1.
B2B-focused venture capital firm DNX Ventures raises $315M for third fund
DNX Ventures, a San Mateo, California-based venture capital firm that backs business-to-business technology startups in the U.S. and Japan, has closed a $315 million third fund to make more investments. DNX Ventures said in the announcement today that it plans to write checks ranging from $1 million to $5 million to early-stage B2B startups. The firm is looking to make bets in multiple segments, including software-as-a-service, cybersecurity and financial technology. DNX Ventures’ newly announced fund is the latest indicator that the B2B segment continues to draw significant investor interest despite
the recent declines in global venture capital activity. The fund is at least the third announced since the start of July that focuses specifically on early-stage business technology companies. Earlier, Berlin-based La Famiglia raised 50 million euros to bet on emerging B2B startups and London’s Nauta Capital closed a 150 million euro fund. [ Siliconangle ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
2.
Snowflake's IPO could value it as high as $24B, Salesforce and Berkshire to invest
On the heels of new filings from both Sumo Logic and JFrog, Snowflake, a venture-backed unicorn looking to go public on the strength of its data-focused cloud service, set an initial price range for its IPO. The $75 to $85 per-share IPO price target
values the firm at between $20.9 billion and $23.7 billion, huge sums for the private company. Its IPO could raise more than $2.7 billion for the startup. Snowflake was last valued at around $12.5 billion when it raised a Series G worth $479 million earlier this year.
Built into those valuation projections are two private placements of stock in Snowflake, $250 million apiece from both Salesforce, the well-known CRM player, and Berkshire Hathaway, better known for its investment returns in the 80s and 90s, Cherry Coke and Charlie Munger's humor. [ Yahoo ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
Special:
New diversity ‘standard’ for VC firms launches
Coming out with promises to support diversity is all the rage in 2020. And VCs hate to be behind on a trend. Today, non-profit organisation Diversity VC is launching a new ‘standard’ for VC firms. It’s the investment equivalent of the Fairtrade mark — a symbol for those firms which are following diversity and inclusion best practice. The hope is that the ‘standard’ will encourage VCs to up their game when it comes to sourcing and investing in diverse founders and employing diverse talent — but also help all the firms which go through the assessment and
certification process to figure out what ‘good’ looks like. [ sifted ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
3.
Progress To Acquire Chef For $220M
Software company Progress announced plans to acquire DevOps startup Chef for $220 million in cash on Tuesday. Chef, which was founded in 2008 and is based in Seattle, has more than $70 million in annual recurring revenue, according to a
statement from the companies. It has raised at least $105 million in total funding from investors including Battery Ventures and Ignition Partners. The company last raised money with its $40 million Series E in September 2015, according to Crunchbase. “This acquisition perfectly aligns with our growth strategy and meets the requirements that we’ve previously laid out: a strong recurring revenue model, technology that complements our business, a loyal customer base and the ability to leverage our operating model and infrastructure to run the business more efficiently,” Progress CEO Yogesh Gupta said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to add Chef to our product portfolio and are confident that this acquisition will provide benefit to both
organizations, as well as our customers, partners, investors and the Chef community.” [ Crunchbase ]
Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform
4.
Dutch payments startup Mollie raises $106M at $1B+ valuation
E-commerce has seen a huge jump in the last eight months, driven by consumers shopping more for goods online while spending more time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, a payments startup out of Amsterdam that has itself seen a surge of growth this year as a result of that is announcing a big round of funding to help it continue expanding its products and international footprint to meet that demand. Mollie, a startup that offers a simple, API-based way to integrate payments into a site or an app, has raised €90 million ($106 million) in a round of funding led by TCV. The Series B brings the total raised by Mollie to €115 million and notably catapults the startup’s valuation to over $1 billion, founder and CEO Adriaan Mol confirmed in an
interview with TechCrunch. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
5.
Truepill raises $75 million to expand its telehealth and pill delivery platform
Truepill today announced it has raised $75 million in a round led by Oak HC/FT. Truepill says the funds will help it launch an at-home lab network in partnership with “trusted third parties,” enabling it to diagnose and treat diseases alongside existing telehealth programs and pharmacies. Health care remains lucrative despite pandemic headwinds. Spending on prescription drugs in the
U.S. will increase between 4% and 7% through 2021 to as much as $610 billion, according to a 2017 report published by QuintilesIMS Holding. And telemedicine is on the upswing. Frost and Sullivan reports that virtual health consultations grew by 50% in March, coinciding with the onset of the pandemic. [ Venture Beat ]
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6.
Monthly Funding Recap August 2020: 10 Unicorn Companies File To Go Public
As the public markets heat up, notable tech companies filed en masse to go public last month. They included Airbnb, Palantir, Unity, Asana, Snowflake, Sumo Logic, JFrog, Wish, GoodRx and Ant Group. Collectively, these companies have raised $30 billion and are valued at $224 billion, with Ant Group alone worth around two-thirds of this total at $150 billion. Other more highly valued private companies in this list include Palantir, last valued at $20.3 billion in 2015, Airbnb at $18 billion (down from $30.5 billion in 2018), and Snowflake recently valued at $12.4
billion. [ Crunchbase ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
7.
Ouster Lidar Raises $42M in Series B Funding
Ouster, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors for autonomous transportation, robotics, industrial automation, and smart infrastructure, raised $42m in Series B funding. The backers were not disclosed. The company intends to use the funds for product development and fuel of worldwide sales. Led by Angus Pacala, CEO, and Mark Frichtl, CTO, Ouster builds
high-resolution lidar sensors for the transportation, robotics, industrial automation, and smart infrastructure industries. Using its digital lidar architecture, Ouster’s sensors are reliable, compact and affordable, while delivering camera-like image quality. Since its founding in 2015, Ouster has secured over $140m in funding and now counts over 800 customers across 15 markets, including Konecranes, Postmates, Ike, May Mobility, Kodiak Robotics, Coast Autonomous, the U.S. Army, NASA, Stanford University, and MIT University, as well as Chinese automation leaders idriverplus, WhaleAI, Hongjing Drive, and Qcraft. [ Finsmes ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
8.
Ubicquia Raises $30M Series C To Scale Connected Streetlight Tools
Ubicquia is helping keep the streetlights on in cities across the country, and its smart cell and smart grid technologies have investors taking notice. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company’s smart city platforms plug into existing streetlights to provide critical services, including light control, video artificial intelligence, and public WiFi. Ubicquia’s tools are now in more than 100 cities, as well as Mexico, Colombia and Chile. Fuel Venture Capital participated in the $30 million Series C funding round, which gives Ubicquia approximately $60 million in total funds raised since being founded in 2014. [ Crunchbase ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
9.
Why established venture firms should court emerging managers
Typically, institutional investors favor managers who’ve spun out of an established firm over those who’ve broken into venture from outside. Spin-outs are seen as a lower-risk, safer bet. On the surface, that looks like a tried-and-true tack garnering much attention, appeal and capital. However, there’s an alternative path that deserves a spotlight: Spin-ins by emerging managers who have broken into VC by raising their own funds. The experiences of emerging managers, and even their personality traits, position them to be ready to scale within an established firm. [ Tech
Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
10.
LightForce Orthodontics Closes $14 Million Series B Round Led by Tyche Partners to Bring Customizable 3D-Printed Brackets to Orthodontic Practices and Patients
LightForce Orthodontics, makers of the world’s first and only fully customizable 3D-printed bracket system, today announced it raised a $14 million Series B round led by Tyche Partners with follow-on investment from Matrix Partners and AM Ventures. LightForce enables orthodontists to utilize its 3D-printing technology to create custom braces for each individual patient, significantly reducing the number of adjustment visits needed. In light of the ongoing pandemic, technology that reduces in-person dental visits is crucial not only to patients, but also to the orthodontists and their teams caring for them. LightForce will use the new funds to
further develop its technology and product offerings, as well as to scale operations to meet the recent surge in demand for more efficient dental technologies. [ Businesswire ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
As COVID-19, the ensuing economic crisis, and recent calls for racial justice show, the cost of complacency toward matters of equity is reaching an inflection point. We are ready for a sweeping reset, a new paradigm—one where women receive half of all venture capital (VC) funding, represent half of all decision-makers at VC firms, and make up half of all business owners. Entrepreneurship is ready for an infusion of gender equity. Despite increased awareness, we’re not close to achieving gender equity in entrepreneurship. [ Fast Company ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
12.
Riding On: The Pro’s Closet Inks $12M For Pre-owned Cycling Site
Although The Pro’s Closet has been around since 2006, the company hit its stride within the past two years and is taking investors with it on its journey. The Boulder, Colorado-based company touts itself as “the largest and most trusted brand in pre-owned cycling,” specializing in premium bicycles with an average price tag of $3,200, TPC founder and CEO Nick Martin told Crunchbase News. “We are the biggest bike shop you’ve never heard of, and we are changing the way the world buys and sells bikes,” he said. TPC raised $12 million in strategic funding, led by Foundry Group and Edison Partners, to give it a total investment to date of more than $27 million. Ridgeline Ventures and existing private investors also joined the round. [ Crunchbase ]
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13.
Why a startup with $10M in annual revenue took 18 months to get VC funding
Back in 2006, Joseph Heller went to China where he spent the next decade learning about the manufacturing business. Based on that experience he eventually built a startup called The Studio. The idea was to help connect people with a small
business idea to manufacturers in China in a fully digital way. By 2016 he had grown his startup into a $10 million annual business with 100 employees around the world. But when it came to fundraising back in the U.S., Heller found it wasn’t easy for a Silicon Valley outsider to get in the door without connections. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+
Venture Capital Data on our platform.
14.
Silk and Sonder Lands $3.6M Seed For Monthly Women’s Mental Health Program
Silk and Sonder is helping women with their daily self care in a way that is easy and fun. And it now has a new round of capital to expand its subscription-based mental wellness company. Redpoint Ventures led a $3.6 million seed round with participation from two angel investors.
The new funding gives Silk and Sonder a total of $4.2 million in funds raised, founder and CEO Meha Agrawal told Crunchbase News. The company raised a pre-seed round in 2019 backed by Red Giraffe Advisors, 122West Ventures and 500 Startups. Agrawal had the idea for the San Francisco-based company three years ago to help women find authenticity, wellness and productivity. [ Crunchbase ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
15.
E1106: Desktop Metal's Ric Fulop shares insights from taking two companies public, IPO vs. SPAC
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