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US Mobile Sees Data Pools as Key to Monetizing 5G
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By Yuliya Chernova, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Wireless carriers are spending tens of billions of dollars to establish 5G connectivity.
Ahmed Khattak, chief executive and founder of New York-based telecommunications startup US Mobile Inc., believes the key to monetizing 5G and making all that bandwidth worthwhile to consumers and businesses will be mobile-data plans that are customizable, flexible and affordable. US Mobile recently raised $11.5 million in Series A funds from Volition Capital.
US Mobile has released pooled plans, for example, that allow families and businesses to pay for data in bulk and split it across devices and users, instead of paying extra for connecting each smartphone or sensor to a plan. The hard part was developing software that parses and visualizes usage per device in real-time, Mr. Khattak said.
In a few years, “we think you’ll be able to buy terabytes and share it across the base,” the CEO said.
Larry Cheng, managing partner at Volition, who led the investment in US Mobile said the deal had similarities to his investment in Chewy Inc. years ago. "We love investing in large recurring consumer markets where you can leverage technology and customer obsession to deliver both better price and service to millions of customers,” Mr. Cheng said.
And now on to the news...
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Menlo Park, Calif.-based Robinhood Markets operates a stock-trading platform for individual investors.
PHOTO: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Trading app Robinhood Markets Inc. expects its coming initial public offering to give it a market value of about $33 billion, lower than the level previously anticipated, Peter Rudegeair reports for The Wall Street Journal. The Menlo Park, Calif., company plans to sell about 52.4 million shares in the offering, and other stockholders would sell about 2.6 million, at a price between $38 and $42 each. At the midpoint of the offering range, Robinhood would raise about $2 billion. The shares are set to start trading late next week.
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Millions of individual investors flocked to Robinhood this year to ride the rally in meme stocks such as GameStop Corp. and cryptocurrencies like dogecoin. Its IPO is one of the most anticipated of the year and was expected to value the company at $40 billion or more.
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Robinhood last sold shares to startup investors in 2020 at a nearly $12 billion valuation.
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Tinuiti to Acquire Ad-Buying Business Bliss Point Media
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Marketing and e-commerce company Tinuiti Inc. has agreed to acquire connected TV ad-buying shop Bliss Point Media Inc., the companies said, marking the New Mountain Capital-backed company’s second purchase in recent months, WSJ’s Alexandra Bruell reports. Bliss Point, a seven-year-old Santa Monica-based company that specializes in buying digital-streaming and connected-TV ads, expects to generate about $50 million in revenue this year, a 200% increase from last year, said Tinuiti Chief Executive Officer Zach Morrison. After the deal closes, the combined companies will likely generate about $250 million in revenue this year, he said. The companies declined to disclose the terms of the
deal.
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Fast Radius Going Public Via $1.4 Billion SPAC Deal
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Fast Radius Inc. has reached a deal with a special-purpose acquisition company that values the digital manufacturing company at about $1.4 billion and will take it public, WSJ reports. Backed by investors including United Parcel Service Inc., Fast Radius uses a cloud-based software platform and manufacturing techniques including 3-D printing to make unique parts, accelerating product and supply-chain development for customers. Chicago-based Fast Radius is combining with the green-focused SPAC ECP Environmental Growth Opportunities Corp.
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Funds
Moxxie Ventures, founded by Katie Jacobs Stanton, raised $85 million for its second fund. Alex Roetter joined Ms. Stanton as an equal general partner in the new fund. Mr. Roetter was previously a venture partner at Moxxie, and before then president of electric flying car company Kitty Hawk. Boulder, Colo.-based Moxxie invests in early-stage companies in remote-work, healthcare, climate-tech and other sectors. Limited partners in Moxxie II include Global Endowment Management, Accolade Partners, TIFF Investment Management, Foundry Group, Cendana, Industry Ventures, Emerson Collective and Plexo Capital.
People
Arianna Simpson has been promoted to general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. She is now the fourth general partner on the firm’s crypto team. The others are Chris Dixon, Katie Haun and Ali Yahya. Ms. Simpson joined Andreeessen Horowitz in early 2020 as a deal partner. She previously ran her own crypto fund, Autonomous Partners.
Bessemer Venture Partners has promoted Mike Giampapa to vice president. Mr. Giampapa joined the firm in 2019 and helped spearhead its financial-technology investing efforts, among others. Mr. Giampapa focuses on startups in sectors including consumer, fintech and digital currency.
Exits
Rapid7, Inc. a Boston-based provider of security analytics and automation, acquired New York City-based IntSights Cyber Intelligence Ltd., an external-threat intelligence and threat remediation startup. Under the terms of the agreement, Rapid7 will pay approximately $335 million in cash and stock to acquire IntSights, subject to adjustments.
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Corporate education startup Go1 raised a $200 million Series D round at a valuation of more than $1 billion. New investor SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the round with AirTree Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.
Choco, a Berlin-based startup whose technology simplifies how restaurants order from suppliers, raised $100 million in Series B funding. Left Lane Capital led the round, which included additional support from Insight Partners, Coatue Management and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Sundae, a residential real-estate marketplace focused on helping sellers of dated or damaged property get the best price for their house, completed an $80 million Series C round. Fifth Wall and General Global Capital co-led the investment, which included contributions from QED Investors, Wellington Management, Susa Ventures, Founders Fund, Prudence Holdings, Intersect Capital and Gaingels.
Quit Genius, a New York-based digital clinic for treating nicotine, alcohol and opioid addictions, has raised a $64 million Series B financing co-led by Kinnevik and Atomico. The company, which combines virtual behavioral therapy with medication and connected devices, plans to use the capital to expand its platform in the U.S.
Inkbit Corp., a Medford, Mass.-based 3D printing startup, closed a $30 million Series B round led by Phoenix Venture Partners.
Native Voice Inc., a Denver, Colo.-based on-demand voice services startup, raised $14 million from Gutbrain Ventures, PBJ Capital, Signal Peak Ventures, Revel Partners, Ideaship and others. Ideaship is a collaboration between Global Technology Transfer Group and Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America.
Fero Labs Inc., a New York City-based machine-learning software startup dedicated to the industrial sector, raised a $9 million Series A round led by Innovation Endeavors, with participation from Deutsche Invest Venture Capital.
Faraday Inc., a Burlington, Vt.-based AI consumer prediction platform, raised a $4.1 million Series A funding round led by Intercap. FreshTracks Capital and LaunchCapital also participated.
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Most companies have steered clear of cryptocurrency investments due to concerns about volatility.
PHOTO: JUSTIN LANE/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
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