BREAKING:
Ex-76ers president Sam Hinkie raises $50 million VC fund
Sam Hinkie, best known to NBA fans for helping the Philadelphia 76ers tank their way back into contention, has raised $50 million for a Silicon Valley venture capital firm called Eighty-Seven Capital. He tells Axios to expect seed and early-stage investments, but not with a sports focus. Background: Hinkie began his career in venture capital and
private equity before joining the Houston Rockets front office in 2005. He then spent three years as president and general manager of the 76ers, during which time the team was awful but made key draft picks like Joel Embiid. [ Axios ]
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1.
Chinese EV startup Nio nabs $1B investment to keep it afloat
Nio, a newcomer to the electric car market, has found a lifeline in the form of a new $1 billion investment from various Chinese investment funds. The crucial funds secure Nio's financial future and will ensure new vehicles continue to be developed. Reuters reported on the investment following a Nio press conference on Wednesday. The company said the investment doesn't impact any current partnerships with other companies, nor its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Last year, Nio announced its co-founder was to depart the company, and shortly after that, it laid off 1,200 workers. Meanwhile, Nio's been pushing its two production cars as it looks to find a footing. Early hype saw it labeled the Chinese Tesla and the
company had big expectations to fill. The Nio ES8 launched first with Model X-rivaling specs, though slow sales followed. The more affordable ES6 electric SUV made up a larger portion of its deliveries towards the end of 2019. Nio sold just under 4,000 cars so far this year through March, and the company said it's starting to see a recovery. [ cnet ]
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2.
Stash Valued at $800 Million as LendingTree, T. Rowe Invest
New York-based investing startup Stash Investments is raising $112 million in a new round of funding led by LendingTree Inc. The round will value the company at more than $800 million, according to people familiar with the
matter. Global asset management giant T. Rowe Price Group Inc. is also coming in as a new investor, while existing backers Breyer Capital, Goodwater Capital, Greenspring Associates Inc. and Union Square Ventures increased their contributions, according to a statement Wednesday. “The money is going to be mostly used to support customer growth and
building up brand awareness, especially during this really scary time with Covid-19,” Stash co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Brandon Krieg said in an interview. “We want to help Americans achieve financial freedom.” [ Bloomberg ]
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3.
FIS Accelerates Innovation with $150 Million of New Capital for Venture Investments
Financial technology leader FIS™ (NYSE: FIS) announced today that FIS Ventures, the newly created corporate venture investment division of FIS, has launched an effort to invest a target of $150 million in promising fintech startups over the next three years. FIS Ventures will invest globally in early to growth-stage fintech startups with a focus on emerging
technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital enablement and automation, data and analytics, security and privacy, distributed ledger technology, and financial inclusion. In addition to capital investments, FIS Ventures will actively partner with these companies, providing proprietary access as appropriate to FIS’ global reach and scale, operating expertise, diverse customers and channel partners to help fulfill their long-term growth ambition. [ Yahoo ]
4.
Silverton Partners raises record $144M fund for VC investments
Austin venture capital firm Silverton Partners announced April 29 it has raised a new $144 million fund that will be mostly dedicated to making new investments in Texas startups. That appears to make it the largest early-stage fund in the state. The firm plans to invest in 20 to 25 startups with its new fund, with about 25% set aside for non-Texas startups. While the coronavirus pandemic is altering a lot of startup activity right now, Silverton co-founder and General Partner Morgan Flager told Austin Inno that the firm sees a lot of opportunity now and on the horizon. [ biz
journals ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
5.
Manna Tree Partners Closes First Fund Focused on Health and Wellbeing, at $141.5M
Manna Tree Partners, a Vail, CO-based investment firm that invests in companies focused on human health and wellbeing, raised $141.5m for its first fund. 131 investors in 18 countries from around the world committed capital to Manna Tree Partners Fund I, L.P., including private wealth managers, corporate venture partners, family offices and high net worth individuals. 30% of investors in the fund are women.[ finsmes ]
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6.
Blackstone’s €1.36bn acquisition of NIBC on hold as bank postpones dividend
Blackstone has warned it will not be able to go ahead with its planned €1.36bn acquisition of Dutch bank NIBC Holding, unless the lender pays its dividend. The US private equity group has put on ice its funding of up to €1.304bn in equity for the acquisition after the Amsterdam-based bank’s decided earlier this month to postpone dividend payments. The balance in finance was meant to originate from the dividend payment. NIBC said it would pay this in the second half of the year, in light of the pandemic’s impacts on the business. Blackstone said it “understands the prudency that led NIBC
to decide to postpone payment of the final dividend following the recommendation made by financial regulators to refrain from making dividend payments” but that this had not been anticipated. It added that it is continuing to discuss potential solutions with NIBC. [ FN London ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
7.
UnitedHealth’s Optum is in advanced talks to acquire remote mental health provider AbleTo for about $470 million
UnitedHealth Group’s Optum is in advanced talks to acquire virtual therapy provider AbleTo for about $470 million, according to people familiar with the deal, at a time when telehealth is more in demand than ever. The transaction would value AbleTo, a 12-year-old company based in New York, at about 10 times forward revenue, said the people, who asked not to be named because the deal
hasn’t closed and terms could still change. Optum, the division of insurer UnitedHealth that provides technology-enabled services, has been growing through acquisitions, including the purchase of DaVita Medical Group for almost $5 billion and patient-monitoring start-up Vivify Health. [ CNBC ]
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8.
Mojo Vision sees $51M round for its smart, vision-improving contact lens
Mojo Vision raised an additional $51 million for its smart contact lens project—including the development of a tiny augmented reality display that would sit just above the pupil which could help people with impaired vision better navigate their surroundings. Led by New Enterprise Associates, the series B-1 round brings the company’s total funding to $159 million. Additional backers included Gradient Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures, Struck Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, Fusion Fund, Intellectus Partners, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, Numbase Group, InFocus Capital Partners and others. [ Fierce Biotech ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
9.
From B2B To D2C: Cheetah Raises $36M For Contactless Food Pickup & Delivery
Niche, a Pittsburgh, PA-based school search platform connecting people to K-12 schools or colleges, raised $35m in Series C funding. The round was led by Radian Capital, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, as well as existing investors Allen & Company LLC and Tim Armstrong. In conjunction with the funding, Weston Gaddy, Partner and Co-founder of Radian Capital, and Francisco D’Souza, Executive Vice Chairman and Co-Founder of Cognizant, Niche’s board of directors. The company plans to use the funds to advance its
platform to partner with thousands of additional schools and to continue to expand headcount across product, engineering, marketing, and sales. [ Finsmes ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
10.
Deliverect raises €16.25 million to expand its food delivery software globally
Today Deliverect, a Belgian startup streamlining the restaurant industry with its online food delivery management software, today announced that it has raised €16.25 million in a Series B funding round, led by OMERS Ventures, alongside existing investors Newion, Smartfin and the company’s founders. Deliverect, founded in 2018, is a subscription-based
service that integrates third-party online ordering platforms like Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Glovo, and Doordash into restaurants’ point-of-sale systems, automating the inbound order flow through a single point. It eliminates the need for restaurant staff to monitor multiple devices and manually re-enter orders into their existing system, dramatically reducing both staff workload and the probability of errors. [ eu-startups ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
11.
Medici Raises $24M While Telehealth Is Thriving
Topia, a San Francisco, CA-based Global Talent Mobility company, closed $15m in Series D funding. Backers included NewView Capital, Notion Capital and Workday Ventures. The company, which has raised more than $100m since its inception, intends to use the funds to invest in driving innovation and broader go-to-market activities. Led by Shawn Farshchi, CEO, Topia provides a cloud-based Global Talent Mobility platform that enables businesses to effectively deploy, manage, and engage employees around the world. The platform provides an integrated
data standard across global talent mobility and connects with existing HR tech stacks and vendors. [ finsmes ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
12.
ENT biotech Lyra Therapeutics sets terms for $53 million IPO
Lyra Therapeutics, a Phase 2 biotech developing an implantable drug matrix for chronic rhinosinusitis, announced terms for its IPO on Monday. The Watertown, MA-based company plans to raise $53 million by offering 3.5 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16. At the midpoint of the proposed range, Lyra Therapeutics would command a fully diluted market value of $193 million. Lyra Therapeutics was founded in 2005 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol LYRA. BofA Securities, Jefferies and William Blair are the joint bookrunners on the deal. It is expected to price during the week of April 27, 2020. [ Nasdaq ] Checkout 15K+ Venture Capital Data on our platform.
13.
Blackstone Buys $360 Million Stake in Australia's Crown Resorts; Shares Soar
(Reuters) - Australia's Crown Resorts Ltd said on Wednesday that U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group Inc had bought all of its shares held by Macau casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, sending its share price soaring. Crown said an entity controlled by Blackstone had bought about 67.7 million of its shares from Melco, which in February had shelved a bid to raise its holding in the Australian casino operator due to a drop in traveller numbers. [ NY Times ]
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14.
Despite Current Environment, Fintech Startups Continue To Hire And Raise Funds
COVID-19 is pushing companies to accelerate their innovations in a matter of weeks rather than years, such as accepting mobile payments or giving their brick-and-mortar store an online presence. The financial services industry is one of the bright spots in an otherwise gloomy environment of record unemployment and layoffs at companies of all sizes. Despite the current economic climate, companies in the financial services space are not only continuing to hire, but are fundraising and being acquired. “Consumers are more open to using financial technology applications and are more trusting,” said Jillian
Williams, principal at Anthemis Group. “Meanwhile, financial institutions are being forced to adopt technology because it is uncertain when social distancing is going to end.” [ Crunchbase ]
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15.
Google and Facebook veterans raise $1.5m and launch Bonsai to power work-based learning in today’s virtual world
Bonsai, an online platform that connects individuals seeking career advice with professionals doing relevant work, launches out of private beta today. The company, which is founded and led by entrepreneurs and veterans of the NYC tech ecosystem who have started and sold companies to Google and Facebook, empowers college students and recent graduates to engage in virtual work-based learning and career counseling. “There are major imbalances and inefficiencies associated with how college students and young professionals kick-start their networks and learn from the career experience of others,” says
Patrick Sullivan, Bonsai Co-founder and CEO. Powered by 1:1 video chats, Bonsai allows advice-seekers to network with and learn from advice-givers, who are able to monetize the guidance they share based on the industry wisdom and connections developed over their years. [ join bonsai ]
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