Hi, all! Hope you’ve had a stellar Wednesday. 🙂 Ours flew by, though a definite highlight was a visit earlier in the day with renowned investor and hip hop connoisseur Ben Horowitz. More on our chat soon.
Top News
Ugh. Apple has just removed an app, HKmap.live, that crowdsources the location of police and anti-government protesters in Hong Kong and that was approved by Apple late last week after it reversed an earlier decision to reject the submission. The company succumbed to pressure from Chinese state media, which had accused the company of endorsing and protecting “rioters” in Hong Kong’s increasingly violent protests by listing the app.
Though CNN has refused to air an advertisement released last week by the Trump campaign that accuses former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden of trying to bribe officials in Ukraine, Facebook has given it the green-light, foreshadowing a continuing fight over misinformation on the service during the 2020 election. The New York Times has more here.
Sponsored By …
Seasons change. So should your socks. Snag a pair of Bombas made from ultra-soft fabrics that are designed to keep you warm, cozy, and comfortable all fall long. Give your sock drawer the update it needs this season. And for every pair you purchase, we’ll donate a pair to someone in need.
SmileDirectClub’s Former CEO is Back with a New Dental Startup Called Tend
A growing number of newer dental brands has been attracting money from venture investors who are still kicking themselves for missing some runaway hits. Most notable among these breakout companies is newly public SmileDirectClub, which sells teeth-straightening products directly to consumers and is beloved by analysts even though its shares have slipped since its September IPO.
Among the many teeth-related startups to more recently attract private funding is Swift Health Systems, a five-year-old company that makes invisible braces under the brand INBRACE and just raised $45 million from VCs; Henry the Dentist, a two-year-old, mobile dental clinic that raised $10 million earlier this year; and Quip, a five-year-old maker of electric toothbrushes and oral care products that has garnered roughly $62 million from investors.
Still, a new company called Tend is especially notable, and not because it just raised $36 million in seed and Series A funding — which it did, led by Redpoint Ventures.
First and foremost, Tend sees an opportunity to reinvent the dentist’s office. How? Through tech-heavy dental “studios” that “prioritize” your comfort by featuring sleek waiting areas that it promises you’ll almost never need to use and by offering “Netflix in your chair” that you will enjoy while wearing the latest and greatest Bose headphones. (Tend says it will get your favorite show queued up before you arrive for your appointment, which you will breezily book online, and whose prices you can learn in advance, so you don’t suffer sticker shock later.)
A Fast Company reporter who visited the startup’s newly opened flagship space in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood was even offered a selection of only the finest toothpastes, including that of Marvis, an Italian brand that comes in such distinct flavors as Amarelli licorice, cinnamon, ginger and jasmine — not to mention “classic strong,” “whitening,” and “aquatic.”
It all sounds faintly ridiculous, but also fairly nice, especially contrasted with traditional dentist offices, which tend to be both highly antiseptic and astonishingly vague about pricing.
There’s also a kind of precedent for what it’s doing. Specifically, improving on the patient experience has worked out well for One Medical, a venture-backed, tech-driven chain of 70 clinics that has become one of the largest independent groups in the U.S. (It’s also reportedly prepping an IPO.)
Little wonder that one individual participant in Tend’s new funding is Tom Lee, the physician who created One Medical in 2007 and led it as CEO until 2017.
Massive Fundings
Adicet Bio, a five-year-old, New York-based biopharmaceutical company that’s developing novel “off the shelf” cell therapies based on gamma delta T cells, just raised $80 million in Series B funding. Investors include aMoon2 Fund, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, OCI Enterprises, KB Investment Co., Consensus Business Group, SBI JI Innovation Fund, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Handok, and DSC Investment. Reuters has more here.
Casavo, a two-year-old, Milan, Italy-based startup that says it makes it possible to sell a house online with only few clicks (à la Opendoor in the U.S.), has raised €50 million in Series B funding led by Greenoaks. More here.
Kandou, an eight-year-old, Lausanne, Switzerland-based developer of connectivity IP and a related standalone chip designed for the consumer market, has raised $56 million from Bessemer Venture Partners, Columbia Lake Partners, Digital Transformation Fund, Fayerweather Capital Partners, Forestay Capital, Kreos Capital, Raging Capital, Swisscom Ventures, and Walden International. Venture Kick has more here.
RigUp, a five-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based company that connects independent contractors like heavy equipment operators, maintenance workers and solar panel installers with jobs in different energy sectors (renewables, oil and gas), has raised $300 million in Series D funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, using its recently formed late stage fund. Other investors include Baillie Gifford, Brookfield Growth Partners, and earlier backers Founders Fund, Bedrock Capital, and Quantum Energy Partners. According to the WSJ, RigUp is now valued at $1.9 billion. More here.
Sonovate, a seven-year-old, London-based company that makes invoicing software for the recruiting and other industries, has raised £110 million of venture capital and debt funding from M&G Investments, MXB Holdings, Dawn Capital and Rocket Internet. More here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
AnotherBrain, a 2.5-year-old, Paris, France-based startup that’s creating software and microchips for what it calls “organic AI,” meaning its tech will require less computing power (ostensibly) and be less reliant on large training sets, has raised roughly $21 million in venture funding. The round was led by Alpha Intelligence Capital and Paris-based investor Daphni, with participation from SEB Alliance and Robinson Technologies. Sifted.eu has more here.
CorneaGen, a three-year-old, Seattle-based cornea care company at work on numerous products, including a treatment that involves culturing human eye endothelial cells and injecting them into the anterior chamber of a corneal blind patient’s eye, has raised $37 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Flying L Partners, in collaboration with Falcon Vision, a platform formed by KKR. Petrichor Healthcare Capital Management also chipped into the round, providing a separate, $25 million credit facility to the company. More here.
Critizr, a seven-year-old, Lille, France-based company feedback management system that aims to better allow retailers and brands to connect with their customers, has raised €15 million in funding led by 83North, with participation from Point Nine, Caphorn, and Runa. Tech.eu has more here.
FAZUA, a six-year-old, Munich, Germany-based startup that develops drive systems for e-bikes, has closed on €15 million in funding led by UVC Partners. The European Investment Bank separately loaned the startup €12 million in venture debt. Tech.eu has more here.
Iziwork, a year-old, Paris-based temp staffing marketplace, has raised €12 million in Series A funding led by Cathay Innovation, with participation from Global Founders Capital. More here.
Melorra, a four-year-old, Bangalore, India-based online jewelry store that predominantly sells lightweight gold pieces to women, has raised $12 million in funding from Lightbox, BlackSoil Capital, and several family offices. The company has now raised $24 million altogether. Business Standard has more here.
Osaro, a four-year-old, San Francisco startup developing machine-learning algorithms that help industrial robots recognize, sort, pack, and assemble objects, has raised $16 million in Series B funding led by King River Capital, with participation from Alpha Intelligence Capital, Founders Fund, Pegasus Tech Ventures, and GiTV Fund, among others. The round brings the startup’s total funding to date to $29.3 million. VentureBeat has more here.
Remarkable, a six-year-old, Oslo, Norway-based startup behind a digital paper tablet of the same name, has raised $15 million in Series A funding from Spark Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Satelles, an 11-year-old, Reston, Va.-based company that sells its own ostensibly hack-proof location services to high frequency traders and others, has raised $26 million in Series C funding led by C5 Capital, with participation from Iridium Communications. More here.
Wild Type, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based cultured salmon startup (meaning it’s growing fish from cells outside the animal), has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding led by Maven Ventures, with participation from Spark Capital and Root Ventures. The Spoon has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Augmenta, a two-year-old, Paris-based precision agriculture company, raised $2.5 million in seed funding co-led by Hardware Club and Marathon Venture Capital of Athens. More here.
Doorstead, a months-old, San Francisco-based rental property management startup, just raised $3.3 million in seed funding co-led by M13 and Silicon Valley Data Capital, with participation from Venture Reality Fund and SOMA Capital. TechCrunch has more here.
Middesk, an 11-month-old, San Francisco-based startup that offers business verifications, legal and regulatory checks, and industry classification products for companies selling to businesses, has raised $4 million in seed funding led by Accel, with participation from Sequoia Capital and Y Combinator. Forbes has more here.
ImmunoMolecular Therapeutics, a four-year-old, Woburn, Ma.-based clinical stage company that’s developing personalized therapies for autoimmune diseases, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. JDRF T1D Fund and Morningside Ventures co-led the round, joined by the Colorado University Healthcare Innovation Fund. More here.
Papa, a three-year-old, Miami, Fla.-based startup that connects college and nursing students, known as “Papa Pals,” to older adults who need assistance with transportation, house chores, technology and other services, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Canaan. Other investors include Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda Gates, Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, and Sound Ventures. Refresh Miami has more here.
New Funds
Bessemer Venture Partners has raised $525 million for its first-ever later-stage fund, from which partners can write a check of up to $250 million, according to the Financial Times. The idea, says partner Byron Deeter, is to enable Bessemer to fund “every round of a cloud company’s existence”, in case “late-stage investors pull out of the market or IPO windows shut.”
Voyager Capital, a 22-year-old, Seattle-based early-stage venture firm, has closed its fifth fund with $100 million in capital commitments. It plans to fund companies almost exclusively in the Pacific Northwest. GeekWire has more here.
IPOs
Fangdd Network Group, a China-based online real estate marketplace, has filed for an IPO in the U.S., and it has turned to Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, UBS, China International Capital Corporation and AMTD for help in the endeavor. DealStreetAsia has more here.
Megvii, a China-based tech firm focused on AI said to be seeking an IPO in Hong Kong, was placed on the Trump administration’s blacklist along with handful of other companies with surveillance capabilities. Goldman Sachs said immediately afterward of its involvement in the planned IPO that it’s “evaluating in light of the recent developments.” Reuters has more here.
When PayPal reports its newest financial results in a couple of weeks, one dark spot will be a $228-million loss on investments before taxes in the third quarter driven in large part by a bad bet on Uber just before it went public. The investment, for $500 million at Uber’s IPO, has fallen 34 percent. Bloomberg has more here.
People
U.S. Venture Partners, the Menlo Park, Ca.-based venture capital firm, has promoted Dafina Toncheva to general partner. Toncheva, who invests in emerging tech in the enterprise space, joined the firm in 2012 following a two-year stint with Venrock. She previously worked as a program manager at Microsoft. More here.
Julie Yoo has joined the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz as a general partner focused on health-tech investments. Yoo spent the last eight years as a co-founder and chief product officer of Kyruus, a venture-backed healthcare provider matching tool. She joins as the firm’s 17th GP. It had firm hired David George, who focuses on late-stage deals, and Anish Acharya, who specializes in fintech deals, earlier this year. TechCrunch has more here.
Sponsored By …
Tired of all those big, splashy IPOs (*cough* WeWork *cough*) that fall short of expectations? Art has outperformed the S&P by 250% since 2000. Masterworks.io is an all new exclusive investing platform that lets you buy shares of blue-chip art by Warhol, Banksy, and more. Sound like your kind of investment? StrictlyVC readers can skip the 5,000+ waitlist by clicking HERE.
Essential Reads
Silicon Valley is trying out a new mantra: Make a profit.
The future teen stars of America live on TikTok.
GitHub leadership, including CEO Nat Friedman, oppose the child separation policy of the U.S. Immigrations and Enforcement agency. But an internal email suggests GitHub won’t stop ICE from renewing a contract with the tech company, which is owned by Microsoft. Vice has the story here.
Detours
Some NBA fans supporting the Hong Kong protests are getting kicked out of games and seeing their signs confiscated.
Can the “Succession” theme revive the custom ringtone?
“Maestro.”
Retail Therapy
Wait. Aston Martin residences?