Sourcery (4/11-4/15)

Coachella ~ Circle Internet Financial, Ava Labs, CertiK, MoonPay, EvolutionIQ, Ugami, Glow Labs, Loop, Viz.ai, Real, DUOS, Epic Games, Genies, Observe.AI, Landline, Lucky, ComboCurve, Terradepth...

Taking a slight break from the regular programming of “it’s Elon Musk’s world and we’re all just living in it” to share something quite pressing with you all. As a part of moving to LA last fall I’ve tried to take it upon myself to experience all California has to offer, that being said, this past weekend I attended the holy grail of LA’s influencer population, Coachella. And wow, you wouldn’t believe the similarities between tech and pop-culture, so I’m sharing a few very very important transferable startup lessons learned, and who the performance stages would be if they were VC funds. 😂

Startup Lessons Learned From a Weekend at Coachella: 

1. Build the A-Team. You’ll need a mix of the following: the eyes & ears, the technical, the over-prepared, the inside-intel, the seasoned veteran, the cheerleader, etc. Essentially build a team with diverse & compatible skill sets, this is a game of survival.

2. Be prepared. This is an endurance event, it's hot, dirty, filled with 100k+ visitors, you’ll need all the right tools, resources and rest to perform your best and make it through each hour of the day. You will not sleep but it will be incredibly fun.

3. Focus on your vision. Just because everyone is chasing certain artists or parties doesn’t mean they’re the winners, trust your instincts, block out the noise but be aware of your surroundings, focus on your team and perfecting your product.

4. Always be ready for a photo. You should always be Instagram-ready, sandstorm, heat, and all, to take a photo (pitch) and randomly meet celebrities (investors). You will be caught unexpectedly. And maybe they’ll end up asking to grab a drink (meet outside the festival for coffee), connecting you to the guy with the backstage wristbands (partners, customers, or your next head of engineering) or inviting you to their section (putting in an angel check).

5. Invest early. Seek out the early emerging artists (talent, companies or investors), next year they might be headlining and you saw it first. Clout. 

6. Have a clear plan. The Fyre Revolve Festival’s Jack Harlow closing performance was absolute chaos, blocked off streets, forced shuttle service, influencers running over influencers, models fainting from stress, crying, screaming, police and their rottweilers barking, volunteers walking out of their shifts, an unrelenting stampede of panicked tiktokers, even the high profile attendees couldn’t get their Mercedes Sprinters to pick them up for door to door service. Figure out options, build scenarios and problem solve, you don’t want to be stuck in the mix and not make it on the bus when Swedish House Mafia is performing in 30.

The Stages as Investors:

• Main Stage (the big show, headliners, hard to compete expensive rounds): Tiger, Addition, Coatue, a16z, Sequoia

• Outdoor Theater (just as experienced, arguably more fun, artist-friendly): Upfront, First Round Capital, Benchmark, Pear VC, Index

• Sahara (large, loud, and a little far out there, but often worth the journey): Founders Fund, Softbank, General Catalyst, Lux, Craft

• Mojave (niche, fast-growing): Paradigm, Left Lane Capital, Huan Ventures, Primary Venture Partners, Lowercarbon Capital

• Gobi (emerging leaders with a good eye): Chapter One, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Scribble Ventures, Harlem Capital, Mantis, TMV

• Yuma (indoors, dark, sweaty, you don’t know what’ll come out): the incubator, YC

• Do LaB (no one knows what this is or who is playing there, but something is happening): the scrappy bootstrapped company, or in “stealth”

Credits to the infamous Evan Hamilton for the idea of Coachella/Tech rendition of Ted Lasso’s An American Coach in London.

Follow us on Twitter Linkedin for just the top deals recap

@MollySOShea @MarissaCohen 

. . .

Last Week (4/11-4/15):

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 Circle Internet Financial, Ava Labs, Newfront, CertiK, MoonPay, IMMO, BloXroute, Wagestream, EvolutionIQ, Nomad, Context, Covr, Creative Juice, Dfns, Beam Impact, Mintbase, Widen, Ugami, Glow Labs, Loop, Ghost Financial, Viz.ai, Eleanor Health, MedTrainer, Iris Telehealth, Real, Diligent Robotics, DUOS, Epic Games, Salsify, Genies, Observe.AI, Filevine, Obsidian Security, Tive, Trace, Shipium, Landline, Kumo, Grain, Swoops, Socket Supply Co, TellTail, Lucky, Hookdekc, Zayare, Wavy, Natural Fiber Welding, ComboCurve, Terradepth, Leaft Foods; SailPoint, UserZoom, OpenBlack, D&D Beyond, WarnerMedia, Inflection; ClassPass

Final numbers on Tech M&A YTD at the bottom.

Recent new funds raised in the web3/blockchain space, Pantera Capital’s $1.3B first fund, Ignite’s $150M accelerator, and White Star Capital’s $120M second fund. Notable fund raise outside web3, Lowercarbon Capital’s $350M fund for carbon removal startups.

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Deals 

Sources: TS, Pro Rata, FinSMEs, Pitchbook, StrictlyVC

Fintech:

- Circle Internet Financial, a Boston-based global internet finance firm and the issuer of USD Coin, agreed to raise $400 million in funding from BlackRock, Fidelity Management and Research, Marshall Wace, and Fin Capital. The funding round is expected to close in Q2.

- Ava Labs, the developer behind the Avalanche blockchain, is raising $350m at a $5.25b valuation, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/BAbb

- Newfront, a San Francisco-based insurance brokerage platform, raised $200 million in funding led by the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and B Capital and was joined by investors including Founders Fund, Meritech Capital, Y Combinator, Index Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, XYZ, Susa Ventures, Pruven, Propel, Vetamer, Altai, Doordash CEO Tony Xu, and others. 

- Kpler, a Brussels-based provider of data to commodities traders, raised over $200m in its first outside funding round co-led by Five Arrows and Insight Partners. http://axios.link/L1wq

- Pax8, a Denver-based cloud services provider for small businesses, raised $185 million in funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund and was joined by investors including Liberty Global Ventures, Catalyst Investors, Sageview Capital, and Blue Cloud Ventures. 

- CertiK, a New York-based web3 and blockchain security firm, raised $88 million in Series B3 funding led by Insight Partners, Tiger Global, and Advent International and was joined by investors including Goldman Sachs, Sequoia, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

- MoonPay, a Miami-based crypto payments startup, raised $87m at a $3.4b valuation from a group of celebrities like Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton and Drake. http://axios.link/0eON

- IMMO, a London-based residential investment platform, raised $75 million in Series B funding led by Oak HC/FT and was joined by investors including Moore Speciality Credit, FinTech Collective, and Talis Capital.

- BloXroute, a Chicago-based DeFi trading startup, raised $70m in Series B funding. SoftBank led, and was joined by Dragonfly Capital, ParaFi Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GSR, Jane Street and Flow Traders. http://axios.link/J4jR

- Wagestream, a London-based income streaming startup, raised $60m in Series C equity funding (plus $115m in debt). Smash Capital and BlackRock co-led the equity, while SVB provided the debt. http://axios.link/NJvW

- Proxymity, a digital investor communications platform, raised $52m in Series B funding from Mediant, Citi Ventures and Deutsche Börse Group. www.proxymity.io

- EvolutionIQ, a New York-based insurance claims platform, raised $21m in Series A funding. Brewer Lane Ventures led, and was joined by FirstRound Capital, FirstMark Capital, Foundation Capital, Altai Ventures, Asymmetric Ventures, Reliance Standard Life, New York Life Ventures, Guardian Life and Sedgwick. http://axios.link/TWZu

- Nomad, a cross-chain messaging protocol, raised $22.4m led by Polychain Capital. www.nomad.xyz

- Context, maker of a social crypto wallet, raised $19.5m in seed funding co-led by Variant Fund and Sam Altman. http://axios.link/gfX0

- Covr, a Hartford, Conn.-based digital life insurance startup, raised $15m in Series B funding from Stone Point Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund by IVG, Aflac Ventures, Allianz Life Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Fairview Capital, Contour Venture Partners, Commerce Ventures and Tribeca Early Stage Partners. www.covrtech.com

- Creative Juice, an Austin, Texas-based creator economy banking startup, raised $15m in Series A funding led by Acrew Capital. http://axios.link/4ju9

- Umba, a Lagos-based digital banking app, raised $15m in Series A funding. Costanoa Ventures led, and was joined by Lux Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Banana Capital, Chandaria Capital, Streamlined Ventures, Lachy Groom and ACT Ventures. www.umba.com

- Dfns, a Paris-based provider of decentralized custody as an API, raised $13.5n. White Star Capital led, and was joined by Hashed, Susquehanna, Semantic Ventures, Coinbase, ABN AMRO Ventures, Bpifrance, Ryan Selkis and Xavier Niel. www.dfns.co

- Beam Impact, a New York-based app that helps consumers support social causes via spending, raised $13.3m in Series A funding led by Index Ventures. http://axios.link/yEHf

- Compt, a Boston-based employee perk stipend software company, raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Battery Ventures. 

- Mintbase, a Lisbon-based NFT protocol, raised $12.5m in Series A finding from Coinbase Ventures, Libertus Capital, Sino Global Capital, Animoca Brands, Woodstock Fund and Fundamental Labs. www.mintbase.io

- Montonio, a Tallinn, Estonia-based finance platform for online merchants, raised €11 million ($11.9 million) in Series A funding led by Index Ventures. 

- Sydecar, a San Francisco-based deal execution platform for venture capital investing, raised $8.3 million in seed funding led by Deciens Capital and was joined by investors including Pipeline Capital Partners, Anthemis Group, and Hustle Fund VC.

- Sigo Seguros, an Austin, Texas-based insuretech focused on Latinx and immigrant communities, raised $5.4m in seed funding. Listen Ventures and Chingona Ventures co-led and were joined by Rise of the Rest, Remarkable Ventures and Kern Venture Group. www.sigoseguros.com

- Winden, an LA-based provider of digital banking services for entrepreneurs, raised $5.3m in seed funding. Accel led, and was joined by Ramp and Lachy Groom. www.winden.co

- Ugami, a gamer debit card startup, raised $4.8m in seed funding. Harlem Capital Partners and ULU Ventures co-led, and were joined by FJ Labs, Origins Fund and Top Corner Capital. http://axios.link/S79O

- Reputation DAO, an Australian reputation service for DeFi, raised $4.75m in seed funding from AirTree Ventures, Framework Ventures, Digital Asset Capital Management and Koji Capital. www.reputation.link

- Glow Labs, a loyalty rewards software on the blockchain, raised $4.15 million in seed funding led by Harlem Capital and was joined by investors including Forerunner Ventures, Female Founders Fund, Red Beard Ventures, and Human Ventures. 

- Loop, a crypto company providing autopay for Web3, raised $4 million in seed funding led by a16z and was joined by investors including a_capital, Alchemy Ventures, CoinList, Lauren Stephanian, Paul Veradittakit, Imran Khan, Alex Svanevik, and others. 

- Ghost Financial, an Austin-based financing and business services platform for ghost kitchens and restaurants, raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding from investors including HOF Capital, 305 Ventures, Hustle Fund, Active Capital, and others. 

. . .

Care:

- Viz.ai, a San Francisco-based disease detection and care coordination platform, raised $100 million in Series D funding led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners and was joined by investors including Scale Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Threshold, GV, Sozo Ventures, CRV, and Susa. 

- Eleanor Health, a Waltham, Mass.-based addiction and mental healthcare provider, raised $50 million in Series C funding led by General Catalyst and was joined by investors including Warburg Pincus, Town Hall Ventures, Northpond Ventures, and Rethink Impact. 

- Vytalize, a Hoboken, N.J.-based care platform for seniors, raised $47 million in Series B funding led by Enhanced Healthcare Partners and was joined by investors including Kittyhawk Ventures, Kawn Ventures, North Coast Ventures, and others.

- MedTrainer, a Redlands, Calif.-based provider of healthcare credentialing and training software, raised $43m in Series B funding. Vista Equity Partners led, and was joined by insider Telescope Partners. www.medtrainer.com

- Iris Telehealth, an Austin-based telepsychiatry company for clinics and hospitals, raised $40 million in Series B funding led by Concord Health Partners and Columbia Pacific Advisors. 

- Real, a New York-based mental wellness platform, raised $37 million in Series B funding led by Owl Ventures.

- Diligent Robotics, an Austin, Texas-based developer of service robots for healthcare, raised $30m in Series B funding. Tiger Global led, and was joined by Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures and insiders True Ventures, DNX Venture, Ubiquity Ventures, E14 Fund, Next Coast Ventures, Boom Capital and Gaingels. http://axios.link/Lx4E

- 9am.health, a San Diego-based virtual diabetes clinic, raised $16 million in Series A funding. 7Wire Ventures and Human Capital co-led the round and were joined by investors including StartUp Health, Leaps by Bayer, Define Ventures, and Founders Fund.

- DUOS, a New York-based digital health company focused on senior care, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Imaginary Ventures and was joined by investors including Forerunner Ventures, Declaration Partners, and Optum Ventures. 

- OFFOR Health, a Columbus, Ohio-based health care company that coordinates on-site anesthesia and specialty medical services for dental and medical offices, raised $9 million in Series A1 funding led by AXA Venture Partners and was joined by investors including SpringRock Ventures, LOUD Capital, Delta Dental, and MBX Capital. 

- Pictor, a Los Angeles, Calif. and New Zealand-based in vitro diagnostics company, raised $6.1 million in funding from investors including K1W1, former Morrison and Co. CEO Marko Bogoievski, and others.

- Neighborschools, a Boston-based company that helps early child care workers go independent and open in-home daycares, raised $5 million in seed funding led by Accomplice and was joined by investors including Hannah Grey VC, Metrodora Ventures, and 186 Ventures.

. . . 

Enterprise & Consumer: 

- Epic Games, a Cary, N.C.-based video game and software developer and publisher, creating games such as Fortnite, raised $2 billion in funding from Sony Group Corp and KIRKBI.

- Critical Start, a Plano, Texas-based managed detection and response cybersecurity solutions provider, raised more than $215 million in funding from Vista Equity Partners.

- Viral Nation, an Ontario-based digital and social media group, raised CAD $250 million ($197.7 million) in funding led by Eldridge and was joined by investors including Maverix Private Equity.

- Salsify, a Boston-based commerce experience platform for brands, raised $200m in Series F funding at a $2b valuation. TPG led, and was joined by Permira, Neuberger Berman and Cap Table Coalition. http://axios.link/sSm7

- Genies, an avatar technology company to create and sell online characters, raised $150 million in funding led by Silver Lake and was joined by investors including BOND, NEA, and Tamarack Global. 

- Observe.AI, a San Francisco-based workforce platform for contact centers, raised $125 million in Series C funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and was joined by investors including Zoom, Menlo Ventures, Nexus Ventures, Scale Ventures, Emergent Ventures, NGP Capital, Steadview Ventures, and Next47 Ventures. 

- Filevine, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based legal work platform, raised $108 million in Series D funding led by StepStone Group and was joined by investors including Golub Capital, Signal Peak Ventures, and Meritech Capital. 

- OSF Digital, a Quebec-based commerce and digital transformation solutions provider, raised $100 million in Series C funding led by Sunstone Partners and was joined by investors including Delta-v Capital and Salesforce Ventures. 

- Obsidian Security, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based SaaS security and compliance company, raised $90 million in Series C funding. Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and IVP led the round and were joined by investors including Greylock, Wing, and GV.

- Silverfort, an Israeli identity management startup, raised $65m in Series C funding. Greenfield Partners led, and was joined by GM Ventures, Acrew Capital and Vintage Investment Partners; and previous investors StageOne Ventures, Singtel Innov8, Citi Ventures, Aspect Ventures and Maor Investments. http://axios.link/2yJJ

- Tive, a Boston-based supply chain visibility startup, raised $54m in Series B funding. AXA Venture Partners led, and was joined by Sorenson Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Fifth Wall, SJF Ventures and Floating Point Ventures. http://axios.link/OtJt

- Trace, an Austin-based sports game film platform, raised $47 million in Series C funding led by Pelion Venture Partners and was joined by investors including Lakestar, Toba Capital, and NextGen VP.

- Jobox, a Palo Alto-based infrastructure provider to home service marketplaces and retailers, raised $42 million in Series B funding led by General Catalyst and was joined by investors including Resolute VC, NNS, Expanding Capital, and Star Farm Ventures founder Joey Low.

- Thunkable, a San Francisco-based no-code mobile app development platform, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Owl Ventures and was joined by investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, PJC, Sky9 Capital, and others. 

- BlueOcean, a brand intelligence AI, raised $30m. Insight Partners led, and was joined by FJ Labs. http://axios.link/ClgN

- DoControl, a New York-based automated SaaS security company, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Insight Partners and was joined by investors including StageOne Ventures, Cardumen Capital, RTP Global, and the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund. 

- Welcome Tech, a Los Angeles-based digital services platform for immigrant families, raised $30 million in funding by investors including TTV Capital, Owl Ventures, SoftBank Group Corp’s SB Opportunity Fund, Mubadala Capital, and Next Play Capital. 

- Shipium, a Seattle-based supply chain platform for ecommerce, raised $27.5 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners. 

- Landline, a Fort Collins, Colo.-based flight transportation platform, raised $28 million in Series A funding led by Drive Capital.

- Quiq, a Bozeman, Mont.-based A.I. conversational platform for brands, raised $25 million in Series C funding led by Baird Capital and was joined by investors including Venrock, Foundry Group, and Next Frontier Capital. 

- EQL, a Melbourne, Australia-based launch platform for retailers, raised AUD $25 million ($18.6 million) in funding from investors including Insight Partners and AirTree Ventures. 

- Raptor Maps, a Boston-based analytics, insights, and productivity software provider for the solar lifecycle, raised $22 million in Series B funding led by MKB and was joined by the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund.

- Kumo, a San Francisco-based data-focused SaaS A.I. platform, raised $18.5 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital and was joined by investors including A Capital, SV Angel, and other angels.

- Kubit, a San Francisco-based product analytics company, raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners and was joined by investors including Shasta Ventures and TSVC. 

- Grain, a San Francisco-based video meeting workspace, raised $16 million in Series A funding led by Tiger Global Management and was joined by investors including Zoom Video Communications, Inc., Slack Fund, Unusual Ventures, Freestyle VC, Acrew, Peterson Ventures, and others.

- Moot, an e-commerce toolkit for brands, raised $18m led by Espresso Capital. http://axios.link/aT5w

- The Fabricant, a metaverse digital fashion house, raised $14m. Greenfield One led, and was joined by Sound Ventures and Red DAO. http://axios.link/Pejx

- RentRedi, a New York-based property management software for landlords, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by K1 Investment Management and was joined by investors including TIA Ventures, Tribeca Early Stage Partners, and RiverPark Ventures. 

- Last9, a San Francisco-based software reliability platform, raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital India and was joined by investors including Better Capital and other angels. 

- Union.ai, a Bellevue, Wash.-based workflow orchestration platform provider, raised $10 million in seed funding led by NEA and was joined by angel investors.  

- Swoops, an NFT basketball game, raised $3.5 million in funding led by Courtside Ventures and Alpaca VC and was joined by investors including Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of DraftKings Jason Robins, Slow Ventures, Red Beard Ventures, Future Perfect, Magdalena Kala, Jon Oringer’s Pareto Holdings, and NBA Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers ownership. 

- Socket Supply Co, a New York-based developer tools company for cloud computing, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by CoinFund and Galaxy Digital and was joined by investors including Castle Island Ventures, PeerVC, and 100 Acre Ventures.

- TellTail, a Boston-based platform for pet breeders, raised $3.4 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst and was joined by investors including The Companion Fund and Scribble Ventures. 

- Dragonfly AI, a London-based predictive visual analytics platform, raised £3 million ($3.3 million) in Series A funding led by Guinness Ventures and was joined by investors including Downing Ventures and Capita PLC. 

- Lucky, a New York and Miami-based omnichannel commerce tech company, raised $3 million in seed funding led by Unusual Ventures and was joined by investors including Plug and Play Ventures and angels such as Alloy’s Sara Du, Pixlee’s Kyle Wong, and NBA’s Wesley Matthews. 

- Hookdeck, a Montreal-based webhook infrastructure startup, raised $2.4 million in seed funding led by Matrix Partners.

- Zayare, a Pakistani B2B raw materials marketplace, raised $2.1m in pre-seed funding from Tiger Global and Zayn Capital. http://axios.link/E6o7

- Wavy, a Toronto-based culture management platform, raised CAD$2.5 million ($2 million) in seed funding led by Laconia Capital and was joined by investors including Garage Capital, Two Small Fish Ventures, Archangel, Backbone Angels, and others angels. 

- Connectd, a London-based network for early-stage businesses, raised $1.6 million in seed funding from investors including Freeserve’s founding executive Rob Wilmot, CEO of Anker Capital Jonas Anker, angel Gareth Hawkins, Deep North’s Aleks and Dejan Subosic, and former head of equity research at HSBC Steve Scruton. 

. . .

Sustainability:

- Natural Fiber Welding, a Peoria, Ill.-based sustainable materials startup, raised $85 million in funding led by Evolution VC Partners and was joined by investors including Tattarang, Lewis & Clark AgriFood, Collaborative Fund, AiiM Partners, Engine No.1, Raga Partners, Tidal Impact, Scrum Ventures, Gaingels, BMW i Ventures, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Advantage Capital, and Central Illinois Angels.

- ComboCurve, a Humble, Texas-based energy analytics software provider, raised $50m in Series B funding co-led by Dragoneer and Bessemer Venture Partners. www.combocurve.com

- Terradepth, an Austin-based ocean data and dissemination company, raised $20 million in funding co-led by Giant Ventures and Nimble Ventures. 

- Leaft Foods, a Lincoln, New Zealand-based plant-based protein producer, raised $15 million in Series A funding from investors including Khosla Ventures, NBA athlete Steven Adams, investor Ngāi Tahu, and ACC via their Climate Change Impact Fund. 

- Util, a machine learning ESG metric investment tool, raised seed funding led by Eldridge. www.util.co

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Acquisitions & PE: 

- Thoma Bravo agreed to buy Austin, Texas-based enterprise cybersecurity firm SailPoint Technologies (NYSE: SAIL) for $6.9 billion. The deal includes a 35-day go-shop provision, and works out to $65.25 per share (31.6% premium to Friday's close). Private equity is entering a new normal on debt financing, preferring private credit over bank loans that may struggle to get syndicated due to geopolitical instability. For Thoma Bravo, that means tapping the same lenders that it used for the recent $10.7 billion Anaplan buyout: Golub Capital, Blackstone Credit and Owl Rock. Thoma Bravo previously bought SailPoint from venture capital funds in 2014 for an undisclosed amount, and then took it public in 2017 at $12 per share.

- Thomas Bravo acquired a majority stake in UserZoom, a San Jose, Calif.-based user experience research and testing company. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) agreed to buy OpenBlack, a Dublin-based mobile engagement startup that had been seeded by Enterprise Ireland. http://axios.link/2gtR

- Hasbro (Nasdaq: HAS) bought D&D Beyond, a digital toolset and gaming companion for Dungeons & Dragons, from Fandom for $146.3m in cash. Fandom shareholders include TPG and Delta-v Capital. http://axios.link/9lbV

- AMC Theatres (NYSE: AMC) acquired seven former Bow Tie Cinemas locations with 66 screens. http://axios.link/TYs0

- Constant Contact acquired Vision6, a Brisbane, Australia-based email and SMS marketing platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- HelpSystems acquired Terranova Security, a Quebec-based global phishing simulation and security awareness training. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Accenture (NYSE: ACN) agreed to acquire Avieco, a London-based sustainability consultancy. http://axios.link/9Mgn

-  Discovery (Nasdaq: DISCA) completed its merger with WarnerMedia, which had been a unit of AT&T (NYSE: T). http://axios.link/uFaN

- Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) agreed to buy NN Investment Partners of The Netherlands for around €1.7b. http://axios.link/1EnC

- GrubMarket, an S.F.-based fresh food supply marketplace valued by VCs at $1.25b, acquired Regatta Tropicals, a fresh fruit distributor. http://axios.link/HlFS

- Checkr, an SF-based HR tech company valued by VCs at $5b, is paying $400m to buy Inflection (dba GoodHire), a Redwood City, Calif.-based provider of background checks for small businesses. Inflection had raised $30m from firms like Costanoa Ventures and Matrix Partners. www.checkr.com

- Sonos (Nasdaq: SONO) bought Mayht, a Dutch developer of audio transducers that had raised over $10m from firms like Forward.one and Exeger. http://axios.link/a9nB

- Handshake acquired Talentspace, a Berlin-based virtual and hybrid recruiting event platform in Europe. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

. . .

IPOs:

- ClassPass, a New York-based exercise subscription service owned by Mindbody, plans to go public in 2023, according to the Financial Times. 

. . . 

SPACs:

- Advancit Acquisition I, a media and tech SPAC led by Jon Miller and sponsored by Shari Redstone's Advancit Capital, withdrew registration for a $350m IPO. http://axios.link/wE6f

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Funds:

- Pantera Capital said it will close its first blockchain fund within the month at around $1.3b. http://axios.link/3Urv

- Lowercarbon Capital, Chris Sacca’s climate VC fund, raised a $350m fund dedicated to carbon removal startups. www.lowercarboncapital.com

- Ignite, a web3-focused startup accelerator, raised $150m from Alameda Research, KuCoin Ventures, OKX Blockdream Ventures, Hashkey Capital, Chorus One, Figment, Chainlayer, Strangelove Ventures, Forbole, Everstake and Galileo. http://axios.link/ugsn

- White Star Capital, a New York-based investment platform, raised $120 million for a second fund focused on crypto-networks and early-stage blockchain-enabled Web3, DeFi and Gaming companies.

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Final Numbers

Source: Refinitiv Deals Intelligence. Data through April 14, 2022.

Tech M&A is down 17% year-to-date, per Refinitiv, although that gap would be nearly erased were Twitter to accept Musk's offer.

The material presented on Molly O’Shea’s website are my opinions only and are provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. It is not a recommendation of, or an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy, any particular security, strategy, or investment product. Any analysis or discussion of investments, sectors or the market generally are based on current information, including from public sources, that I consider reliable, but I do not represent that any research or the information provided is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied on as such. My views and opinions expressed in any website content are current at the time of publication and are subject to change. Past performance is not indicative of future results.