Snap has confidentially filed for an IPOSnap, the company previously known as Snapchat, has privately filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s plans. This isn’t a surprise. The paperwork has been in the works for months, and these sources say Snap could go public as early as March 2017. The company is targeting a valuation range somewhere between $20 billion and $25 billion, though the official target will be set closer to the IPO date. Reuters was the first to report on Snap’s S-1 filing. [ Recode ] Interview with Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn | Code Enterprise 2016A traditional college education is expensive. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner also thinks it might be overvalued. “Historically here, there’s been a tremendous amount of weight that’s been given to four-year university degrees and not nearly enough weight in my opinion is given to vocational training facilities and vocational training certifications,” Weiner said Tuesday at Recode’s Code Enterpriseconference in San Francisco. Analysts say Airbnb is hurting hotels more than predictedAirbnb could slow down the growth in hotel revenues by almost double what Morgan Stanley analysts previously thought – according to a report by Morgan Stanley. Growth in the number of people who use Airbnb, as well as the number of people who use it instead of hotels, has been higher than expected — the findings of a Morgan Stanley AlphaWise survey show in the report. Levie explains what Trump means for techLike many leaders in Silicon Valley, Box CEO Aaron Levie was a vocal supporter of Secretary Clinton. But after the shocking U.S. election outcome, the industry has been reflecting about what the next president could mean for the community. We sat down with Levie for an interview at Box headquarters in Redwood City. While it’s difficult to know what the capricious Trump will actually do, Levie talked about what to expect on immigration, privacy and regulation. [ Tech Crunch ] LATEST FUNDING Earth Networks to Focus on High-Growth Data Solutions Business, Announces Sale of WeatherBug Consumer BusinessEarth Networks today announced its strategic direction to focus on high-growth B2B and B2G opportunities around the world and has sold its consumer-focused WeatherBug brand to xAd, Inc., a global leader in location intelligence. The transaction reflects Earth Networks’ core focus on leveraging its unique weather and Internet of Things (IoT) data assets to guide real-time, informed decisions that reduce risk and improve operations for organizations across industry verticals including energy, education, public venues, recreational facilities, and insurance, as well as local, state, and federal governments. [ Business Wire ] Ava, the fertility wearable, raises $9.7M to help families conceive Ava, a medical technology company focused on women’s reproductive health, announced today that it has raised a $9.7 million Series A. The investment was led by European VC firm Polytech Ventures with Blue Ocean Ventures, Global Sources and the company’s existing seed investors Swisscom and ZKB participating. Ava originally launched as part of TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield in September 2015. [ Tech Crunch ] Zefo raises $6 million from SequoiaBengaluru-based used goods marketplace Zefo said on Monday it has raised Rs40 crore (approximately $6 million) in a funding round led by venture capital firm Sequoia India, with participation from Beenext and existing investor Helion Venture Partners. [ Live Mint ] ‘Shark Tank’ billionaire Mark Cuban invests in Cincinnati startupMason-based Genetesis, a startup that’s developing a medical imaging device that could benefit patients with heart problems, landed $1.2 million in seed funding from a group of investors that includes CincyTech and billionaire Mark Cuban of the TV show “Shark Tank.” [ Biz journals ] PlaySimple Games scoops up Rs 27 crore in Series A funding from SAIF Partners and IDG Ventures IndiaTwo top venture capital firms, SAIF Partners and IDG Ventures India have led a Rs 27 crore round of funding in Bengaluru-based mobile social gaming startup PlaySimple Games. Logz.io’s AI-powered IT analytics platform attracts $16M fundingThere are numerous cloud-based analytics tools out there that offer to help information technology administrators make better sense of their system data, but Logz.io Inc. is probably the only one that relies on the online programmer community Stack Overflow to do it. [ Silicon Angle ] Prynt raises $7 mlnPrynt said Nov. 15 that it closed a $7 million Series A round led by GGV Capital. San Francisco-based Prynt connects physical and digital photos with augmented reality. Prynt has raised a total of $9.5 million in funding. [ PE Hub ] Procurify raises $7M Series A round for its purchasing platformThere is nothing sexy about procurement but it’s an essential task in the day-to-day life of virtually any business, not-for-profit and school. Vancouver, Canada-based Procurify wants to take some of the pain out of this process with the help of its online and mobile purchasing and accounts payable platform. As the company announced today, it has raised a $7 million Series A round led by Runa Capital, with participation from Point Nine Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and the Business Development Bank of Canada, to help it push its vision forward and scale its service up. [ Tech Crunch ] MacroPoint Lands $44 Million Investment From Equity Firm Investment fund Susquehanna Growth Equity has invested $44 million in transportation technology provider MacroPoint, the companies said Nov. 14. “Having SGE’s experience in rapidly scaling businesses will help us realize our vision of providing global, multimodal supply chain visibility,” MacroPoint CEO Bennett Adelson said. [ TT news ] Baltimore software firm eOriginal Inc. raises $26.5 million Baltimore software firm eOriginal Inc. has raised $26.5 million to expand its digital transactions management business.The equity round was led by LLR Partners, a Philadelphia-based private equity firm. EOriginal will use the money to grow its staff and bolster product development.The raise is in response to growing market demand, as companies look to shift more of their business to electronic platforms, said CEO Stephen Bisbee in an interview. [ Baltimore Sun ] MORE LATEST FUNDING UK-based AI startup Gluru is building a smarter task managerMusement, a “digital travel companion” and ticketing platform, raises $10M Series B Siemplify Closes $10 Million Financing to Accelerate Market Leadership in Security Operations and Incident Response Digital M&A leader Midaxo raises $4M in A-round funding to fuel growth Kit, the
Expa-backed social network for product
reccos, lands $2.5 million in seed
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