StrictlyVC: November 10, 2017

November 10, 2017

 

Hi, happy Friday, everyone! [Tap dancing.]

 

We’re working on something that’s not quite finished and it’s getting late, so no column but we’ll have more for you Monday. Hope you have a terrific weekend.:)

 

 

Top News

 

Investors Goldman Sachs and Alphabet are suing Chicago-based Outcome Health and its founders, claiming fraud and breach of contract some eight months after investing nearly $500 million in the company.  The WSJ has the story here.

 

Musical.ly, the three-year-old maker of a social-media app popular among tweens, has agreed to be acquired by Chinese news and information site Beijing Bytedance Technology Co. for as much as $1 billion, says the WSJ. Musical.ly had raised roughly $150 million from a long list of investors, including Greylock Partners,DCM VenturesAiming Venture PartnersLegend Capital and Goodwater Capital.

 

Another Craigslist killer manages not to kill Craigslist. VarageScale, a Canada-based buy-and-sell website and mobile app that raised $60 million from investors, including Sequoia CapitalLightspeed Venture Partners, and iNovia Capital, has been acquired by VerticalScope, an 18-year-old, Toronto-based Internet media company. Terms were not disclosed. TechVibes has more here.

 

 

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New Fundings

 

Bolt Threads, an eight-year-old, Emeryville, Ca.-based materials company that’s spinning microbes into spider silk, is in the process of raising a $106 million round, shows an SEC filing flagged by TechCrunch. Bolt’s earlier backers include Founders Fund and Formation 8.  More here.

 

Broker Genius, a four-year-old, New York-based dynamic pricing technology for the secondary ticket market, has raised $15 million in Series A funding fromVolition CapitalMore here.

 

Embodied Intelligence, a nearly two-year-old, Emeryville, Ca.-based company that wants to teach robots via virtual reality, has raised $7 million in seed funding.Amplify Partners led the round with participation from Lux CapitalSV Angel,FreeS11.2 Capital and A.Capital. Wired profiled the company a few days ago.

Flightdocs, a 13-year-old, Bonita Springs, Fla.-based company that sells maintenance tracking software and services to the aviation industry, has raised $10 million in funding led by ArgentumMore here.

 

Fortuna Fix, a two-year-old, London-based regenerative medicine startup focused on Parkinson’s disease and spinal cord injuries, has raised $25 million in Series B funding, including from Amgen VenturesSalamander Invest and Rajah Blue Holdings. FierceBiotech has more here.

 

Milk Bar, a New York-based bakery with 10 locations in the city (as well as in Washington and in Toronto), has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from RSE VenturesMore here.

 

Nio, a three-year-old, Shanghai, China-based electric vehicle maker whose U.S. division is led by CEO Padmasree Warrior, has raised more than $1 billion in new funding at a roughly $5 billion valuation led by earlier backer Tencent Holdings. Reuters has the story here.

 

Oyster Point Pharmaceuticals, a San Francisco-based clinical-stage company developing treatments for dry eye and ocular surface disease, has raised $22 million in Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates and Versant Ventures.More here.

 

Peloton Innovations, a three-year-old, Toronto, Canada-based security startup studio, has raised $2.4 million in seed funding from Globalive Capital and individual investors. More here.

 

ScaleFactor, a four-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based business finance and accounting platform, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding from Next Coast Ventures,Techstars VenturesFirebrand VenturesMatchstick VenturesEdison Factory and Flyover CapitalMore here.

 

Scoop Technologies, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based startup whose app matches users with neighbors and workers for carpooling purposes, has raised $20 million in Series B funding led by G2VP. The company has raised $36 million altogether, including from Index Ventures. Forbes has more here.

 

ScoreStream, a five-year-old, Del Mar, Ca.-based crowdsourcing platform for capturing and syndicating local sports content, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Intel CapitalAvalon VenturesSinclair BroadcastingR/GA andVerizon VenturesMore here.

 

Silk Technologies, a four-year-old, Plymouth, Mn.-based biotech company that uses silk protein to develop drugs that treat eye disease, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Skyview VenturesMore here.

 

Welkin Health, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based digital patient relationship platform, has raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital. The company has now raised $12 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

 

 

New Funds

 

1984 Ventures, a new San Francisco-based venture outfit, is aiming to raise $75 million for its debut fund, shows an SEC filing. Founder Ramy Adeeb previously sold his company Snip.it for $10 million to Yahoo, where he stayed on for a couple of years as a senior director

 

Partners HealthCare System has raised has raised $171 million for a second fund targeting seed stage investments in life science startups, according to a news release.  The Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital each committed $50 million for the fund. MedCity News has more on the nine-year-old outfit here.

 

Streamlined Ventures, a nearly five-year-old, seed-stage investment firm that focuses on business applications, is looking to raise a $30 million opportunity fund, shows an SEC filing. Founder Ullas Naik had previously cofounded Cota Capital.More here.

 

 

IPOs

 

PC gaming company Razer is set to raise upwards of $500 million when it lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday. TechCrunch has more here.

 

 

Exits

 

Accruent, a 22-year-old, Austin, Tex..-based maker of facilities management software, has acquired BlueCielo, a 34-year-old, Amsterdam-based global advanced asset lifecycle information management provider. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Austin Business Journal has more here (sub required).

 

Apple has acquired InVisage Technologies, a startup whose software improves imaging capabilities on space-constrained devices like smartphones. Apple isn’t disclosing terms of the deal, but InVisage had raised at least $98 million from investors, shows Crunchbase, including Intel CapitalInterwest PartnersGGV Capital, and Nokia Growth Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

 

Electronic Arts is acquiring seven-year-old Respawn Entertainment for $315 million in cash and stock, plus a possible bonus of $140 million. Respawn publishes a popular franchise called  “Titanfall” and was founded by Vince Zampella andJason West, two of the creators of the “Call of Duty” franchise. VentureBeat hasmore here.

 

Green House Data, a 10-year-old, Cheyenne, Wy.-based cloud hosting and colocation services company, has acquired Ajubeo, a six-year-old, Boulder, Co.-based provider of infrastructure as a service. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. DataCenter Knowledge has more here.

 

Panera Bread will buy Au Bon Pain for an undisclosed amount. Dealbook hasmore here.

 

Pronoun, a New York-based self-publishing service for authors, is shutting down after raising $3.5 million in venture funding from Avalon Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

 

Skyscanner, the Scotland-based travel comparison company that was acquired for £1.4 billion last November by Chinese company Ctrip.com, is acquiring Twizoo, a London-based developer of a restaurant recommendation app. Financial terms aren’t being disclosed. Twizoo had raised around $2 million in funding, including from EC1 CapitalDowning Ventures and Jensons EIS FundMore here.

 

 

People

 

Jeremy Conrad, co-founder of hardware-focused venture Lemnos, is stepping down as general partner to launch a robotics company with a former Apple iPad engineer. He will remain a venture partner with the San Francisco-based firm, which also plans to invest in Conrad’s startup. Axios has more here.

 

Despite the fact that he oversaw the period when Mt. Gox went from the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange to a bankrupt and damaged company, CEO Mark Karpelèscould stand to profit hundreds of millions of dollars. Ars Technica has more here.

 

Dara Khosrowshahi yesterday gave his first public interview since being named CEO of Uber, saying of the pending investment from SoftBank that it “hasn’t happened yet but it will.” Axios has more here.

 

Jonathan Larkin, the chief investment officer of crowd-sourced quantitative investment algorithm platform Quantopian, has reportedly left the firm following disappointing returns in its inaugural hedge fund.The company’s “1337” vehicle was launched last summer with approximately $50 million devoted to the best quantitative ideas of its members. Quantopian is backed by hedge fund billionaireSteven Cohen and Andreessen Horowitz, among others. More here.

 

Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, said at a Dealbook conference New York yesterday that he has become a “conscientious objector” when it comes to social media. He says he didn’t appreciate the “unintended consequences of a network when it grows to a billion or 2 billion people and … it literally changes your relationship with society, with each other … It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”More here.

 

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel lost half a billion dollars this week.

 

 

Jobs

 

IAC Applications, a division of IAC, is looking for a senior corporate development manager. The role is in New York.

 

 

Essential Reads

 

Another blow for Uber’s UK business: The company has lost its appeal against an employment tribunal ruling that last year determined the Uber drivers who brought the case should be classified as employees, not contractors. TechCrunch has more here.

 

 

Detours

 

Louis CK’s career is toast. (For starters, Netflix just cut ties with him.)

 

A super-long, nerdy NBA podcast that’s making money.

 

How tennis balls are made.

 

 

Retail Therapy

 

The “Home Alone Two” package, available at The Plaza hotel starting next Friday.

 


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