🎙️ What's Better Than a Billionaire? Two
Square + Tidal = 🤔. Plus: The rapid rise of NFTs, finding the next Tiktok & Clubhouse + sign up for START Summit!
Wrapped Up Newsletter #16
Today’s Menu
Quick Bits: Jay-Z’s net worth + Southeast Asia IPO landscape
Done Deals: FinTech, Fashion Tech + Culture
What Else We're Following: NFTs + The Power of Doing Nothing
Jobs - Internships/Full-Time: 10 full-time jobs and internship postings
Events & Workshops: RSVP for START Summit with a Wrapped Up discount!
🤜🤛 Help us to deliver better content to you by filling out the survey here.
Quick Bits 🌎
Recap in the West: Jay-Z's Newest Collaboration
Jay-Z's got 99 problems and being broke ain't one. Square becomes a bank. Klarna becomes the highest-valued private fintech in Europe. Instagram launches Live Rooms. Google phases out cookies. Netflix launches TikTok-like feed of funny videos. Lime has a new bike and expands across 25 cities. Chauffeur-hailing service Blacklane expands and takes on Uber and Lyft. Oscar Health debuts and dips. Zoom pops as company beats expectations. Microsoft debuts the future with its hologram meetings platform Mesh. Facebook gets fined and Amazon says sorry. Postmates X becomes Serve Robotics. Putting a $6.6m price tag on a 10-second video artwork.
Recap in the East: SEA Foresees Exits
2021 will be a boon to SEA tech. Chinese group-buying platforms get the antitrust treatment. Ant Group works to appease employees. Alibaba's economic bloc may have peaked. Malaysia disapproves sugar daddies. Sea Group builds its own fund. BCG doubles down on corporate innovation and venture building in SEA. Singapore's Neuron Mobility expands e-scooters to South Korea. Reliance partners with Big Tech to create India's next payments network. Keep your cash in Singapore. ComfortDelGro becomes a one-stop shop for lifestyle and transport. ByteDance is developing a Chinese Clubhouse.
Done Deals ✍🏼
Funding Rounds
Swedish challenger bank and buy-now-pay-later service Klarna picks up $1bn at a post-money valuation of $31bn
London-based virtual events platform and video-focused software service Hopin scores $400m (Series C) two years after launch, valuing it at $5.65bn
San Francisco-based on-demand grocery delivery platform Instacart bags $265m at a $39bn valuation (more than 2x than when it raised its last financing)
German urban air mobility company Volocopter raises $241m (Series D) and expects to start commercial air taxi operations in 2 years
French second-hand fashion platform Vestiaire Collective raises $216m and becomes a unicorn
US autonomous drone maker Skydio raises $170m (Series D) led by a16z at a $1bn+ post-money valuation as it expands into the enterprise market
San Francisco-based Deliverr, a startup providing shipping services for e-commerce businesses, scores $170m (Series D) to scale its capital intensive business
Indonesian logistics startup SiCepat raises $170m (Series B) to position itself as the leading end-to-end logistics service provider in the Indonesian market and potentially SEA
Berlin-based biotech firm Atai Life Sciences picks up $157m amid the global race to commercialise psychedelics
Berlin-based grocery delivery startup and Gorillas competitor Flink snaps up $52m as the industry continues to heat up amidst the pandemic
Instanbul's mobile gaming company Dream Games gets $50m (Series A) from Index as it launches its first game
Amsterdam-based online-only supermarket Crisp focuses on fresh produce and picks up $36.3m to expand across Europe
Indonesia payment startup Xendit secures $64.6m (Series B) led by Accel and Y Combinator to expand e-payment infrastructure into SMEs across SEA
Expat-focused, cross-border fintech startup Rise raises $20m (Series B) as it secures Dutch license and wants to expand the platform
Israeli fraud prevention startup Identiq gets $47m (Series A) as it prepares for international growth
US livestream shopping marketplace Whatnot raises $20m (Series A) led by a16z to build its platform for selling Pokémon cards and other collectibles
US collaboration startup Around bags $10m to fight Zoom fatigue and help companies better communicate over audio and video
New Funds
Bond, the growth-stage firm that spun out of the Kleiner Perkins Digital Growth Fund, closes its second fund with $2bn
Paris and London-based VC firm Sofinnova Partners, closes new $538m fund aimed at plugging the funding gap for late-stage healthtech companies in Europe
Christian Angermayer's Presight Capital closes $350m second fund to help U.S. startups expand into Europe
San Francisco-based venture studio Atomic closes new $260m fund
Exits: Acquisitions, IPOs & SPACs
Okta buys US cloud identity startup Auth0 for $6.5bn
Cision acquires British online consumer intelligence and social media listening platform Brandwatch for $450m (cash and shares)
Jack Dorsey's fintech company Square buys a majority stake in Jay Z's music streaming service Tidal for $297m
Farnsworth Group, run by former MoviePass chairman, pays $125m for majority stake in Singapore video-sharing service Lomoti
US SpaceX competitor Rocket Lab goes public via SPAC merger at a valuation of $4.1bn to build a bigger rocket
Philippine food maker Monde Nissin files for IPO to raise as much as $1.3bn, making it the largest ever first-time share sale
SoftBank-backed US real estate brokerage Compass files for IPO and shows steep losses
New York-based video platform as a service Kaltura files to go public on the back of accelerating revenue growth
Mountain View-based online education platform Coursera files to go public as the business grows amid the coronavirus pandemic
What Else We're Following 👀
"Content may be the single worst digital distribution model a solo entrepreneur can choose." Is the creator economy under threat? (The Information)
Some alternatives to VC funding for startups (Sifted)
"Corporations can be good at identifying a promising opportunity, but terrible at experimenting in a meaningful way.” Tips at better collaboration between corporates and startups (500 Startups)
Lessons on successful innovation from Amazon (First Round Review)
Digiday's Brian Morrissey on growth, initiatives and media (The Rebooting)
Non-Fungible Token (NFT):
Why they are cool to own - but offer nothing really new (Next Big Thing)
A conversation with 3LAU on cryptocurrencies, minting digital art, and power structures in the music industry (Morning Brew)
How technology is changing the way we value assets (The Information)
Jobs - Internships/Full-Time 👩🏽💼
We have created a Notion page dedicated to aggregating job opportunities (internships & full-time). You can find this week’s job postings here.
Events & Workshops 🔧
START Summit on March 22-27 - RSVP here!
Europe's biggest student-run conference for entrepreneurship and technology, is returning to unite the European startup community under the banner of innovation. For the first time, START Summit will go virtual to connect Europe's leading investors, young talents, and entrepreneurs on a virtual platform. High-class keynotes from global shapers such as Matt Cohler (Benchmark Capital & Founding team Facebook), Tina Sharkey (Co-Founder Brandless), and Ola Källenius (CEO of Daimler AG) will be held, as well as interesting masterclasses and workshops from venture capital investors such as Balderton Capital, EQT Ventures, Earlybird, Project A, Picus Capital, and many more. We are happy to provide Wrapped Up subscribers with a 20% discount code: (WRAP20).
Tech in Asia Virtual Pitch Night on March 25 - Apply here!
In Tech in Asia’s first Pitch Night of the year, they're looking for 6 startups across different industries to make their virtual pitch in front of a panel of investor-judges (last one included Gobi Ventures & Lightspeed Venture Partners) and an audience of founders, investors, and professionals from the top tech companies. The conference was designed to provide founders with a platform where they can receive undivided attention from keen investors. On top of gaining valuable feedback, you will also get to learn alongside like-minded and passionate entrepreneurs.
Venture Deals Spring 2021 starts today - Sign up here!
Class is almost in session! Techstars co-founder Brad Feld and Techstars mentor Jason Mendelson are offering their popular free 7-week course Venture Deals. This online class will be team-oriented and practice-based. Videos and readings reveal the players behind venture transactions; how VC funds work; how both VC's and entrepreneurs can and should structure the deal, as well as what needs to be done post-investment. Much of your learning will take place as you work with your virtual teams to secure the best terms for a venture capital funding for your startup. The workload amounts to roughly 4-6 hours per week, with a Statement of Accomplishment Certificate upon completion.
We highly recommend their book Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist!
Feedback Time!! 🙏
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