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• Both the $1.5B and the $500M are about half of the original, agreed-upon sums for an earlier bailout deal. SoftBank backed out of that deal on the basis of certain conditions not being met. The decision sparked an ongoing legal battle.
• The deal would allow SoftBank to cut its bailout bill for WeWork. It has already pumped $10B of its capital into the company. Neumann and other investors would no longer run the risk of ending up with nothing, should SoftBank prevail in court.
• The deal could be finalized in the coming days, though there is no guarantee of signing.
• Previous reports claimed that WeWork was in talks with SPAC BowX Acquisition and other vehicles to go public via a reverse-merger, which could have valued the WeWork at $10B. 
• While WeWork is still running losses, it is in better financial condition than the eve of its IPO, when its expected valuation of $47B crashed to $2.9B. It cut its cash burn from a high of $1.4B in Q4’19 to $517M in Q3’20.

User-generated gaming platform Roblox will go public via a direct listing on March 10. The company had initially planned to debut via traditional IPO last autumn but opted instead to raise $520M at a $29.5B valuation.

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• The company also reported that it lost $253.3M on revenue of $923.9M in the year ending on Dec. 31. 
• Revenue grew by 82% in that time period while bookings jumped to $1.9B. Its losses also grew from $71M while the average daily active users grew from 17.6 million in 2019 to 32.6 million in 2020. 
• The initial IPO plan was delayed by the SEC requiring accounting changes on the sale of virtual currency Robux, its main revenue stream. The company takes a 30% cut of the currency sales and gives the rest to its developer community.

Best of Last Week

M&A

• Redfin will acquire Atlanta-based online rental marketplace RentPath for $608M.
• Sensata Technologies, U.K.-based provider of sensor-rich solutions will purchase Xirgo Technologies Intermediate Holdings, a telematics and data insight provider, for $400M.
• Radio media corporation iHeartMedia will acquire podcast advertisement suite provider Triton Digital from E.W. Scripps for $230M. Triton was acquired by E.W. Scripps from Vector Capital in $150M in 2018.
• Palo Alto Networks acquired Israeli cybersecurity platform Bridgecrew Technologies for $156M cash. Bridgecrew had only raised $18M prior to the deal.
• Indian conglomerate Tata Group will purchase a 68% stake in online grocery startup BigBasket for about $1.31B (Rs 9,500 crore). The deal will provide BigBasket investors including Alibaba (which had a 27.85% stake) and Actis (18.05%) a hefty exit.
• ByteDance is considering selling its Indian TikTok operations to rival Glance, according to reports. The talks were initiated by SoftBank and are still in the first stages.
• Political digital media company Ad Practitioners bought door-to-door marketing company Knoq, terms undisclosed.

IPO

• Payment card service Marqeta filed for an IPO that could potentially value the company at $10B. The company was most recently valued at $4.2B during a $150M funding round in May 2020. It also announced its intent to move into the credit card space.
• Boston-based maker of restaurant software Toast is preparing for an IPO that could value it at $20B.
• Coupang, the South Korean e-commerce giant, announced its IPO as its revenue in 2020 almost doubled to $12B from $6.3B in 2019. Its losses also shrunk from $699M to $475M.
• JD.com’s logistics division reportedly plans to list on Hong Kong’s stock exchange to raise roughly $5B at a $40B valuation.
• German language app maker Babbel is weighing an IPO. 
• U.K.-based, online used car platform Cazoo is weighing an IPO in London.
• Chinese social media service Weibo is planning a second listing in Hong Kong as early as this year. 
• Chinese grocery app Dingdong Maicai is weighing an IPO in the U.S. this year.

SPAC

• AEye, a developer of LiDAR technology for autonomous driving, will merge with CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III at a $2B valuation. Between the $230M in equity provided by CF Finance and the $225M in public equity, AEye will get a $455M boost on its balance sheet.

New Funds

• Insight Partners is reportedly preparing to pitch its twelfth flagship fund with a goal of $12B. 
• Private equity firm Peak Rock Capital has raised about $1.6B out of a planned $1.8B for its Fund III.
• Savant Growth raised $500M for its inaugural fund to invest in SaaS businesses.
• 01 Advisors closed Fund II to invest in series A-B companies that have found product-market fit: $325M.
• Adjuvant Capital closes its maiden fund, vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical devices: $300M.
• Alta Partners closed Fund III, early-stage healthcare: $275M. 
• Advent Life Sciences closes two funds totaling $215M that focus on life science companies in the U.S., U.K., and Europe: Flagship Fund III and Advent-Harrington Impact Fund.
• Bold Ventures closed its fifth flagship fund at $155M and its second follow-on fund at $75M to invest in developer-first startups.
• Avid Ventures closed its maiden fund, Series A and B: $68M.
• Ironspring Ventures closed its maiden fund, Texas startups: $61M.
• Revent holds the first close of its maiden fund, impact-focused European pre-seed to series A: $60M (€50M).
• Former a16z partner Li Jin launched her new firm Atelier Ventures’ maiden fund to invest in the passion economy. The first fund will have $13M to invest in $100K-$300K rounds for companies focused on a "human-centered vision of the future of work."

Today's Funding 💸

AI/ML

• Splice (New York, N.Y.), AI-infused, beat-making software service: $55M from Goldman Sachs, MUSIC, et al.

Biotech/Health

• ABclonal Biotechnology (Woburn, Mass.), global life science tools and services provider: $93M C led by Sequoia Capital China, LYFE Capital, participation from Sigma Square Capital, Kinghall Ventures, Lucion Capital.
• Regor Therapeutics (Shanghai, China), medicines to treat cancer, immune disorders, and metabolic diseases: $90M B led by Lilly Asia Ventures, participation from Loyal Valley Capital, Lanting Capital, TF Capital, Vertex Ventures China.
• Sciwind Biosciences (Hangzhou, China), therapeutics for chronic metabolic and immunological diseases: $37M B from LYFE Capital, Legend Capital, Haibang Venture Capital.
• Jumpcode Genomics (San Diego, Calif.), CRISPRclean for next-generation gene sequencing: $21M B led by Baird Capital, Arboretum Ventures, participation from LYZZ Capital.

Climatetech

• BlocPower (Brooklyn, N.Y.), platform to identify unhealthy, energy-wasting buildings to retrofit: $63M A from American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, AccelR8, The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, participation from Kapor Capital, Elemental Excelerator, CityRock Venture Partners, The Schmidt Family Foundation, Salesforce Ventures.
• HowGood (New York, N.Y.), sustainability database for the food and personal care industries: $6M led by Contour Venture Partners, participation from FirstMark Capital, Danone Manifesto Ventures, Trailhead Capital, et al.

Consumer

• Zomato (Gurgaon, India), food delivery platform: $250M from Kora, Fidelity, Tiger Global, Bow Wave, Dragoneer. The company was valued at $5.4B.
• Nanit (New York, N.Y.), nursery camera with AI to record breathing, height, etc.: $25M C led by GV.
• Podimo (Copenhagen, Denmark), subscription service for short-form audio stories and podcasts: $13.6M (€11.2M) A led by Chr. Augustinus, participation from Aldea Opportunity Fund.
• Laundryheap (London, U.K.), on-demand laundry and dry cleaning platform: $3.5M A led by Sova VC, participation from SidebySide Partnership.
• Snack (Vancouver, Canada), video-first dating app: $3.5M Pre-Seed led by Kindred Ventures, Coelius Capital, participation from Golden Ventures, Garage Capital, Panache Ventures, N49P Ventures.

Enterprise

• Highspot (Seattle, Wash.), sales enablement platform provider: $200M E led by Tiger Global Management, participation from Bain & Company, ICONIQ Growth, Madrona Venture Group, OpenView, Salesforce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Shasta Ventures.
• WilsonHCG (Tampa, Fla.), outsourced HR recruiting services: $120M led by 3i, participation from CIP Capital.
• Ageras (Denmark), accountancy software and accountant marketplace for SMEs: $73M from Lugard Road Capital. The company was valued at $244M.
• Creatio (Boston, Mass.), low-code platform for process management and CRM: $68M led by Volition Capital, participation from Horizon Capital.
• Foxtrot Market (Chicago, Ill.), full-service café, sommelier-curated wine shop, and gift bundle provider within a modern convenience store/delivery format: $42M B led by Almanac Insights, Monogram Capital Partners, participation from David Chang, Nicolas Jammet, Walter Robb, Imaginary Ventures, Wittington Ventures, Fifth Wall, Lerer Hippeau, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, M3 Ventures, The University of Chicago, Collaborative Fund, Wasson Enterprise, Bluestein Ventures, Barshop Ventures.
• Orka (Manchester, U.K.), temporary employment search platform within large organizations; $40.8M led by British Business Bank Future Fund, participation from Adecco Peter.
• Katana (Estonia), manufacturing-specific enterprise resource planning platform for SMEs: $11M A led by Atomico, participation from Ott Kaukver, Sten Tamkivi, Sergei Anikin, et al.
• CloudTalk (Bratislava, Slovakia), cloud call center software-as-a-service: $7.3M (€6M) from Presto Ventures, henQ, Point Nine Capital.

Fintech

• Earnix (Israel), personalized financial products via analytics platform for insurers and banks: $75M led by Insight Partners, participation from Jerusalem Venture Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, Israel Growth Partners.
• EquityBee (San Francisco, Calif.), stock options marketplace: $20M A led by Group 11, participation from Oren Zeev Ventures, Battery Ventures, ICON Continuity Fund.
• Promise (San Francisco, Calif.), debt payment restructuring platform: $20M from Kapor Capital, XYZ, Bronze, First Round, YC, Village, et al.
• Kinara (Bengaluru, India), small business lender: $10M (Rs 74 crore) led by IndusInd Bank.
• FUNDtastic (Indonesia), retail investing platform for people aged 18 to 30: $7.7M led by Ascend Capital Group.
• AccountsIQ (Dublin/London), financial management platform for mid-market SMEs with multiple subsidiaries: $7.1M (€5.8M) from Finch Capital.
• North Ladder (UAE), secure trading platform for pre-owned luxury assets: $5M A led by BECO Capital.

Industrial

• Black Lake (China), collaborative platform for manufacturing: $77M (RMB 500M) from Temasek.

Insurtech

• Circulo (Columbus, Ohio), Medicaid Managed Care intermediary: $50M led by Drive Capital, General Catalyst, participation from Oak HC/FT, SVB Capital.

Logistics

• ReverseLogix (Burlingame, Calif.), platform to automate reverse logistics for e-commerce brands, third-party logistics providers, and manufacturers: $20M A led by Cambridge Capital.
• Gophr (London, U.K.), last-mile delivery provider: $5.6M (£4M) led by Nauta Capital.

Proptech

• IAD France (France), web-based network of independent real estate consultants: $365M from Insight Partners. The company is now valued as a unicorn.

Socialtech

• GoodBox (Manchester, U.K.), consolidated platform for digital charity: $12.7M from Andy Murray, et al.

Telecoms

• Origin Wireless (Greenbelt, Md.), wireless signal company: $14M from Verizon Ventures, Alarm.com.

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