Uber Grab is in the process of buying up Indonesia-based online payment startup Kudo in its first major acquisition. A source close to discussions confirmed to TechCrunch that talks are ongoing and a deal could be announced as soon this week. Reuters first reported the deal, which it said would be over $100 million however our source suggested that the figure is in fact lower. Grab… Read More
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Some very big brands outside the tech space have been stepping in to acquire technology companies as the pressure to keep up with consumer-powered digital trends touches more industries. Add in a deregulating President Trump and the mercury could keep rising for tech company valuations this year, suggests John Stiffler, senior M&A director at business and technology consulting firm West… Read More
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In a world defined by trends, we’ve been beset by a highly worrying one: There is an undeniable lack of IPOs. In 2015, 164 companies entered the public markets, which is just over half the 2014 number, when 261 took the plunge. In 2016 there were only 107. This is a big deal. Why? Because the public market is the single-most objective judge of company formation and success. Read More
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Hair color startup Madison Reed is on a tear. Over the past year, the San Francisco-based company quietly raised $13 million in new venture funding, landed its products on the television shopping network QVC, launched a chatbot, and opened a New York City storefront called the Madison Reed Color Bar. Such efforts helped it double revenue in 2016, says CEO and founder Amy Errett, though she… Read More
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Xeneta, the Oslo, Norway-based startup that offers a crowdsourced price comparison service for ocean freight, has raised $12 million in Series B funding. Read More
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Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial announced a surprise deal to acquire international payment service MoneyGram for $880 million last month, but that looks like being just the start of its M&A activities. A source at the company confirmed to TechCrunch that it is close to raising nearly $3 billion in debt financing in order to bankroll further acquisitions, as The Information and… Read More
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For the past several years, HackerOne has been helping customers build bug bounty programs to find vulnerabilities in their software, and today it hauled in a big bounty of its own — a $40 million Series C investment led by Dragoneer Investment Group. Existing investors NEA and Benchmark also participated, as well as a strategic investor the company chose not to disclose. It brings… Read More
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CXA, a Singapore-based startup insurance brokerage — if such a thing can exist — has scooped up $25 million to expand its service that provide policies with a focus on wellness across Asia.
This is a Series B investment and it was led by B Capital, the BCG-backed fund from Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, and EDBI, the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board. Read More
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Earlier this week smart TV maker Vizio settled an FTC charge for nefariously collecting of data from its customers, but that isn’t deterring China’s LeEco from completing a $2 billion acquisition of the company. Back in July 2016, LeEco announced a surprise $2 billion deal to buy Vizio and thus further expand its business empire, which already covers video streaming, mobile phones… Read More
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Dick Kramlich, the co-founder of NEA, is launching a new $130 million early-stage fund called Green Bay Ventures with partner Anthony Schiller. The fund is geared toward companies Series B and down, focusing on applied artificial intelligence in areas like manufacturing, energy, transportation and logistics, a source tells us. The fund was disclosed in a regulatory filing, and the firm declined… Read More
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