Following DoorDash’s price bump on its planned IPO, home-sharing company Airbnb said that it, too, would seek to raise more than it initially sought from investors.
On Monday, Airbnb said it’s seeking to raise share prices to between $56 and $60 a piece, up from the previous $44 to $50—valuing the company at as much as $42 billion on a fully-diluted basis. Even on an undiluted basis, Airbnb would be set to IPO at a valuation of some $36 billion—putting it above its highest pre-pandemic price tag of $31 billion. In short: public market investors are excited over Airbnb’s comeback, even at a time when the company’s bottom line has yet to bounce back to pre-COVID times.
In fact, private market investors seem thrilled over many tech IPOs at the moment. DoorDash, with its business model arguably under greater scrutiny from public market investors than that of Airbnb’s, is seeking to double its private market valuation in its debut.
It’s a buzzy time for startups: Pre-pandemic, rounds were being closed at a blistering pace, and now they are being done even faster. This New York Times piece from former colleague and Term Sheet writer Erin Griffith details one investor, Rahul Vohra, that is hearing a pitch and signing a deal all in the same day. Addition’s September investment in security company Snyk, meanwhile, was completed within 48 hours of the duo meeting each other for a deal that valued the company at an $2.6 billion. No small pennies here. Which inevitably raises the question—is it getting too buzzy?
WOMEN IN VC, BY THE NUMBERS, IN THE PANDEMIC: PitchBook, alongside Microsoft for Startups and Beyond the Billion, analyzed the coronavirus’ impact on women founders. It found that the “pandemic has disproportionately impacted female founders and CEOs negatively, despite undeniable, long-term gains in VC investment over the past decade.” In the first three quarters of 2020, funding to female founders dropped 31% compared all of 2020 while funding to all-male teams fell just 16%. Read more.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: lucinda.shen@fortune.com
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to the reflect that funding to female founders dropped 31% in the first three quarters of 2020 compared to all of 2019. A previous version of the Pitchbook data sent to Fortune suggested that the drop off was compared to the first three quarters of 2019 instead.
VENTURE DEALS
- Dragos, a Hanover, Md.-based cybersecurity firm, raised $110 million in Series C funding. National Grid Partners and Koch Disruptive Technologies co-led the round.
- BioAge Labs, a Richmond, Calif.-based biotech developing medicines for aging-related diseases, raised $90 million in Series C funding. Andreessen Horowitz and Elad Gil led the round and were joined by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, AARP Foundation, Phi-X Capital, Caffeinated Capital, Redpoint Ventures, PEAR Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, and Felicis Ventures.
- Gotham Greens, a New York-based operator of tech-enabled greenhouses, raised $42 million in funding. Manna Tree led the Series D and was joined by investors including The Silverman Group.
- Remix Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company developing small molecule therapies designed to reprogram RNA processing, raised $81 million. Foresite Capital led the Series A while Atlas Venture and The Column Group led the seed.
- Calm, a San Francisco-based maker of a meditation app, raised $75 million in Series C funding, valuing it at $2 billion. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Goldman Sachs, TPG, Insight Venture Partners and Marc Benioff.
- Beyond Identity, a New York-based identity authentication company, raised $75 million in Series B funding. Investors include NEA, Jim Clark, and Koch Disruptive Technologies.
- Luko, a France-based home insurtech company focused on social responsibility, raised €50 million in Series B funding. EQT Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Accel, Founders Fund, Speedinvest, and Orange Ventures.
- Orca Security, a Los Angeles-based security firm, raised $55 million in Series B funding. ICONIQ Growth led the round and was joined by investors including GGV Capital, YL Ventures, and Silicon Valley CISO Investments.
- gohenry, a New York-based maker of an allowance card, raised $40 million. Edison Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Gaia Capital Partners, Citi Ventures, and Muse Capital.
- Tecton, a San Francisco-based maker of a feature store for machine learning, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia co-led the round.
- Sundae, a San Francisco-based real estate marketplace, raised $36 million in Series B funding. QED Investors led the round and was joined by investors including Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, Navitas Capital, and Prudence Holdings.
- Centivo, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based digital health plan provider, raised $34 million in Series B funding. B Capital Group led the round.
- SeeTree, a Fresno, Calif.-based A.I. tree intelligence company, raised $30 million in Series B funding. The International Finance Corporation led the round.
- Salt Security, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based API security company, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Sequoia Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Tenaya Capital, S Capital VC, and Y Combinator.
- CodeSignal, a San Francisco-based maker of a technical assessment platform for tech recruiting, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Menlo Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Capital One Ventures, CM Ventures, Human Capital, TripHammer Ventures (Alumni Ventures Group), e.ventures, A Capital, Felicis Ventures and Correlation Ventures.
- Finn.auto, a Munich-based car subscription company, raised €20 million ($24.2 million) in Series A funding. White Star Capital led the round.
- Shippit, a Sydney-based e-commerce and logistics company, raised AU$30 million ($22 million) in Series B funding. Investors included Tiger Global and Jason Lenga.
- OhmConnect, a San Francisco-based startup rewarding consumers for saving energy when the grid is overloaded, raised $20 million from Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners. SIP also invested another $80 million in an OhmConnect virtual power plant.
- Deepcell, a Mountain View, Calif.-based life science using A..I-powered cell classification, raised $20 million in Series A. Bow Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, 50Y, DCVC, Stanford University, and angel investors including Google’s head of AI Jeff Dean.
- Unit, a San Francisco-based startup helping banks and fintechs build out their tech, raised $18.6 million in funding from investors including Better Tomorrow Ventures, Aleph, Flourish Ventures, TLV Partners and Operator Partners.
- Sunlight, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of technology for data-intensive applications, raised $6 million in Series A funding. OpenOcean led the round and was joined by investors including Robert Bosch Venture Capital.
- Modal, a San Francisco-based provider of e-commerce solutions automotive dealers and brands, raised $15 million in Series A funding. American Honda led the round.
- Neuro-ID, a Whitefish, Mt.-based behavior analytics company seeking to detect fraud, raised $7 million in Series A funding. Fin VC and TTV Capital led the round and were joined by investors including Canapi Ventures.
- Sanguina, an Atlanta-based way to track blood hemoglobin levels, raised $4.2 million in a mix of grant and seed funding. Investors included The Seed Lab and XRC Labs.
- Story Health, a San Jose, Calif.-based the healthcare company with virtualized specialty care solutions, raised $4 million in seed funding. Investors included General Catalyst and Define Ventures.
- Jeli.io, a San Francisco-based incident analysis platform, raised $4 million in seed funding. Boldstart Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Harrison Metal and Heavybit.
- Codi, a San Francisco-based provider of daytime workspaces in private homes, raised $7 million in funding. Investors include NFX, Urban Innovation Fund, and ANIMO Ventures.
- The Skills, a Los Angeles-based online education platform focused on professional sport, raised $5 million in seed funding. Will Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Global Founders Capital, 8VC, Maveron, Hack VC, and Correlation VC.
- Luma, a maker of a way to create event pages, raised $3 million in funding. Maven and Venrock co-led the round.
- Quell, a London-based company seeking to gamify working out, raised a $3 million in seed funding. Investors include Twitch co-founders Kevin Lin and Emmett Shear as well as AngelList founder Naval Ravikant. Read more.
- StarStock, a San Francisco-based sports card trading marketplace, raised $1.3 million in seed funding. Investors included Kevin Durant, Rich Kleiman of Thirty Five Ventures, Nigel and Lesley Eccles (co-founders of FanDuel), Jeremy Levine (Founder’s First Fund), Matt Dellavedova (basketball player) and A.J. Vaynerchuk (co-founder of VaynerSports).
- ChopValue, a Vancouver-based company changing chopsticks into durable materials, raised $1.7 million in additional seed funding. Active Impact Investments was the investor.
- Rundit, a Finnish maker of portfolio management and monitoring software, raised €1 million ($1.2 million) in seed funding. Investors included Pierre Weimerskirch and LPEA Luxembourg Private Equity Association.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Spectrum Brands Holdings partnered with CVC Capital Partners in a bid to acquire Conair Corporation, a Connecticut-based seller of personal care appliances, in a deal that could value the firm at about $2 billion, including debt, per Reuters citing sources. Read more.
- EQT acquired a $1.1 billion stake in Beijer Ref AB, a Swedish air conditioning wholesaler, from Carrier Global Corp. Read more.
- Veritas Capital agreed to acquire the federal IT and mission support services business of Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) for $3.4 billion in cash.
EXITS
- The Carlyle Group agreed to acquire the Acrotec Group, a Swiss supplier to the watch and medical technology industries, from Castik Capital. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Moncler SpA (ITA: MONC) agreed to acquire Stone Island, a rival Italian luxury retailer, for 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in cash and shares. Stone Island is backed by Temasek.
- A consortium led by L Catterton agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Truck Hero, provider of functional aftermarket accessories for pickup trucks and Jeep vehicles. The consortium includes a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Mubadala Investment Company and StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP). CCMP will remain a shareholder.
OTHER
- Aurora Innovation agreed to acquire Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, it’s self-driving unit in a deal that will value the combined company at $10 billion.
- Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) agreed to acquire Apstra, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based data center automation company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
IPOs
- C3.ai, a Redwood City, Calif.-based company developing ways to deploy AI applications, raised its range. It plans to raise $574 million by offering 15.5 million shares at a price range of $36 to $38. Existing investor BlackRock and new investor Capital Research Global Investors plan to buy 20% of the shares in the IPO while Koch Industries and Microsoft plan to buy $150 million worth of shares in a private placement. TPG and Baker Hughes back the firm. Read more.
- AbCellera Biologics, a Canadian drug discovery company working with Eli Lilly & Co. on its Covid-19 drug, plans to raise $357 million in an offering of 23 million shares priced between $14 to $17. DCVC, Viking Global, and Peter Thiel back the firm. Read more.
- 4D Molecular Therapeutics, an Emeryville, Calif.-based maker of gene therapies, says it plans to raise $100 million in an offering of 4.8 million shares priced between $20 to $22. Viking Global and Pfizer back the firm. Read more.
- Nanobiotix, a French biotech developing cancer therapies, plans to raise $95 million in an IPO of ADSs. Read more.
- Squarespace, the website hosting company, is seeking an IPO in the first half of 2021, per Bloomberg. General Atlantic, Accel, and Index Ventures are among its backers. Read more.
- Igua Saneamento SA, a Brazilian sanitation firm, resumed its plans for an initial public offering for the fourth time.
SPAC
- SoFi, a San Francisco-based fintech lender, held discussions to merge with SPACs, per Reuters. Silver Lake and Peter Thiel back the firm. Read more.
- CF Acquisition IV, the fourth blank check company formed by Cantor Fitzgerald, filed on Monday with the SEC to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering. Read more.
- 7GC & Co. Holdings, a blank check company seeking a tech business founded by 7GC and Hennessy Capital, filed to raise $175 million. Read more.
FFS
- Wellington Management closed Wellington Hadley Harbor Fund III with $1.8 billion in commitments and up to $400 million from co-investors to invest alongside the fund.
- Apeira Capital, a New York firm seeking to hedge venture-backed startups, is raising $150 million for its first fund, per the Wall Street Journal. Read more.
- Crossplane Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm that targets control investments in niche manufacturing, closed its inaugural fund with $275 million.
PEOPLE
- SK Capital Partners, a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials, added Randy Dearth as senior director.
- General Atlantic, a private investment firm, promoted five to managing director: Melis Kahya Akar, Luis Cervantes, Christian Figge, Anna Golynskaya and Shaw Joseph. It also promoted Fletcher Gregory, Peter Lafer and Caroline Woodworth to principal.
