1.
Resilience raises over $800 million to transform pharmaceutical manufacturing in response to COVID-19
Resilience, a new biopharmaceutical company backed by $800 million in financing from investors including ARCH Venture Partners and 8VC, has emerged from stealth to transform the way that drugs and therapies are manufactured in the U.S. Founded by ARCH Venture Partners investor Robert Nelsen, National Resilience Inc., which does business as Resilience was born out of Nelsen’s frustrations with the inept American response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a statement the company will invest heavily in developing new manufacturing technologies across cell and gene therapies, viral vectors, vaccines and proteins. [ Tech
Crunch ]
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2.
Bezos Backs Start-Up in Maiden Africa Investment
Jeff Bezos agreed to back Africa-focused financial technology company, Chipper Cash, making it his first start-up investment on the continent. The world’s richest man’s personal venture capital fund, Bezos Expeditions, supported the Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital, which raised $30 million for the San Fransisco-based company. Bezos’s backing of Chipper Cash will “widen the company’s product suite through inclusion of more business payment solutions,
crypto-currency trading options, and investment services,” the company said in an emailed statement. Chipper Cash enables instant cross-border mobile money transfers in Africa and abroad and will use the funds for expansion into countries it will announce in 2021. The company has 3 million users on its platform across Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria and South Africa, and processes an average of 80,000 transactions daily, according to the statement. “We are responding to the demand from customers on our P2P platform who also have business enterprises,” Chipper Cash Chief Executive Officer Ham
Serunjogi said in the statement. [ Bloomberg ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
Special:
A16z is now managing $16.5 billion, after announcing two new funds
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has closed a pair of funds totaling $4.5 billion, the firm confirmed in a blog post this morning. The firm has raised $1.3 billion for an early-stage fund focused on consumer, enterprise and fintech; and closed a $3.2 billion growth-stage fund for later-stage investments. The firm did not immediately respond to request for comment. The funds may seem somewhat typical, given the size of new funds that venture firms have been raising in recent years. Still, these are extraordinary amounts given that a16z, with offices in Menlo Park and San Francisco, was founded just 11 years ago. Just as extraordinary, they bring the firm’s total assets under management to $16.5 billion. [ Tech Crunch ]
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3.
Ex-official’s electric vehicle start-up valued at $5.4bn
The UK-based Arrival electric vehicle start-up, founded by Russian businessman and ex-Deputy Minister of Communications Denis Sverdlov, announced this week that it intends to IPO on Nasdaq with a $5.4bn valuation, reports The Bell. Set up only a year ago, the company has been turning heads and has attracted investment from car companies Hyundai and Kia, package delivery firm UPS and asset manager BlackRock. Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin is also reportedly an investor. Arrival will take advantage of an accelerated placement scheme via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and start trading on the Nasdaq exchange at the start of next year. CIIG Merger Corp. – headed by Peter Cuneo, former chief of Black & Decker,
Remington and Marvel – will serve as the SPAC. [ Venture Beat ]
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4.
Steve Case’s Revolution is targeting $500 million for its fourth growth fund
Revolution, the Washington, D.C.-based investment firm founded by AOL co-founder CEO Steve Case and former AOL senior exec Ted Leonsis, is raising $500 million for its fourth fund, shows a new SEC filing. Asked about the effort earlier today, the firm — one of whose executives
leaves for the White House in January — declined to comment. This new fund was expected. It has been more than four years since Revolution announced its third growth fund, a vehicle that closed with $525 million in capital commitments. That’s a longer time between funds than we’re seeing more broadly across the venture industry, where teams have tended to raise new funds approximately every two years, but Revolution’s pacing could tie to its mission. The firm tends to invest primarily in what it long ago dubbed “rise of the rest” cities, where the cost of living and talent is less extreme and where checks go a lot further as a result. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture
Capital Data on our platform.
5.
Peter Thiel Backs Berlin Start-Up Making Psychedelics in $125 Million Round
Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel has backed a Berlin start-up aiming to make psychedelic drugs to treat mental health disorders in a $125 million funding round. ATAI Life Sciences, which describes itself as a drug development platform, was set up to acquire, incubate and develop psychedelics and other drugs that can be used to treat depression, anxiety, addiction and other mental health conditions. The company — founded in 2018 by entrepreneurs Christian Angermayer, Florian Brand, Lars Wilde and Srinivas Rao — announced the funding on Monday. [ NBC ]
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6.
FireEye acquires Respond Software for $186M, announces $400M investment
The security sector is ever frothy and acquisitive. Just last week Palo Alto Networks grabbed Expanse for $800 million. Today it was FireEye’s turn, snagging Respond Software, a company that helps customers investigate and understand security incidents, while reducing the need for highly trained (and scarce) security analysts. The deal has closed, according to the company. FireEye had its eye on Respond’s Analyst product, which it plans to fold into its Mandiant Solutions platform. Like many companies today, FireEye is focused on using machine learning to help bolster its solutions and bring a
level of automation to sorting through the data, finding real issues and weeding out false positives. The acquisition gives them a quick influx of machine learning-fueled software. [ Tech Crunch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
7.
Loadsmart Lands $90M From BlackRock, Maersk, For Digital Shipping Platform
Investors just delivered another $90 million into the coffers of Loadsmart, a digital freight startup, the company announced Friday (Nov. 20). BlackRock led the Series C funding round, which also included key industry investors like international shipping giant Maersk, which has been an investor since Loadsmart’s Series A round, and TFI International Inc. Chromo Capital co-led the deal. Also participating were Perry Capital, founded by Richard C. Perry, and new fund Bramalea Partners, launched by Andrew Boyd, former head of global equity capital markets at Fidelity Investments. Loadsmart features an online portal designed for those in the shipping business to move freight through ports and across rail lines and highways on land. Loadsmart claims it has expanded its revenue base by 250 percent since January by what it calls a “fiscally conservative
strategy.” [ pymnts ]
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8.
Japan’s ORIX to invest $60 million in OurCrowd funds, startups
Jerusalem-based venture capital firm OurCrowd said Thursday that ORIX Corporation is investing a strategic $60 million in its crowdfunding platform, marking the first time the Japanese financial services group has become active in
Israel’s startup ecosystem. Through the collaboration, OurCrowd will provide ORIX “access to a wide variety of innovative technologies and companies,” OurCrowd said in a statement. ORIX and OurCrowd will also work to increase cooperation between the two countries and increase opportunities for Israeli startups in Asia. [ times of israel ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
9.
Credit Key Raises $33M Towards BNPL Services
Credit Key, which works in payments and lending, has raised $33.85 million towards its buy now, pay later (BNPL) model, a report says. The company raised the newest funds from Greycroft, Bonfire Ventures and Loeb.nyc, alongside other, unnamed investors. Credit Key offers businesses
an alternative payment solution intended to give financing for purchases at the point of sale. The company takes on the credit risk and loan servicing, offering buyers a "transparent" experience with competitive interest rates, the report writes. The booming B2B market in the U.S. consists of over $9 trillion in payments annually. While only $1.3 trillion of that takes place online, that number could grow rapidly in the near future. Credit Key, according to the report, expects the eCommerce market to keep up the pace, too, reaching as much as $1.8 trillion by 2022. [ pymnts ]
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10.
Marketing AI start-up Metigy raises $20m as COVID helps growth
Metigy, a Sydney-based marketing technology start-up, has raised $20 million as it pursues expansion plans across the US and South East Asia, and plots a course towards an initial public offering on the ASX. The company provides small business clients a platform that incorporates artificial intelligence to provide insights on their potential customers for marketing purposes. And it has grown rapidly, claiming to service 26,000 customers across 92 countries. [ afr ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
11.
Medical imaging provider Butterfly Network to merge with SPAC Longview in $1.5 billion deal
Butterfly Network Inc. said Friday it has agreed to merge with special purpose acquisition corporation Longview Acquisition Corp. LGVW, 8.80% in a deal with an enterprise value of $1.5 billion. The combined company will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BFLY." It will have about $584 million in cash to develop its digital imaging technology. Butterfly iQ is an ultrasound transducer that can perform "whole body imaging' with a single handheld probe using chip
technology that connects to a mobile phone or tablet, the companies said in a statement. Butterfly's early investors include Baillie Gifford, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Fosun Industrial Co., Limited. Butterfly's aim is to make superior medical imaging at more affordable prices. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. Longview shares were up 4% premarket. [ market watch ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
12.
Zoox founder roars back with Twiggy-backed start-up
Tim Kentley Klay, who built autonomous vehicle company Zoox from nothing to a $US3.2 billion ($4.5 billion) valuation in just four years before being suddenly fired, has formed a new start-up to rival his former company with the backing of billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest. The Australian entrepreneur had built Zoox into an industry-leading player in the rapidly advancing driverless vehicle space, where he was competing against a range of car industry incumbents as well as tech giants like Google, Uber, Tesla and Apple. He is attempting to leap ahead in the same market once more, with his new company HYPR. Kentley Klay had raised about $US800 million in total funding, with a plan to create a ride hailing fleet, but was abruptly fired in August 2018, shortly after the completion of a $US500 million funding round led by Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes. Zoox was then sold to Amazon in a relatively cut-price $US1.3 billion deal in June. [ afr ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
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