Sourcery (1/24-1/28)
Fireblocks, FTX US, CapitvateIQ, CoinTracker, Compound, Polly, Eaglebrook Advisors, TRLab, A Place for Mom, Athletic Greens, Skims, Route, Dremio, Savage X Fenty, PortalOne, Diem, Wealthfront...
Last Week (1/24-1/28):
Relevant deals include the 60+ deals across stages below.
I've categorized the deals below into four categories, Fintech, Care, Enterprise & Consumer, and Sustainability, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds. Highlighted deals include Fireblocks, FTX US, Blockdaemon, Esusu, CapitvateIQ, CoinTracker, Compound, Polly, Vesta, Prologue, Eaglebrook Advisors, Stonks, TRLab, A Place for Mom, Athletic Greens, BenchSci, The Vets, Talkiatry, Mantra, Bateau, dNovo, o9 Solutions, Skims, Route, Dremio, Savage X Fenty, SparkCognition, Firebolt, Hunters, Vecna, PortalOne, Humu, Starship, Passport, Soona, Scratchpad, Logixboard, Stonly, PQShield, Launch House, Archive, Caramel, Woflow, Whoosh, The.com, Epsilon3, Plenty Unlimited, Kula Bio, Silver, FarmRaise; Diem, Wealthfront, Taulia; Chime, SHEIN, Gopuff; Kin Insurance
Final numbers on BNPL and Record-Breaking Secondary Sales at the bottom.
Deals
Sources: TS, Pro Rata, FinSMEs, Pitchbook, StrictlyVC
Fintech:
- Fireblocks, a New York-based digital asset and crypto custody platform for custodians, fintech, crypto exchanges, lending desks, super apps and asset management firms, raised $550 million in Series E funding. D1 Capital Partners and Spark Capital co-led the round and were joined by investors including General Atlantic, Index Ventures, Mammoth, CapitalG, Altimeter, Iconiq Strategic Partners, Canapi Ventures, and Parafi Growth Fund.
- West Realm Shires Services, FTX’s crypto exchange in the U.S. known as FTX US, raised $400 Million in Series A funding from investors including Paradigm, Temasek, NEA, Multicoin Capital, Tribe Capital, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, SoftBank, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
- Hometap, a Boston, Mass.-based loan alternative company for tapping into home equity without taking on debt, raised $245 million from investors including Bain Capital and Group 1001’s Delaware Life Insurance Company.
- Blockdaemon, a Los Angeles-based blockchain infrastructure company for node management and staking, raised $207 million in Series C funding. Sapphire and Tiger Global led the round and were joined by investors including SoftBank, Boldstart Ventures, StepStone Group, Matrix Capital Management, and Lerer Hippeau.
- Esusu, a New York-based fintech company for rent reporting and data solutions for credit building, raised $130 million in funding. SoftBank led the round and was joined by investors including Jones Feliciano Family Office, Lauder Zinterhofer Family Office, Motley Fool Ventures, Schusterman Foundation, Related Companies, and Wilshire Lane Capital.
- CaptivateIQ, a San Francisco-based sales commission software company, raised $100 million in Series C funding led by ICONIQ Growth, Accel, and Sequoia and were joined by Sapphire.
- CoinTracker, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency tax and portfolio tracking platform, raised $100 million in Series A funding. Accel led the round and was joined by investors including General Catalyst, Initialized Capital, Y Combinator Continuity, 776 Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Intuit Ventures, and Kraken Ventures.
- SavvyMoney, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based consumer credit score startup, raised $45m from Spectrum Equity. www.savvymoney.com
- Domain Money, a New York-based online investment and wealth-building platform, raised $44 million in funding from Bessemer Ventures, Maveron, and RRE Ventures.
- Compound, a San Francisco-based tech-powered wealth management platform, raised $37 million in funding. Greenoaks and Lachy Groom led the round and were joined by investors including Silver Lake, FTX, YCombinator, XYZ, SciFi, and Day One Ventures.
- Polly, a San Francisco-based SaaS technology company for mortgage capital markets, raised $37 million in Series B funding led by Menlo Ventures and was joined by investors including Movement Mortgage, First American Financial, FinVC, 8VC, Khosla Ventures and Fifth Wall.
- Vesta, a San Francisco-based mortgage loan origination SaaS company, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by a16z and was joined by investors including Zigg Capital, Conversion Capital, and Bain Capital Ventures.
- Prologue, a holding company of technology investments and leading media brands, raised $23 million from a16z and Sequoia Capital.
- DigitalOwl, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI software developer for analyzing insurance and legal claims, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners and was joined by investors including Ibex and Fusion VC.
- Eaglebrook Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based cryptocurrency separately managed account (SMA) platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Castle Island Ventures and Brewer Lane Ventures led the round and were joined by investors including Gemini Frontier Fund, Avon Ventures, a Fidelity Investments affiliate, Jump Capital, and Sybil Capital.
- LEX Markets, a New York-based real estate securities marketplace for investors, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by PEAK6 and was joined by investors including Khosla Ventures, Two Lanterns, MUFG Innovation Partners, MetaProp, and Gaingels.
- Stonks, an S.F.-based crowdfunding platform, raised $15m led by Andreessen Horowitz. Yes, this is a real company. http://axios.link/nSD
- Project Galaxy, a Calif.-based Web3 credential data network, raised $10 million in funding. Multicoin Capital and Dragonfly Capital led the round and were joined by investors including Spartan Group, Sky9 Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Smart Chain Growth Fund, C-Squared Ventures, Lattice Capital, and Mirana Ventures.
- Aver, a decentralized peer-to-peer betting exchange built on the Solana blockchain, raised $7.5 million in seed funding led by Jump Crypto and was joined by investors including Mirana Ventures, Susquehanna International Group, Genesis Block Ventures, Serum Ventures, Blue Pool Capital, MEXC, Gate.io, Petrock Capital, and Solar Eco Fund.
- Vartana, a San Francisco-based managed checkout and BNPL provider for businesses, raised $7 million in seed funding led by Audacious Ventures and was joined by investors including Flex Capital, Shoaib Makani, Joe Kraus, and Bipul Sinha.
- Finmark, a Raleigh, N.C.-based provider of financial modeling software for startups, raised $6.5m in seed funding from American Express Ventures. www.finmark.com
- TRLab, an art NFT platform co-founded by Christie's International chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen, raised $4.2m in seed funding from Pace Gallery, Animoca Brands, BAI Capital and Digital Renaissance Foundation. www.trlab.com
- Tribevest, a Columbus, Ohio-based collaborative investing startup, raised $3m in seed funding from I2BF Global Ventures, Mucker Capital, Gaingels, Vibe Capital and Ryan Leslie. http://axios.link/PcHx
- Kleoverse, a Helsinki, Finland-based Web3 startup for freelancers to create a professional identity, raised $1.2 million in funding led by byFounders, Sfermion, crypto entrepreneur Ville Vesterinen, and Equilibrium.
. . .
Care:
- Insight Partners, General Atlantic, and Silver Lake invested $175 million in A Place for Mom, a Seattle, Wash.-based senior care services marketplace.
- Leyden Laboratories, an Amsterdam-based preventative medicine developer for respiratory viruses, raised $140 million in Series B funding. Casdin Capital and GV led the round and were joined by investors including SoftBank and Bluebird Ventures.
- Athletic Greens, a Cayman Islands-based health supplements developer, raised $115 million in funding led by Alpha Wave Ventures and was joined by investors including Mark Vadon, SC.Holdings, Bolt Ventures, and Dr. Peter Attia.
- BenchSci, a Toronto-based provider of machine learning apps for drug development, raised C$63m in Series C funding co-led by Inovia Capital and TCV. www.benchsci.com
- The Vets, a Miami, Fla.-based pet care services platform, raised $40 million in seed funding led by Target Global, PICO Venture Partners, and Bolt Ventures.
- Talkiatry, a New York-based in-network psychiatric care provider, raised $37 million in Series A funding from Left Lane Capital.
- Casana, a New York-based maker of health-monitoring toilets, raised $30m in Series B funding, Axios reports. Morningside led, and was joined by Matrix Partners, General Catalyst and Outsiders Fund. http://axios.link/4761
- Mantra Health, a New York-based digital mental health clinic focused on young adults, raised $22 million in Series A funding led by VMG Partners and was joined by investors including New Market Venture Partners, Elements Health Ventures, 14W, Alumni Ventures, Canaan Partners, Global Founders Capital, Baleon Capital, Western Tech Investments, and City Light Capital.
- Intellect, a Singapore-based mental health services startup, raised $10m in Series A funding. HOF Capital led, and was joined by Headline, East Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, Pioneer Fund and Insignia Ventures Partners. http://axios.link/2rtk
- Bateau, a Seattle, Wash.-based business Intelligence solution for the senior living industry, raised $4 million in seed funding led by CRV.
- dNovo, a San Jose, Calif.-based hair loss cure startup, raised $2.7 from YC, Felicis Ventures, Soma Capital and Yintai Investment. www.dnovobio.com
. . .
Enterprise & Consumer:
- o9 Solutions, a Dallas, Tex.-based enterprise AI software platform provider for supply chain management, raised $295 million in funding from General Atlantic, Generation Investment Management, and KKR.
- Skims, Kim Kardashian’s underwear brand, raised $240 million in funding led by hedge fund Lone Pine Capital and was joined by investors including D1 Capital Partners, Imaginary Ventures, Alliance Consumer Growth, and Thrive Capital.
- Fever, a New York-based live-entertainment discovery platform, raised $227 million in Series D funding. Goldman Sachs led the round and was joined by investors including Alignment Growth, Goodwater Capital, and Smash Capital.
- Route, a Lehi, Utah-based product tracking software company, raised $200 million in series B from investors including Eldridge, Madrona Venture Group, Riot Ventures, FJ Labs, and Jaws Capital.
- Dremio, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based SQL lakehouse company, raised $160m in Series E funding at a $2b valuation. Adams Street Partners led, and was joined by StepStone Group, DTCP and insiders Sapphire Ventures, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Cisco Investments. http://axios.link/w5ao
- Deliverect, a Ghent, Belgium-based online order management platform, raised €130 million ($150 million) in Series D funding. Coatue and Alkeon Capital led the round and were joined by investors including OMERS Ventures, DST Global, Redpoint Ventures, Newion, and Smartfin.
- Savage X Fenty, Rihanna's lingerie company, raised $125m in Series C funding. Neuberger Berman led, and was joined by insiders L Catterton, Avenir, Sunley House Capital and Marcy Venture Partners. http://axios.link/7yvi
- SparkCognition, an Austin, Texas-based cognitive AI startup, raised $123m in Series D funding at a $1.4b post-money valuation from March Capital, Doha VC, B. Riley VC, AEI Horizon X, Temasek, Alan Howard and Peter Löscher. http://axios.link/RGY8
- Domestika, a Berkeley, Calif.-based online course from expert professionals company, raised $110 million in Series D funding led by Zeev Ventures and was joined by investors including GSV Ventures.
- Firebolt, a San Francisco-based cloud data warehouse, raised $100 million in Series C funding led by Alkeon Capital and was joined by investors including Sozo Ventures, Glynn Capital, Zeev Ventures, Angular Ventures, Dawn Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, K5 Global, and TLV Partners.
- MinIO, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company behind the MinIO multi-cloud object storage suite, raised $103 million in Series B funding. Intel Capital led the round and was joined by investors including SoftBank, Dell Capital, General Catalyst, and Nexus Venture Partners.
- InstaDeep, a London-based AI-powered decision-making platform, raised $100 million in Series B funding. Alpha Intelligence Capital led the round and was joined by investors including CDIB, BioNTech, Chimera Abu Dhabi, DB Digital Ventures, Google, G42, and Synergie.
- Wandelbots, an industrial robot software company, raised $84 million in Series C funding led by Insight Partners and was joined by investors including 83North, Microsoft, Next47, Paua, Atlantic Labs, and EQT.
- Sibros, a San Jose, Calif.-based connected vehicle platform company, raised $70 million in Series B funding led by Energy Impact Partners and was joined by investors including Fontinalis Partners, Google, Iron Pillar, Qualcomm Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, and Moneta Ventures.
- Hunters, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity platform, raised $68 million in Series C funding. Stripes led the round and was joined by investors including DTCP, Cisco Investments, Databricks, YL Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Microsoft’s venture fund M12, U.S. Venture Partners, Blumberg Capital, and Snowflake Ventures.
- Vecna Robotics, a Waltham, Mass.-based autonomous mobile robots developer, raised $65 million in Series C funding led by Tiger Global Management and was joined by investors including Lineage Logistics, Proficio Capital Partners, and IMPULSE.
- Cheetah, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based technology supply chain company for wholesale food and restaurant supplies, raised $60 million in Series C funding.Manna Tree and Sator Grove Holdings co-led the round and were joined by investors including Lineage Logistics, Grupo Nutresa, Eclipse Ventures, and Hanaco Growth Ventures.
- PortalOne, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based hybrid games platform, raised $60 million in Series A funding led by Tiger Global and joined by investors including Talis Capital, Temasek, TQ Ventures, Signia Venture Partners, Coatue, Access Industries, Connect Ventures, and Animoca Brands.
- Humu, a Mountain View, Calif.-based HR technology platform, raised $60 million in Series C funding led by TCV and was joined by investors including Index Ventures, IVP, Silicon Valley Bank, GFC, and Blue Ivy Ventures.
- Starship Technologies, an L.A.-based maker of autonomous delivery robots, raised €50m in equity and debt from the European Investment Bank. http://axios.link/726h
- Leap, a Chicago-based retail-as-a-service platform, raised $50m in Series B funding. BAM Elevate led, and was joined by Harbor Spring Capital, Northern Trust, Simon, Costanoa Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners. www.leapinc.com
- Pavilion Data Systems, a San Jose, Calif.-based data analytics acceleration platform provider, raised $45 million in funding led by Kleiner Perkins and Artiman Ventures.
- Passport, a San Francisco-based international shipping carrier built for cross-border e-commerce, raised $39 million in Series B funding. TCV led the round and was joined by investors including Flexport, FJ Labs, Pure Imagination, Sharma Brands CEO Nik Sharma, Kitsch founders Cassandra and Jeremy Thurswell, M13, Resolute, and River Park Ventures.
- Sayata, an Israeli cyber-risk assessment startup, raised $35m in new Series A funding. Pitango Growth and Hanaco Ventures co-led, and were joined by insiders Team8 Capital, Vertex Ventures, Elron Ventures and OurCrowd. http://axios.link/QkPT
- Soona, a Denver-based virtual photo shoot platform for e-commerce, raised $35m in Series B funding. Bain Capital Ventures led, and was joined by insiders Union Square Ventures, Matchstick Ventures, Starting Line Ventures, 2048 Ventures and Range Ventures. http://axios.link/fZ4W
- Scratchpad, a Walnut, Calif.-based sales software company for taking detailed notes, raised $33 million in Series B funding led by Craft Ventures and was joined by Accel.
- Spectrum Labs, a Miami, Fla.-based AI content moderation platform, raised $32 million in Series B funding led by Intel Capital and was joined by investors including Munich Re Ventures, Gaingels, Harris Barton, Wing Venture Capital, Greycroft, Ridge Ventures, Super{set}, and Global Founders Capital.
- Logixboard, a Seattle, Wash.-based customer experience platform for freight forwarders and logistics service providers, raised $32 million in Series B funding led by Insight Partners and was joined by investors including Redpoint Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Social Leverage, and Founders’ Co-op.
- Order, a New York-based inventory management platform formerly known as Negotiatus, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Stage 2 Capital and was joined by investors including Clocktower Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Seven Peaks Ventures, Ankona, and former Salesforce CEO Mark Hawkins.
- Verusen, an Atlanta, Ga.-based supply chain management company, raised $25 million in Series B funding led by Scale Venture Partners and was joined by investors including Glasswing Ventures, Flyover Capital, Zetta Venture Partners, Forte Ventures, BMW i Ventures, and Kubera VC.
- Parsyl, a Denver-based supply chain insurer, raised $25m in Series B funding. HSCM Ventures led, and was joined by Lineage Logistics, Flexport, GLP Capital Partners and Luna. www.parsyl.com
- Stonly, a French customer onboarding platform, raised $22m in Series A funding. Northzone led and was joined by insider Accel. http://axios.link/9RSo
- Calli, a grocery delivery startup focused on Latin America, raised $22.5m in Series A funding. Dalus Capital and JAM Fund co-led, and were joined by Forerunner Ventures. Streamlined Ventures, Base10 Partners and YC. http://axios.link/d1pX
- Electric Sheep Robotics, a San Anselmo, Calif.-based lawn mowing robotics technology company, raised $21.5 million in Series A funding led by Tiger Global.
- Atrium, a San Francisco-based data-driven sales management platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Craft Ventures and was joined by investors including Bonfire Ventures, Bullpen Capital, and Charles River Ventures.
- PQShield, an Oxford, U.K.-based cybersecurity company specializing in post-quantum cryptography, raised $20 million in series A funding led by Addition.
- TickSmith, a Montreal-based e-commerce data management company, raised $20 million in Series A funding to led by Investissement Québec and was joined by investors including Fonds de solidarité FTQ, CME Ventures, Databricks Ventures, Anges Québec, Anges Québec Capital, and Illuminate Financial Management.
- Otta, a London-based online job portal, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Tiger Global Management and was joined by investors including LocalGlobe and Founder Collective.
- Inventa, a Brazilian inventory discovery marketplace for SMBs, raised $20m in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz and Monashees co-led, and were joined by Founders Fund, Greenoaks, Greylock and Tiger Global. http://axios.link/bJzR
- Tekever, a Lisbon-based maker of industrial drones for maritime surveillance, raised €20m. Ventura Capital led, and was joined by Iberis Capital. http://axios.link/G6O0
- Klarity, an S.F.-based platform for converting contracts into structured data, raised $18m in Series A funding. Tola Capital led, and was joined by Invus Opportunities, 8×8, Koupa, Elad Gil and Picus Capital.
- Revelstoke, a San Jose, Calif.-based security orchestration automation and response startup, raised $13m in Series A funding from ClearSky, CrossLink Capital and Rally Ventures. http://axios.link/bYEm
- Launch House, a Highland Heights, Ohio-based coworking community for founders, engineers and creators, raised $12 million in Series A funding. a16z led the round was joined by investors including CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz, Electric Ant, 6th Man Ventures, and Bankless co-founder Ryan Sean Adams.
- CloudApp, a San Francisco-based visual work communication tool, raised $9.3 million in Series A funding. Grayhawk Capital and Nordic Eye led the round and were joined by investors including Kickstart Fund, Cervin Ventures, New Ground Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Peninsula Ventures, and Forward VC.
- Vajro, an Irving, Tex.-based mobile app developer, raised $8.5 million in Series A funding from Five Elms Capital.
- Archive, a Portola Valley, Calif.-based resale technology company that builds customized marketplaces for brands for second hand sales, raised $8 million in funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners and Bain Capital Ventures led the round and were joined by investors including Firstmark; Alex Bolen, CEO of Oscar de la Renta; Shan Lyn-Ma, co-founder of Zola; and Dawn Dobras, former CEO of Credo Beauty.
- Caramel, a startup by former Fair.com execs Craig Nehamen and Edward Brojerdi, raised $8m from firms like Primera Capital, per an SEC filing.
- ArmorCode, a Palo Alto-based AppSecOps startup, raised $8m in seed funding. Cervin Ventures led, and was joined by Sierra Ventures and Tau Ventures. www.armorcode.com
- Woflow, a San Francisco-based data infrastructure company behind food delivery companies, raised $7.3 million in Series A funding. Base10 Partners and Construct Capital led the round and were joined by Craft Ventures.
- Whoosh, a Mill Valley, Calif.-based golf operations software company for private golf clubs, raised $6 million in funding led by Craft Ventures and was joined by investors including Bienville Capital, Operator Partners, Human Ventures, and Alaris Capital.
- Fathom, an AI notetaker for Zoom, raised $4.7m in seed funding from backers like Zoom Apps Fund, Maven Ventures, Active Capital, GFC, Rackhouse.vc and Soma Capital. http://axios.link/Or1q
- Checkbox, a Sydney, Australia-based no-code process automation platform, raised $4.5 million in pre-Series A funding led by Sequoia India’s Surge and Tidal Ventures.
- The.com, an S.F.-based website building startup, raised $4.4m in seed funding. NFX led, and was joined by Sound Ventures, VSC Ventures, Village Global and Harry Stebbings. www.the.com
- Caden, a New York-based zero-party data platform, raised $3.4m from backers like Jerry Yang, Barry Sternlicht and Wenda Millard. www.caden.io
- Epsilon3, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based developer of spacecraft operations software, raised $2.8m in seed funding from Stage Venture Partners, MaC VC, Lux Capital, Village Global, YC, Pioneer Fund, Soma Capital and Broom Ventures. http://axios.link/Mjwf
. . .
Sustainability:
- Plenty Unlimited, an indoor, vertical farming technology company, raised $400 million in Series E funding. One Madison Group and JS Capital led the round and were joined by investors including Walmart and SoftBank.
- Kula Bio, a Somerville, Mass.-based sustainable nitrogen solutions company, raised $50 million in Series A funding. Lowercarbon Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Collaborative Fund, Grantham Environmental Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund, and iSelect Fund.
- Sylvera, a London-based carbon offset ratings provider, raised $32.6m in Series A funding. Index Ventures led, and was joined by Insight Partners, Salesforce Ventures and LocalGlobe. www.sylvera.com
- La Vie, a Paris, France-based plant-based meat company, raised €25 million ($28.3 million) in Series A funding led by Seventure, Oyster Bay, Capagro, Partech, Entrepreneur First, and Capital Blue.
- Addionics, a London-based battery technology company, raised $27 million in Series A funding led by Deep Insight and was joined by investors including Insight Partners, Catalyst Fund, Delek Motors, Dr. Boaz Schwartz, Novelis, Magna International, JX Nippon Mining & Metals, and Union Tech Ventures.
- Kencko, a Lewes, Del.-based maker of plant-based organic food products like smoothies, raised $10m in Series A funding. Siddhi Capital led, and was joined by Next View Ventures, Riverside Ventures, Silas Capital, Cheyenne Ventures, Shilling Capital, Indico Capital, Mission Point, Gather Ventures and Nextblue Ventures. www.kencko.com
- FarmRaise, a San Diego-based agricultural grant platform, raised $7.2 million in seed funding led by Susa Ventures. http://axios.link/mxOo
- Heaten, a Norway-based heavy industry decarbonization startup, raised €6m from Azolla Ventures, Shell Ventures and Nysnø Climate Investments. www.heaten.com
- Bodhi, an Austin-based solar energy customer experience platform, raised $4m led by Clean Energy Ventures. www.bodhi.solar
Acquisitions & PE:
- Silvergate Capital agreed to buy assets of The Diem Association, a consortium founded by Facebook to build a cryptocurrency payments network, from Meta Platforms for about $200 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Blackstone and Starwood Capital Group, which last year paid $6b to buy Extended Stay America, agreed to buy WoodSpring Suites, a portfolio of 111 hotels, from for $1.5b from Brookfield Asset Management. http://axios.link/dlOa
- Exclaimer Group, a British portfolio company of Insight Partners and Farview Equity Partners, bought Periodic, a Bloomington, Ind.-based provider of appointment scheduling software that had been seeded by Elevate Ventures, Real Ventures and Collina Ventures. http://axios.link/z5yk
- Atlassian (Nasdaq: TEAM) bought Percept.ai, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based CRM chatbot that was seeded by Builders VC, Hike Ventures and Tribe Capital. http://axios.link/K6eO
- Farfetch (NYSE: FTCH) agreed to buy Violet Grey, an L.A.-based beauty retailer that had raised over $30m from firms like Shiseido, M13, Fernbrook Capital Management, Beechwood Capital, Marker and MDC Ventures. http://axios.link/TPUX
- Bain Capital and Carlyle are among those circling infant nutrition brand Friso, which is being sold for around $2b by Dutch food group Royal FrieslandCampina, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/Ap6m
- Paylocity (Nasdaq: PCTY) bought Cloudsnap, an Austin, Texas-based business application integration company whose backers included Active Capital and Mercury Fund. www.cloudsnap.com
- AccuWeather bought Plume Labs, a French provider of air pollution data. http://axios.link/ro7M
- Blackwells, an activist hedge fund, called for the ouster of Peloton (Nasdaq: PTON) CEO John Foley and that the connected fitness company should consider a sale process. A Blackwells spokesman says that the firm holds "less than a 5%" stake in Peloton and doesn't have as short position.
- Facebook was approached by VCs about spinning out its Workplace enterprise communication product as an independent “unicorn” company, but the social media giant declined, per TechCrunch. http://axios.link/x6Cq
- Wisk, a Mountain View-based electric air taxi company, raised $450m from existing backer Boeing. http://axios.link/9Py0
- JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) agreed to buy a 49% stake in Greek payments fintech Viva Wallet at a reported valuation north of $2b. Viva had raised around $750m from firms like Tencent, Breyer Capital, EBRD and DECA Investments. http://axios.link/03Ia
- Inflexion hired Goldman Sachs to find a buyer for Radius Payment Solutions, a British provider of fuel cards and telematics that could be valued at around $2.7b, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/RiF4
- TPG is seeking a buyer for its minority stake in jewelry maker APM Monaco, after IPO plans fell through, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/pSAC
- WeWork (NYSE: WE) agreed to buy Common Desk, a Dallas-based flexible workspace provider with 23 locations in Texas and North Carolina. www.thecommondesk.com
- Zip (ASX: Z1P), an Australian BNPL company, said it's in talks to buy Sezzle (ASX: SZL), a Minneapolis-based rival whose market cap is A$425m. http://axios.link/eP9J
- Regina Miracle International agreed to acquire a 49% stake of the China business of Victoria's Secret, a Columbus, Ohio-based women’s lingerie company, for $45 million in cash.
- SAP (NYSE: SAP), agreed to buy a majority stake in Taulia, an S.F.-based financial supply chain platform that had raised over $220m from firms like QuestMark Partners, Trinity Ventures, Matrix Partners, JPMorgan, Zouk Ventures, Ping An Insurance and Gaingels. http://axios.link/xGGh
- UBS (NYSE: UBS) agreed to buy Wealthfront, a Palo Alto-based robo-advisor, for $1.4b in cash. Wealthfront had raised around $200m from Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Launch Fund, Social Capital, Tiger Global, Spark Capital, Dragoneer, DAG Ventures and Greylock. http://axios.link/p2cr
- Wella, a Geneva-based haircare company backed by KKR, is prepping a $989m dividend recap, the largest such deal in Europe since 2017. http://axios.link/dMQB
. . .
IPOs:
- Chime Financial, a San Francisco-based mobile banking company, has reportedly asked Goldman Sachs to help with an IPO, according to Reuters. Sequoia Capital backs the firm.
- SHEIN, a Chinese fashion retailer, is weighing an IPO in the U.S. again, per Reuters.
- Gopuff, a Philadelphia, Penn.-based food and essentials delivery platform, is working with bankers on an IPO for the second half of the year, according to Reuters. SoftBank backs the firm.
- Iron Mountain acquired an 80% stake in ITRenew, a Newark, Calif.-based information technology asset disposition services company, for $725 million in cash. It will purchase the remaining 20% stake within three years.
. . .
SPACs:
- Kin Insurance, a Chicago-based insure-tech company, canceled its deal to go public at an implied billion $1 billion valuation via Omnichannel Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: OCA), due to "unfavorable market conditions." Kin has raised over $160 million from firms like Commerce Ventures, Senator Investment Group, Hudson Structured Capital and August Capital and golfer Rory McIlroy.
- BitFuFu, a digital asset cloud mining service provider, agreed to go public via a merger with Arisz Acquisition Corp., a SPAC. As part of the deal, Bitmain Technologies and Antpool Technologies led a $70 million PIPE investment in the company. A deal values BitFuFu at approximately $1.5 billion.
- Truth Social, Donald Trump's social media startup that agreed to go public via SPAC, has begun reaching out to influencers (including non-political ones), Axios' Sara Fischer reports.
Funds:
- Azolla Ventures (f.k.a. Prime Impact Fund), a Cambridge, Mass.-based climate tech VC firm, is raising $200m for its second fund. www.azollaventures.com
- Blackstone launched a sustainable resources credit platform. www.blackstone.com
- First Spark Ventures, a new “deep tech” VC firm led by Manish Kothari (SRI International), is raising $200m for its debut VC fund and $600m for an opportunities fund, per SEC filings. www.firstsparkventures.com
- Swiftarc Ventures raised $75m for a telehealth-focused VC fund. http://axios.link/iNDE
- CRV is raising $1b for its 14th early-stage fund and $500m for its second "select" fund, per SEC filings. www.crv.com
- Indico Capital Partners of Lisbon raised €50m for a climate tech fund. http://axios.link/50Bs
Final Numbers: BNPL & PE Secondary Sales
U.S. shoppers can’t seem to get enough of putting off payments for their items. A recent poll of 1,500 consumers from insurtech company Breeze found that 74% of consumers had used a BNPL service. Venture capitalists are throwing billions into payments companies like Affirm or Afterpay. Klarna hit a massive $45.6 billion valuation last June. Take a look at the funding activity from 2021 that CB Insights shared with me at the end of December:
Source: Jefferies Global Secondary Market Review, January 2022
2021 was a record-breaking year for private equity secondaries, with $132 billion of total volume, per Jefferies.
It also was the second straight year that GP-led transactions made up the slight majority (52%) of volume, in an industry that was long dominated by LP-led transactions.
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