• StrictlyVC: March 10, 2016

    It is Thursday! (Right?) Hope you have a great one, everyone.

    No column this morning.

    —–

    Top News in the A.M.

    Both Box and Square released better-than-expected results on earnings calls yesterday. More here and here.

    Interesting: A startup backed by Sean Parker called The Screening Room is reportedly trying to sell Hollywood studios and exhibitors anti-piracy technology that would allow them to stream new releases to people’s homes on the the same day they hit theaters. Variety has the story here.

    —–

    New Fundings

    4Tech, a five-year-old, Galway, Ireland-based company that makes a transcatheter device designed to allow clinicians to repair a diseased tricuspid heart valve in a reproducible interventional procedure, has raised $29 million in Series B funding co-led by Valiance and RMM, with participation from NeoMed Management. More here.

    Avametric, a five-month-old, San Francisco-based fashion software company at work on a technology to help online shoppers see how garment will fit on 3-D digital images of themselves, has raised $10.5 million in funding led by Khosla Ventures. VentureBeat has more here.

    Constant Therapy, a three-year-old, Boston-based company whose brain app is designed to help with stroke rehabilitation, traumatic brain therapy, and indications of Alzheimer’s disease, has raised $2 million in Series A funding led by Golden Seeds. Kapor Capital, Launchpad Venture Group, Pond Capital and Community Health Network of Connecticut also took part in the round. MedCity News has more here.

    HealthTell, a four-year-old, Arizona-based blood diagnostics startup that can allegedly assess a patient’s immune response to 30 conditions with a single drop of blood, has raised $26 million in what looks to become a $35.5 million funding round, according to an SEC filing flagged by MedCity News. The company’s previous investors include Vital Venture Capital, Paladin Capital GroupAcadia Woods Partners, Cambridge Global Capital and the Broe GroupMore here.

    Icertis, a seven-year-old, Bellevue, Wa.-based company that makes enteprise contract management software, has raised $15 million Series B led by Ignition Partners. The company has now raised $21 million to date. TechCrunch hasmore here.

    IndiaMART, a 20-year-old, India-based company that runs an online B2B platform for small and medium businesses that connects them with global suppliers, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series C funding led by Amadeus Capital. WestBridge Capital and Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund also participated in the round, along with earlier backer Intel Capital. VCCircle has more here.

    Julie Desk, a two-year-old, Paris-based startup whose virtual assistant software automates the email back-and-forth typically associated with scheduling meetings and appointments, has raised €600,000 in new funding from SIDE Capital, a venture firm that counts a number of prominent French entrepreneurs as board members, including Frederic Mazzella of Blablacar and Thierry Petit of Showroomprivé. TechCrunch has more here.

    Justworks, a 3.5-year-old, New York-based benefits and payroll company that competes with Zenefits, has raised $33 million in Series C funding, bringing the total amount the company has raised to $53 million. Redpoint Ventures led the round, with participation from earlier backers Bain Capital Ventures,Thrive Capital and Index Ventures. Venture Capital Dispatch has more here.

    Nom.com, a months-old, San Francisco-based interactive video community and app for foodies that presents a mix of professional cooks alongside an open-ended platform that will let anyone direct, produce and host their own food show, has raised $4.7 million in funding from Cheryl Cheng of Blue Run Ventures, GV managing partner David Krane (but not GV itself), WI Harper Group, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, PSY, actor Jared Leto, chef Corey Lee and American restaurateur Ming Tsai. Nom was founded by YouTube cofounder Steve Chen. TechCrunch has more here.

    Penrose Studios, a year-old, San Francisco-based startup that’s developing its own in-VR creation tools in a bid to become the Pixar of VR and tell stories in immersive worlds, has raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Accelerate-IT Ventures led the round; it was joined by TransLink Capital, 8 Angel, Suffolk Equity, and several angels. TechCrunch has more here.

    Resolver, a 16-year-old, Toronto-based maker of risk and incident management software, has raised C$4 million (about $3 million) in new funding from earlier backer Klass Capital. FinSMEs has more here.

    WeWork, the six-year-old, New York-based shared-office-space startup, has raised roughly $430 million in new funding led by the Beijing-based private-equity company Hony Capital and Legend Holdings, its parent company. WeWork executives tell the WSJ the company was assigned a valuation of about $16 billion with the financing. More here.

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    New Funds

    Mucker Capital in L.A. has raised $45 million for its third fund, Mucker III. The 4.5-year-old firm said that it will continue to invest in software and services startups and continue to focus on the greater Los Angeles area. In addition, it will invest in seed and pre-seed stage companies through MuckerLab, a new accelerator program. TechCrunch has more here.

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    Exits

    HoneyBook, the three-year-old, San Francisco-based event management platform, has reportedly spent a “few million” dollars to acquire AppMyDay, a 3.5-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based service focusing on event photography. The exact sum of the deal was not disclosed, but “it’s definitely enough to recoup AppMyDay’s investments from Firstime Venture Capital and Star Farm Ventures,” says Geektime. (According to CrunchBase, AppMyDay had raised $900,000.) More here.

    Publicly traded Tableau Software has acquired HyPer, an early-stage German startup born in academia that has developed an advanced database technology. CrunchBase doesn’t turn up any funding for the company. TechCrunch has more here.

    —–

    People

    Vanity Fair has just now published photos by Annie Leibovitz from its New Establishment Summit, held in San Francisco last October. You know they are dated because beleaguered Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is seated in the middle of things smiling.

    Entrepreneur Elon Musk isn’t crazy about the way an American Enterprise Institute meeting was characterized earlier this week, with an earlier report describing it as secretive brainstorming session for top minds to stop Donald Trump’s ascendancy. Tweeted Musk yesterday: “The AEI meeting wasn’t secret and I was only there for a few hours to talk about Mars and sustainable energy. Nothing to do with Trump.”

    Take note, friends abroad. Google’s Eric Schmidt says driverless cars could hit U.K. streets, too.

    Sonos, the smart home audio company, has announced that it will be laying off an untold number of employees as it moves into new directions, including voice recognition. More here.

    Yahoo has appointed two new independent directors in advance of its meeting this week with Starboard Value, the activist hedge fund that’s led the push for the company to sell its core business. The two sides will discuss whether they can avoid a proxy fight for control of Yahoo.

    —–

    Jobs

    Nokia Growth Partners is looking to hire an analyst for a two- to three-year commitment. Looks like you can work in either Geneva or Helsinki.

    —–

    Data

    China’s country’s government-backed venture funds raised about 1.5 trillion yuan ($231 billion) in 2015, tripling the amount under management in a single year to 2.2 trillion yuan, according to data compiled by the consultancy Zero2IPO Group. That’s the biggest pot of money for startups in the world and almost five times the sum raised by other venture firms last year globally, according to London-based consultancy Preqin. Bloomberg takes a look at great tech startup experiment here.

    —–

    Essential Reads

    Ola, the India-based Uber rival, has closed its food and grocery ordering services less than one year after launching them. The company says it’s focusing squarely on mobility instead. More here.

    Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post has become the latest casualty of China’s tightening grip on the media as internet censors shut down its microblogging accounts on Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo, and WeChat.

    Stanford wins. Its scientists say they’ve created a renewable plastic from carbon dioxide and plants.

    —–

    Detours

    The incredible rise and final hours of fracking king Aubrey McClendon.

    25 songs that tell us where music is going.

    A most beautiful bike ride.

    —–

    Retail Therapy

    Frank Zappa’s house can be yours $9 million. (Bonus/Warning: You may still sense Zappa’s “electricity” there.)

  • StrictlyVC: March 9, 2016

    Hi, everyone, happy Wednesday! Sorry for the super abbreviated newsletter this a.m; running off to yet another field trip. More tomorrow!

    —–

    Top News in the A.M.

    Google Search now has travel guides to help plan your vacation.

    —–

    NewCo Raises New Funding Led by True Ventures

    NewCo, a nearly four-year-old, San Francisco-based company that produces city-like festivals that acquaint attendees with local businesses, has raised roughly $4.3 million in fresh funding, shows a new SEC filing that states the outfit has raised just north of $6 million to date.

    Cofounder and CEO John Battelle tells us larger number includes an earlier convertible note that’s been turned into equity. (The company received that note of $1.7 million early last year.)

    The new funding was led by earlier investor True Ventures, and included participation from other previous backers Obvious Ventures, Transmedia Capital, Bloomberg Beta, other early angel investors, and Battelle himself.

    NewCo organizes its events around target cities, with participating companies planning events for attendees in their offices. Last year, the 17-person startup orchestrated 11 events. This year, says Battelle, NewCo has plans for 15 cities, including in hubs where it hasn’t hosted events in the past, including London, Detroit, Toronto, and Mexico City.

    More here.

    —–

    New Fundings

    iFlix, a year-old, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based company that rivals Netflix in Southeast Asia, has raised $45 million in new funding from the British satellite TV operator Sky. TechCrunch has more here.

    Indochino, a nine-year-old, Vancouver, B.C.-based made-to-measure menswear brand, has raised $30 million in funding from China-based clothing manufacturer Dayang Group. The company had previously raised more than $17 million in funding from Highland Capital Partners and Madrona Venture Group, among others. TechCrunch has more here.

    Intersec, and 11-year-old, Paris-based data analytics company focused on telecom customers, has raised $10 million in funding co-led by Cisco Systems and the French private equity firm Omnes Capital. Other participants in the round include Harbert European Growth Capital, Innovacom, Highland Capital Partners Europe, and CMC-CIC Innovation. More here.

    —–

    New Funds

    Cisco Systems announced plans this morning to invest $500 million in Germany over three years and $150 million to help bolster its challenger to business-messaging specialist Slack. More here.

    Lightspeed Venture Partners, the 16-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based early-stage venture firm, has raised two new funds totaling $1.2 billion, according to two new SEC filings. One filing, for the firm’s 11th fund, shows a close of $715 million. Lightspeed has also raised $500 million for its second “Select” fund for later-stage companies. More here.

    —–

    Exits

    Cisco Systems has acquired Synata, a San Francisco startup that offers technology to let companies search data stored on their own premises and at external cloud services. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. More here.

    Facebook has made an image filtering acquisition, buying Masquerade, an app that adds fantastical filters to smartphone-generated images. Much more here.

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    Jobs

    AltspaceVR, a venture-backed virtual reality communications company, is looking to hire a business development manager. The job is in Redwood City, Ca.

    —–

    Essential Reads

    Amazon is stepping up plans to build its own air delivery network, saying it will lease 20 Boeing Co. 767 freighters toward that end.

    Also: How Amazon shames its warehouse workers for alleged theft.

    —-

    Detours

    Why you forget why you entered a room the minute you entered it.

    —–

    Retail Therapy

    Air purifying sphere. For parents of teenage boys.

  • StrictlyVC: March 8, 2016

    Hi, everyone!

    —–

    Top News in the A.M.

    Sorry, Chamath, Michael Bloomberg says he won’t run for president in 2016.

    —–

    Subleases Spike in Number, as SF Startups Downsize

    In January, office rents in San Francisco eclipsedthose of New York to become the most expensive in the country.

    Two months later, there are signs the San Francisco may not maintain its dubious position for long. The biggest indicator? There’s suddenly 1.7 million square feet of sublease space available in San Francisco, up more than 50 percent from 1.1 million square feet in November, according to CBRE Group, a commercial real estate services and investment firm.

    That kind of jump in four month’s time suggests ripple effects from a funding slowdown that stretch beyond a small but growing number of layoffs.

    If the trend isn’t giving local landlords flashbacks of the late ‘90s, it may soon. The Bay Area’s real estate market enjoyed an historically active 2015, with San Francisco accounting for the world’s highest rent growth at 14 percent, according to brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. (Oakland saw the third biggest jump in rent nationally, said the brokerage.)

    The last time San Francisco surpassed New York in price per square footage, says CBRE, it was 2000, the same year that the tech market famously peaked then abruptly imploded.

    Of course, today’s volatility in the public tech sector pales in comparison to the tech market nosedive that followed the dot com boom of 16 years ago. The slowdown in venture investing isn’t as sudden or severe, either, making it “too early to tell” if the economy has turned in a meaningful way, says Colin Yasukochi, director of research and analysis at CBRE.

    Still, says Yasukochi, “There are definitely signs of change. It’s mostly a question of how severe they are, and how they evolve.”

    Bay Area brokers, landlords and tenants appear to be in a kind of discovery stage at the moment. On the one hand, despite the dramatic increase in subleased space that’s become available, new tenants aren’t seeing a huge discount, which is usually an indication of a weak market.

    “It depends on how long the lease is – one, two or five years or more – in terms of cost,” says Yasukochi. “But if you compare a good quality sublease space to a good, quality space direct from its owner, you’re seeing maybe a 10 percent markdown.”

    It’s when discounts rise to 30 and 40 percent that a market is officially in trouble, says Yasukochi.

    Much more here.

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    New Fundings

    AlphaSense, an eight-year-old, San Francisco-based search engine for financial professionals, has raised $33 million in funding from Tribeca Venture Partners, Triangle Peak Partners, and Quantum Strategic Partners. Forbes has more here.

    AreaMetrics, a 1.5-year-old, Seattle-based consumer analytics platform for brick-and-mortar retailers, has raised $2 million in seed funding co-led by Startup Capital Ventures and Quest Venture Partners, with participation from Seraph Group, Social Starts, and previous angel investors. Vator hasmore here.

    Disruptive Multimedia, a 2.5-year-old, New York-based SMS commerce startup founded by rapper and music producer Ryan Leslie, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding from VC-operator Ben Horowitz, Betaworks, and others. TechCrunch has more here.

    Spotinst, a year-old, Tel Aviv-based SaaS optimization platform that aims to ease the management of cloud computing purchasing options, has raised $2 million in funding led by PICO Venture Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

    Tiqets, a three-year-old, Amsterdam-based mobile ticketing platform for tourists, has raised $4 million in Series A funding led by the Dutch venture capital firm Capital Mills. Tnooz has more here.

    Wunder Capital, a two-year-old, Boulder, Co.-based startup that promises to make solar financing work for businesses, has raised $3.6 million in Series A funding led by Techstars Ventures, with participation from Fenway Summer Ventures and FinTech Collective. Venture Capital Dispatch has more here.

    Zenstores, a 14-month-old, Bristol, U.K.-based startup whose cloud-based shipping software targets the “long tail” of e-commerce, has raised £400,000 ($570,000) in seed funding led by Downing Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

    —–

    New Funds

    500 Startups has announced a $10 million fund in Vietnam. The effort is led by Binh Tran and Eddie Thai, two partners who 500 Startups hired last year. TechCrunch has more here.

    Entrepreneur First, a nearly five-year-old, London-based startup acceleration space, is looking to raise a £40 million ($57 million) fund to invest in companies that are created on its turf. Founded by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck, the outfit provides technical talent with £17,000 in pre-seed funding in exchange for an 8 percent equity stake in the company that’s created. TechCrunch has more here.

    —–

    IPOs

    Seven surprises from last year’s dismal IPO market.

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    Exits

    Atom Bank, a Durham, England-based still-stealth, online-only startup, has acquired Grasp, a design and development house based out of the north of England. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Much more here.

    Mic.com, a four-year-old, New York-based digital media company catering to millennials, has acquired a 10-month-old, Berlin-based mobile video aggregation app called Hyper for an undisclosed amount. Mic has raised $32 million in funding, shows CrunchBase. Its backers include Lightspeed Venture Partners and Netscape cofounder Jim Clark. Hyper had meanwhile raised $1.1 million in seed funding, including from Advancit Capital and Broadway Video Ventures. The WSJ has more here.

    UserZoom Technologies, a nine-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based UX research and testing SaaS platform, has acquired YouEye, a Mountain View, Ca.-based research platform that automates in-person interviews for digital products. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. UserZoom has raised roughly $36 million from investors, shows CrunchBase. Its backers include TC Growth PartnersTrident Capital and StepStone Group. YouEye had raised $7.5 million from investors, including Signatures Capital, Stardust Venture Partners, and FundersClub.

    Veeqo, a Wales-based company that makes e-commerce inventory software, has acquired London-based parcel delivery startup ParcelBright to bolster its shipping features. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. According to CrunchBase, ParcelBright had raised $1 million, including from Talis Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

    —–

    People

    GV isn’t investing in India, but Google Capital has apparently spent the last year setting up a local presence, and it’s reportedly set to announce former Sequoia Capital investment analyst Kaushik Anand as the head of that outpost. The Economic Times has more here.

    Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google co-founder Larry Page, Napster cofounder Sean Parker, and Tesla Motors and SpaceX honcho Elon Musk joined other billionaires, CEOs, and top members of the Republican establishment at a confab last weekend on a private island off the coast of Georgia. The main topic: How to stop Donald Trump.

    Facebook has paid $15,000 (€13,600) to an independent security researcher who discovered a simple method of resetting passwords for other accounts, setting a new passphrase, and effectively taking over profiles. More here.

    —–

    Essential Reads

    Amazon just launched its first live show and, no surprise, it’s akin to a QVC for the YouTube generation.

    SoftBank, the Tokyo-based telecoms and tech giant, said it plans to separate its Japanese business from its global growth operation, which includes stakes in Alibaba and Sprint. The latter company will be led by Nikesh Arora, the former Google executive.

    In San Francisco and rooting for a tech slowdown.

    —–

    Detours

    Revealed: the 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Generation Y’s income.

    The world’s least efficient thief steals $200,000 — in quarters.

    What Hollywood doesn’t understand about virtual reality.

    —–

    Retail Therapy

    No more voicemail? There’s an app for that.

    One awfully pricey boat slip.

  • Subleases Spike in Number as SF Startups Downsize

    San FranciscoIn January, office rents in San Francisco eclipsed those of New York to become the most expensive in the country.

    Two months later, there are signs the San Francisco may not maintain its dubious position for long. The biggest indicator? There’s suddenly 1.7 million square feet of sublease space available in San Francisco, up more than 50 percent from 1.1 million square feet in November, according to CBRE Group, a commercial real estate services and investment firm.

    That kind of jump in four month’s time suggests ripple effects from a funding slowdown that stretch beyond a small but growing number of layoffs.

    If the trend isn’t giving local landlords flashbacks of the late ‘90s, it may soon. The Bay Area’s real estate market enjoyed an historically active 2015, with San Francisco accounting for the world’s highest rent growth at 14 percent, according to brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. (Oakland saw the third biggest jump in rent nationally, said the brokerage.)

    The last time San Francisco surpassed New York in price per square footage, says CBRE, it was 2000, the same year that the tech market famously peaked then abruptly imploded.

    Of course, today’s volatility in the public tech sector pales in comparison to the tech market nosedive that followed the dot com boom of 16 years ago. The slowdown in venture investing isn’t as sudden or severe, either, making it “too early to tell” if the economy has turned in a meaningful way, says Colin Yasukochi, director of research and analysis at CBRE.

    Still, says Yasukochi, “There are definitely signs of change. It’s mostly a question of how severe they are, and how they evolve.”

    Bay Area brokers, landlords and tenants appear to be in a kind of discovery stage at the moment. On the one hand, despite the dramatic increase in subleased space that’s become available, new tenants aren’t seeing a huge discount, which is usually an indication of a weak market.

    “It depends on how long the lease is – one, two or five years or more – in terms of cost,” says Yasukochi. “But if you compare a good quality sublease space to a good, quality space direct from its owner, you’re seeing maybe a 10 percent markdown.”

    It’s when discounts rise to 30 and 40 percent that a market is officially in trouble, says Yasukochi.

    Much more here.

  • StrictlyVC: March 7, 2016

    Hi, everyone, welcome back, and happy Monday!

    —–

    Top News in the A.M.

    Apple must pay $450 million to end an antitrust suit after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to question a finding that the company orchestrated a scheme to raise the prices for electronic books. Bloomberg has more here.

    —–

    Andreessen Horowitz Talking with LPs about a New $1.5 Billion Fund

    The venture firm Andreessen Horowitz is talking with investors about a fresh $1.5 billion fund, according to several sources who note the fund could always close at a higher number.

    It was almost exactly two years ago that the firm closed its forth, multi-stage venture capital fund, Andreessen Horowitz Fund IV, with $1.5 billion.

    The money also comes on the heels of a $200 million fund that the firm announced in November called the AH Bio Fund, a vehicle that’s being used to invest in mostly early-stage startups at the intersection of computer science and life sciences.

    Altogether, Andreessen Horowitz, which launched in June 2009, has so far raised $4.35 billion, including three previous funds.

    The firm declined to comment for this story, but it’s easy to imagine that even Andreessen Horowitz – considered one of the top venture firms in the world — isn’t finding fundraising quite as easy as it has in the past given uncertainty in the broader market.

    Though it will undoubtedly reach its target, the young firm is looking for capital at a time when its own investors may not be feeling terribly flush.

    As Chris Douvos, a limited partner with Venture Investment Associates, recently told us, “LPs are definitely yelling at VCs to put some ‘moolah in the coolah.’” Institutional funds “give out money [to VCs] expecting it will come back with profits in a reasonable amount of time,” said Douvos. “When it doesn’t, we can’t put more money into the asset class because a.) we’re at the top of our allocation [to venture capital and b.) we’re out of money.”

    Indeed, the firm looks to have spent recent months preparing to woo investors, including by liquidating part of its stake in the car-sharing company Lyft in December.

    As the WSJ reported earlier this month, both Andreessen Horowitz and early Lyft backer Founders Fund sold some of their shares to Saudi Arabia’s Prince al-Waleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding Co. (Taking money off the table and making distributions to LPs is a decision their fellow investor Fred Wilson recently argued more venture firms should be doing more frequently.)

    Andreessen Horowitz has also been shifting its staff around quite a bit.

    More here.

    —–

    New Fundings

    Culture Amp, a four-year-old, San Francisco and Melbourne, Australia-based startup that specializes in staff surveying and analytics, has raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from Felicis Ventures and Blackbird Ventures. Fortune has more here.

    GetLinks, a year-old, Bangkok, Thailand-based startup that helps tech companies find and hire top talent, has closed raised $500,000 in seed funding from 500 Startups and CyberAgent Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

    LightSail, a nearly four-year-old, New York-based K-12 literacy “accelerator” that combines books with in-text embedded assessments and real-time data to deliver literacy gains, has raised $11 million in Series B funding led by Intuit cofounder Scott Cook, with participation from the Bezos Family Foundation and earlier investors. EdSurge has more here.

    Property Partner, a two-year-old, London-based company that combines residential real estate crowdfunding with a secondary exchange through which investors can trade their holdings, has raised £15.9 million ($22.6 million) in Series B funding led by earlier investor Octopus Ventures, with participation from earlier backer Index Ventures and from Dawn Capital. TechCrunch hasmore here.

    Staff Finder, a four-year-old, Zurich, Switzerland-based on-demand marketplace for temporary staffing, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by One Peak Partners and Goldman Sachs Private Capital (though sources tell TechCrunch the round is in the region of €20 million, or $21.9 million). More here.

    United Wind, a three-year-old, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based distributed wind energy company, has raised $8 million in Series B funding led by Norway’s Statoil Energy Ventures and Forum Equity Partners. More here.

    Zaloni, a nine-year-old, Durham, N.C.-based data lake startup, has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding led by Sierra Ventures, with participation from Baird Capital. More here.

    —–

    Exits

    Spanish banking giant BBVA has acquired Holvi, an online-only bank for entrepreneurs and SMBs based out of Finland. (“Holvi” means “vault” in Finnish.) Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Much more here.

    —–

    People

    At our recent event, Autodesk CEO Carl Bass talked about Autodesk’s current transition away from selling perpetual licenses to selling subscriptions instead, calling it “painful” but necessary. More here.

    VC Chamath Palihapitiya tells Business Insider that if former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg ultimately runs for U.S. president, his venture firm, Social Capital, will devote its resources to helping the campaign. “I’ve told them (Bloomberg’s folks) that most of us would pause our day jobs to get him elected.”

    Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel really likes Viacom employees, evidently.

    Ray Tomlinson, who invented email as we know it today, passed away with this weekend at age 74. More here.

    —–

    Jobs

    Stripe is looking for a country lead in the U.K. The job is in London.

    —–

    Essential Reads

    BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, and Wellington Management run or advise mutual funds that own shares in at least 40 closely held startups valued at $1 billion or more. For 13 of them, at least one mutual-fund firm values its investment at less than what it paid (by a lot), reports the WSJ.

    Bloomberg’s Matthew Levine on unicorn love, or seeming lack of it, from mutual fund investors: “Private companies are the new public companies, and sometimes public companies’ stocks go down.”

    Karhoo — a new mobile app that works like a search engine for taxis and black cars — says it will be bigger than Uber when it launches in New York next month.

    —–

    Detours

    A peek at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s. new technology hub across the street from the Hudson Yards development on Manhattan’s West Side. Game room? Check. Xbox? Check. Pets? No way. And the snacks aren’t free.

    An American finale to “Downtown Abbey.”

    Interpreting support for Donald Trump, by SNL.

    —–

    Retail Therapy

    Bought.

  • Andreessen Horowitz Talking with LPs About a New $1.5 Billion Fund

    Andreessen HorowitzThe venture firm Andreessen Horowitz is talking with investors about a fresh $1.5 billion fund, according to several sources who note the fund could always close at a higher number.

    It was almost exactly two years ago that the firm closed its forth, multi-stage venture capital fund, Andreessen Horowitz Fund IV, with $1.5 billion.

    The money also comes on the heels of a $200 million fund that the firm announced in November called the AH Bio Fund, a vehicle that’s being used to invest in mostly early-stage startups at the intersection of computer science and life sciences.

    Altogether, Andreessen Horowitz, which launched in June 2009, has so far raised $4.35 billion, including three previous funds.

    The firm declined to comment for this story, but it’s easy to imagine that even Andreessen Horowitz – considered one of the top venture firms in the world — isn’t finding fundraising quite as easy as it has in the past given uncertainty in the broader market.

    Though it will undoubtedly reach its target, the young firm is looking for capital at a time when its own investors may not be feeling terribly flush.

    As Chris Douvos, a limited partner with Venture Investment Associates, recently told us, “LPs are definitely yelling at VCs to put some ‘moolah in the coolah.’” Institutional funds “give out money [to VCs] expecting it will come back with profits in a reasonable amount of time,” said Douvos. “When it doesn’t, we can’t put more money into the asset class because a.) we’re at the top of our allocation [to venture capital and b.) we’re out of money.”

    Indeed, the firm looks to have spent recent months preparing to woo investors, including by liquidating part of its stake in the car-sharing company Lyft in December.

    As the WSJ reported earlier this month, both Andreessen Horowitz and early Lyft backer Founders Fund sold some of their shares to Saudi Arabia’s Prince al-Waleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding Co. (Taking money off the table and making distributions to LPs is a decision their fellow investor Fred Wilson recently argued more venture firms should be doing more frequently.)

    Andreessen Horowitz has also been shifting its staff around quite a bit.

    More here.

  • StrictlyVC: March 4, 2016

    It is Friday! Our relief knows no boundaries. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, everyone!:)

    —–

    Top News in the A.M.

    Snapchat has raised $175 million in fresh funding from Fidelity Investments, valuing the messaging company at the same $16 billion valuation from one year ago, reports the WSJ.

    Microsoft eyed Slack as a potential acquisition target for as much as $8 billion, says a TechCrunch source. An internal campaign around making an offer failed to drum up support, though. More here.

    —–

    This LP Has Millions to Give U.S. Venture Firms (Now!)

    Peakview Capital is the investment advisory arm of Shengjing Group and the largest global fund of funds in China.

    It also has millions of dollars to invest in U.S.-based venture capital funds, it says. This year. Right now.

    It’s a very different message than VCs are receiving from many other institutions, judging by our recent conversations with them.

    According to a variety of sources, the many brands talking with LPs include Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures, Eight Partners, True Ventures, and First Round Capital (to name but a handful). But some investors aren’t happy with the founder-friendly approach that many VCs have taken in recent years. As one investor told us earlier this week, speaking on background: “A lot of VCs have ‘returns’ but they’re mostly unrealized; it’s not like they were pumping these [portfolio companies] out [onto the public market] as soon as they could. And now the IPO market has collapsed.”

    Erik Lassila, a longtime VC who is now the U.S.-based managing partner of Peakview, understands his peers’ frustration. There’s a big — and often costly — divide between paper and realized gains. But as part of an organization that plans to invest $1 billion in venture funds —  including “hundreds of millions of dollars” in the U.S., a smaller percentage in Israel, and the rest back home in China — Lassila doesn’t have to worry about VCs’ mistakes in recent years. He’s working with a “blank slate,” as he puts it.

    More here.

    —–

    New Fundings

    Autolus, a 1.5-year-old, London-based  biopharmaceutical company working to develop next-generation engineered T-cell therapies for haematological and solid tumors, has raised £40 million ($56.8 million) in Series B funding, including from Woodford Investment Management and Perceptive Bioscience Investments. More here.

    Exo, a nearly three-year-old, New York-based startup that’s developing insects as an alternative protein source (think cricket flour protein bars), has raised $4 million in Series A funding led by AccelFoods, with participation from Collaborative Fund, Start Garden, and individual investors Tim FerrissNas, and Amelia Boone. Vator has more here.

    Phenom People, a 5.5-year-old, Philadelphia, Pa.-based talent relationship marketing company, has added $2.7 million to its Series A financing, bringing funding for the round to $7.6 million. The new capital came from Sigma Prime Ventures. More here.

    SourceKnowledge, a 6.5-year-old, Montreal, Quebec-based performance video technology company, has raised $1.5 million in funding from BDC Capital. More here.

    Terbium Labs, a nearly three-year-old, Baltimore, Md.-based company whose product, Matchlight, alerts clients the instant their stolen data appears on the dark web, has raised $6.4 million in new funding led by .406 Ventures. The company has now garnered $9.7 million altogether. The Baltimore Sun has more here.

    —–

    New Funds

    Aberdeen Venture Partners is looking to raise up to $200 million for a new fund of funds, shows an SEC filing. Earlier last year, FLAG Capital Management — an asset manager that had backed a long list of top venture firms, including Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures — was acquired by the British fund manager. In December, we talked with the head of its global venture capital practice, Peter Denious (a FLAG exec who stayed on), about Aberdeen’s 2016 outlook.

    Eight Partners, a venture firm launched by serial entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale, has closed on more than $300 million in a first close just a few months after coming to market, according to the WSJ. The fund’s target is $400 million, and its hard cap is $420 million. (For what it’s worth, we’ve heard that this fund is already oversubscribed.)

    Hummer Winblad Venture Partners is looking to raise up to $125 million for its seventh fund, shows an SEC filing. The firm, whose founders, John Hummer and Ann Winblad, stopped actively investing on its behalf some time ago, is these days run by three managing directors: Lars Leckie, Mitchell Kertzman and Steve Kishi. We talked with Leckie about Hummer’s “reboot” in April of last year.

    —–

    IPOs

    Messaging app operator Line, owned by South Korea’s largest web portal operator, Naver Corp, plans an IPO of up to $3 billion in New York and Tokyo, the IFR reported today. More here.

    —–

    Exits

    Docker, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based open-source data platform, has the orchestration startup Conductant. No financial terms were disclosed, but Conductant appears to have been bootstrapped. Docker has meanwhile raised $180 million, shows CrunchBase, including from Greylock Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Insight Venture Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

    —–

    People

    First Round Capital has written to its LPs its view that the valuation pullback is “not a temporary blip.”

    Oculus cofounder Palmer Luckey says his Rift virtual reality headset will (still) only support Windows PCs at launch. It can’t support the Mac, though it Apple ever releases a “good computer, we will do it.” Ars Technica has more here.

    Marissa Mayer is secretly trying to sell a “package deal” that would keep her as Yahoo CEO, according to a new report. The deal is being pitched by Frank Quattrone, the famous banker Mayer has hired.

    AltSchool founder Max Ventilla tells the New Yorker what inspired him to launch his young (well-backed) educational franchise: “A three-year-old today isn’t that different” today, he tells the outlet. But, largely because of technology, “a thirteen-year-old is really different.”

    —–

    Essential Reads

    running list of Apple’s allies in its fight with the FBI.

    Bitcoin’s nightmare scenario has come to pass, with the network’s capacity to process transactions maxed out.

    —–

    Detours

    Poor sleep gives you the munchies, a new study confirms.

    The world’s richest auto magnates, 2016 edition.

    Why Wall Street’s iconic steakhouses are empty.

    —–

    Retail Therapy

    Deadpool jacket.

  • This LP Has Millions to Give to U.S. Firms (Now!)

    Erik1 b_wPeakview Capital is the investment advisory arm of Shengjing Group and the largest global fund of funds in China.

    It also has millions of dollars to invest in U.S.-based venture capital funds, it says. This year. Right now.

    It’s a very different message than VCs are receiving from many other institutions, judging by our recent conversations with them.

    According to a variety of sources, the many brands talking with LPs include Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures, Eight Partners, True Ventures, and First Round Capital (to name but a handful). But some investors aren’t happy with the founder-friendly approach that many VCs have taken in recent years. As one investor told us earlier this week, speaking on background: “A lot of VCs have ‘returns’ but they’re mostly unrealized; it’s not like they were pumping these [portfolio companies] out [onto the public market] as soon as they could. And now the IPO market has collapsed.”

    Erik Lassila, a longtime VC who is now the U.S.-based managing partner of Peakview, understands his peers’ frustration. There’s a big — and often costly — divide between paper and realized gains. But as part of an organization that plans to invest $1 billion in venture funds —  including “hundreds of millions of dollars” in the U.S., a smaller percentage in Israel, and the rest back home in China — Lassila doesn’t have to worry about VCs’ mistakes in recent years. He’s working with a “blank slate,” as he puts it.

    More here.

  • StrictlyVC: March 3, 2016

    Hi, happy Thursday, everyone.:)

    No column today. Yesterday was busy, punctuated by a dinner in one of San Francisco’s tiniest restaurants. (Delicious food!)

    —–

    Top News in the A.M.

    Amazon just added two new members to its Echo family.

    —–

    New Funds

    Africa Internet Group, a three-year-old, Lagos, Nigeria-based outfit that owns online retailer Jumia, has raised $326 million in funding, including a previously disclosed chunk of money from AXA. Other backers include existing stakeholders MTN, an Africa mobile operator; Rocket Internet; and new backer Goldman Sachs. TechCrunch has more here.

    Fe3 Medical, an eight-year-old, San Antonio, Tex.-based company whose transdermal patch helps patients suffering from iron-deficiency anemia, has raised $11 million in Series B funding led by the Chinese drug company Jianmin Pharmaceuticals. Other participants include HG Capital, PingAn Ventures, and earlier investor InCube Ventures. The San Antonio Express-News has more here.

    GoTenna, a four-year-old, Brooklyn-based startup whose pocket-size communication tool lets smartphones talk to one another without cell service, has raised a $7.5 million Series A led by earlier backer Walden Venture Capital, with participation from MentorTech Ventures, BBG Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Wareness.io, and individual investors. TechCrunch has more here.

    Haizhi, a three-year-old, China-based cloud computing service provider, has raised $30 million in Series C funding led by Legend Capital. The round reportedly values the company at $250 million. DealStreetAsia has more here.

    iAngels Crowd, a 2.5-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based crowdfunding investing network that matches international investors with Israeli startups (that are already backed by Israeli investors), has raised $14 million in Series B funding led by the Australia-based Thorney Investment Group. Venture Capital Dispatch has more here.

    Mapillary, a two-year-old, Malmo, Sweden-based startup that’s using crowdsourced photos to create an open source, B2B database to compete with Google’s Street View, has raised $8 million in Series A funding from AtomicoSequoia Capital, LDV Capital, and PlayFair. TechCrunch has more here.

    Oro, a 3.5-year-old, L.A.-based company that makes open-source tools for CRM and B2B e-commerce, has raised $12 million in Series A funding from Highland Europe. Tech.eu has more here.

    OurCrowd, a three-year-old, Jerusalem-based global equity crowdfunding platform, has raised $10 million from Singapore-based United Overseas Bank in a deal that heralds OurCrowd’s first major foray into Asia. DealStreetAsia hasmore here.

    Pathmatics, a 5.5-year-old, Santa Monica, Ca.-based company that sells analytics products to the online display advertising industry, has raised $3 million in Series A funding led by Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, with participation from Wavemaker Partners, Manatt Venture Partners, and earlier investors Upfront Ventures, Karlin Ventures, Baroda VenturesDouble M Partners and Daher Capital. VentureBeat has more here.

    Roofstock, a year-old, Oakland, Ca.-based online marketplace for buying and selling already-rented homes (so you get tenants and cash flow immediately), has raised $13.25 million in Series A funding from Khosla Ventures, investor Ron Conway, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Bain Capital, and others. TechCrunch has more here.

    Wrap Media, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based storytelling and commerce platform for brands, has raised $4 million in new funding from returning investor Dream Incubator, a Tokyo-based consulting and private equity firm that has also signed a strategic partnership with Wrap Media. TechCrunch has more on the company — which has now raised $22.7 million altogether — here.

    XJet, an 11-year-old, Rehovot, Israel-based startup that develops technology for 3D printing for metal parts, has raised $25 million in new funding led by Catalyst CEL and Autodesk. Reuters has more here.

    —–

    New Funds

    FreshTracks Capital, a 16-year-old, Vermont-based venture capital firm, is targeting $25 million for its fourth fund, shows an SEC filing.

    Kensington Capital Partners, a Toronto-based alternative asset investment firm, has closed a new venture capital fund of funds with C$306 million ($227.9 million) in commitments. The firm began raising the fund in November 2014. More here.

    Ted Leonsis is starting another venture fund: This one will be a $10 million pool designed to invest in tech startups with the potential to change the way users watch and experience sports. Leonsis is also a cofounder of Revolution Growth. The Washington Business Journal has more here.

    Peakspan Capital, a 1.5-year-old, New York-based venture firm focused exclusively on growth-stage, B2B and other enterprise software companies, has closed on $150 million for its debut fund, shows an SEC filing. Among its newest deals: MindTouch, a San Diego-based company that provides cloud-based answers to consumer product questions and that raised $12 million in funding last month.

    —–

    Exits

    Cisco said yesterday that it’s acquiring Israeli chip designer Leaba Semiconductor for $320 million. TechCrunch has more here.

    RNTS, the German company, has acquired Inneractive, an Israeli-based real-time bidding and mobile ad exchange, for $46 million in cash, plus up to $26 million in earn-outs and retention payments. TechCrunch has more here.

    —–

    People

    Yesterday, former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, who in more recent years had cofounded the early-stage venture firm Deep Fork Capital,drove into the bottom of an overpass at what authorities describe as a “high rate of speed,” and died. McClendon was charged on Tuesday with conspiring to rig bids to buy oil and natural gas leases in the state; he was slated to turn himself into authorities late yesterday morning.

    Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk may have a new problem. It’s now the target of one of Wall Street’s most prominent short sellers.

    Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is now on a military advisory board for the Pentagon.

    Like a boss: LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner is forgoing his annual stock package, worth $14 million so that employees can have it instead. “Jeff did not receive an equity package this year at his request,” a company spokesperson tells Recode. “He asked the Compensation Committee to . . . put it back in the pool for employees.”

    Former Snapchat and Instagram executive Emily White has created a high-end personal concierge startup, says Fortune. The new Santa Monica, Ca.-based startup is called Mave and it’s apparently akin to a “chief of staff” for users’ households.

    —–

    Jobs

    LendingClub is hiring a director of corporate strategy. The job is in San Francisco.

    Levis is looking for a director of corporate development. The job is in San Francisco.

    Syntheo Ventures, a seed-stage outfit backed by Banco Santander, is hiring an associate. The job is in London.

    —–

    Essential Reads

    This Wall Street firm says virtual reality is like smartphones nine years ago.

    Mercedes is booting robots from its production line.

    —–

    Detours

    First listen: Jeff Buckley, “You and I.”

    The market is definitely doomed now.

    —–

    Retail Therapy

    The most expensive SUV in the world.

  • StrictlyVC: March 2, 2016

    Great news, it’s Wednesday already! (We thought it was Tuesday.) Have a happy Wednesday, everyone.:)

    —–

    Top News in the A.M.

    The messaging platform Slack is reportedly back on the fundraising trail. The WSJ reports it’s talking with investors about a new round of more than $150 million in funding. More here.

    That Brazil-based Facebook VP who was arrested yesterday on his way to work was just let go. (Phew.) Diego Dzodan was jailed for refusing to hand over WhatsApp messages to the police investigating a drugs case.

    —–

    NFX Guild Just Graduated 16 Startups: Here They Are

    The Bay Area accelerator NFX Guild presented 16 companies to a crowded room of 200 investors down on Sand Hill Road yesterday, and the room was reportedly very energized.

    Little wonder. NFX was founded by seasoned entrepreneurs and operators James Currier, Stan Chudnovsky and Gigi Levy Weiss. Its companies are referred to the outfit by a network of 42 scouts — some of them investors, many of them entrepreneurs, and a fair number who work double-time as angel investors. (No company can enter into the program without being routed through them.)

    Even more attractive to investors, presumably: These startups are centered around fully formed ideas by the time they hit NFX. Indeed, fully 13 of the 16 companies that presented today had already raised funding, and some were started by pretty big wheels. Wheelwell, for example, a Houzz-like platform automotive parts, accessories and services, was cofounded by the person who established Apple’s Mac Genius service in Apple’s retail stores. Meanwhile, the CEO of Outdoorsy has already led two public companies.

    Companies admitted by NFX are given $120,000, along with 30 hours of programming, mentoring, and introductions to investors. NFX in turn gets 7 percent of their company. (If they’ve already raised more than $750,000, NFX asks for 5 percent.)

    Today’s batch represents NFX’s second class, and the companies are still meeting with VCs, so it’s probably not too late to kick the tires if you’re an investor — or check out your newest peers if you’re a founder. You can check them out right here.

    —–

    New Fundings

    Augment, a four-year-old, Paris-based augmented reality startup that allows users to visualize 3D models and the real environment at scale, has raised $3 million from Salesforce Ventures in a round that brings its total funding to $4.7 million. TechCrunch has more here.

    Blippar, a 4.5-year-old, New York-based image-recognition platform and visual browser for mobile, has raised $54 million in Series D funding led by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment arm of the Government of Malaysia, with particpation from earlier backers. TechCrunch has more here.

    Carsome, a year-old, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based platform that connects car dealers with buyers and sellers, has raised $2 million in Series A funding led by IdeaRiverRun, a Malaysian private equity firm, with participation from IMG Investment Partners and 500 Startups. TechCrunch has more here.

    Eight Sleep, a 1.5-year-old, New York-based company that makes smart sleep trackers in the form of mattress covers, has raised $6 million in seed funding from Y Combinator, Yunqui Partners, Azure Capital, Cota CapitalComcast Ventures, Vast Ventures, Stanford University, Galvanize Ventures and individual angel investors. Venture Capital Dispatch has more here.

    Jobbatical, a 1.5-year-old, Estonia-based job matching site for tech gigs abroad, has raised $2 million in funding led by Union Square Ventures, with participation from Saul Klein and Robin Klein’s LocalGlobe. Previous investor Smartcap also joined the round. TechCrunch has more here.

    Landit, a year-old, New York-based jobs platform designed to help women advance professionally, especially through moments of career transition, has raised $2 million in seed funding from New Enterprise Associates, Cue Ball Capital, XFund and Female Founders Fund. Venture Capital DIspatch has the story here.

    Lola, a two-year-old, New York-based subscription service  that sells 100 percent cotton tampons, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau Ventures, with participation from Brand Foundry, BBG VenturesBoxGroup, VaynerRSE, 14W, and Seth Berkowitz among others. More here.

    MarianaIQ, a two-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based  platform that uses artificial intelligence for business-to-business marketing, has raised $2 million in convertible notes in a round led by Blumberg Capital. More here.

    MedyMatch Technology, a two-year-old, Tel Aviv, Israel-based company that applies deep vision and advanced cognitive analytics to medical imaging scans to help physicians recognize abnormalities, has raised $2 million in seed funding from investors, including Genesis Capital Advisors and Exigent Alternative Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

    Mercari, a three-year-old, Tokyo-based peer-to-peer marketplace shopping app, has raised 8.4 billion yen (about $75 million) in a Series D round that values the company at more than $1 billion. Investors include Mitsui & Co,Development Bank of Japan, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank’s Japan Co-Invest, along with earlier backers Globis Capital Partners, World Innovation Lab, and Global Brain. The company has now raised roughly $111 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

    Motiv, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based company at work on micro wearable technologies, has raised $5.5 million in fresh funding, shows an SEC filingMore here.

    Replay Technologies, a four-year-old, Newark, Ca.-based company that develops video 3D reconstruction technologies, has raised $13.5 million in Series B funding led by Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners. The B round brings the total raised by to date by the company to $27 million. Other investors include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Samsung Ventures. Jewish Business News has more here.

    Unchained Labs, a 1.5-year-old, Pleasanton, Ca.-based life sciences tools company, has raised a new round of $25 million, shows an SEC filing. The company had raised $25 million roughly a year ago led by Novo VenturesCanaan Partners and TPG Biotech. More here.

    Xirrus, a 12-year-old, Thousand Oaks, Ca.-based company that makes wireless networking products and had previously raised roughly $112 million from investors, has garnered another $7.5 million in equity and debt, shows a new SEC filing. More here.

    —–

    New Funds

    Resolute Ventures, the 4.5-year-old, San Francisco-based early-stage venture firm run by general partners Mike Hirshland and Raanan Bar-Cohen, is looking to raise $50 million for its third fund, shows an SEC filing.

    —–

    Exits

    Augmented reality smart helmet company Daqri has acquired 1066 Labs, a nine-year-old, head-mounted display maker focused on serving enterprise client. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. TechCrunch has more here.

    Berlin-based Delivery Hero has built up a large network of online food ordering and delivery operations globally that was valued at over $3 billion as of its last fundraise, but it has now decided to call it quits in one of the biggest markets in the world. TechCrunch says it’s getting out of China after facing aggressive competition from local startups, which include the likes of Ele.me and Baidu Waimai. More here.

    —–

    People

    Father and son VCs Robin and Saul Klein just sat down with TechCrunch to talk about their new LocalGlobe seed fund.

    —–

    Jobs

    Cisco is hiring a senior corporate development manager. The job is in San Jose, Ca.

    —–

    Essential Reads

    Slack will soon begin testing voice and video chat.

    —–

    Detours

    ‘Passive Wi-Fi’ uses 10,000 times less power than normal to save your phone battery.

    The U.S, government just banned electronic cigarettes from airplanes. (You probably imagined they were already banned, but they were not! Apparently.)

    People were desperately Googling ‘How can I move to Canada’ last night.

    —–

    Retail Therapy

    The night light you never knew you needed (buy now kind of have to buy).


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