Uber, Losing $1.8 Billion a Year, Reveals I.P.O. FilingUber, the ride-hailing service that has upended transportation around the world, took a major step toward the largest initial public offering in years when it officially unveiled its finances in a prospectus on Thursday.The offering, which could value Uber at around $100 billion, is expected to reverberate through global financial markets and to solidify the company’s position as one of the most consequential technology firms of the past decade. The share sale would be the biggest since the Alibaba Group of China began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014, and would peg Uber’s value at more than four times that of United Airlines’ parent and double that of
FedEx. [ NY Times ] Travis Kalanick stands to make billions from Uber’s IPOUber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who resigned from the company in 2017, still stands to make billions in the company’s initial public offering, expected in May. The ride-hailing giant dropped its S-1 this afternoon, confirming plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “UBER.” The company did not disclose the valuation it’s seeking but is said to be planning to sell around $10 billion in stock. [ Tech Crunch ] Uber battles its own history in a historic IPO filing [ Re/Code ] Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was ousted from the company, could be worth up to $8.6 billion after IPO [ CNBC ]Silicon Valley’s self-regulating days “probably should be” over, Nancy Pelosi saysIt’s a “new era” for tech regulation, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says. “In the UK, as you know, they’ve said the era of self-regulation of these companies is over,” she told Kara Swisher on an upcoming episode of the Recode Decode podcast. “Is it over in this country?” Swisher asked. “It probably should be,” Pelosi said. “I think we have to subject it all to scrutiny and cost-benefits and all that, but I do think that it’s a new era.” Pelosi said Silicon Valley is abusing the privilege of section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says that internet companies are not
responsible for what is posted on their platforms. [ Re/Code ] Inside The Uber S-1: Revenue, Growth, And LossesToday Uber filed its public S-1 document, moving the ride-hailing giant closer to its IPO. Uber filing today was not a surprise, after news broke earlier hinting that this would happen. Those same reports pegged Uber’s potential raise at $10 billion, and its potential value between $90 billion and $100 billion. [ Tech Crunch ] The Top 20 Venture Capitalists In AsiaFor a fourth consecutive year, we worked with The New York Times to develop a data-driven ranking of the world's best venture capital partners. Here are the top 20 partners in Asia. In 2018, $81B was invested into venture capital-backed startups in Asia across more than 5,000 deals. That equates to a nearly 12x increase in funding to Asian startups since 2013. [ CB Insights ] Startup Continent: The Most Well-Funded Tech Startups In EuropeWe mapped out the top-funded tech startup in every European country, including unicorns like Sweden's Klarna and Spain's Cabify. Europe is home to prominent startup and innovation hubs in cities like Berlin, Stockholm, and London. However, the tech boom is diffusing across the continent, and startups are emerging far beyond the established tech hotbeds. Since 2012, nearly $55B has been invested across more than 7,200 equity deals to tech startups in the European continent. [ CB Insights ] Vector, Virgin and a mystery team will compete in DARPA’s $34M launch challengeDARPA wants to be able to launch anywhere, any time and several times in a row. Is that too much to ask? Not for Vector Space, Virgin Orbit and an unnamed startup that just qualified to participate in the agency’s Launch Challenge, which will push their responsive and mobile launch capabilities to the limit. [ Tech Crunch ] Texas Q1 2019 Report: Lone Star Startups Raise Nearly $800MFirst quarter venture investment in Texas once again reflected a common result: Austin nabbed the most investment dollars with Dallas and Houston trailing behind. The news isn’t shocking considering Austin started off the year with a very strong January, as we reported at the time. The city’s startups raised the majority of total dollars brought in by the state as a whole, as you can see below. [ Crunchbase ] Fintech Insurer Lemonade Valued At More Than $2 Billion After $300 Million Funding DealLemonade, a renters and homeowners insurance startup, has raised $300 million in a deal led by SoftBank Group, the company announced today. Though the fintech company isn’t disclosing its valuation, a source says this investment brings its value to more than $2 billion. [ Forbes ] Investors Are Betting Early On Cybersecurity StartupsIn an increasingly digital world, startups, small businesses, and large corporations have at least one problem in common: ensuring the security of the data they store. And we also know that security is top of mind for VCs, too—but likely more for the returns than the actual protection. According to Scale Venture Partners’s 2018 cyber report, venture dollars invested in cybersecurity startups reached $5.4 billion last year, doubling from 2016 totals. The market also saw a number of exits in the space last year including Cisco’s $2.35 billion acquisition of Duo Security, and public debuts for Carbon Black, Okta, and Zscaler. That investment activity has continued into Q1 2019, according to Crunchbase data. [ Crunchbase ] The importance of seating at the investor meetingWe just finished YCombinator. Surrounding Demo Day, we went to a lot of investor meetings. Such conversations are usually well-choreographed and methodical but their physical conditions can be variable and random. The following will massively (though subtly) impact the flow of a meeting 1. Furniture Despite the outsized impact the above can have on the outcome, their configuration is often haphazard. I have been documenting my findings for you. [ Tech Crunch ] DC-Area Venture Capital Report for Q1 2019: Dollar Amounts Down, Deal Volume UpAfter a near-record total of venture capital investments last year, 2019 is off to slightly slower start on a national and local level. Overall, the theme is larger rounds but fewer overall deals, but the D.C. metro surprisingly reversed that trend in Q1. [ american inno ] Three Lessons Startup Founders Can Learn From The Baal Shem TovFounders today often feel immense stress. We want to heal a specific pain point we see in the world, and we struggle to find the balance we need to do so. I often look to my spirituality and a higher wisdom for guidance in trying times. Yisrael Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement, is one such inspiration to me. An orphan by the age of 5, young Yisrael would wander the fields and forests, meditating about the wonders of G-d's creation. One day while on one of his walks, Yisrael came across an exceptionally pious man. This man would become his mentor, leading Yisrael on a journey that would send waves into the rest of time. [ Forbes ] LIVE! - Launch Accelerator Class 11 PitchesLIVE! Launch Accelerator Class 11 Week 12 Pitches Public health startup Cityblock raises $65M Series BRedpoint Ventures has led a $65 million Series B in Cityblock, a healthcare company focused on providing improved care to low-income neighborhoods. The business launched roughly 18 months ago out of Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs, an urban innovation incubator known for projects like mobility data startup Coord, which itself raised a $5 million round in October. [ Tech Crunch ] Shedul, the booking platform for salons and spas, raises $20M Series B at a $105M valuationShedul, the online booking platform for salons and spas, has raised $20 million in Series B investment, valuing the company at $105 million. The round was led by Paris headquartered VC Partech, with participation from Berlin-based Target Global, Dubai-based BECO Capital and New York’s FJ Labs. In addition, a personal investment was made by entrepreneur Niklas Östberg, founder and CEO of Delivery Hero. [ Tech Crunch ] Inside The Uber S-1: Who Owns WhatEditor’s note: Keep an eye out for our upcoming comprehensive analysis of Uber’s S-1. Uber’s public S-1 filing is currently setting fire to the tech and finance Internet, making this the perfect moment for some scorekeeping. The filing contains a wealth of information about the ride-hailing company, including its revenue and margins and growth metrics that have been the cause of much fascination here at Crunchbase News. But it also includes facts and figure relating to ownership, which is something else we need to keep an eye on. So if you are the sort of person who cares quite a lot about which venture capital fund will return a superior pile of cash to its LPs, this one is for you. [ Crunchbase ] Tech unicorn Klarna may soon be ready to consider bourse listing: CEOSwedish tech unicorn Klarna is nearing the point where it could seek a stock market listing, but it’s unlikely to be this year, the CEO and co-founder of the fast-growing online payments services firm said. Founded in 2005 and backed by investors such as Sequoia Capital, Atomico, Visa and Permira, Klarna has fueled expectations in financial markets that it could go public since it doubled down on growth last year after securing a Swedish banking license and announcing plans to expand into new countries in 2019. [ Reuters ] Founders meet with Salesforce Ventures at TechCrunch Include’s April Office HoursTechCrunch Include is partnering with Salesforce Ventures to host this month’s Include Office Hours on April 30th. From 2:00pm – 4:00pm, Salesforce Ventures investors Matt Garratt, Phoebe Peronto, Spencer Chavez, and Claudine Emeott will meet with founders one on one, for 20 minutes, to offer guidance, advice and product feedback. You can apply here. TechCrunch launched the Include program in 2014 to connect underserved and underrepresented founders in tech to our vast network and facilitate opportunities. The Include Office Hours program is one such initiative. TechCrunch partners with a VC firm a few times a year to give diverse founders a unique opportunity to meet privately with investors to get advice on building and developing their startups. [ Tech Crunch ] Armis Security raises $65 million to secure internet of things devicesCyber intrusion becomes more common with each passing day. According to a recent study conducted by the University of Maryland, there’s a hack attempt every 39 seconds on average, and businesses bear the brunt of them. The Kelser Corporation estimates that 65% of small and medium-sized companies are the target of attacks, and that those attacks could cost as much as $2 trillion in total by the end of this year. [ Venture Beat ] |