Podcast - Blood capital, WeWork whisperings, and gobs of cash for smiles and vegetablesTechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week we had a good crew on the show. We had Connie Loizos and Danny Crichton from TechCrunch, I scampered over from the Crunchbase News domicile, and Brian O’Malley, a general partner with Forerunner
Ventures, joined us to us to round out the collective. Betterment’s Low-Fee Evangelist Has a Retirement Algorithm for YouThe platform’s radical simplicity is gaining followers, and the old guard wants in. Stein has raised $275 million from venture capitalists, but he also has a half-dozen VC-backed competitors, including Palo Alto-based Wealthfront Inc., which has raised more than $200 million and manages about $12 billion. “You’re seeing worlds collide where all these companies are recognizing that consumer preferences are
changing,” says Devin Ryan, an analyst with JMP Securities LLC. [ Bloomberg ] With $50M in fresh funding, Allbirds will open new stores in the US, UK and AsiaThe 3-year-old startup founded by Joey Zwillinger and Tim Brown has raised $75 million to date, including a $17.5 million Series B last year. Its backed by Leonardo DiCaprio, Scooter Braun, Maveron, Lerer Hippeau and Elephant, the venture capital firm led by Warby Parker founder Andrew Hunt. [ Tech Crunch ] One of Goop’s Earliest Investors Says Gwyneth Paltrow Is ‘a Creative Force’Felix Capital founder Frederic Court likes to invest in founders long before their ventures are considered real businesses. The London-based venture firm backs “digital lifestyle” companies with a customer base that exhibits cult-like loyalty to the brand. [ Fortune ] These 16 Founders Can See the Future of Everything From Artificial Intelligence to Ice CreamFemale Founders 100: The Visionaries There are entrepreneurs who set out to build a better version of something, and then there are those who have the foresight to dream up an entirely new reality. These women are reinventing industries, connecting dots we didn't imagine could be, and pushing us out of our comfort zone. [ Inc. ] YourMechanic Expands Internationally, Builds out Fleet Management CapabilitiesYourMechanic is the global market leader in mobile car repair, with 1.3 million cars on the platform. The company has mechanics in more than 5,000 cities across the U.S. and Canada. Initially launched in 2017, YourMechanic’s Fleet Solution has doubled its customer base in the rental, rideshare, corporate and government markets in the last 12 months. VC investment in European startups plunged 21% in Q3 2018As Silicon Valley and China see VC funding accelerate, Europe seems to be slipping into a lower gear. According to the latest quarterly numbers from Dow Jones VentureSource, the amount of funding raised by startups in Europe and the number of deals all slid sharply in the three months ending in September. [ Venture Beat ] Redesigning a troubled industry for the modern ageAlma. The company officially opened its doors yesterday and announced $4.5 million in seed funding from Primary, First Round Capital, Rainfall Ventures, BoxGroup and Able Partners. Alma offers a brand new model for mental health that brings together top therapists into co-practicing communities with shared access to a full-stack technology platform - scheduling, billing, client acquisition and telemedicine - and flexible access to beautiful office space designed to optimize both the therapist and client experience. [ Primary.vc ] |