Lume Weekly Private Market News & Notes 7.11.2022
Covers news about startups, private deals, technology, and innovation in the private market
📊 Stats of the Week 📊
U.S. IPO slow start according to Bloomberg:
📰 Portfolio Company and Past Transactions News 📰
SpaceX's Starlink is ready for for yachts, ships and oil rigs (Jul 7 2022)
SpaceX's satellite internet service is expanding its footprint to oil rigs, maritime vessels and yachts. Starlink, which has over 2,500 satellites in orbit, has surpassed 400,000 subscribers worldwide.
ABG settles lawsuit against checkout technology company Bolt and becomes a shareholder (Jul 7 2022)
US-based brand management company Authentic Brands Group (ABG) has reached a settlement and dismissal of its lawsuit against checkout technology firm Bolt. The company will also explore the possibility of implementing Bolt’s technology for more of its portfolio brands over the coming months.
💰 Fundraising & Merger and Acquisition 💰
Knox Financial that helps manage residential rentals with its algorithm-based platform raised $50M (Jun 29 2022)
Established in 2018, Knox helps people manage and identify residential rentals. The Boston fintech firm plans to expand its lending business and loan products with $50M in funding it received from a real estate advisory firm, Saluda Grade.
Cryptocurrency lender Nexo announces potential acquisition (Jul 5 2022)
Cryptocurrency lender Nexo said that it signed an indicative term sheet with competitor Vauld for a potential acquisition.
VW and Goldman-backed battery maker Northvolt gets $1.1B funding (Jul 6 2022)
Electric vehicle battery maker Northvolt announced a $1.1B funding boost, with a range of investors — including Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs Asset Management — taking part in the capital raise. The firm says it has orders amounting to $55B from businesses such as Volvo Cars, BMW, and Volkswagen.
Animoca Brands leads $32M funding round for a community-driven Web3 startup (Jul 6 2022)
Planetarium Labs, which is building a community-driven Web3 game network, has raised $32M in a Series A funding round led by Animoca Brands, game software company and venture capital company.
Tesorio secures $17M Series B to automate payments collection (Jul 7 2022)
Tesorio, an accounts receivable management platform, has secured $17M in Series B funding led by BAMCAP Ventures. Tesorio claims to manage over $23 billion in invoices every year, with clients such as Slack, Box, Veeva Systems, Domo and Twilio, among others.
Logistics startup Flexe hits unicorn status after $119M raise (Jul 7 2022)
Seattle-based logistics startup Flexe raised a $119 million Series D at a $1 billion-plus post-money valuation. Investors backing the company include BlackRoc, Activate Capital, Madrona Ventures, and more.
YuLife picks up $120M at an $800M valuation to gamify life insurance (Jul 7 2022)
YuLife, the tech-driven insurance company on a mission to inspire people to live their best lives, recently announced that it has raised $120M in a Series C led by Dai-ichi Life Holdings.
Cyber insurer Coalition secures $250M, hits $5B Valuation (Jul 8 2022)
Coalition, the cyber insurance startup closed a $250M round at a $5B valuation. The new cash comes less than a year after Coalition raised a $205m Series E at a $3.5B-plus valuation. Coalition has increased revenue nearly 200% from the prior year, and has exceeded $775M in run rate gross written premiums.
🚀 Product Launches 🚀
Finastra launches embedded consumer lending product (Jul 1 2022)
British FinTech Finastra has debuted an embedded customer lending product, a solution that provides an alternative to buy now, pay later (BNPL).
New Gen Z finance app ‘Quirk’ launches (Jul 4 2022)
Quirk, a finance app designed specifically for Gen Z, launches to the wider public this week after reaching 10,000 beta users helping Gen Z budget, save or invest.
Wirex to offer crypto-backed credit (Jul 5 2022)
Wirex, a payment platform, has launched Wirex Credit, offering competitive interest rates and no origination fee for crypto-backed loans. Users can borrow up to $100,000 in stablecoins, with a loan to value (LTV) of up to 80% within the Wirex app.
Chainalysis and Cellebrite to launch integrated solution (Jul 6 2022)
Chainalysis, the blockchain data platform, has partnered with digital intelligence solutions provider Cellebrite to enable customers to easily identify and assess criminal activity involving cryptocurrency during digital investigations to expedite their resolution.
Reddit is launching a new NFT avatar marketplace (Jul 7 2022)
Reddit is launching a new NFT-based avatar marketplace that allows you to purchase blockchain-based profile pictures for a fixed rate. The company said that you need not have a crypto wallet to buy them, so your credit or debit card should be enough, and you can use Reddit’s own wallet product to store them.
Instacart launches rewards program for shoppers (Jul 7 2022)
Instacart announced that it’s launching a new “Cart Star” rewards program for its shoppers. Rewards include access to cash back on gas and car maintenance discounts. To qualify for Cart Star, shoppers need to accumulate points based on the number of orders they fulfill.
TikTok targets small businesses with new 'Follow Me' educational program (Jul 11 2022)
TikTok announced a new initiative designed to help small businesses better market themselves on its app, and eventually become TikTok advertisers. It is introducing a free program called "Follow Me," which will offer guides to using TikTok's range of business and creative tools, advertising and promotional features fro small business owners.
🗞 Others News 🗞
Australian buy-now-pay-later firm Openpay quit the US Market (Jun 5 2022)
Australian buy now, pay later firm Openpay has ended its US operations and laid off most of its staff in the country.
Revolut and Stripe team up to expand into global markets (Jul 6 2022)
The Fintech startup Revolut will use Stripe to support payments in the UK, Europe and several other global markets. Founded in 2015, Revolut raised a total of $1.7B in funding and has more than 18 million customers.
Klarna confirms $800M raise at a valuation of $6.7B (Jul 11 2022)
European fintech Klarna has confirmed that it has raised $800M at a valuation of $6.7B, representing an 85% drop on the corresponding figure reported in June, 2021. Klarna highlights the “worst stock downturn in 50 years” and it uses well-known publicly traded fintechs for comparison.
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