Happy Monday!:)

Quick, before we jump into things: if you live in or near San Francisco, do go check out “South of Market, The Musical” before it ends its run next Sunday afternoon. We had a quick cameo in the show yesterday, which was extremely fun (thank you, Sam O’Keefe). More to the point, we realized what we might have missed otherwise — an incredible cast and hilarious writing. Get thee there. You’ll thank us. (A portion of the proceeds goes to the vital Center for Investigative Journalism, another bonus.)

Also, we have to share some nice feedback (largely for marketing purposes, which is not one our strong suits). From one our most recent advertisers, who wrote us this morning: “Checking in now that our 2 weeks with StrictlyVC have ended. For starters, we wanted to first say thanks again for having us. We got plenty of positive feedback from both new and old users who mentioned our spot in your newsletter. More importantly though, our returns have been phenomenal! We’re thrilled with the results and we’d love to immediately start looking ahead to our next sponsorship slot with StrictlyVC. When you can, please let us know what opportunities you have open for the next few months.”  (Very happy to have you back and if you’ve written us recently about advertising and we haven’t responded, we will; we’re just a little behind on all at the moment.)

Top News in the A.M.

Zoinks. A new exploit can allow attackers to read Wi-Fi traffic between devices and wireless access points, and even modify it to inject malware into websites. More here.

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Eric Ries to Big Companies: Turn Every Unit into a Cash-Strapped Startup

All companies are startups until they aren’t. Many struggle to find their way back, too. It’s not the days of constrained resources or terrible pay or the heart-stopping uncertainty that they’re missing, of course. Instead, the problem is that it’s a lot harder to implement change at an “established” organization, particularly one that’s making money. Yet the smartest companies know change is crucial. As journalist Alan Deutschman wrote a dozen years ago, including in a book of the same title: “Change or die.”

Because that’s easier said than done, CEOs are always seeking out new ideas. Enter the brand-new book of engineer and entrepreneur Eric Ries, whose last tome, The Lean Startup, became an instant best-seller when it was first published in 2011.

In his latest effort, The Startup Way, Ries says the way to stay on top can be traced to two things: treating employees like customers, and treating business units like startups — replete with their own constrained budgets, and even their own boards. Ries offers fairly concrete suggestions regarding how to implement both, too. “A lot of people write manifestos and basically say, ‘Do what I say,’” says Ries. “I try to get away from that. The details matter a lot.”

We caught up with Ries on Friday to learn more about the book, which will be available to buy beginning tomorrow.

More here.

New Fundings

Blue Hexagon, a months-old, Bay Area-based startup at work on machine learning-based threat-detection software, including for mobile phones, has raised $6 million in Series A funding led byBenchmark. The company’s cofounders include Nayeem Islam, who spent the previous eight years with chipmaker Qualcomm, where he founded its Silicon Valley-based R&D facility. TechCrunch has more here.

The Chope Group, a six-year-old, Singapore-based restaurant booking platform, has raised $13 million in new funding led bySquare Peg Capital, with participation from C31 Ventures, Moelis Australia and earlier investors NSI Ventures, Susquehanna International Group, DSG Consumer Partners and Singapore Press Holdings. DealStreetAsia has more here.

Compeon, a five-year-old, Dusseldorf, Germany-based business finance platform, has raised $14 million in Series B funding led byTengelmann Ventures. More here.

Court Buddy, a three-year-old, Miami-based company that matches consumers with solo attorneys for on-demand legal services, raised $1 million in seed funding led by LDR Ventures, with participation from XFactor Ventures, GingerBread Capital, LSS Fund,Uphonest Capital, Equipo Ventures, and 500 Startups. More here.

InflaRx, a 10-year-old, Thuringia, Germany-based drug startup focused on chronic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, has raised $55 million in Series D funding from Bain Capital Life Sciences, Cormorant Asset Management and RA Capital Management.

JustCo, a two-year-old, Singapore-based co-working space startup, has closed an undisclosed amount of funding from one of Thailand’s largest property developers, Sansiri, reportedly growing its valuation to $200 million in the process. Digital News Asia has more here.

Lefit, a two-year-old, Hangzhou, China-based startup that provides membership-based access to fitness clubs and instructors, has raised $45 million in Series C funding led by Hillhouse Capital. China Money Network has more here.

LimeBike, a nine-month-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based dockless bike sharing company, has raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Coatue Management, with participation from other new and earlier backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, DCM, GGV Capital, Section 32, Yuri Milner, The Durant Company, and others. TechCrunch has more here.

onQ, a 1.5-year-old, Atlanta, Ga.-based video technology company, raised $7 million in funding. The investors were not named. More here.

Qtshe.com, a China-based site for students looking to temp, has raised $9.1 million in Series B funding led by Anche Capital, with particpation from the classifieds platform Baixing.com, and Liang Weiping, founder of property listings platform Anjuke, which was acquired by 58.com in 2015. More here.

RenewBuy, a two-year-old, Gurgaon, India-based online insurance aggregator, has raised $9.2 million from Amicus Capital. The Economic Times has more here.

SidelineSwap, a three-year-old, Boston-based online marketplace for sports gear and equipment, has raised $2 million in new seed funding from Global Founders Capital, Haystack Partners, Riverpark Ventures, Fullstack Sports Ventures and The Players’ Impact. More here.

New Funds

Venture capital firm Draper Esprit plans to funnel $100 million (£75 million) into European seed funds over the next five years, helping to fill a funding hole exacerbated by Brexit. Business Insider has more here.

Precursor Ventures, a San Francisco-based seed and early-stage venture firm founded by Charles Hudson, looks to be targeting $25 million for its second fund, shows an SEC filing. We talked with Hudson about his young firm earlier this year, when he closed his debut fund with $15.3 million.

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IPOs

Four Seasons Education, a seven-year-old, Shanghai, China-based math education company, filed for an IPO of $120 million. It plans to list on the NYSE. Nasdaq has more here.

A second China-based company also announced plans to go public on the NYSE: Sogou, a Beijing -based company that has grown into China’s third-biggest search engine. It disclosed in a filing that it’s looking to raise $600 million in an offering. Tencent Holdings is among its biggest outside shareholders, with a 43.7 percent stake. Investors Business Daily has more here.

One Madison, a SPAC based out of New York formed to acquire a consumer-facing business, has filed for an IPO of $300 million. One of the outfit’s biggest shareholders is Jonathan Soros of JS Capital Management, which holds a 21 percent pre-IPO stake. Nasdaq hasmore here.

Vincom Retail, a mall operator, today launched Vietnam’s largest-ever initial public offering, in a deal that could be worth up to $680 million. Warburg Pincus and Credit Suisse are among its biggest shareholders. Bloomberg has more here.

Exits

L.A.-based Fandango is acquiring MovieTickets.com, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based site for movie ticketing and news. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. TechCrunch has more here.

Publicly traded, Israel-based NICE, which specializes in telephone voice recording, data security, and surveillance, has acquiredWorkflex, a Cincinnati, Oh.-based company that makes workforce engagement software, for undisclosed terms. Workflex had raised  $4.5 million in venture funding, including fro CincyTech. More here.

That was fast. Weinstein Co. has reportedly entered a negotiating period with Thomas Barrack’s Colony Capital for a potential sale of all or a significant portion of the company’s assets. Variety has more here.

People

Renowned tech journalist Walt Mossberg, who recently retired from Recode, is writing a book about people and products that changed the world.

Investor Steve Schlafman has left RRE Ventures after a four-year run, he announced on Twitter late Friday. Schlafman says he plans to remain in venture but to take some time off for now. (We think that’s probably code for, “I’m raising money for my own fund like everyone else right now,” but we’ll see.)

Tesla fired hundreds of workers last week, including engineers, managers and factory workers, even as the company struggles to expand its manufacturing and product line. It said the dismissals were the result of a company-wide annual review, and not layoffs. The SJ Merc has more here.

Jobs

Lyft is looking to add a financial analyst to its corporate development team. The job is in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Facebook is reportedly looking for employees with national security clearances (if you happen to fall into this camp). Bloomberg has more here.

Essential Reads

Another day, another industry-rattling move by Amazon. This time it’s making a foray into private-labeled sportswear.

Bitcoin’s seemingly unstoppable surge to record highs isn’t deterring competitors. Former Silicon Valley developers are working on at leasttwo new versions of the digital currency.

Richly-funded Docker turned down an opportunity to work with Google. It may regret it, suggests a new report by The Information.

Detours

Woody Allen warned over the weekend that revelations about Harvey Weinstein could lead to a “witch hunt atmosphere.” LOL.

Police in Dubai are getting some crazy-looking hovercrafts.

A penguin that fell in love with a cardboard cutout has died next to it.

Retail Therapy

Nerf’s tennis ball blaster for dogs.

Chairs for paranoid startups.

Friday! [Breaks stack of wooden slabs with elbow.] Hope you have a terrific weekend, everyone.:)

Top News in the A.M.

Qualcomm just filed lawsuits in China seeking to ban the sale and manufacture of iPhones in the country, the chipmaker’s biggest shot at Apple so far in a bitter legal fight.

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New Fundings

Beauty Bakerie, a six-year-old, San Diego, Ca.-based cosmetics brand, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Unilever Ventures, with participation from 645 Ventures and Blue Consumer Capital. More here.

CastBox.FM, a 1.5-year-old, Beijing, China-based audio platform that allows users to listen, create, and share their favorite podcast content, has raised $12.8 million in new funding, including from IDG Capital and GSR Ventures. Bloomberg has more here.

Flont, a one-year-old, New York-based online platform that lets users rent fine jewelry via a membership model, has raised $5 million in funding, including from C Ventures. More here.

Groupize, a six-year-old, Boston-based company whose tech helps its customers manage their meetings, has raised $3.25 million in funding led by Thayer Ventures, with participation from Golden Seeds, Launchpad Ventures, Wayfare Ventures, NTX Venture Fund and the Ace Fund. More here.

ICX Media, two-year-old, Washington, D.C.-based video data intelligence platform, has raised $6.6 million in Series A funding led by Grotech Ventures, with participation from NRV, Point Judith Capital and Avonlea Capital. More here.

Meesho, a two-year-old, Bangalore, India-based e-commerce platform that enables small businesses to create an online shop quickly, has raised $3.4 million in Series A funding led by SAIF Partners. Earlier backers, including Venture Highway and Y Combinator, also participated in the round, which brings Meesho’s total funding to $3.7 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Omnyway, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based company whose tech helps retailers stay connected to consumers through their phone during in-store shopping experiences,  has raised $12.75 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Nyca;CommerzVentures, the venture arm of Commerzbank Group of Germany; and CEFIF, the CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund. TechCrunch has more here.

Supersolid, a five-year-old, London-based mobile games maker, has raised $4 million in funding led by Index Ventures. VentureBeat has more here.

Visual Vocal, a two-year-old, Seattle-based immersive productivity platform for team collaboration, has raised $3.6 million in seed funding led by Eniac Ventures, with participation from Scout Ventures, Spider Capital, and the Alliance of Angels. GeekWire has more here.

VY Esports, a months-old, Santa Monica, Ca.-based matchmaking platform for esports and brands, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding led by Raine Ventures, with participation from Courtside Ventures and Elysian Park Ventures. VentureBeat has more here.

New Funds

M33 Growth, a Boston-based outfit founded by cofounded by former General Catalyst partner Brian Shortsleeve, has closed on $180 million in capital commitments for the firm’s debut fund, which will invest in growth-stage companies that are generating at least $5 million in revenue. More here.

The 13-year-old, Singapore-based, early-stage venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners, has closed its second Southeast Asia-focused vehicle with $66 million in commitments. Temasek Holdings, World Bank Group’s IFC, as well as prominent companies and family offices from the region have reportedly invested in the vehicle. DealStreetAsia has more here.

People

Hayley Barna reportedly dropped almost $14 million on a Manhattan apartment, says WWD. Her new neighbors include Ben Stiller and Bon Jovi.

Apple CEO Tim Cook seemed to address Google’s August firing of software engineer James Damore  while talking with a room full of students and would-be entrepreneurs in the U.K. yesterday. Asked how Apple encourages employees to challenge each others’ ideas, Cook said, “If you’re in a position where you’re deciding people’s future and you’re deciding in a biased way, you need to leave. But I think we have to allow for disagreement.” More here.

Roy Price, the head of Amazon Studios, has been suspended after disturbing allegations of sexual harassment were leveled at him (again). More here.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told lawmakers from the Congressional Black Caucus this week that the company will be adding an African-American to its board of directors.

Apple co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak today announced the formation of Woz U, a world-class digital institute to help fill the employment gap for high-paying technology jobs across the U.S. TechCrunch has more here.

Data

Samsung is killing it.

Hi, happy Thursday, everyone!

We’re still thinking of everyone just north of us and sending love to the many friends who live there and have either evacuated or may need to shortly. Puerto Rico. Texas. Florida. Now this? We’ll be very happy when this annus horribilis comes to a close.

Top News in the A.M.

Bitcoin recorded a new high this morning, racing past the $5,000 mark.

Mysterious Magic Leap may be raising as much as $1 billion more to fund its vision of a future filled with augmented reality glasses. TechCrunch has more here.

Equifax has pulled one of its customer service webpages, after another possible attack.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said this morning that the company is fully committed to helping U.S. congressional investigators publicly release Russia-backed political ads that ran during the 2016 U.S. election. But she sidestepped repeated questions about what Facebook knew about the extent of Russia’s use of its platform.

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Atomic, a Startup Studio Backed by Thiel and Andreessen, Ups Its Ambitions

Atomic isn’t a household brand, but Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen know it fairly intimately. The two billionaire investors, along with the venture firm Felicis Ventures, were among the earliest investors in the four-year-old, San Francisco-based startup studio, which closed its debut fund with $20 million.

Now Atomic is looking to raise five times that much capital for its follow-on effort, shows an SEC filing.

The company declined our request for an interview earlier today, but given its traction so far, don’t be surprised if it lands there quickly.

First, what it does: Atomic, which has 15 employees, judging by LinkedIn, essentially comes up with its own ideas for companies, then seeks out individuals who it thinks could steer these companies. After that, it seeks out larger investments from conventional venture capital firms to build them into sustainable businesses.

So far, Atomic — which is headquartered a stone’s throw from Thiel’s firm Founder Fund, in San Francisco’s verdant Presidio national park, and has a sales office in Phoenix and a small engineering campus in Waterloo — has come up with 10 companies, six of which are listed at its website, and at least four of which have raised significant funding, shows Crunchbase.

Among them are the Wi-Fi marketing startup Zenreach, which has now raised $80 million altogether, including from Founders Fund, Formation 8 and others; a consumer photo service called Ever that last month raised $16 million in Series B funding led by Icon Ventures, with participation from Felicis Ventures and Khosla Ventures (it has raised $29 million altogether); and the voice-powered sales startup TalkIQ, which closed on $14 million in Series A funding last month, led by Scale Venture Partners.

Atomic itself writes checks typically of between $200,000 and $2 million.

More here.

New Fundings

250ok, a six-year-old, Indianapolis, In.-based email analytics and deliverability company, has raised $2.6 million in Series A funding led by Arthur Ventures. MediaPost has more here.

Allume, a 1.5-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based on-demand personal shopping service, has raised $3 million in seed funding from True Ventures and unnamed angel investors. VentureBeat has more here.

Appear Here, a four-year-old, London-based online marketplace for short-term retail space, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the real estate-focused venture firm Fifth Wall Ventures. More here.

CloudZero, a 1.5-year-old, Boston-based site reliability management platform for cloud computing, has raised $5 million in Series A funding co-led by Matrix Partners and Underscore VC. More here.

CoverWallet, a 1.5-year-old, New York-based company that aims to make it easy for small businesses to buy and manage their insurance, has raised $18.5 million in Series B funding led byFoundation Capital, with participation from earlier backers Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, CV Starr, and Two Sigma Ventures. More here.

Creative Market, an online marketplace for ready-to-use design assets from independent creators, has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Accomplice. The company was spun out of publicly traded Autodesk. VatorNews has more here.

EazyDiner, a three-year-old, Gurgaon, India-based restaurant reservation startup, has raised $4.6 million in Series B funding led byBeenext, with participation from an undisclosed family office and earlier backers DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital. DealStreetAsia has more here.

Grover, a two-year-old, Berlin-based startup that enables people to subscribe to tech products monthly instead of buying them, has raised $11.7 million in debt funding from Varengold Bank. More here.

HappyOrNot, an eight-year-old, Tampere, Finland-based feedback data analytics company, has raised $14.5 million in Series A funding led by Northzone. Tech.eu has more here.

Janpix, a new, Massachusetts-based startup that’s developing selective small molecule inhibitors of STAT proteins as a cancer treatment, has raised C$22 million ($17.6 million) in  funding fromMedicxi, a European venture firm. BioSpace has more here.

Knowbox, a three-year-old, Beijing, China-based mobile app startup that helps teachers and students manage their homework, has raised $30 million in Series B-plus funding led by Bertelsmann Asia Investments, with participation from Haoweilai, Baidu Ventures and New World Development Co. The company had raised $15 million in Series B funding last November. More on the company here.

Kobalt, a 17-year-old, New York-based music rights and publishing company, has added $14 million in fresh funding to a Series D round that brings the company’s total funding to $80 million. The round was led by VC Bill Maris, who is now joining the company’s board of directors. Variety has more here.

SecurityScorecard, a four-year-old, New York-based grading service that helps organizations identify and manage key risks of their cloud-based information systems and those of their partners, has raised $27.5 million in Series C funding led by Nokia Growth Partners. Other investors in the round include Moody’s Corporation, AXA Strategic Ventures, Intel Capital, and earlier backers Sequoia Capital, GV, Boldstart Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, and Evolution Equity Partners. VentureBeat has more here.

ShiftLeft, a year-old, Santa Clara, Ca.-based startup promising to protect developers’ code (even when companies ignore security threats), has raised $9.3 million in Series A funding co-led by Bain Capital Ventures and Mayfield, with participation from numerous individuals. TechCrunch has more here.

Tooshlights, a 4.5-year-old, Tarzana, Ca.-based smart restroom traffic management system (so you know if a stall is occupied without crumbling to your knees first), has raised $3 million in Series A funding from the Texas-based convenience store chain Buc-ee’s. Internet of Business has more here.

True Link Financial, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based financial services firm focused on seniors, has raised $8 million in Series A funding led by QED Investors, with participation from Radicle Impact and Initialized Capital. More here.

IPOs

It’s been a good day for three companies that just went public after toiling away at their businesses for a number of years:

CarGurus, an 11-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based car marketplace that had never raised venture capital, raised $150 million in an IPO before hitting the market this morning, where it shares soared 72 percent before the market’s close. The company is the first Boston-based tech company to go public this year.

OrthoPediatrics, an 11-year-old, Warsaw, In.-based company that makes pediatric orthopedic implants, raised $52 million in an IPO. Its shares, available to the public for the first time this morning, ended the day 47 percent higher than where they started.

Restoration Robotics, a 16-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based company whose robots assist doctors in hair transplant surgery, raised $25 million in an offering before hitting the market this morning. Its shares traded up 41 percent before the market’s close.

Exits

Bessemer Venture Partners and Fifth Wall Ventures has acquired the majority share of WiredScore — a real estate tech firm — of Jared Kushner. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Forbes has more here.

People

Vijay Sondhi has joined Financial Technology Partners a managing director. He’d spent the previous five years with Visa, leaving as an SVP.

Scale Venture Partners just promoted three of its colleagues. Alexander Niehenke is now a partner with the firm, Susan Liu to principal, and Jeremy Kaufmann has been bumped up to senior associate.

Jobs

LaunchCapital, a seed and early-stage VC firm, is newly hiring for an investment associate to help source and evaluate new deals. The job is in New Haven, Ct.

Essential Reads

Twitter is infuriating users again today, having temporarily blocked (without explaining more quickly why) the account of actor Rose McGowan. She has been speaking out in recent days against producer Harvey Weinstein. Twitter now says it blocked the account because a tweet of McGowan’s included a private phone number. Many are asking why the company has been so comparatively lenient when handling more serious and provocative missteps on the platform, including those of Donald Trump.

Amazon‘s second headquarter bid has ignited a “sadistic” frenzy across North American cities that want a shot at the prize.

A Chicago-based company that’s backed by Goldman Sachs andAlphabet and reportedly worth $5.5 billion, has misled advertisers with manipulated info, reports the WSJ.

“South Park” just slammed Facebook for selling fake news.

Detours

Why tech companies should hire English majors.

A pet furniture collection, by Ikea.

Jerry Rice, wedding crasher.

Retail Therapy

Noise-cancelling headphones. All of them.:)

Hi, happy Wednesday! Hope yours is going well.:)

Top News

Alibaba Group said today that it plans to invest more than $15 billion over the next three years into a global, moonshot-idea-building R&D initiative called Alibaba DAMO Academy. TechCrunch has more here.

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Icon Ventures Raises Its Biggest Fund (By a Smidgen)

Funds have been ballooning in size as more money continues to flood into Silicon Valley, looking for higher returns than can be found elsewhere. VCs also like raising progressively bigger funds because doing so gives them bragging rights. In fact, over the last 24 months, the narrative has been much the same: So-and-so team has raised more money than ever before.

Some of these so-and-sos have included Accel Partners, which raised a record $2 billion last year; Canaan Partners, which raised a record $800 million in July; and Institutional Venture Partners, which closed its biggest fund yet last month, with $1.5 billion.

Now Icon Ventures, a 14-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based venture capital firm, has closed its sixth fund with $265 million in commitments — its largest fund to date, if just by a smidgen, having closed it last fund with $260 million in 2014.

Some profitable bets surely helped. Icon began helping to fund the cybersecurity company FireEye at its Series B round; the company went on to raise three more rounds of funding before going public in 2013. It has performed solidly, if not spectacularly, since. Its shares debuted at $36 apiece; they currently trade at $17 per share, giving the company a market cap of roughly $3.2 billion.

Icon also invested in the Series C round of network security firm Palo Alto Networks, which has soared as a publicly traded company. When it IPO’d in 2012, its shares debuted at $42 apiece. Today, its shares trade at $147 dollars, and the company is valued at $13.7 billion.

More here.

New Funds

Attivo Networks, a six-year-old, Fremont, Ca.-based maker of so-called deception-based detection technology, has raised $21 million in Series C funding led by Trident Capital Cybersecurity, with participation from earlier backers Bain Capital Ventures andOmidyar Technology Ventures. The company has now raised $45.7 million altogether. More here.

Brilliant, a two-year-old, San Mateo, Ca.-based startup whose tech aims to give consumers voice and touch control over lighting, music, climate, and other smart home products, has raised $21 million in Series A funding led by August Capital, with participation fromMiramar Ventures, The Box Group, and the Stanford-StartX Fund. More here.

Diandian Yangche, a three-year-old, Hangzhou, China-based start up offering a range of painting and cleaning services for cars in more than 20 Chinese cities (it also more recently jumped into the auto nsurance business), has raised “tens of millions of dollars” of Series C+ funding, including from investors GGV Capital, GSR Ventures,Garden Ventures, and Magic Stone Alternative. The company had closed on $60 million in Series C funding in 2015. More here.

eShares, a five-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based company that’s trying to modernize the way private companies manage and interact with their shareholders and optionholders, has raised $42 million in Series C funding led by Menlo Ventures and Social Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Gaiya Environment, a young, Suzhou, China-based maker of environmental protection sensors and other tech, has raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Qiming Venture Partners. China Money Network has more here.

Honest Buildings, a five-year-old, New York-based maker of construction management software for landlords and developers — it helps them manage and solicit bids from contractors and oversee budgets — has raised $13 million in a Series B funding. Investors include Brookfield Property Partners, Rudin Management, C-III Capital Partners, Navitas Capital, Greensoil Building Innovation Fund, Bienville Capital Management, and Riverpark Funds. Earlier backers The Westly Group, Rockport Capital,Circle Ventures and Thrive Capital also joined the round. The RealDeal has more here.

Impossible Objects, a six-year-old, Northbrook, Il.-based company that says it has developed a completely new 3D printing technology, has raised $6.4 million in funding led by earlier investor OCA Ventures of Chicago. Other investors in the round include Idea Fund Partners, Mason Avenue Investments, Huizenga Capital Management, and Inflection Equity Partners. Crain’s Chicago Business has more here.

Lalamove, a four-year-old, Hong Kong-based intra-city delivery company that connects hundreds of thousands of customers with tens of thousands of professional vans, motorcycles, and truck drivers, has raised  $100 million in new financing at a valuation that’s “just shy of the $1 billion mark,” reports TechCrunch.ShunWei Capital led the round, with participation from earlier backers, including Xiang He Capital and MindWorks Ventures.More here.

MioTech, a young, Hong Kong- and Shanghai, China-based financial tech startup that’s developing artificial intelligence-based software for investment managers, has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Horizons Ventures, with participation from returning investor Zhenfund. TechCrunch has more here.

NumberAI, a year-old, Oakland, Ca.-based company whose technology enables small businesses to digitize their landline numbers and thus make interacting with customers easier, has raised $1.6 million in seed funding from DFJ. TechCrunch has more here.

Ola, a six-year-old, Bangalore-based ride-hailing company, has closed $1.1 billion in fresh financing. That’s the largest funding round in its history and its first major raise since November 2015, when it closed $500 million from investors. China’s Tencent is a new backer and the lead investor of the round. SoftBank, an existing Ola investor, also chipped into the round. TechCrunch has more here.

Ometria, a four-year-old, London-based AI-powered customer marketing platform, has raised $6 million in Series A funding led bySummit Action. TechCrunch has more here.

Ross Intelligence, a two-year-old, Toronto-based platform that helps legal teams sort through case law to find details relevant to new cases, has raised $8.7 million in Series A funding led iNovia Capital, with participation from Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund,Y Combinator Continuity Fund, Real Ventures, NextLaw Labsand angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.

Withlocals, a four-year-old, Netherlands-based startup that operates a marketplace for personalized travel experiences, has raised $4.2 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Inkef Capital, an Amsterdam-headquartered venture firm. TechCrunch has more here.

(Other) New Funds

Arab Angel Fund, a two-year-old, seed and Series A stage investment fund, says it has closed its debut fund with $25 million in capital commitments from 65 private family offices and individual investors from a wide swath of Middle Eastern countries. The outfit invests in tech startups that launch in North America but are interested in expanding into the Middle East. Entrepreneur has more here.

IPOs

HelloFresh, the Berlin-based cooking kit delivery company, says it plans to raise up to $353 million in an IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The move would value HelloFresh at up to 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in the public markets — below the its private market valuation of 2 billion euros. More here.

People

Symantec CEO Greg Clark tells Reuters that company is no longer allowing governments to review the source code of its software out of fear they might compromise the security of its products.

Lightspeed Venture Partners has brought aboard a marketing and spiritual guru named Tara-Nicholle Nelson as an entrepreneur in residence to work on her next big project. VentureBeat has more here.

eBay founder Pierre Omidyar argues that social media has become a threat to democracy in six key ways.

Data

Mobile shopping is on the rise, with U.S. consumers now spending nearly 50 minutes in shopping apps per month, or 10 hours per year, according to a new report out this morning from App Annie. Digital-first shopping apps, like those from Amazon, Etsy, Wish and others, are also growing more quickly in terms of total sessions and monthly usage, compared to shopping apps from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, the report also found. TechCrunch has much more here.

The venture investments of Yale University seem to be faring pretty well. The endowment said yesterday that it returned 11.3 percent for the fiscal year ended June 30, bringing its value to $27.2 billion. That’s up from 7.1 percent from the year before. By asset class, reports Pensions & Investments, Yale’s 20-year annualized returns were venture capital, 106.3 percent; natural resources, 15.2 percent; foreign equities, 14.1 percent; leveraged buyouts, 12.6 percent; domestic equities, 12.2 percent; real estate, 10.3 percent; and absolute return, 8.9 percent. More here.

Essential Reads

File-sharing giant Dropbox has signed the biggest lease in San Francisco history, an agreement for 736,000 square feet, the entirety of a new office complex under construction in the southwest corner of Mission Bay. (Expensive gamble. Good luck, Dropbox!)

A device that Google gave to reporters at a launch event almost constantly recorded them, owing to a “glitch.”

Detours

The science of spying: how the CIA secretly recruits academics.

What makes someone “most beautiful” is changing, suggests a new report.

Elliot and E Corp are coming back. (Yesss.)

Retail Therapy

A $199 Oculus headset. It ships next year.

Hi, happy Tuesday, everyone! We’re on our fourth cup of coffee already. That’s probably okay, right? (We’re very tired. We blame our lovable mascot, Brodie the Terrier-orist.)

Great to see some of you last night at the swank offices of Jackson Square Ventures, where we had the pleasure of interviewing author Frans Johnanson on how organizations can better ensure their teams are diverse. For those who missed it, we’ll have more on that for you soon.

Top News

Apple is betting on Steven Spielberg for its first major foray into creating original video content, striking a deal with Spielberg’s Amblin Television and NBCUniversal to make new episodes of “Amazing Stories,” a science fiction series that ran in the ’80s. The WSJ has the story here.

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A Movie About Former Uber Engineer Susan Fowler is Being Shopped Around

In all likelihood, when former Uber engineer Susan Fowler authored a now-famous post about her “very strange year” at Uber and the culture of sexism she witnessed first-hand at the company, she had no clue it would have such colossal ripple effects.

Yet, here with are, nine months later, and not only has Uber’s cofounder Travis Kalanick lost what once seemed like an iron grip on the role of CEO; not only has one of the company’s earliest investors and staunchest supporters filed suit against Kalanick, ostensibly for hiding problems at the company; not only has Kalanick seen his super-voting shares annulled; but now, according to a new report in Deadline Hollywood, Fowler’s story is being made into a film that’s being pitched to studios as you read this.

For Kalanick, that has to sting. For Fowler — who, reached for comment, pointed us to her agent — it must seem a sweetly surreal victory.

So what do we know so far about what’s cooking? According to Deadline, Fowler has “pledged her life rights” to a movie pitch that will be written by Oscar-nominated “Hidden Figures” screenwriter Allison Schroeder and produced by former Disney executive Kristin Burr in “what is being described as a potential ‘Erin Brockovich’ meets ‘The Social Network,’” says Deadline.

It isn’t clear how many studios the seven-year-old, L.A.-based talent agency representing her, called Verve, has approached. Fowler’s agent has not yet responded to our further questions about the project. But it’s certainly timely, particularly given that Hollywood is currently reeling from the fall of one of its own power brokers, film producer Harvey Weinstein, who has reportedly sexually harassed women in his orbit for decades, included the actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.

Comparing Weinstein to Kalanick is comparing apples to bananas. Kalanick was accused of enabling a culture of sexism to thrive under his leadership; Weinstein’s crimes are far more serious.

Hi, happy Monday, everyone.:)

We’re sure that some of you, like us, found it disconcerting to wake up to ashes and smoke in the air in San Francisco this morning. (As many readers may already know, multiple fires are raging right now in Napa and Sonoma counties.) Sounds like nothing is contained quite yet. In the meantime, we’re thinking of friends and their families across the bridge.

Top News in the A.M.

Google for the first time has uncovered evidence that Russian operatives exploited its platforms in an attempt to interfere with last year’s presidential election. The Washington Post has more here.

Sponsored by . . .

EquityZen. We operate a secondary market for company-approved transactions in pre-IPO stock. Founded in 2013, EquityZen has already closed over 2,500 investments in 75+ companies. For as low as $10K on your first investment, you can gain access to proven private companies like Spotify, Lyft, and more! Join for free and begin investing in the private markets: equityzen.com.

New Fundings

Ascendify, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based social recruitment for talent management platform, has raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Canaan Partners, with participation from GE Ventures and Cisco Investments. SiliconAngle has more here.

Docker, an eight-year-old, San Francisco-based container software maker, is raising up to $75 million new funding, according to an SEC filing that shows the company has already raised at least $61.8 million. The company’s previous investors include Greylock Partners, Insight Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. More here.

GitLab, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based web-based open source Git repository manager, has raised $20 million in Series C funding led by GV. TechCrunch has more here.

Harmony Biosciences, a newly formed, Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based biotech focused that was spun out of Paragon Biosciences and is focused on sleep and CNS disorders, has raised $270 million in new equity funding from Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, HBM Healthcare Investments, Vivo Capital, venBio Partners, Novo Holdings and Nan Fung Life Sciences. Some of that capital is being used acquire the exclusive U.S. rights to a narcolepsy drug from France’s Bioprojet. More here.

Laundryheap, a three-year-old, London-based laundry on-demand startup, has raised £2 million ($2.6 million) million in angel funding, with an additional £1 million if equity crowdfunding via Seedrs planned for later this year. The round is being led by Simon Smith and QVentures. TechCrunch has more here.

Sight Sciences, an eight-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based commercial-stage ophthalmic medical device company, has raised $10 million in Series C funding led by Allegro Investment Fund, with participation from all previous investors. FierceBiotech has more here.

Sourcegraph, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that aims to make exploring code anywhere as painless as searching and browsing the web, has raised $20 million in Series A funding led byRedpoint Ventures and Goldcrest Capital. More here.

Supreme, a 23-year-old, New York-based streetwear brand, has reportedly sold a 50 percent stake in its business to the Carlyle Group for roughly $500 million. Highsnobiety has more here.

TSC Apparel, a 17-year-old, Cincinnati, Oh.-based B2B distributor of imprintable apparel products and accessories, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from CenterGate Capital. More here.

Veeba Food Services, a four-year-old, New Delhi, India-based condiments and sauce maker, has raised a little more than $6 million in Series C funding led by earlier backer Verlinvest, the Belgium-based investment holding company of Anheuser-Busch InBev founding families. Other investors in the round include DSG Consumer Partners and Sixth Sense Ventures. LiveMint hasmore here.

Wheels Up, a five-year-old, New York-based private aviation company, has raised $117.5 million in funding co-led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and T. Rowe Price Associates, with participation from New Enterprise Associatesand others. The Miami Herald has more here.

Zume Pizza, a two-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based store-less pizza company that uses robots to bake its pies, has raised $48 million as part of a venture round that looks to have targeted $50 million, per an SEC filing. The company previously raised over $23 million from AME Cloud Ventures, Maveron, SignalFire, andKortschak Investments. CNBC has more here.

New Funds

IvyCap Ventures, a 6.5-year-old, Mumbai, India-based firm, is planning to launch a $76 million debt venture in the next three months, according to a senior executive. The venture firm typically invests in early-to-growth stage companies. The debt fund will focus on mid-stage start-ups that are at the stage of seeking out Series B or Series C funding.  LiveMint has more here.

Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, says it has closed a new, $210 million fund to invest in southeast Asian and Indian startups, exceeding its original target size of $150 million. Reuters has the story here.

Holy IPOs!

Allena, a seven-year-old, Newton, Ma.-based company developing metabolic disorder treatments (and has recently experienced two Phase 2 flops), has filed to raise $92 million in an IPO. The company’s biggest outside shareholders include Frazier Healthcare Partners, Third Rock Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Fidelity, among others. FierceBiotech has more here.

Aquantia, a 13-year-old, San Jose, Ca.-based Ethernet manufacturer, has filed to raise $86 million in an IPO. The company’s biggest outside shareholders include Pinnacle Ventures, Walden International, Rusnano, and Mubadala Investment Company, among others. MarketWatch has (slightly) more here.

Erytech Pharma, a 13-year-old, Lyon, France-based biotech that’s developing cancer treatments, has filed to raised $100 million in an IPO that will be used to help fund a Phase 3 pancreatic cancer trial. The company’s biggest outside shareholders include Baker Bros Advisors and Auriga Partners. FierceBiotech has more here.

Funko, a 19-year-old, Everett, Wa.-based company best known for its Pop! series of big-eyed, square faced vinyl figurines., has filed for an $100 million IPO, with plans to list on the Nasdaq. CEO Brian Mariottibought Funko from founder Mike Becker in 2005, and sold it to private equity firm Fundamental Capital in 2013. The company changed hands again in 2015, with the sale of a controlling stake toAcon Investments, another private equity firm. The Seattle Times has more here.

Loton, a seven-year-old, Beverly Hills, Ca.-based online network for streaming live music, has revealed plans to raise $100 million in an IPO. The company’s biggest outside investors include Robert Ellin, a managing member of Trinad Advisors; Sandor Capital; andPrimary Investments. More here.

Sea, Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup that’s known for its Garena gaming and shopping platform, aims to raise as much as $696 million in a U.S. IPO. The Singapore-based company, formerly called Garena, is marketing 49.7 million American depositary shares for $12 to $14 apiece, according to a new regulatory filing. Bloomberg has more here.

Spero Therapeutics, a four-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based company seeking a treatment for drug-resistant bacterial infections, has filed to raise up to $86 million in an IPO. The company’s biggest outside investors include GlaxoSmithKline, Atlas Venture, andGV. More here.

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Exits

Cruise, the self-driving car startup that GM acquired last year, has acquired a startup of its own – Strobe, three-year-old, Pasadena-based LiDAR sensor maker that reduces an entire LiDAR array down to just one chip, which Cruise says will be instrumental in helping it reduce the cost of LiDAR on a per vehicle basis by nearly 100 percent. TechCrunch has more here.

The Belgian Post Group, a logistics and supply chain company that’s based in Brussels and also known as bpost, has acquired Radial, the fulfillment company formerly known as eBay enterprise, for $820 million. Why it matters: Radial is considered to be Amazon’s largest competitor for fulfillment in the U.S., tapping into deliveries not just from huge retailers but hundreds of smaller businesses and startups. TechCrunch has more here.

Guidewire Software has agreed to acquire Cyence, a four-year-old San Mateo, Ca.-based startup that helps insurers assess cyber risk. Cyence had raised $40 million in funding just last fall led byNew Enterprise Associates, with participation from IVP andDowling Capital Management. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 451 Research has more here.

People

Uber’s HR chief Liane Hornsey talks with the WSJ about what steps the company has taken, and what’s still ahead.

Facebook’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, has let loose at critics on Twitter over the company’s algorithms.

Data

U.S. startup investors were good at putting capital to work this past quarter. They weren’t as good at getting it back. More here.

Essential Reads

How a Silicon Valley striver became the alt-right’s tech hero.

Detours

Jeff Koons’s augmented reality Snapchat artwork gets “vandalized.”

Comic Nathan Macintosh does not want to talk with robots.

This company says its software can pick soccer stars.

Retail Therapy

Jennifer Lopez has listed her New York City penthouse for $27 million, should you want to take a look.

Guess it’s a good time to buy that private jet.