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Blackstone imitates 'The Office' in surprisingly hilarious holiday video

Private equity executives don't typically have a reputation for their sense of humor. Look no further than The Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein's ill-fated attempt to make a rap video.
But that may change now that Blackstone's holiday video is making the rounds. Filmed like an episode of "The Office," the mockumentary was sent to employees last week in an email, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg. The video begins with Blackstone president Jon Gray yelling at his secretary after hearing that the firm's annual holiday party had been canceled. 
[ PitchBook ]

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The Mom Project, a job site for moms returning to work, nabs $8M from Initialized and more

If you are a mother who has taken a break from full-time employment to raise kids, you may have also experienced the challenge that is jumping back into the working world after your break.

You may find you need more time flexibility; you have been out of the job market for years and so your confidence is knocked; your skills are no longer as relevant as they were before; or you just want to rethink your career; plus many employers — whether they say it or not — seem less interested in you because of all of the above, and no level of burnishing your resume on LinkedIn will help. It can be tough (and I say that from first-hand experience). [ Tech Crunch ]

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Clearbanc has just raised a $50 million fund from Seamless co-founder Jason Finger’s new firm Upper90.

Clearbanc  is disrupting startup funding by providing companies cash to buy ads in exchange for a revenue share so they don’t have to sell as much equity to venue capitalists. That idea has proven so appealing that 1000 companies seeking up to $1 billion total hit up Clearbancsince we reported it raised $70 million last month. So to meet the demand of the most eligible startups asking for marketing cash, Clearbanc has just raised a $50 million fund from Seamless co-founder Jason Finger’s new firm Upper90. [ Tech Crunch ]

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Why Sweetgreen thinks like a tech company

To be like other restaurants, the fast-food salad chain Sweetgreen might join the crowd in partnering with a tech giant like Amazon or Uber. But co-founder Jonathan Neman doesn’t want to surrender that part of the business. Instead, he wants Sweetgreen to bethe next giant.

“We see this as building the food platform,” he said on the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher. “A restaurant creates content, so our salads are our hits. If you just have your restaurant itself, you own your platform, you go direct to consumer. ... In the media world, you had networks and distributors that took the content and distributed it. In our world, you now have these platforms, these Uber Eats of the world.” [ Recode ]

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Seismic has been helping companies create and manage their sales and marketing collateral since 2010. Today the company announced a $100 million Series E investment on a $1 billion valuation.

The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and T Rowe Price. Existing investors General Atlantic, JMI Equity and Jackson Square Ventures also participated in the round. The company has now raised $179 million since inception.

What is attracting this level of investment is Seismic’s sales enablement tools, a kind of content management for sales and marketing. “What we’re trying to do with our technology is to help marketers who are striving to create the right content to help the sellers, and help sellers navigate all of the content out there and put together the right pieces and the right materials that are going to help them move the sales cycle along,” Seismic CEO and co-founder Doug Winter explained. [ Tech Crunch ]

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Lightspeed is raising its largest China fund yet

Lightspeed  China Partners, the China-focused affiliate of Silicon Valley-based Lightspeed Venture Partners,  has set a $360 million target for its fourth flagship venture fund, according to a documentfiled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today.

If the target is reached, the fund will be Lightspeed China’s largest yet, per PitchBook. Lightspeed China’s previous two funds each closed on $260 million. The VC raised $168 million for its debut fund in 2013. [ Tech Crunch]

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Why Big Tech is breaking free of Silicon Valley

Looking for a new job in the tech industry? You might want to consider skipping the trip to Silicon Valley and heading to New York City. In a little more than a month, Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), and Google (GOOG, GOOGL)—three of the world’s biggest technology companies—have announced expansions within the Big Apple.

Google's announcement Monday calls for the company to spend more than $1 billion on capital improvements including the leasing or acquisition of three properties on Manhattan's West Side. In total, Google CFO Ruth Porat said in a blog post, the company will have enough new space to more than double its existing 7,000-person workforce in the city. The company's current headquarters are located in a massive building at West 15th Street and the Chelsea Market building next door. [ Yahoo ]

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Abacus has attracted $2 million from YC, Justin Kan, and Coinbase to help startups and investors manage tokenized liquidity programs

For the crypto market to become attractive to institutional investors, companies and their investors need to ensure that tokenized securities — digital assets subject to federal security regulations — can be as easily tracked and traded and exchanged as traditional stock shares. [ Tech Crunch ]

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Propel raises $12.8M for its free app to manage government benefits

Propel, maker of the Fresh EBT app for managing food stamps and other benefits, announced today that it has raised $12.8 million in Series A funding.

Fresh EBT (the EBT stands for the Electronics Transfer Benefit card, which is how food stamp participants receive their benefits) allows users to check their food stamp/SNAP balance and find stores that accept food stamps. Users can also track their spending. The app is free for consumers and government agencies — the company makes money through digital coupons and a job board. [ Tech Crunch ]

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Melbourne direct-to-consumer luggage startup July launches with an eye on China

While the number of tools available has made selling online easier than ever, running a successful ecommerce venture is harder than it looks – particularly if you’re designing and manufacturing your own product.

Despite knowing about all the work involved, Athan Didaskalou, founder of coffee subscription business Three Thousand Thieves, and Richard Li, cofounder of online furniture retailer Brosa, decided to take on a new challenge and team up to develop a new venture, July. [ Startup Daily ]

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What it is like to be ethnically diverse in venture capital

As an ethnic minority in the venture capital sector, Lillian Li (pictured) always wondered whether her background would hinder her career ambitions. Ms Li, who was born in mainland China and came to the UK when she was a child, was turned down for a number of jobs in private equity before joining the VC world and was never quite sure if the rejections were down to not fitting the mould. [ FT ]

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Moonbug nabs $145M to buy up kids’ digital media brands

Moonbug, a kid-focused media business founded by a pair of entertainment executives, has brought in a $145 million Series A investment led by The Raine Group, a merchant bank that supports technology, media and telecom efforts. Venture capital firms Felix Capital  and Fertitta Capital also participated in the financing.

Moonbug, headquartered in London, acquires and distributes media content made for kids. Recently, the company completed its first IP acquisition of Little Baby Bum, a children’s sing-along show popular on YouTube,  Amazon  and Netflix. According to a Los Angeles Times report, one of the show’s videos is the 20th most popular video in YouTube history, boasting 2.1 billion views. In total, Moonbug says Little Baby Bum has clocked in 23 billion views across multiple platforms.

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Venture Capital in the Middle East & North Africa | Venture Capital | Mohamed Aboshanab

Venture Capital in the Middle East & North Africa | Venture Capital | Mohamed Aboshanab Venture Capital in the Middle East & North Africa

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