Three Big Tech Deals To Have On Your Radar

Tue Jul 30 2019
Lucy Harlow (4103 articles)
Three Big Tech Deals To Have On Your Radar

Good morning, Term Sheet readers! I’m back with some good news: (The large Term Sheet fonts are no more! Thank you to all of you who wrote in to express your displeasure.)

A few big deals to put on your radar today:

A FOOD DELIVERY MERGER: The food delivery wars are heating up yet again. JustEat and TakeAway, which are two of Europe’s most prominent food delivery businesses, could be ready to merge in a £9 billion (about $ 11 billion) deal. A joint company could help the companies stand out in a crowded food delivery market, helping it better take on giants like GrubHub and UberEats.

A NEW UNICORN: Monday.com, a workplace collaboration platform, raised $ 150 million in Series D funding at a $ 1.9 billion valuation. Sapphire Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Hamilton Lane, HarbourVest Partners, Ion Asset Management and Vintage Investment Partners. This valuation is nearly four times what it was at this time last year.

In the last year, the company has nearly tripled revenue into the tens of millions of dollars, according to people close to the deal. Workplace productivity tools have been all the rage lately as Slack, PagerDuty, and Zoom all had relatively successful IPOs this year. Looks like there’s plenty of investor appetite left.

A FAT UNICORN: Compass, the New York-based real estate tech startup, raised $ 370 million in Series G funding at a valuation of $ 6.4 billion. This is a 45% increase in valuation in 10 months. It was valued at $ 4.4 billion in September.

The company will use the capital to invest in its platform software and scaling operations. This investment brings Compass’ total funding to more than $ 1.5 billion. Investors participating in the round include Dragoneer Investment Group, SoftBank Vision Fund, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and the Qatar Investment Authority. There are rumors of an IPO on the horizon, likely in the next 24 months.

LYFT COO OUT: Months after Lyft’s IPO, the company is losing one of its top executives. Jon McNeill is stepping down from his post just 18 months since joining the company from Tesla. The founders, who have struggled to retain an operating chief, said they won’t hire a replacement. Before joining Lyft, McNeill spent two and half years at Tesla, where he served as president of global sales and service. Read more.

VENTURE DEALS

Techstars, a Boulder, Colo.-based startup accelerator, raised $ 42 million in funding. SVB Financial Group led the round, and was joined by investors including Foundry Group.

MindTickle, an India-based provider of sales readiness technology, raised $ 40 million in Series C funding. Norwest Venture Partners led the round.

Sierra Energy, a Davis, Calif.-based waste gasification company, raised $ 33 million in funding. Breakthrough Energy Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Cox Enterprises.

Trinity Cyber, a Bowie, Md.-based provider of cyber security threat solutions, raised $ 23 million in funding. Intel Capital led the round

StashAway, a Singapore-based investment management platform, raised $ 12 million in Series B funding. Fidelity International led the round, and was joined by investors including Asia Capital & Advisors.

Sense, a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of an intelligent home energy monitor, raised $ 10 million in funding. Investors include MacKinnon, Bennett & Company and IDO Investments.

Physna, a Cincinatti, Ohio-based 3D model analysis technology startup, raised $ 6.9 million in Series A funding. Drive Capital led the round.

Socio, an Indianapolis-based event management platform for organizations, raised $ 6 million in Series A funding. High Alpha Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Greenspring Associates.

Connected2Fiber, a Hopkinton, Mass.-based provider of a SaaS-based market participation platform for the networking industry, raised $ 5.3 million in funding. Investors include Ascent Venture Partners, Osage Venture Partners, Nauta Capital, and NXT Ventures. 

DataGrail, a San Francisco-based privacy platform designed to help companies comply with privacy regulations, raised $ 5 million in funding. Cloud Apps Capital led the round.

OptioSurgical Inc, a Denver-based analytics software company that helps hospitals and surgery centers reduce medical device costs, raised $ 3.3 million in funding. Next Frontier Capital led the round.

BabySparks, a Plantation, Fla.-based technology platform that helps parents engage their babies and toddlers in their early development, raised $ 2 million in seed funding. Ocean Azul Partners led the round.

Magenta Medical, an Israel-based  developer of heart failure solutions, raised funding of an undisclosed amount. New Enterprise Associates led the round.

HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES DEALS

PredictImmune, a developer of prognostic tools for guiding treatment options and improving patient outcomes in immune-mediated diseases, raised £10 million ($ 12.1 million) in Series B funding. Investors include Parkwalk, Cambridge Enterprise, BGF and Cambridge Innovation Capital.

PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS

Advent International agreed to make a strategic minority investment in CI&T, a Spain-based application development service. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.  

FFL Partners made a majority investment in ALKU, an Andover, Mass.-based provider of highly specialized consulting and staffing services. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Potomac Equity Partners acquired Laser MD Medspa, a medical spa services company, and SculptMe, a provider of the non-invasive fat reduction treatment CoolSculpting. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Oaktree Capital Management L.P. agreed to acquire a 20% strategic stake in Singular, a Chile-based asset management firm and placement agent. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

GTCR agreed to acquire the broadband assets of Eagle Communications, a Hays, Kansas-based broadband services and media company. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

OTHER DEALS

Exact Sciences Corp will buy Genomic Health Inc (Nasdaq:GHDX) for about $ 2.8 billion in cash and stock, expanding the cancer diagnostic company’s testing capabilities to breast and prostate cancers. Read more.

IPOs

Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND), an El Segundo, Calif.-based vegetarian burger maker, filed for a secondary offering of 3.23 million shares. Insiders including Kleiner Perkins and Obvious Ventures plan to offer 92% of the shares. Shares dipped to $ 188 apiece on the news. Read more.

Datadog, a cloud monitoring firm, has reportedly hired bankers for an IPO that could value it at several billions, Reuters reported citing sources. Read more.

Grindr, U.S.’s gay dating app, has relaunched IPO plans. China’s Kunlun Tech backs the firm, and still has plans to sell the app. Read more.

EXITS

The EQT VIII Fund and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board agreed to acquire a majority equity stake in Waystar, a Duluth, Ga.-based provider of revenue cycle technology, from Bain Capital Private Equity. The deal values Waystar at $ 2.7 billion.

BlackRock Inc is in advanced talks to acquire Cofense Inc, a Leesburg, Va.-based cyber security firm, from Pamplona Capital Management, according to Reuters. Read more.

Arsenal Capital Partners acquired Seal For Life Industries, a Franklin, Mass.-based provider of corrosion prevention, from Berry Global Group for $ 328 million.

FIRMS + FUNDS

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a New York-based private equity firm focused on the healthcare and technology industries, raised $ 4.3 billion for its new fund, WCAS XIII, L.P.

Hamilton Lane, a Bala Cynwyd, Penn.-based investment firm, raised $ 760 million for its fifth opportunities fund, Hamilton Lane Strategic Opportunities Fund V.

PEOPLE

JMI Equity promoted Maggie Schmitt to principal and Tyler Duke to vice president. JMI also hired Meredith Keller as a director.

Jennifer Schretter joined PROOF as a partner.

 

Lucy Harlow

Lucy Harlow

Lucy Harlow is a senior Correspondent who has been reporting about Commodities, Currencies, Bonds etc across the globe for last 10 years. She reports from New York and tracks daily movement of various indices across the Globe