Tag: venture

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Is Hybrid Work A Distraction From The Real Pain Of The Modern Workplace?





By Tariq Rauf
The work-from-home culture wars are reaching a fever pitch. Between Goldman Sachs’ commands to get back to the office and Apple’s hybrid battle with employees, the way we work has never caused so much debate.
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Millions have now adapted to a fundamentally different way of working, and for some, the prospect of hybrid threatens to introduce even more upheaval.
Before taking the plunge, companies would be wise to challenge their assumptions. Is hybrid a silver bullet for creating trust? Is it a fast-track to a more creative workforce? Are hybrid and …

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Throw The Confetti: Robinhood’s IPO Should Be A Celebration Of Capital Market Access

By David McDonough
When I used Robinhood for the first time back in 2015, I remember thinking that it could be one of the great economic equalizers of our time. Opening my own brokerage account a few years prior had been a nightmare of paper checks, fax machines and double-digit commissions on every trade.
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This platform, by contrast, had the potential to bring the excitement and opportunity of investing to everyone.
Fast-forward five years, and that promise has been realized. A growing number of people are choosing to manage their own portfolios of stocks and digital …

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Bigger Checks, Days To Close: How 2021’s Red-Hot Venture Funding Landscape Is Shaking Up Early-Stage Investing

Startup funding around the world is on a tear this year and, increasingly, it’s not just traditional venture investors driving that growth.
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Globally, venture investment is up 95 percent year over year to at least $288 billion through the first half of 2021. North America and Europe have seen even greater gains, and funding is up at every single stage, per Crunchbase data.
Just as notable as the eyebrow-raising sums of money being deployed is the cast of characters spending that capital. Growth equity — traditionally those firms that invest in mature private companies — are now competing with …

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Star-Gazing Investors Launch More Money Into Space Tech





Although Jeff Bezos‘ and Richard Branson‘s brief space jaunts have generated massive media interest in space travel for the last week, investors have been over the moon about space tech for at least two years now.
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Venture funding in space travel, satellite communication and aerospace — which includes space-related technologies such as thrusters and propulsion systems — hit a new high last year, and that record is likely to be eclipsed this year.
According to Crunchbase data, nearly $5.2 billion in venture funding has gone into space tech funding already this year — including huge rounds such as …

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Automakers Reap Big Exits With SPACs, But There Are Bumps In The Road





After years spent pouring billions into an assortment of transportation and battery tech startups, automakers are reaping some returns.
Mostly, they have SPACs to thank. As more venture-backed transport and cleantech startups go public via mergers with blank-check acquirers, automakers are among the stakeholders poised to gain from successful offerings. 
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At least six automaker-backed companies have already completed SPAC offerings, and more are waiting in the wings. We used Crunchbase data to look at what’s driving the momentum, and at which direction things appear to be heading.
Completed SPAC deals
Per Crunchbase data, at …

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Automakers Are Still Betting Billions On Startups. Who’s Getting Funding?





For the past few years, Crunchbase News has been tracking startup investment by major automakers. And each time we check in, we see that spending is going strong.
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This most recent time, the broad narrative stayed the same: Automakers are still betting heavily on startups, recently more than ever. From next-generation batteries to autonomous driving technology to electric aircraft, automakers led private funding rounds collectively valued at over $9.6 billion, according to a Crunchbase analysis of deals closed since the beginning of 2020.
Overall, the big auto brands participated in at least 100 known funding rounds since last …

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Mergers & Money: After Didi, Will New Regulations Make VCs More Leary of Chinese Investments?





Editor’s note: This is Mergers & Money, a monthly column by Senior Reporter Chris Metinko that covers dealmaking in the enterprise tech space.
On June 30, ride-hailing titan Didi went public to much hoopla and fanfare — raising $4.4 billion and the company’s profile even higher. However, it was what happened two days later that could affect the venture capital market.
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That was when the Cyberspace Administration of China announced it was launching an investigation of the company on suspicion it had violated data privacy and national security laws — causing shares to plummet 25 percent after the July 4 …

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Titan, ‘The Fidelity For Gen Z And Millennials,’ Raises $58M Series B Led By A16z





Titan closed on a $58 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz just five months after it raised a $12.5 million Series A led by General Catalyst. Previous investors General Catalyst, BoxGroup, and Ashton Kutcher‘s Sound Ventures all participated in the round along with entertainment and sports luminaries Odell Beckham Jr., Kevin Durant, Jared Leto and Will Smith.  
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“We’re building the next Fidelity, which is a premier investment management platform for our generation,” Joe Percoco, co-founder and co-CEO of Titan, said in an interview.
Percoco breaks down investing into three buckets: passive index funds like …

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Asian Venture Looking To Bounce Back After Slight 2-Year Slowdown





Even with a persisting pandemic, investment in Asian startups is off to its best first half start in three years.
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Although not the dramatic increases in funding seen in some other parts of the world — most notably Europe which saw a jump of 215 percent over the first half of 2020 — the numbers show more money is going into fewer deals with some of the most prominent U.S.-based venture investors — or their Asia-based affiliates — leading the way.
Table of Contents

In the recently completed first half of the year, startups in Asia saw $61.9 billion in …

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The Briefing: Ola Picks Up $500M, Netskope’s $7.5B Valuation, And More





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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Ola picks up $500M
India-based ride-hailing platform Ola raised $500 million in a fresh funding round led by Temasek and an affiliate of Warburg Pincus. The last time Ola raised significant funding was its Series J round in 2019.
Ola did not provide updates about a potential public offering alongside the funding, but the company is believed to be making plans for an IPO. Ola was hit hard during …

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