Lightspeed backs Lady Gaga's makeup startup amid spike in beauty fundingLady Gaga is known for creating hit songs—and now she's hoping to achieve success in the startup world, too. Shervin Pishevar has been in quite the giving mood. Last night, the controversial VC and Hyperloop One cofounder tweeted, “How can I help you?”–and it appears to be a genuine question for his 91,000+ followers. Pishevar has been entertaining requests for job referrals, project funding, and help with student loans. [ Fast Company ] Alibaba's Ele.me Seeking at Least $2 Billion in Funding, Sources SayEle.me, the food delivery platform acquired by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., is on the hunt for $2 billion of new financing to help in its fight against Meituan Dianping, people familiar with the matter said. The Chinese company is seeking funds from potential investors such as venture capital firms to expand a business that’s burning enormous amounts of cash, according to the people, who requested not to be named because the matter is private. While it’s unclear how big a stake is available in Ele.me, which was valued at $9.5 billion in April’s Alibaba acquisition, investors would get a piece of a company that’s a candidate for a future initial public offering, the people added. [ Bloomberg ] PODCAST: Meet The Under 30 Lerer Hippeau Principal Pursuing The Steepest Learning CurveCaitlin Strandberg is a leading young mind in venture capital as a principal at Lerer Hippeau. In 2017, she was named to the Under 30 venture capital list for her work as vice president at FirstMark Capital. [ Forbes ] Undo gets $14M to scale to meet the software accountability challengeUndo, a long time player in the debugging tools space, offering its program execution capture and replay technology to help others diagnose software failures, has closed a $14 million Series B round led by Cambridge Innovation Capital, the Cambridge, UK-based builder of tech and healthcare companies. [ Tech Crunch ] Kleiner Teams With Chelsea Clinton to Boost Telemedicine Birth ControlFor Nurx Inc., a telemedicine provider of birth-control services, the mission goes beyond convenience. The San Francisco company aims to serve young women who lack access to reproductive health services in rural and conservative parts of the U.S. Three years after it launched, Texas and Indiana are among Nurx’s top five markets, and demand has been so strong that it has offset opposition from groups in North Carolina. [ WSJ ] GoGoVan raises US$250m in first phase of new funding roundGOGOVAN - an on-demand delivery van service backed by Singapore's Centurion Private Equity and Singapore Press Holdings - has raised US$250 million in new funding. The sum represents the "first phase of its new round of funding", the startup said on Friday. GoGoVan chief executive and co-founder Steven Lam told The Business Times that the company could be fundraising for a second phase of this financing round, given strong interest by other investors. [ Fortune ] 3 challenges the Midwest still faces in attracting more venture capitalIn Q2 2018, Late-Stage Deals Led The World’s Venture Capital Market Forget the sex, the hot new book about Google is an important reminder of what Sergey and Larry are really after Ten Female Founded Venture Capital Funds You Should Have In Your NetworkVENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS ARE INVESTING IN VEGAN BRANDS THAT DISRUPT THE FOOD INDUSTRYIsraeli Startup Monday Had To Change Its Name After Mockery. Now Its Team Software Is Worth $550MEssential Startup Advice with Adora Chung, Reham Fagiri, Tiffani Ashley Bell, and Alana Branston Reshma Shetty, Founder of Ginkgo Bioworks at the Female Founders ConferenceFireside Chat with Kat Mañalac, Kathryn Minshew, and Alex CavoulacosaYC Partner AMA at the Female Founders ConferenceF |