Saudi Arabia Doubles Down on SoftBank Bet With Extra $45 BillionSaudi Arabia is preparing to double-down on its bet that Masayoshi Son can pick the technology giants of the future. The country’s sovereign fund will make another $45 billion investment in Son’s second massive Vision Fund. Mosaic Ventures, the London-based Series A investor, has closed a second fund at $150MWell, that was quick: A little over two months since we reported that Mosaic Ventures was in the middle of raising a second fund, TechCrunch can reveal that fund two has in
fact now closed, as the London-based venture capital firm looks to double down on backing “Europe’s most ambitious entrepreneurs”. [ Tech Crunch ] RankScience closes $1.8M seed — and now only wants to replace human SEO staff if you don’t have anyA couple of years ago YC-backed RankScience, which offers AI-enhanced SEO split-testing, put a few SEO experts’ noses out of joint when the fledgling startup brashly talked about replacing human expertise with automation. Two years on its pitch has mellowed, with the team saying their self-service platform is “augmenting human SEO ability rather than replacing them”. The startup has also — finally — closed a seed round, announcing $1.8M led by Initialized Capital, along with Adam D’Angelo, Michael Seibel, BoxGroup, Liquid2 Ventures, FundersClub,
and Jenny 8 Lee participating. [ Tech Crunch ] Tencent to Invest in Brazilian Fintech Startup at $4 Billion ValuationTencent’s first investment in Brazil makes Nubank one of the most valuable startups in Latin America. It is the latest sign of how China’s tech titans are seeking new opportunities in major emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, India and Latin America, creating new challenges for their Silicon Valley counterparts. Nubank was valued at $2 billion in March, according to startup tracker CB Insights. Kirsten Green, founder and managing partner of Forerunner Ventures, has been an enthusiastic supporter of the direct-to-consumer business model, making early-stage investments in eyewear purveyor Warby Parker, beauty companies Glossier and Birchbox, and luggage vendor Away, among many others. (Her prescience paid off in a big way in 2016 with blockbuster acquisitions of two of her portfolio companies: Walmart
bought Jet.com for $3.3 billion, and Unilever acquired Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion.) Today Forerunnner is announcing a new, $360 million fund. Brex Has Amassed A Valuation Of $1.1 Billion In Under Two YearsBrex, the provider of a credit card for startups, has raised $125 million in venture funding, propelling the company into unicorn status with a $1.1 billion valuation. Earlier Friday the San Francisco-based startup announced it closed a $125 million Series C round of funding with Greenoaks Capital and DST Global leading the investment round. This comes on the heels of $50 million raised in June. [ Forbes ] Deals, Exits, and Fund Raised data on our platform. Tris Pharma Receives $125M Debt Financing from DeerfieldDeerfield provided $125m to refinance existing debt and provide growth capital to Tris Pharma, Inc., a Monmouth Junction, NJ-based fully integrated pharmaceutical company.The company intends to use the funds to expand its branded pharmaceutical portfolio with a particular focus on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), launch and promote new products and continue development of its drug development platform. In addition to the financing, Deerfield and Tris plan to enter into a product development agreement to leverage Tris’ proprietary drug delivery technology. [ FinSMEs ] Check out Tris Pharma's major investor - Exclusive: CarDekho closes $75 Mn in Series C round, may raise 100 Mn moreOnline car classifieds Cardekho has made a tentative closure of $75 million in the latest mega round from new as well as existing investors. According to three sources, the company had closed the deal last month and would be announcing it soon. [ Entrackr ] Former Formation 8 GP Shirish Sathaye joins Cervin VenturesLongtime venture capitalist Shirish Sathaye has quietly joined early-stage investor Cervin Ventures as a general partner. Most recently, Sathaye was a general partner at Formation 8, the embattled venture firm co-founded by Palantir’s Joe Lonsdale, Brian Koo (a scion of the Koo family, owners of the electronics giant LG) and former Khosla GP Jim Kim. Formation 8 announced in 2015 that it would not raise a third fund and would begin winding down operations. [ Tech Crunch ] Bird’s new scooter delivery service could become a clever hack around city regulationScooter-sharing startup Bird announced a new program yesterday called Bird Delivery that will let users request a scooter to be delivered to their home or business. A Bird rep will drop the scooter off by 8 am, it will be reserved exclusively for that user and can be used throughout the day. [ Re/Code ] Check out Bird's major investor - |