Commercial real estate information and analytics provider CoStar will acquire HomeSnap, a residential listings data platform, for $250M. The all-cash deal will close later this year.

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• CoStar pulled in $1.4B in revenue last year and is active in 120 countries. It also put in a bid for residential real estate data company CoreLogic last month. The bidding war has pushed CoreLogic’s valuation to $6B.
• HomeSnap was founded in 2008 and has raised $32M to date from investors including Revolution, Moderne, Updata, and others. The company claims that its revenue this year is expected to total about $40M, up 45% from 2019.
• The acquisition of HomeSnap marks CoStar’s first foray into residential real estate.

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and Splunk CEO Douglas Merritt are preparing to move from the Bay Area to Austin. Fintech startup Brex’s co-founders, Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, have also left San Francisco for LA, and will not renew their company’s office lease next year.

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• The companies all emphasized their focus on remote work, but employees are wondering whether they should remain near the former HQs. 
• The transitions are part of a larger dynamic that saw the amount of office space double in San Francisco this year, while monthly apartment rents dropped 21%.
• Meanwhile, former tech employees that have left Silicon Valley are increasingly finding work in other fields, reversing a long-standing tradition of top talent looking for employment at top companies.
• Some economists think even a small shift of top talent away from highly concentrated areas could fundamentally change the flow of venture capital to the benefit of smaller, less-known cities.

Best of Last Week

M&A

• IT provider Experian completed its $280M acquisition of Tapad, a provider of digital identity resolution for marketers.
• Meal kit provider HelloFresh purchased Factor75, a provider of fully-prepared fresh meals, for $277M.
• Autodesk, provider of 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, and media industries, will acquire AI-supported software developer for urban development Spacemaker for $240M.
• ML-based cybersecurity data sorting automation platform FireEye bought cybersecurity incident investigation platform for low-skilled users, Respond Software for $186M. 
• Gan Limited, B2B SaaS provider for casinos, purchased Vincent Group, a Malta-based online gaming platform, for $177M (€149M).
• iGaming company Bally’s acquired sports betting platform Bet.Works for $125M.
• GlobalLogic, a digital product engineering provider, acquired ECS Group, a digital transformation and DevOps consultancy, terms undisclosed.
• Visa bought LatAm-focused fintech provider YellowPepper, terms undisclosed.
• Accenture acquired Arca, a Madrid-based engineering services company, terms undisclosed.
• Buzzfeed will acquire Verizon Media’s HuffPost in a stock deal. The acquisition is part of a larger effort to syndicate content on the two platforms.
• IBM will acquire German-American app performance management platform provider Instana for an undisclosed price. 
• Snap bought short form user-voice video app Voisey, terms undisclosed.

IPO/SPAC

• The Airbnb IPO S-1 prospectus revealed slowing growth well before the pandemic. The company’s 2019 revenue increase was only 32%, compared with 2016’s 80%. Its $4.8B in revenue in 2019 cost the company $5.3B in spending.
• Social gaming platform for teens Roblox filed for an IPO. It reported losses of $206M on $589M in revenue for the first nine months of 2020, compared to $46M in losses on $350M YoY. 
• Russian e-commerce group Ozon filed for a Nasdaq IPO and is seeking to raise between $750M and $1B at a valuation between $4.6B and $5.6B.
• Payments company Affirm filed its S-1 with the SEC. Its 2019 fiscal year saw Affirm book $264.4M in revenue. That figure fell in 2020 93% to $509.5M.
• Online shopping marketplace Wish has filed to go public. The company reported a $1.7B revenue in the first three quarters of 2020, compared to $1.3B for the same period in 2019. The company’s loss increased from $5M to $176M during Jan-Sept 2020.
• AvePoint, which provides software to manage Microsoft 365 applications, is going public in a $2B SPAC merger deal.
• Arrival, a maker of electric vans and buses, will combine with CIIG Merger Corp at a $5.4B valuation.
• Bird, the scooter company, is reportedly looking to go public via merger with a SPAC.

New Funds

• Blackstone Group is seeking to raise its Asia Fund II: $5B.
• Andreessen Horowitz closed two funds totaling $4.5B: Fund VII, early-stage: $1.3B; Growth II: $3.2B.
• Qiming Venture Partners closed Fund VII, China: $1.2B.
• Sumeru Equity Partners closed Fund III, PE: $720M.
• LBO France raised $237M (€200M) for its Digital Health 2 Fund from Orange.
• Pike Street Capital closed its maiden fund, lower-middle market industrial PE: $237M.
• Jack Ma’s investment firm, Yunfeng Capital, is reportedly raising $3B for a new fund. 
• Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, is raising a $500M fourth growth fund for his D.C.-based venture outfit, Revolution. 
• Astanor Ventures launched its Global Impact Fund, foodtech/agtech: $325M.
• Sound Ventures launched Fund III: $150M.
• Union Square Ventures is seeking $100M-$150M for its maiden climate tech fund.

Today's Funding 💰

Adtech/Martech

• Metigy (Sydney, Australia), online ad campaign automation platform for SMEs: $14.7M (AUD20M) from Cygnet Capital, et al.
• Konnecto (Tel Aviv, Israel), digital purchase path analysis platform: $3.5M Seed led by TPY Capital, participation from Differential Ventures, Magna Capital Partners, SeedIL Ventures, Hike Ventures.

AI/ML

• AI21 (Tel Aviv, Israel), AI language and writing platform to adjust writers' sentences: $34.5M led byPitango First.
• BeyondMinds (Tel Aviv, Israel), AI adoption platform via AI-as-a-Service: $15M from Grove Ventures, Marius Nacht.

Biotech/Health

• Resilience (San Francisco, Calif.), drug manufacturing platform for gene/cell therapies: $800M from ARCH Venture Partners, 8VC, et al.
• Catamaran Bio (Cambridge, Mass.), allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies: $42M A led by Sofinnova Partners, Lightstone Ventures, participation from SV Health Investors, Takeda Ventures, Astellas Venture Management.
• Koa Health (Barcelona, Spain), mental health treatment platform: $16.6M (€14M) A led by Ancora Finance Group, Wellington Partners.
• GT Medical (Tempe, Ariz.), treatments for brain tumors: $16M B led by MVM Partners, participation from MedTech Venture Partners, BlueStone Venture Partners.

Cleantech

• Phood (New York, N.Y.), AI-based food waste prevention platform: $2M Seed led by New Stack Ventures, Story Ventures.

Consumer

• Ohouse (South Korea), interior design platform: $70M (77B won) C from IMM Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Naver Corporation.
• MeUndies (Los Angeles, Calif.), men’s and women’s underwear, sleepwear, and loungewear brand: $40M from Provenance.
• AllRight (Ukraine), English language learning app: $5M A led by Genesis Investments, participation from TMT Investments, TerraVC, Flashpoint, Misha Lyalin.
• Hellosaurus (New York, N.Y.), interactive video platform for mobile: $3.5M Seed led by General Catalyst.
• Oxash (London, U.K.), laundry and dry-cleaning startup: $2.3M (£1.75M) Seed from RB Ventures, TrueSight Ventures, Biz Stone, Paul Forster, Founders Factory, Oxford Technology Management, et al.

Data/Analytics

• Observable (San Francisco, Calif.), platform for data visualization: $10.5M A from Sequoia Capital, Acrew Capital.

Deeptech

• GrAI Matter Labs (Paris, France), ultra-low latency computing based on the human brain: $14M led by iBionext, participation from Bpifrance, Future Investment Program, Celeste Management.

DevOps

• Serenade (San Francisco, Calif.), platform allowing developers to speak with their code: $2.1M Seed led by Amplify Partners, Neo.

Edtech

• Code Mao (Shenzhen, China), online IT education: $198M D led by Baring Private Equity Asia, participation from Bank of China’s BOC International Holding, Bohai Zhongsheng.

Enterprise

• Boulevard (Los Angeles, Calif.), business management platform for salons and spas: $27M B led by Index Ventures, Toba Capital, participation from VMG Partners, Bonfire Ventures, Ludlow Ventures, BoxGroup.
• Kea (Mountain View, Calif.), phone-based ordering platform for restaurants: $10M A led by Marbruck, participation from Streamlined Ventures, Xfund, Heartland Ventures, DEEPCORE, Barrel Ventures, AVG Funds, Raj Kapoor, et al.
• Superpeer (San Francisco, Calif.), online platform for experts to monetize knowledge via video calls: $8M from Acrew Capital, Audacious Ventures, Homebrew, Moxxie Ventures, Brianne Kimmel, Scott Belsky, OnDeck.
• Sleek (Singapore), new company launch/management platform: $4M led by SEEDS Capital, participation from MI8 Limited, Pierre Lorinet, Singapore Fintech Association.
• Friday (Portland, Ore.), remote work efficiency platform: $2.1M Seed from Bessemer Venture Partners. Active Capital, Underscore, El Cap Holdings, TLC Collective, New York Venture Partners.

Fintech

• Stc Pay (Saudi Arabia), payment platform: $200M led by Western Union.
• Cashfree (Bengaluru, India), payment services for business: $35.3M B led by Apis Partners, participation from Y Combinator, Smilegate Investments.
• Credit Key (Los Angeles, Calif.), B2B e-commerce payments solution: $33.85M A from Greycroft, Bonfire Ventures, Loeb.nyc, et al.
• Vennfi (Atlanta, Ga.), financial platform for tax-exempt payments: $2.3M Seed led by Tom Blaisdell, participation from Teamworthy Ventures, Duro.vc, Sovereign’s Capital, Promus Ventures, et al.

Foodtech

• Country Delight (Bengaluru, India), food essentials delivery platform: $25M C led by Elevation Capital.
• Cure Hydration (New York, N.Y.), organic hydration brand: $2M Seed led by Lerer Hippeau, participation from M3 Ventures, Litani Ventures, Andy Roddick, Nas, Matthew Dellavedova, Philip Krim, et al.

Gaming

• Lightfox (Seattle, Wash.), mobile games developer and publisher: $3.3M Seed led by March Gaming, participation from Hiro Capital, 1Up Ventures.

Insurtech

• Flyreel (Denver, Col.), AI-based residential and commercial property insurance provider: $10M A led by IA Capital Group, participation from Guidewire, et al.

Logistics

• Loadsmart (New York, N.Y.), digital freight forwarding platform: $90M C led by BlackRock, participation from International, Maersk.
• Gatik (Palo Alto, Calif.), autonomous vehicles for B2B short-haul middle-mile logistics: $25M A led by Wittington Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, participation from FM Capital, Intact Ventures, Dynamo Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, AngelPad, et al.

Proptech

• Factory_OS (Mare Island, Calif.), multifamily housing design services: $55M B led by Lafayette Square, participation from Autodesk, Citi, Facebook, Google, Morgan Stanley.

Spacetech

• Relativity Space (Los Angeles, Calif.), AI/3D printing based rocket building platform: $500M D led by Tiger Global Management, participation from Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, ICONIQ Capital, General Catalyst, XN, Senator Investment Group, Elad Gil, BOND, Tribe Capital, K5 Global, 3L, Playground Global, Mark Cuban, Spencer Rascoff, Allen & Company, et al.

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QUICK HITS: 

• An algorithm that analyzes Twitter comments and invests in crypto is beating the S&P. *
• German immigrants, many of whom fled the Syrian civil war, are increasingly driving the country’s startup scene. The acceleration comes after the percentage of immigrant-founded companies in Silicon Valley declined 8.5% since 2005.
• Google is reportedly eyeing Indian social media platform Sharechat for an acquisition. The deal could value the company, which was backed by Twitter, at over $1B. Microsoft has also considered acquiring a stake in the company. 
• PE outfit Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, one of Trump’s most loyal allies, told Axios that Biden won the presidency. The statement comes as a reassurance to the business community that, despite much bluster, the transition of power will occur.

*This is a sponsored post.