing that it held a $400 million stake in Ackman's special-purpose acquisition vehicle or "SPAC," Pershing Square Tontine, at the end of September.
- Baupost also revealed a $52 million position in Redball Acquisition Corp., another SPAC that is co-chaired by Beane and reportedly held talks to buy the Boston Red Sox in October.
- Klarman has been touted as "the next Warren Buffett" because he also follows a value-investing approach.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more
stories.
A billionaire investor heralded as "the next Warren Buffett" handed cash to hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman and "Moneyball" star Billy Beane last quarter, backing the pair to strike lucrative deals in the coming months. Seth Klarman's Baupost Group revealed in a regulatory filing that as of September 30, it held a roughly $400 million stake in Ackman's Pershing Square Tontine, a special-purpose acquisition vehicle or "SPAC" that went public in July. Ackman raised a record $4 billion from the listing to target "mature unicorns", or buy a minority stake in a company valued between $10 billion and $15 billion. [ Business Insider ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
5.
Strava raises $110 million, touts growth rate of 2 million new users per month in 2020
Activity and fitness tracking platform Strava has raised $110 million in new funding, in a Series F round led by TCV and Sequoia, and including participation by Dragoneer group, Madrone Capital Partners, Jackson Square Ventures
and Go4it Capital. The funding will be used to propel the development of new features, and expand the company’s reach to cover even more users. Already in 2020, Strava has seen significant growth. The company claims that it has added more than 2 million new “athletes” (how Strava refers to its users) per month in 2020. The company positions its activity tracking as focused on the community and networking aspects of the app and service, with features like virtual competitions and community goal-setting as representative of that approach. [ Tech Crunch ]
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6.
MindTickle Raises $100M in Equity and Debt Financing
MindTickle, a San Francisco, CA-based Sales Readiness technology company, raised $100m in a combination of equity and debt financing. The round was led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 with participation from existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Canaan, NewView Capital, and Qualcomm Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate go-to-market activities and expand global operations while advancing investments in product innovation. Led by Krishna Depura, co-founder and CEO, MindTickle provides a SaaS platform that
enables enterprises to ready their customer-facing teams when they interact with their customers. Organizations use MindTickle to drive programs, such as onboarding, ongoing learning, role-playing, upskilling, and coaching to ensure that all customer-facing employees have the right capabilities and behaviors needed to drive revenue growth. With purpose-built applications, proven methodologies, and best practices designed to drive effective sales onboarding and ongoing readiness, the solution enables company leaders and sellers to continually assess, diagnose and develop the knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to effectively engage customers and drive growth. [ finsmes ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
7.
Indonesian telecom network Telkomsel invests $150 million in GoJek
Telkomsel, Indonesia’s biggest telecom network, has invested $150 million in ride-hailing firm GoJek, the two companies said on Tuesday. As part of the “strategic partnership,” the two firms said they will explore a “broad range of collaboration opportunities” to reach millions of Indonesians. Since 2018, GoJek and Telkomsel have maintained a deal to subsidize the cost of mobile data consumed by the ride-hailing firm’s driver partners. With over 170 million subscribers, Telkomsel is the largest telecom operator in Indonesia. In addition to ride-hailing, GoJek has expanded to several additional businesses including digital payments and food delivery in Indonesia. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
8.
AliveCor Closes $65 Million Financing to Accelerate Growth of Its Remote Cardiology Platform For Consumers, Employers, and Providers.
AliveCor, the leader in AI-based personal ECG technology and provider of enterprise cardiology solutions, today announced their $65 million series E financing led by existing investors OMRON, Khosla Ventures, WP Global Partners, Qualcomm Ventures and Bold Capital Partners. Proceeds from this financing will be used to accelerate growth of AliveCor's remote cardiology platform both domestically and around the world. The company's AI-powered ECG determinations will be augmented with telehealth services, as well as with detection and
condition management services for providers and institutions. The enhanced partnership with OMRON will also position the company to include hypertension management within its service portfolio. [ Yahoo ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
9.
Harbr raises $38.5M to help enterprises exchange and share big data troves securely
Organizations today are sitting on mountains of data that they amass and use in their own businesses, but many are also looking to share those troves with other parties to expand their prospects — a model that comes with challenges (privacy and data protection being two key ones); and, these days (due to COVID-19 and the push to more digital transformation), with urgency; but also big rewards if you can pull it off well. Today, a new London startup called Harbr, which has built a secure platform
to enable big data exchange, is announcing a big round of funding to tap into that demand. The company has raised $38.5 million in a Series A round of funding, just six months since emerging from stealth mode. It plans to use the money to hire more people to meet the demand of serving more enterprise customers, and for R&D. [ Tech Crunch ]
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10.
Curbio Raises $25M in Funding
Curbio, a Potomac, MD-based pay-at-closing home improvement company for real estate agents, raised $25M in financing. The round was led by Comcast Ventures, with participation from Camber Creek, Brick & Mortar Ventures, Second Century Ventures (the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors®), Curbio board member and former ADT CEO, Tim Whall, and Curbio CEO, Rick Rudman. SCV, In addition to an equity investment, is also providing venture debt in this funding round. [
finsmes ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
11.
Zeotap Raises $18.5 Million as Investments in Identity Continue
Berlin-based tech company Zeotap has raised $18.5 million in an extended Series C round that will see the company further invest in its data management and identity products. The fundraising from venture capital firm SignalFire comes as the industry seeks alternatives to third-party cookies and Apple’s identifier for advertisers (IDFA). These were the two key identifiers marketers have relied on to target consumers and that publishers have relied on to monetize their sites. “We are
humbled by the confidence our investors have placed in us,” Daniel Heer, Zeotap founder and CEO, said in a statement. “This further validates our strategy as a single, integrated customer data marketing suite in contrast to scattered point solutions.” According to the company, Zeotap raised $42 million in July in its first Series C round after seeing 431% growth in revenue in the previous year. [ adweek ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
12.
Start Codon Closes £15M Venture Fund
Start Codon, a Cambridge, England, UK-based life science and healthcare business accelerator, closed Start Codon Fund I LP, at £15m. Limited Partner investors include Novartis International AG and Cambridge Innovation Capital. The fund will be used to support Start Codon’s offering to startups, which includes a minimum of £250K seed funding, business support services, expert guidance, and access to office and lab facilities. In addition to their investment in the Fund, Novartis will work together with Start Codon and its
founders to select exceptional technologies and entrepreneurs to join the Start Codon business acceleration program, which aims to translate early-stage research into successful companies, ready for funding and partnership. Novartis will also provide support and mentoring to the founders of the startup companies, and opportunities for partnering as their research evolves. [ finsmes ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
13.
CEO of plant-based ice cream company Eclipse on working with Alexis Ohanian’s VC fund
14.
Tech Moves: Microsoft’s M12 creates advisory board; former Integris CEO joins VC firm; and more
15.
Jack Ma, Show Them How to Run a $280 Billion Bank
How bad is the damage from China’s plan for Ant Group Co. to become more like a bank? Before regulators put the brakes on the planned initial public offering, Jack Ma’s fintech platform was weighing in at 4.4 times its book value, versus two times at traditional global banks. In other words, Ant could be worth less than half what it was two weeks ago. At the latest pre-IPO round, the company was priced at $280 billion. Now, its value could be just $140 billion, some analysts say. Actually, no. Banks — contrary to what some would have you believe — can be quite lucrative. Even within the conventional banking space, there’s plenty of variation. Winners emerge. China Merchants Bank Co., with a vibrant retail franchise, and Bank of Ningbo Co., which has a successful regional small business loan operation, both boast a handsome 15% return on equity. [ Bloomberg ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our
platform.
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