Joining the likes of Kibo Ventures, Seaya Ventures, Nauta Capital, and JME Ventures, Spain has a new VC on the block. K Fund is a €50 million fund that will invest in Spanish startups with an international outlook, making lead investments at both the seed and Series A stages, writing checks of between €100,000 to €2 million. I’m also told it will do follow-on rounds with a maximum… Read More
from TechCrunch
Japanese telecoms firm SoftBank recently acquired British microchip manufacturer ARM Holdings. ARM’s shareholders approved the $32 billion deal at the end of August, and the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange on September 5. The deal represents the largest acquisition of a European technology company. Ever. Read More
from TechCrunch
The IPO market is poised to make an almost complete 180° turnaround after a bleak Q1 and a very quiet summer. In contrast, venture capital investments, which had recalibrated alongside the IPO market in the second half of last year, have remained sedate, with a clear flight to quality; fewer rounds, for higher quality companies, with larger check sizes. Read More
from TechCrunch
Earlier this year, it was reported that Naspers, the media and internet holding company, was planning to sell off Allegro, its online auction business based in Poland, and today the deal finally came to pass. A consortium of private equity firms that includes Cinven, Permira and Mid Europa have bought the firm for $3.253 billion. The deal was made after earlier reports pegged eBay, Alibaba… Read More
from TechCrunch
PayPal, the giant digital payments company that was spun off from eBay last year, has had an up-and-down relationship with the business of crowdfunding over the years, but there are some indications that this could change. We’ve been hearing that PayPal was interested in buying GoFundMe — the crowdfunding site that lets people raise money for both serious causes and lighter… Read More
from TechCrunch
mParticle announced today that it has raised $17.5 million in Series B funding. The New York City startup helps marketers collect user data through a variety of services and then funnel that data to other marketing and analytics tools. Co-founder and CEO Michael Katz said this not only reduces integration challenges and technical difficulties, but also helps businesses get a more unified view… Read More
from TechCrunch
This morning, fintech startup Affirm announced a new $100 million credit line from Morgan Stanley. The money will go directly to supporting the company’s current financial products that help customers purchase goods and spread their expenses over a period of time. Morgan Stanley is not the first institutional lender to issue a line of credit to the company. In May of 2015, Affirm closed… Read More
from TechCrunch
It looks like those Yahoo 500 million hacked accounts may affect its sale to Verizon (TechCrunch’s parent). At a company public policy roundtable in DC this afternoon, Verizon general counsel Craig Silliman said: “I think we have a reasonable basis to believe right now that the impact is material and we’re looking to Yahoo to demonstrate to us the full impact. If they… Read More
from TechCrunch
Hyperloop One is getting even cozier with its partners in the United Arab Emirates. The futuristic transportation system that aims to ship things and people faster than a speeding plane just pulled in $50 million in strategic investment from DP World Group of Dubai, bringing up the total now raised to $160 million.
DP World Group is the third largest ports operator in the world and has… Read More
from TechCrunch
It’s been a good week for Science, a five-year-old, L.A.-based startup studio that’s known for both funding nascent startups and incubating them, including FameBit, a three-year-old outfit that helps marketers connect with digital influencers and which sold on Wednesday to Google.
Science was the majority owner. FameBit was the firm’s third exit of the year… Read More
from TechCrunch