Good day. In a market where observers are on the alert for the slightest sign of a possible slowdown, a new report offers several indicators that could be taken as just that—despite its overall portrayal of a booming venture industry.

The percentage of deals that were down rounds, where the deal price fell relative to the previous financing, rose two percentage points in the third quarter to 8%, according to a report by law firm Fenwick & West LLP. The firm analyzed 260 venture financings by companies based in Silicon Valley.

Deals that came at the Series B, E or later rounds drove the increase, according to the report. The percentage of down rounds that came in the Series B stage doubled to 10% from the second quarter. Down rounds at the Series E or later rounds jumped to 12% in the third quarter from 4% in the second, according to the report.

To be sure, the report said the venture market notched a strong quarter. Overall up rounds exceeded overall down rounds 91% to 8% in the third quarter (1% were flat). Up rounds accounted for 92% of deals in the previous quarter.

Mark Leahy, a Fenwick partner who co-authored the report, said he didn’t see a trend in the findings, attributing them instead to normal market fluctuations.

“I wouldn’t say we’re seeing any weakness,” he said.

Note: The WSJ Pro Venture Capital newsletter will take a break for Thanksgiving and will be back in inboxes on Monday.

And now on to the news...

Tech-focused fund. Bain Capital is pitching investors on its second technology-focused fund with a goal of raising $1.5 billion barely a year after wrapping up the strategy’s debut fund with $1.25 billion, WSJ Pro’s Preeti Singh reports. The New Mexico State Investment Council committed up to $60 million to the vehicle, Bain Capital Tech Opportunities Fund II LP, according to David Lee, the director of private equity for the council, which manages $34 billion of assets for four permanent funds. Bain Capital is committing $150 million to the fund, Mr. Lee said. The new Bain Capital vehicle will focus on buyouts and late-stage growth investments in midsize North American companies, involving control and minority investments, Mr. Lee said at a public meeting of the council.

A traditional IPO. A merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. A direct listing. Finance chiefs these days have a range of options to lead their companies to the public markets, with each approach bringing its own set of pros and cons to consider. Bankers, executives and analysts last week offered tips on going public and a host of other issues that chief financial officers may face, at the SoftBank Vision Fund’s FinConnect Summit near Los Angeles, WSJ's Nina Trentmann reports. Speakers talked about what CFOs should look for in a bookrunner and how they should communicate with investors and employees when a company’s share price falls on day one as a public company, among other topics.

A New York City developer and fintech company are ramping up an initiative to help tens of thousands of affordable-housing residents across the U.S. boost their credit scores, The Wall Street Journal Reports. Related Cos. is working with Esusu, a startup company that automates rental-payment reporting to the three major U.S. credit bureaus, allowing tenants who pay their monthly rent on time to establish credit histories and boost their scores. The two companies launched the partnership about 18 months ago with around 19,000 units. They are now expanding rent reporting for tenants in more than 50,000 units of Related’s affordable-housing portfolio, from New York City to Miami and Chicago.

A group of U.S. federal agencies on Tuesday said they plan next year to begin delineating how banks can legally get involved in the growing field of cryptocurrencies, The Wall Street Journal reports. The agencies will focus on what activities banks can legally participate in and outline rules to ensure safety, consumer protection and compliance with existing laws, said the joint statement from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “The emerging crypto-asset sector presents potential opportunities and risks to banking organizations, their customers, and the overall financial system,” the group said.

Funds

Rhino Ventures raised 120 million Canadian dollars ($95 million) for its third fund, which was oversubscribed by C$20 million. The fund will make initial pre-seed through Series A investments in the $500,000 to $5 million range, along with follow-on investments, across Canada. The Vancouver-based firm closed its second fund with $33 million and raised $14 million for its inaugural vehicle.

Miami-based Borderless Capital closed a $10 million fund to invest in the ecosystem surrounding PlanetWatch, a decentralized indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring network built on the Algorand blockchain.

People

Cancer-treatment startup Notable Labs Inc. appointed Chris Whitmore as chief financial officer. He joins the company from Harpoon Therapeutics. Foster City, Calif.-based Notable Labs is backed by investors including B Capital Group, Lifeforce Capital, Builders VC, Founders Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Y Combinator and First Round Capital.

Exits

Family safety and communication app provider Life360 plans to acquire cloud-based finding platform Tile in a deal valued at $205 million. San Mateo, Calif.-based Tile is backed by Francisco Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and GGV Capital.

Internet content-recommendation provider Outbrain Inc. agreed to purchase Video Intelligence AG, a contextual video-technology platform for digital and connected TV media owners, for about $55 million in cash and stock. Switzerland-based Video Intelligence is listed in the portfolio of Creathor Ventures.

Docplanner acquired fellow online healthcare marketplace Jameda from Hubert Burda Media. Founded in 2012 in Poland, Docplanner has raised roughly €300 million ($337 million) to date from investors including Point Nine Capital, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and One Peak Partners.

Impossible Foods Inc., a Redwood City, Calif. maker of plant-based meat and dairy substitutes, landed a new $500 million investment. Mirae Asset Global Investments led the round, which included participation from other previous backers. The company’s existing investors include Khosla Ventures, GV, Horizons Ventures, Temasek Holdings and Coatue Management.

SimPRO, an Australia-based field-service-management software provider, scored more than $350 million from K1 Investment Management and Level Equity. In addition to the growth investment, simPRO acquired time-tracking and scheduling software provider ClockShark and job-management software developer AroFlo for an undisclosed amount.

Niantic Inc., a San Francisco-based augmented-reality platform and publisher of the “Pokémon Go” mobile game, said Coatue Management invested $300 million in the company at a $9 billion valuation. Previous Niantic investors include IVP, Battery Ventures, CRV, Spark Capital, Founders Fund and Meritech Capital Partners.

NoBroker.com, an Indian real-estate platform, snagged $210 million in Series E funding, bringing the company to unicorn status. General Atlantic, Tiger Global Management and Moore Strategic Ventures led the round.

Verbit Inc., a New York-based transcription and captioning platform, completed a $250 million Series E round, consisting of a $150 million primary investment and $100 million in secondary transactions. Third Point Ventures led the new funding, which included additional support from Sapphire Ventures, More Capital, Disruptive AI, Vertex Growth, Samsung Next and TCP Venture Capital. Robert Schwartz, managing partner at Third Point Ventures, will join the Verbit board.

WatchBox, a Philadelphia-based e-commerce platform for collectible luxury watches, picked up a $165 million investment. Lead investors the Radcliff Cos. and the Spruce House Partnership were joined by CMIA Capital Partners and existing backers in the round. Warby Parker Chief Technology Officer Jeff Saunders, the Radcliff Cos. Co-Founder Eli Goldstein and Associated Partners Managing Partner David Berkman will join WatchBox’s board.

Vercel, a San Francisco-based platform to develop, preview and ship websites, secured $150 million in Series D financing at a $2.5 billion valuation. Lead investor GGV Capital was joined by Accel, Bedrock Capital, CRV, Geodesic Capital, Greenoaks, GV, 8VC, Flex Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Global Management and others in the round.

Payhawk, a London-based financial platform combining expense management, payments and invoice management, raised $112 million in Series B funding, valuing the company at $570 million. Led by Greenoaks, the round included contributions from QED Investors, Earlybird and Eleven Ventures.

Rescale Inc., a San Francisco-based intelligent hybrid cloud computing platform, closed a $105 million Series C round from investors including Fort Ross Ventures, Gaingels, Hitachi Ventures, Initialized Capital, Keen Venture Partners, M12, Nautilus Venture Partners, Nvidia, Prometheus Capital, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Solasta Ventures and Yield Capital Partners. Individual investors Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Paul Graham and Peter Thiel also participated in the round.

Peek.com, a San Francisco-based experiences booking software provider and marketplace, grabbed an $80 million Series C round. WestCap Group led the investment, which saw additional support from Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Neurophth Therapeutics Ltd., an ophthalmic gene therapy startup with offices in China and San Diego, closed over $60 million in Series C funding from investors including Sequoia Capital China.

Bitrise, a Budapest-based mobile DevOps startup, completed a $60 million Series C round. Insight Partners led the investment, which saw participation from Partech, OpenOcean, Zobito, Fiedler Capital, Y Combinator and H14.  Josh Zelman, vice president at Insight Partners, will join the company’s board.

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This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

Follow us on Twitter: @wsjvc, @ychernova, @BrianPGormley, @marcvarta.