How Are Firms Approaching Vaccine Mandates?

On Oct 8, 2021

Good day. Last week, we asked at what point does the deluge of financial-technology deals saturate that part of the market and turn potential investors away?

Brian Yee, a partner at ACME VC, said he thinks this is already happening: “As product roadmaps converge for a lot of these fintech companies, many investors are unable to participate in an adjacent opportunity if their existing portfolio companies believe there will be competitive tension.”

Justin Overdorff, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, said while he thinks fintech interest is nascent, “I think the thing to look out for is a broader downward pressure macro cycle where prices tighten and as a result venture investment dollars recede making it much harder for companies to raise capital.”

Eric Byunn, a partner at Centana Growth Partners, said fintech advancements are only in the early stages and that shifts in regulation, security and digital identity will continue to drive innovation.

This week’s question: How are firms approaching vaccine mandates for employees?

Please email responses to marc.vartabedian@wsj.com.

And now on to the news…

Top News

Material difference. The global auto industry is investing billions of dollars in chips made of silicon carbide, a more robust cousin of Silicon Valley’s namesake element that companies believe can help them build high-performance electric vehicles, The Wall Street Journal’s Yang Jie reports.

Silicon carbide, or SiC, is silicon married to carbon, the material in a diamond. Using it in chips that control power — as Tesla Inc. has done for several years — means less energy gets lost, which in turn leads to a more powerful motor that can drive farther on a single charge.

“Customers of EVs are looking for greater range, and we see silicon carbide as an essential material in the design of our power electronics, ” said General Motors Co. Vice President Shilpan Amin this week after GM reached a deal to use silicon-carbide devices made by Durham, N.C.-based Wolfspeed Inc.

The big challenge now is ensuring that the battery cost savings achieved with silicon carbide chips outweigh the higher cost of making them. Industry observers say companies are making progress but remain years away from getting the cost close to silicon.

“Ultimately, I anticipate it will be helpful to provide supervisory guidance for large banking institutions in their efforts to appropriately measure, monitor and manage material climate-related risks.”

— Fed governor Lael Brainard said in virtual remarks at a conference on banking supervision

Network-Monitoring Firm Kentik Raises $40 Million in New Funding

Network-monitoring company Kentik Technologies Inc. said Thursday it raised $40 million in new funding as the recent Facebook Inc. outage highlights the need for businesses to monitor network performance, WSJ Pro’s John McCormick reports. The company will use the funds to improve product functionality, increase its sales force and develop its network of partnerships, said Avi Freedman, Kentik’s chief executive and co-founder. Kentik has raised $102 million since it was founded in 2014. It declined to discuss its valuation.

Investing Platform Public.com Launches Crypto Trading

The investing platform operated by Public Holdings Inc. is rolling out cryptocurrency trading, joining rivals such as Robinhood Markets Inc. in the digital-currency space, WSJ reports. The move marks an expansion for Public.com, which launched in 2019. Previously, individual investors who used the platform could trade only U.S.-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds. Unlike competitors including Robinhood, the company doesn’t allow options or margin trading, two strategies considered more risky for investors.

Foundations, Private-Equity Firms Create ESG Reporting Platform

Major philanthropic foundations and private-equity firms have come together to form a centralized system for reporting on private companies’ environmental, social and governance performance, WSJ Pro reports. The system, called Novata, aims to be a central database for gathering, reporting and benchmarking companies’ performance on factors such as carbon emissions, resource management, employee diversity and workplace safety.

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Industry News

Funds

Fulcrum Global Capital, which is focused on disrupting the global food production industry, held the first close of its second fund with over $44 million committed, exceeding the size of its entire first fund by more than 20%. The new fund has so far backed two companies, including Vytelle Holdings, which is helping accelerate genetic progress in cattle.

People

Early-stage investor Initialized Capital appointed Kat Steinmetz, Scott Moss and Andrew Sather as the firm’s first three principals. Ms. Steinmetz was previously at Box. Mr. Moss was most recently a senior software engineer at Netflix. Mr. Sather was co-founder and chief executive of Span Digital.

Portola Valley, Calif.-based Canvas Ventures promoted Grace Isford to principal. Prior to joining Canvas in 2016, Ms. Isford was at Stanford Management Co. and Handshake.

Khosla Ventures hired Shernaz Daver as senior operating partner and CMO. She most recently served as executive advisor to GV.

Artificial intelligence company CognitiveScale appointed Robert J. Picciano as chief executive, Mike McQuaid as chief revenue officer and transitioned co-founder Akshay (Shay) Sabhikhi to chief operating officer from chief executive. Mr. Picciano was previously at IBM. Mr. McQuaid was most recently senior vice president of global sales for Hitachi Vantara. CognitiveScale’s investors include Norwest Venture Partners, Intel Capital and M12.

Digital security provider Aura appointed Kelly Merryman as president and chief operating officer. She was previously vice president of content partnerships at YouTube. Aura recently raised a $150 million Series E round led by Warburg Pincus. The company is also backed by Accel, General Catalyst and WndrCo.

Exits

Online grocery platform Instacart acquired FoodStorm, a software-as-a-service order management system for grocery retailers. Terms weren’t disclosed. In March, Instacart said it raised a $265 million funding round from Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., giving the company a valuation of $39 billion.

Microsoft acquired Ally.io, a developer of goal-setting and business execution software, for an undisclosed amount. Early this year, Bellevue, Wash.-based Ally.io raised a $50 million Series C round from Greenoaks, Tiger Global Management, Madrona Venture Group, Accel, Addition Ventures, Founders’ Co-Op and Vulcan Capital.

Data management and artificial intelligence company Databricks is expanding into the low-code/no-code space with its acquisition of German startup 8080 Labs. Terms weren’t disclosed. San Francisco-based Databricks recently secured a $1.6 billion Series H round at a $38 billion post-money valuation from investors including Counterpoint Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Tiger Global Management, Greenoaks and others.

Virgin Pulse, a provider of tech-enabled wellbeing services backed by private-equity firm Marlin Equity Partners, agreed to purchase health-software startup Welltok for an undisclosed sum. Denver-based Welltok is backed by investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Georgian.

New Money

CoinSwitch Kuber, an Indian cryptocurrency trading startup, picked up $260 million in Series C financing, valuing the company at $1.9 billion. Led by Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, the round also included participation from Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, Ribbit Capital and Tiger Global Management.

Chronosphere Inc., a New York-based cloud-native observability platform, landed $200 million in Series C funding led by General Atlantic, bringing the company up to unicorn status. Additional existing backers Addition, Greylock and Lux Capital also contributed to the round, along with new investor Founders Fund.

Solo.io, a Cambridge, Mass.-based API infrastructure startup, raised $135 million in Series C funding at a valuation of $1 billion. Altimeter Capital led the round, which included participation from existing backers Redpoint Ventures and True Ventures.

Z m, a Redwood City, Calif.-based student transportation provider, secured $130 million in Series D financing. Softbank Vision Fund 2 led the round, which included support from previous backers Sequoia Capital and BMW i Ventures. Andrew Straub of Softbank Investment Advisers will join the company’s board.

Modern Treasury, a San Francisco-based payments-management software maker, fetched an $85 million Series C round, pushing the company’s valuation to over $2 billion. Altimeter Capital led the funding, with support from Benchmark and Quiet Capital.

NeuroBlade Ltd., a Tel Aviv-based data analytics architecture developer, snagged $83 million in Series B funding. Corner Ventures led the round, which included contributions from Intel Capital, StageOne Ventures, Grove Ventures and others.

Huboo, a U.K.-based e-commerce order fulfillment startup, completed a GBP60 million ($82 million) Series B investment. Mubadala Capital led the round, which included contributions from Stride.VC, Ada Ventures, Hearst Ventures, Episode 1 and Maersk Growth.

Bolder Industries Inc., a Boulder, Colo.-based startup that converts old tires into plastic and rubber products, said it raised $80 million in equity and an additional $100 million in committed project-level funding. Investors included CIM Group, Aravaipa Ventures and Tauber Oil.

Intergalactic Therapeutics Inc., a Boston-based non-viral gene therapy platform, said ATP provided the company with $75 million in Series A funding.

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10-08-21 1015ET