"Airbnb for RVs" raises $25 millionOutdoorsy, an Airbnb-style service for recreational vehicles, has raised $25 million in Series B funding. Why it matters: Because this is more about millennials than retirees, which blows up all sorts of generational stereotypes. [ Axios ] The CEO of YouTube took a shot at Facebook: 'They should get back to baby pictures'
HackerRank raises $30M to match developers with jobsHackerRank, the skills-based recruiting platform and online coding challenge community, today announced that it has raised a $30 million Series C funding round led by JMI Equity, a fund that specializes in helping software companies scale. Exiting investors Khosla Ventures, Battery Ventures, Randstad and Chartline Capital Partners also participated in this round. [ Tech Crunch ] InfluxData scores $35 million Series C to expand time series database businessIn a world where sensors are capturing ever-increasing amounts of data, being able to collect that high volume and measure it over time becomes increasingly important. InfluxData, the startup built on top of the open source time series database platform, announced it has received a $35 million Series C investment today led by Sapphire Ventures, the investment arm of enterprise software giant, SAP. [ Tech Crunch ] Instacart ups valuation to $4.2B with latest fundingInstacart has raised a $200 million round at a valuation of $4.2 billion, Instacart has confirmed to PitchBook. The Series E financing was led by Coatue Management. (PitchBook previously reported Instacart was raising $250 million at an estimated valuation of $5 billion.) So you’ve brought on institutional capital for the first time, agreed to a board structure in the legal docs, and now you have directors that must be kept up to speed on your company (and who get to have a say in the way that you run things). So what’s next? [ primary.vc ] Bill Gates warns Silicon Valley not to be the new MicrosoftMicrosoft founder Bill Gates has a message for Silicon Valley: Don’t be Microsoft. In the 1990s, the Seattle software giant became enemy number one for the US anti-trust regulators. Flexing its market muscle, the software giant elbowed out potential software and hardware competitors. Briefly, Microsoft became one of the most valuable companies of all time, but ultimately regulators clipped its wings, forcing it to curb aggressive practices in new markets eventually claimed by the likes of Google, Intuit, and Facebook. [ QZ ] The Rise And Global Expansion Of XiaomiXiaomi means “small rice” in Mandarin, but the smartphone manufacturer has proven itself to be anything but small. Since starting its Mi Talk chat application in 2010 and releasing its flagship smartphone line Mi1 in 2011, Xiaomi has rapidly become a viable competitor to the likes of Apple and Samsung within a few short years. [ CrunchBase ] Announcing Homebrew III: Finding our product-market fitWe started Homebrew nearly five years ago because we saw a gap in the venture financing market. While there are plenty of sources for seed stage capital, there are actually very few firms focused exclusively on the seed stage AND who sign up to be the investor of record - putting not just dollars, but also sweat and reputation behind a small group of companies to help them lay the foundation for scale and success. We designed Homebrew to be a product that met this gap in the market. Since then, we’d like to believe that we’ve achieved product-market fit, providing capital and counsel to 35 founding teams during the earliest stage of their startups’ development. We’re privileged to continue serving our customers (founders!) into the future with the raising of Homebrew III, a $90 million fund. [ Homebrew VC ] Microsoft hires classroom collaboration startup Chalkup founder to expand Microsoft TeamsE795: Charles Hudson Precursor Ventures: how not to mess up Seed, product, team, investors, goalsHere’s what we just learned (and what we still don’t know) about Magic LeapMagic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz took the stage at the Code Media conference today with some new details about his company’s much-anticipated headset, Magic Leap One. You can watch the full video of his interview right here: For nearly a year, Uber and Google's parent company, Alphabet, clashed over settling a lawsuit Alphabet filed against the ride-sharing company, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Uber chose to gamble for a victory in court rather than compromise, a choice that led to a high-stakes public trial last week. Negotiations went right up to the trial itself. As recently as last week, Uber’s board had rejected a settlement offer. [ The Washington Post ] The Silicon Valley Giant Bankrolling Devin NunesSilicon Valley DREAMing: Tech industry calls for DACA legislation Baidu Plans U.S. IPO of Netflix-Like Unit as Sales Top EstimatesThe Lure Of A Tech StartupThis week, Joe Staples, one of Utah’s most experienced marketing leaders, joins a high-growth startup — Motivosity, a provider of employee engagement software. After lengthy runs with successful, well-established tech companies, we caught up with Joe to get his take on what the lure of a start-up is all about. Silicon Slopes: You’ve been a part of some great growth stories, both inside and outside of Utah. You’ve been the CMO/EVP of marketing for two publicly traded companies. You grew one to north of $300 million in revenue. Now you’re headed to a startup. That’s a big change. Joe Staples: It is a big change. SS: Before we get to your decision to join Motivosity, tell me how you decided to go to a startup. What was the attraction? [ Medium ] EVERYONE HATES SILICON VALLEY, EXCEPT ITS IMITATORSHow SoundCloud’s CEO convinced the company to stay private — for nowTradeshift raising $200M at unicorn valuationWhy Patreon’s founder doesn’t think his platform is merely a ‘tip jar’XebiaLabs racks up over $100 mln Series BIndonesia's Astra joins in fund raising for Go-Jek |