Good morning, Term Sheet readers. We’ve got a whole bunch of deals for you today:
AIRBNB GOES SHOPPING: Airbnb acquired Urbandoor, a platform that offers extended stays to corporate clients. This acquisition signifies Airbnb’s dedication to attracting a business traveler. Urbandoor works with apartment communities in more than 1,500 cities across more than 60 countries across the globe. As TechCrunch notes, one of Airbnb’s goals is to increase the supply on the Airbnb for Work side of the business, which continues to grow at a rapid pace.
NEW UNICORN: July saw a dozen privately owned firms cross the $1 billion-plus threshold—more than any other month this year, per Pitchbook data. By August, there were 62 new unicorns minted in 2019, more than the 51 inducted by that time in 2018, or the 33 crowned by then in 2017.
The latest addition to the not-so-mythical beast’s ranks is Cybereason, a Boston-based cybersecurity firm. The seven-year-old startup said Tuesday that it has raised $200 million of funding in a round led by SoftBank. Cybereason’s investors, which include CRV, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin, have marked up the company’s private valuation to north of $1 billion, a source not authorized to discuss the deal’s terms tells Fortune.
In June, Cybereason exposed an espionage campaign that had burrowed into at least 10 mobile carriers in order to track 20 or so high-profile political and military targets. While Cybereason declined to provide any other clues about the identities of the hacked telcos or the subjects of surveillance, it attributed the call record-stealing spycraft to a hacker group associated with China. (You can read the full report here.)
YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE: Three members of startup studio Human Ventures — Joe Marchese, Nick Bell, and Ashlyn Gentry — will launch a new venture that targets media brands called Attention Capital. Attention is described as “a company that buys, builds and scales media brands and the technologies that power them.” A spokesperson declined to comment on fundraising plans.
Marchese, who is CEO of Attention Capital but will remain Human Ventures chairman and founding partner, has been vocal about how he believes that there are massive inefficiencies in how people’s attention is being extracted and traded in today’s market. “Properly valuing people’s attention represents the largest investment opportunity in the next decade,” Marchese writes.
Attention just completed its first deal alongside James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, acquiring a controlling stake in Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Enterprises.
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VENTURE DEALS
- Klarna, a Sweden-based provider of payment solutions and consumer credit products, raised $460 million in funding at a post-money valuation of $5.5 billion. Dragoneer Investment Group, and was joined by investors including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, HMI Capital LLC, Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited, Första AP-Fonden (AP1), IPGL, IVP and funds and BlackRock.
- Scale AI, a San Francisco-based data platform for AI, raised $100 million in Series C funding at a valuation of more than $1 billion. Founders Fund led the round, and was joined by investors including Accel, Coatue Management, Index Ventures, Spark Capital, and Thrive Capital.
- Inari, a Cambridge, Mass.-based agricultural plant breeding technology company, raised $89 million in Series C funding. Investors include Flagship Pioneering, Investment Corporation of Dubai, EDBI and Acre Venture Partners.
- HawkEye 360 Inc., a Herndon, Va.-based commercial company that uses formation flying satellites to create a new class of radio frequency data and data analytic products, raised $70 million in Series B funding. Investors include Airbus, Esri, Razor’s Edge Ventures, Allied Minds, and Shield Capital Partners.
- Cockroach Labs, a New York-based company behind the enterprise-grade distributed SQL database CockroachDB, raised $55 million in Series C funding. Investors include Altimeter Capital, Tiger Global, GV, Benchmark, Index Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, FirstMark Capital, and Work-Bench.
- Exo Imaging Inc, an Oakland, Calif.-based provider of an ultrasound platform and AI for imaging and therapeutic applications, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Intel Capital led the round.
- Fever, a startup that uses algorithms to help companies plan events, raised $35 million in funding. Rakuten Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Atresmedia, Accel and Michael Zeisser.
- SmartNews Inc, a Japan-based news app, raised $28 million in Series E funding at a valuation of $1.1 billion. Japan Post Capital Co. Ltd led the round.
- Indifi, an India-based startup that offers loans to small and medium-sized businesses and also operates an online lending marketplace, raised 1,450 million Indian rupees ($21 million) in new funding. CDC Group led the round, and was joined by investors including Accel, Elevar Equity, Omidyar Networks and Flourish Ventures.
- Fluent Commerce, an Australia-based order management software maker, raised $20 million in funding. Investors include Arrowroot Capital.
- CompareAsiaGroup, a Hong Kong-based financial management platforms for banking and insurance products and services, raised $20 million in Series B1 funding. Experian led the round.
- BlockFi Inc, a New York-based non-bank lender that offers cryptoasset-backed USD loans, raised $18.3 million in Series A funding. Valar Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC, Winklevoss Capital, Morgan Creek Digital, ConsenSys Ventures and Akuna Capital.
- Backbone, a Boulder, Colo.-based cloud-based, workflow suite for consumer goods companies, raised $10 million in Series A2 funding. Foundry Group led the round.
- Henry’s Original, a Laytonville, Calif.-based cannabis company and brand, raised $11 million in Series B funding. Merida Capital Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Big Rock Partners, Delta Emerald Ventures and funds managed by JW Asset Management.
- Squad, San Francisco-based social screen sharing and group video chat app, raised $5 million in seed funding. First Round Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Betaworks, Y Combinator, Alpha Bridge Ventures, Day One Ventures, Jane VC, Gina Bianchini, and Sebastian Gil.
- DeepCode, a Zurich-based platform for AI-powered code reviews, raised $4 million in seed funding. Earlybird led the round, and was joined by investors including 3VC and btov Partners.
- Zero, a health and wellness platform for fasting, raised $2.8 million in funding. Investors include True Ventures and Trinity Ventures.
- Romeo Power Technology, a Vernon, Calif.-based provider of sustainable power systems for electric vehicles, raised funding of an undisclosed amount from HG Ventures.
- Ibotta, a Denver, Colo.-based mobile rewards platform, raised Series D funding of an undisclosed amount that values the company at $1 billion. Koch Disruptive Technologies led the round.
HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES DEALS
- Lucira Health, an Emeryville, Calif.-based developer of instrument-free, molecular infectious disease testing products, raised $15 million in Series B funding. Investors include Seraph Group. Eclipse Ventures, DCVC, Y Combinator andSunstone Management, and ShangBay Capital.
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
- Blackstone Alternative Asset Management’s Strategic Capital Group acquired a minority stake in BC Partners, a London-based private equity firm.
- New State Capital Partners made an investment in Mako Steel, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based s construction and engineering services provider. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Pueblo Mechanical & Controls, a portfolio company of Huron Capital, acquired Innovative Mechanical Systems, a Phoenix, Ariz-based provider of HVAC installation, replacement and preventative maintenance services for commercial clients. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Acorn Growth Companies acquired Robbins-Gioia, an Alexandria, Va.-based provider of modernization and enterprise solutions. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Wpromote, which is backed by Shamrock Capital, acquired Growth Pilots, a San Francisco-based paid media marketing agency. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- KKR acquired a majority of heidelpay, a Germany-based European payments provider. Financial terms weren't disclosed. AnaCap Financial Partners was the seller.
OTHER DEALS
- New Media Investment Group Inc, the parent of GateHouse Media, agreed to buy Gannett Co. in a cash-and-stock transaction, for approximately $1.4 billion. Read more.
IPOs
- AMTD International, a Hong Kong-based financial services firm and investment bank, raised $174 million in an IPO of 20.8 million shares priced at $8.38. It posted revenue of $92.1 million in 2018 and profit of $66.9 million. AMTD Global Markets and Tiger Brokers are underwriters. Read more.
EXITS
- SurveyMonkey agreed to acquire GetFeedback, Inc. a San Francisco-based customer experience management company. Financial terms weren't disclosed. GetFeedback had raised approximately $2.3 million in venture funding from investors including Salesforce Venturess.
- Aurelius agreed to acquire BT Fleet Solutions, a U.K.-based provider of fleet management services. The seller was BT Group plc. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Microsoft acquired PromoteIQ, a New York City-based vendor marketing platform for e-commerce. Financial terms weren't disclosed. PromoteIQ had raised approximately $6.5 million in venture funding from investors including Laconia and Nauta Capital.
FIRMS + FUNDS
- Silver Oak Services Partners, an Evanston, Ill.-based private equity firm, raised $500 million for Silver Oak Services Partners Fund IV, L.P.
PEOPLE
- Oak HC/FT promoted Nancy Brown to general partner; Dan Petrozzo, Matt Streisfeld, and Michelle Daubar to partner; and Ravi Singh to chief financial officer.
- Pacific Avenue Capital Partners named Jason Leach as a managing director.
- Nyca Partners promoted David Sica to partner, and Stephanie Khoo joined the firm as a principal.
- Chinta Bhagat will join L Catterton as a co-managing partner and head of L Catterton’s Asia funds.
