Travis Kalanick says Uber has 40 million monthly active riders
Travis Kalanick says his drivers’ license is expired — though, of course he has to say that. But in Kalanick’s future, with a fleet of driverless Ubers shuttling people around, it might be that everyone’s drivers’ licenses will expire. His company, Uber, could essentially be a replacement for owning a car for Kalanick, and also for the 40 million monthly active riders the company has. Kalanick revealed that number on stage at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit this year in San Francisco. Kalanick also said that drivers made somewhere between $1.5 billion and $2 billion last month. Those monthly active riders pay around $50 per month,
he said.
[ Tech Crunch ]
Sequoia Capital Hires Yahoo’s Jess Lee as First Woman U.S. Investing Partner
For the first time in its 44-year history, Sequoia Capital, one of the most vaunted venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, has hired a female investing partner for its U.S. operations. Sequoia had been wooing Jess Lee since 2012 . She's the co-founder and chief executive officer of Polyvore, a shopping site for fashion and home decor. Yahoo! Inc. acquired it last year for $230 million, and as Yahoo is now being bought by Verizon Communications Inc., Lee agreed to join Sequoia.
[ Bloomberg ]
AOL founder Steve Case says Silicon Valley's dominance is coming to an end
AOL founder and current venture capitalist Steve Case has words for Silicon Valley: you won't be the only game in town for much longer. "Last year 75% of VC went into 3 states, California, New York, and Massachusetts, and that's not going to be the case 10 years from now," Case told Business Insider in an interview at Vanity Fair's New Establishment Summit, where he is speaking. [ Business Insider ]
MARK ZUCKERBERG DEFENDS TRUMP SUPPORTER PETER THIEL IN LEAKED MEMO
While there is little public support for Donald Trump in Silicon Valley, the existence of one prominent Trump donor has ignited a small firestorm of controversy in the Bay Area. This week, it was reported that billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel,who served as a delegate for Trump and spoke on his behalf at the Republican National Convention, had donated $1.25 million to his presidential campaign. Now, a number of Thiel’s colleagues are finding themselves on the defensive over their continuing association with somebody who many in the Valley see as supporting racism, bigotry, and sexism. [ Vainity Fair ]
Is The ClassPass Model Sustainable?
A close look at ClassPass's plans for global domination raises big questions about the fitness of all-you-can-use subscription services. Inside a sparse concrete studio crouch a man and woman, both outfitted in athletic attire, buttocks in the air, hands on a black sandbag, preparing to push the heavy sack across the length of a long foam mat. "Go! Go! Go!" a trainer yells, beckoning them to begin the workout. For $38, exercise masochists can spend an hour throwing weighted balls at a ceiling and haphazardly climbing over tall walls at Brooklyn's Warrior Fitness Boot Camp studio. [ Fast Company ]
LATEST FUNDING
PayCommerce to tap $22M in venture capital to boost global market share
New York-area startups and venture capitalists are making funding deals with the hopes of creating the next profitable company. Here's one deal announced Wednesday. PayCommerce, a cross-border payments service, closed a new round of funding,$22 million Series B investment. Austin, Texas-based Tritium Partners is the sole investor in this round. Chris Steiner, vice president at Tritium, is set to join the PayCommerce board of directors. [ Biz Journals ]
Asthma tracking startup Propeller Health takes in $21.5 million to grow and go global
Imagine not being able to breathe and imagine that loss of breath coming out of nowhere. It’s a frightening position to be in, but one company, Propeller Health wants to help people head off asthma attacks and other respiratory conditions before they get to that point by watching every breath they take. Today the company announced the close of $21.5 million in Series C funding to continue growing its partnerships, adding more devices and medications to the platform and getting in front of the more than 37 million people with asthma and other respiratory diseases in the U.S. [ Tech Crunch ]
ShotTracker raises $5 million in seed round with Magic Johnson, David Stern
Basketball wearables startup ShotTracker has raised $5 million in its seed round, according to a press release. The fundraising round includes investments by Earvin “Magic” Johnson and former NBA Commissioner David Stern. The two basketball legends will also serve in an advisory role for the company. “ShotTracker TEAM will revolutionize the game not only because it automates the tracking of detailed player stats, but also because it’s an affordable solution for basketball programs at every level,” said Johnson, in a press release. “This new technology simplifies the assessment of performance that will have a major impact on young athletes’
preparation and ultimately their basketball careers.”
[ Silicon Prairie News]
Oryx Vision snags $17 mln Series A
Israel-based Oryx Vision, a developer of depth-sensing solutions for autonomous vehicles, has secured $17 million in Series A funding. Bessemer Venture Partnersled the round with participation from Maniv Mobility and Trucks VC. In addition to the funding, Adam Fisher, a partner at BVP, has been added to Oryx’s board of directors.
PRESS RELEASE:
PETACH TIKVA, Israel (October 19, 2016) – Oryx Vision today announced it has emerged from stealth with a veteran team from the Israeli high-tech industry to build a radically different depth sensing solution for autonomous vehicles. Oryx has raised $17 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), with additional participation from Maniv Mobility and Trucks VC. BVP Partner Adam Fisher will join Oryx’s board of directors. [ PE Hub ]
Techstars Seattle graduate Leanplum, led by former Google engineers, raises $29M
Techstars Seattle graduate Leanplum has raised $29 million in a Series C round, led by Canaan Partners with participation from Kleiner Perkins and Shasta Ventures. It’s a big round for the startup company, which left Seattle for San Francisco shortly after graduating from the Techstars program in 2012. The latest round brings total funding in Leanplum to $46 million. The company, which focuses on mobile marketing, engagement and testing, plans to double its headcount of 80 by the end of next year, according to AdExchanger. The money will go toward hiring more engineers and growing globally. [ Geek Wire ]
Vertical Mass: Where the entertainment industry goes to store and sell user data
Stream music? Go to concerts? Like a popular band on Facebook? There's a good chance information about you is available for sale to advertisers and other businesses on Vertical Mass. The nearly 3-year-old West Hollywood start-up provides user data storage and analysis software for companies in music, sports, video games and Hollywood. Those companies also can list some of their user information for sale, with Vertical Mass collecting a portion of the proceeds. Fees from the software service and the data marketplace have brought Vertical Mass seven figures in revenue for two consecutive years, Chief Executive Mark Shedletsky said, declining to provide specific figures. [ LA Times ]
Finrise bags $5.4 mln
Burlingame, California-based healthcare marketplace Finrise has secured $5.4 million in funding. The investors included NFX Guild, Mayfield and WTI. In addition to the funding, Finrise has hired Richard Lewis as chief risk officer and capital markets head.
PRESS RELEASE:
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – October 19, 2016 – NFX Guild-backed Finrise, an ambitious healthcare marketplace that provides a seamless way to finance elective healthcare services – today announced $5.4 in committed debt and equity financing from prominent institutional and angel investors, the addition of seasoned bank executive Richard Lewis as Chief Risk Officer and Head of Capital Markets, and the launch of Vetary.com. [ PE Hub ]
Furlenco’s $30 million raise shows furniture rental is working for Indian millennials
The idea of ownership in the American economy has changed so much in recent years that it’s easy to forget the once high level of importance placed on it. If we think back, most of us can remember at-least one conversation with our parents about Uber or Airbnb that resulted in a lecture about the dangers of using other people’s things. Ajith Mohan Karimpana, the founder and CEO of Furlenco, headquartered in India, explains that the country is going through the same paradigm shift in how millennials value and prioritize ownership. In short, they couldn’t care less. They travel frequently, seek opportunity, and emphasize experiences over inanimate objects. [ Tech Crunch ]
Banking-as-a-service platform IbanFirst raises EUR10 million
SME currency transfer operator FX4Biz has raised EUR10 million and performed a business pivot to rebrand as IbanFirst, offering an online multi-currency platform in banking-as-a-service mode Under the new brand, IbanFirst will provide a plug in for SMEs to gain access to a network of fintech startups offering an alternative to traditional banks for their day-to-day banking needs. [ finextra ]
Moov locks down $12M Series B as it brings new wearables to market for real-time coaching
Motivation is hard to come by. If you’re lucky, you have friends that will go to the gym with you to keep you in line. If you’re wealthy, you can hire a personal trainer. But if your friends have long since given up and your bank account is screaming mercy, your options are few and far between. The entire premise behind Moov is that wearables can be used to provide real-time feedback for fast paced workouts. When Meng Li, Nikola Hu, and Tony Yuan started Moov, the goal was always to create a virtual personal assistant that could step in at appropriate times with that feedback. To date, the group has succeeded at selling wearables to augment swimming, running, cycling, and even boxing workouts with coaching, but today’s release brings heart rate into the conversation. [ Tech Crunch ]
LATEST EXITS
Italian Luxury Shoemaker Golden Goose Said to Weigh Sale
Private equity firm Ergon Capital Partners is considering a sale of its Italian luxury sneaker company, Golden Goose Deluxe Brand, according to people familiar with the matter. Ergon, backed by Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA, is working with financial advisers at Lazard Ltd. on the potential sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The talks are still at a preliminary stage and may draw interest from private equity firms and other fashion brands, the people said. The owners are seeking more than 400 million euros ($439 million) for the business, they said.
[ Bloomberg ]
FUND RAISED
Form D On Watch: Bowery Capital II Friends Filing. Michael C Brown Jr Released Oct 19 Form D
The Alabama-based Bowery Capital II Friends, L.P. had published Form D about $1.30 million offering. This is a new filing. The Limited Partnership raised $1.09 million. That is 84.04% of the $1.30 million offering amount. The total offering amount was $1.30 million. The private offering document was filed on 2016-10-19. Bowery Capital II Friends, L.P.’s clarification was: unspecified. The offering has $207,500 left to be raised and is still open. [ Frisco Fastball ]
