Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the Crunchbase News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.
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Coinbase files its S-1
Crypto exchange Coinbase filed its S-1 statement, publicly disclosing its financials in advance of a planned market debut.
The company plans to raise up to $1 billion through an offering on Nasdaq, according to the prospectus. The filing shows that the company posted a profit of $108.3 million in a non-diluted basis in 2020, compared to a loss of $30.4 million in 2019.
— Joanna Glasner
Spain’s Wallapop raises $191M for secondhand marketplace
Spain’s Wallapop, a mobile, local marketplace for selling secondhand goods, pulled in $191 million in fresh financing at a reported valuation of $840 million.
The round for the Barcelona-based company was led by Korelya Capital and joined by several prior investors. Since its founding in 2013, Wallapop says it has attracted over 15 million users who have uploaded more than 180 million products.
— Joanna Glasner
Electric vehicles
German EV maker e.GO Mobile raises over €30M: Electric vehicle startup e.GO Mobile said it has raised over 30 million euros ($36.7 million) in a Series B round backed by nd Industrial Investments, the company’s majority shareholder. The company is planning to commence production of its first four-seater vehicle at its plant in Aachen, Germany, in June.
— Joanna Glasner
Enterprise software
Otter.ai raises $50M: Note-taking app Otter.ai, headquartered in Los Altos, California, raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Spectrum Equity. The round includes a $10 million convertible note. The company plans to triple its headcount over the next year to support growth in engineering and to round out its executive team.
— Chris Metinko
Terminus Rakes in $90M round: Atlanta-based Terminus closed a $90 million Series C from Boston-based Great Hill Partners, with participation from existing investors Atlanta Ventures, Edison Partners and Hallett Capital. The company — which has more than 1,000 customers — has raised more than $125 million since being founded in 2014. The new money comes after a busy 2020 for the marketing platform developer. Terminus acquired account-based chat solution Ramble last April and account profiling and data company GrowFlare in November.
— Chris Metinko
Health care and wellbeing
Medisafe picks up $30M to manage medications: Boston-based Medisafe, a provider of an AI-powered app for people to manage their medications, raised $30 million in a fresh financing round. Founded in 2012, Medisafe previously raised $21.5 million in known venture funding, per Crunchbase data.
— Joanna Glasner
BetterUp, Cellarity raise significant rounds: BetterUp, a San Francisco-based company democratizing mobile-based coaching, counseling and mentorship, announced a $125 million Series D fundraise, bringing the company’s valuation to $1.73 billion. ICONIQ Growth led the round, which gives the company $300 million in total funding, according to BetterUp. The company’s platform combines behavioral science, AI technology and human interaction to optimize personal growth and professional development in support of a person’s whole health, at work and in life. The funding will go to accelerate BetterUp’s innovation roadmap and product development, which includes its BetterUp Care mental fitness offering.
Life sciences company Cellarity, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, raised $123 million in Series B funding to develop a new method of drug discovery targeting the cell as opposed to a single molecular target. The company was founded in 2017 within Flagship Pioneering. The round included contributions from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock.
— Christine Hall
January AI adds $8.8M: Metabolic health startup January AI brought in $8.8 million in new funding to continue developing its technology that predicts users’ glycemic response to more than 16 million foods in its proprietary atlas. Felicis Ventures1 joined seed investors in the round, which gives the Menlo Park, California-based company, founded in 2017, $21 million in total funding. The funding will be used to round out its team and attract more users for its diabetes health program, Season of Me.
— Christine Hall
Fintech and e-commerce
Step, TradeCafe bring in rounds: Step, a financial services company built for teens and families, announced a $15 million venture debt facility with Bridge Bank and brought on Alex Rodriguez and Josh Richards as new investors. The San Francisco-based company has raised $91 million in known funding, according to Crunchbase data. Step’s app helps children build credit before they turn 18 through a free, FDIC-insured bank account, secured spending card and peer-to-peer payments platform. Crunchbase data shows that in the past five years, investors infused at least $535 million into 89 known deals with fintech startups that described themselves as offering savings platforms for children, young people and parents.
Meanwhile, TradeCafe, a Toronto-based B2B marketplace and technology platform that facilitates the global trade of protein commodities, secured $10 million in equity investment from Round13 Capital. The company, founded in 2015, intends to use the funding to support its global expansion, technology development and R&D. It has conducted, financed and fulfilled more than $2 billion in trade transactions to date. This investment brings TradeCafe’s total funding raised to $43.5 million, according to the company.
— Christine Hall
Elevate Brands latest Amazon third-party seller marketplace to raise funds: New York-based Elevate Brands, which uses a data-driven approach to acquire and operate Amazon third-party businesses, announced more than $55 million in committed funds from a group that includes FJ Labs. Founded in 2016, the company said it expects to hit $150 million in revenue by the end of 2021. The Amazon Third Party Seller Marketplace generated $300 billion in annual sales in 2020, up from $200 billion in 2019. Other companies in this sector are attracting big investments as well. Yesterday, Technology Commerce Management, providing predictive value analysis and financial performance of online stores for e-commerce aggregators, announced $28 million in pre-IPO equity and debt from undisclosed backers. Earlier this month, other Amazon aggregators Thrasio and Branded Group separately closed funding. Thrasio raised $750 million of financing from a group of existing investors, including Oaktree Capital Management and Advent International, while Branded raised $150 million in a round led by Target Global.
— Christine Hall
Food tech
Next Gen lands $10M to launch plant-based product: Singapore startup Next Gen Foods closed on a $10 million seed round to develop plant-based foods, starting with a plant-based chicken-like product that will launch in March, the company said. A group of investors, including Temasek, K3 Ventures and Blue Horizon, backed the deal. Next Gen started in October with founder capitalization of $2.2 million. In addition to launching the product, the new funding will enable the company to expand in Asia and continue R&D on new products. The global plant-based protein segment is expected to reach $85 billion by 2030, according to UBS. Meanwhile, global investment in food technology during the first three quarters of 2020 was $8.37 billion, up from $7 billion raised in 2019, according to a Finistere Ventures report.
— Christine Hall
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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