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Braze breaches public markets in $520m IPO

US-based customer engagement technology provider Braze floated on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in a $520m IPO, marking an exit for financial services firm Citi.

Expensify executes $302m initial public offering

Expensify, the US-based expense management software producer backed by cybersecurity services provider Barracuda Networks, closed its own IPO at $302m.

SoundHound sorts out $2.1bn reverse merger

SoundHound, a US-based voice intelligence software provider backed by corporates Tencent, Daimler, Hyundai, Midea Group, Orange, Sompo, Samsung, Nvidia and Recruit, agreed to list through a reverse takeover with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners Co at a pro forma valuation of $2.1bn.

Gett hails reverse merger deal

Israel-based ride hailing service Gett, which counts carmaker Volkswagen and conglomerate Access Industries as backers, agreed to a $1bn reverse takeover with special purpose acquisition company Rosecliff Acquisition Corp I.

Lacework leans into $1.3bn

Cybersecurity software provider Lacework received $1.3bn in funding from investors including data software producer Snowflake and mass media group Liberty Global.

Gemini signs up for $400m round

Cryptocurrency trading and storage platform developer Gemini secured $400m in funding from investors including financial services firm Commonwealth Bank of Australia, with Morgan Creek Capital’s Morgan Creek Digital subsidiary leading the round at a $7.1bn valuation.

Forte blocks in $725m in funding

Blockchain gaming technology developer Forte, which provides blockchain technology that enables game developers to create internal economies for video games through NFTs, raised $750m in a series B round backed by multiple gaming and media corporates.

Expel gets series E $140m injection

Internet and technology group Alphabet’s growth-stage investment vehicle, CapitalG, co-led a series E round for US-based cybersecurity technology developer Expel sized at over $140m.

FBN harvests $300m in funding

Online farmer network platform Farmer’s Business Network (FBN) raised $300m in a series G round featuring food processing and commodities trading company ADM and internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet, which invested respectively through their ADM Ventures and GV units.

3one4 Capital takes Krafton-backed fund to $135m

India-based venture capital firm 3one4 Capital aims to roughly double the size of a third fund, backed by game developer Krafton, to approximately $202m.

Corporates bet on $100m Bits x Bites fund

China-based agriculture and food-focused venture capital firm Bits x Bites has closed its second fund at $100m with backing from corporates Esco Lifesciences, Syngenta, Adisseo and Wilbur Ellis.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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The Big Ones

The week kicked off with a long-awaited big one: on-demand ride provider Lyft set the terms for its IPO on Monday and is set to raise between $1.9bn and $2.1bn in an offering that will potentially value it at almost $23bn.

A consortium including Suning, Tencent, Alibaba Chongqing Changan Automobile, Dongfeng Motor and FAW have that will focus on mobility technology and in particular ride hailing.

OneWeb recently launched the first six satellites that will make up part of a constellation which will provide high-speed internet to remote areas. It has also raised a further $1.25bn in a round that included existing investors SoftBank, Qualcomm and Grupo Salinas.

On GUV, we’ve had a new spinout – Sherlock Biosciences – that isn’t so much noteworthy for the size of its series A – which currently stands at $17.5m, plus another $17.5m in grant funding – but for who its nine scientific founders are, a group of nine academic researchers the caliber of which we’ve seldom seen in a single spinout. They include, to name but two, none other than MIT’s Feng Zhang, the professor who patented the Crispr technology in 2014 (though there’s a legal battle with UC Berkeley which had filed a few months earlier but didn’t pay for fast tracking), and David Walt, who also co-founded the biotech giant Illumina, whose market cap stands at nearly $47bn.

Deals

Flexible electronics display developer Royole Group is said to be prepping its IPO, but will reportedly first look to raise about $1bn in funding at a valuation of near $8bn.

UiPath, the creator of a robotics processing automation platform, has so far raised $550m in funding from investors including CapitalG, the Alphabet subsidiary that used to be known as Google Capital, but it’s reportedly now chasing a further $400m.

Carmakers Hyundai and Kia combined to invest $250m in Grab late last year, and have now combined again to provide $300m of funding for another Asian ride hailing platform, India-based Ola.

Property trading services platform OneDoor has closed a $300m round backed by Lennar, SoftBank Vision Fund, GV and Access Technology Ventures at a $3.8bn valuation.

Legend Capital-backed mobile commerce platform Wish may be a long way from profitability, but it looks like it can still raise money. Wish, reportedly valued at $8.5bn in late 2017, is in negotiations with prospective investors including General Atlantic to raise $300m at a reported $11bn pre-money valuation.

Marqeta is also seeking funding at a unicorn valuation, having filed to raise $250m at a valuation of nearly $1.9bn. Visa, CreditEase and Commerzbank are all among the existing investors in Marqeta, the developer of a service that allows businesses to issue their own payment cards and process payments.

Elsewhere in Asia, India-based online video streaming platform HotStar has secured $153m from 21st Century Fox subsidiaries Star India and Star US.

Airbnb is in talks to invest $100m to $200m in another short-term accommodation platform, Oyo, which was valued at $5bn as of a $1bn round it closed last month.

Cosmetics brand Glossier is the e-commerce sectors’ newest unicorn, raising $100m in a Sequoia Capital-led series D round that valued it at $1.2bn.

Funds

Hanwha Asset Management, an investment subsidiary of diversified South Korea-based conglomerate Hanwha, has joined venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures to raise $200m for an investment partnership.

NewMargin Ventures, a China-based investment firm backed by food producer Kerry Group and telecommunications equipment provider Motorola Solutions, has reached the first close of a RMB10bn ($1.48bn) fund.

Coffeehouse chain Starbucks provided $100m for US-based investment firm Valor Equity Partners’ Valor Siren Ventures I fund yesterday as the vehicle’s cornerstone investor. The fund has a target size of $400m and will seek the remaining $300m from additional strategic partners and institutional investors over the coming months.

Exits

SenseTime has long been rumoured to be joining the IPO queue, and now its chief rival in China’s facial recognition space, Megvii, is reportedly looking to raise $800m in an offering that could take place in the US or Hong Kong.

Alcon, the eyecare subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Novartis, has agreed to acquire portfolio company PowerVision in a $285m deal that will also enable Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic to exit.

Fastly, the content delivery platform developer that counts OATV, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners and Swisscom Ventures as investors, has begun hiring underwriters for an IPO that could reportedly value it in excess of $1bn.

On GUV, NervGen Pharma, a Canada-based developer of nerve damage therapies based on Case Western Reserve University research, has completed an initial public offering (IPO) which raised gross proceeds of C$10m ($7.5m).