Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer on Selling a Company While Trying to Turn It Around
The CEO talks corporate motherhood, shareholders with competing priorities, and the struggle to make good choices great. [ Bloomberg ]
Here's How Uber Vs. Lyft Shaped Up In July
In July, Uber completed 62 million trips in the U.S., up 15% from 54 million in June, the company told Fortune. And along with completing more than four times as many trips as Lyft, Uber’s growth was also greater than its smaller challenger’s 12% gain over the same period of time, according to a document obtained by tech news site Recode.The numbers show that both major ride hailing companies are growing, but that one of them—Uber—continues to have a major lead. They also highlight Lyft’s challenge in trying to make inroads after several years of competition. With that said, Uber’s recent growth spurt could be an anomaly. It’s total number of rides in June represent only an 8% increase from the 50 million trips completed in March. [ Fortune ]
LATEST FUNDING
Indonesia’s Go-Jek raises $550 million to battle Uber and Grab
Go-Jek, the motorbike taxi on-demand service that rivals Uber and Grab in Indonesia, has closed $550 million in new funding, a source close to the company told TechCrunch. The deal values Go-Jek at $1.3 billion (post-money) and could be announced as soon as this week, we understand. [ TC ]
Grab, an Uber Rival in Southeast Asia, Is Set to Raise $1 Billion
As Uber Technologies Inc. turns away from China, a competitor is raising funds to cement its dominance in Southeast Asia and fend off the tech titan based in San Francisco. Uber’s decision to sell its China business to Didi Chuxing Technology Co. is giving Singapore-based Grab renewed confidence it can take on Uber and win on its home turf. [ WSJ ]
This startup wants to replace Skype, Dropcam and Amazon’s Echo with a single tablet
On the surface, it looks like a nondescript tablet computer. But Amazon, Lowe’s and the startup that makes a device called Nucleus are betting it will be a lot more. On Thursday, the Nucleus will go on sale on Amazon and Lowe’s websites and in about 500 Lowe’s stores. The touchscreen device was built, first and foremost, to replace expensive home intercom systems popular in manicured-lawn suburbs. Tap the screen to see and hear, in under a second, what’s going on in a room across the house where another Nucleus is located. One tablet costs $249; two or more cost $199 each. [ Recode ]
Startups Seek to Challenge Craigslist in Online Classifieds
An arms race is heating up to replace Craigslist, the dominant force in online classifieds the past two decades. Startup companies OfferUp and Letgo are surging in popularity among people looking to buy and sell everything from used clothes to used cars through their smartphones. And deep-pocketed investors are paying up for stakes in them even though they don’t charge for their services today. [ WSJ ]
RocketSpace gets $336 million to expand SF services, push into China
RocketSpace, the tech accelerator that counts companies like Uber, Spotify and Practice Fusion among its hundreds of alumni, has raised $336 million to expand its international growth and flesh out its San Francisco headquarters. The funding comes from HNA Group, a Fortune 500 aviation conglomerate based in China. RocketSpace, which has hosted more than 800 tech startups since it was founded in 2011, is looking to replicate its success abroad as it expands locally. [ SF Business Times ]
LATEST EXITS
San Francisco News Site Hoodline Acquired By VC-Backed Content Aggregator
Since its founding as neighborhood blog "Haighteration" in the early 2010s, the news website that grew into the network known as Hoodline has become an invaluable resource for San Franciscans eager to stay on top of the news on their block. And now that locally-owned site has been acquired by a company called Ripple, a VC-backed "city-focused news platform powered by local journalists and storytellers." [ Sfist.com ]
Walmart Acquiring Jet.com For $3B
According to Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart is in talks to acquire the e-commerce company Jet.com, which Lore co-founded in 2015, for up to $3 billion. Hoboken, New Jersey-based jat.com was founded in 2013 By Marc Lore a serial entrepreneur. In a short time, Jet raised more than $570M from 19 investors. Jet.com had a dream to compete with Amazon the world’s most renowned e-commerce. It seems like Jet also wanted to compete with Costco also according to their first business model which was yearly membership process. In less than three years jet has become very well known for their pricing promise which will offer the lowest price compared to all the e-commerce company out there. Jet launched with one mission to become the smartest way to shop and save on pretty much anything. [ Venture Pulse ]
FUND RAISED
Arlington Capital Partners Closes Oversubscribed Fourth Fund at its Hard Cap of $700 Million
Arlington Capital Partners (“Arlington” or the “Firm”), a Washington, D.C. area based private equity firm focused on investments in government-regulated and adjacent verticals, today announced that it has successfully raised its latest fund, Arlington Capital Partners IV, L.P. (“Fund IV” or the “Fund”) with total capital commitments of $700 million, the Fund’s hard cap, and in excess of its target of $575 million. The fundraise, which was significantly oversubscribed, successfully reached its final closing three months of its launch. [ BusinessWire ]
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Curated by Venture Pulse Team. Find us on : [ Venturepulse.org, CrunchBase, AngelList ]