Random Ramblings
Some very quick notes to kick off your Monday:
• New fund alert: Data Collective, a Silicon Valley VC firm focused on early-stage big data companies, has quietly raised $125 million for its first-ever "opportunity fund," which will focus exclusively on later-stage rounds for existing portfolio companies.
This is nearly as much money as DCVC raised for its third general fund ($140m) earlier this year, and is part of a larger trend whereby early-stage VCs don't want to get diluted via large follow-on financings for their most promising portfolio companies.
DCVC so far has invested in 109 companies since its 2011 formation by Zach Bogue and Matt Ocko.
• LP-land: John DeSisto has stepped down as a director in Boston University’s investment office after a six-year run, in order to become the first-ever chief investment officer for The Yawkey Foundations – a philanthropic organization founded by former Boston Red Sox owners Tom and Jean Yawkey. The nonprofit’s current endowment is valued at $533 million.
• Recommended reading: My Fortune colleague Steve Gandel has a fascinating new piece up about F-Squared, the ETF index investor that may have been too good to be true. Seems the SEC may be announcing a settlement with the Boston-based firm before year-end, after finding what it believes were “reckless violations” of securities law. Here is part of what Steve writes about F-Squared, which has added $7 billion in assets just this year alone:
The consensus seems to be now that much of F-Squared’s amazing early track record was faked, either a product of a hypothetical backtest or just an outright fraud. A year ago F-Squared removed more than half of its performance history—a period covering April 2001 to October 2008—from both its website and its marketing materials. In May, according to someone close to the investigation, the SEC told F-Squared that its advertised returns for its main strategy prior to October 2008 were “systematically incorrect” and “clearly overstated.”
Read the entire piece by going here.
• Publishing schedule: Term Sheet will publish through this Wednesday, and then take a (much-needed) break until Monday, January 5. Also, a reminder that I'll be publishing on 1/5 and 1/6 from CES in Las Vegas, where Fortune will be holding an invite-only dinner featuring a one-on-one interview with Salesforce.com founder and CEO Marc Benioff.
THE BIG DEAL
• Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone maker, has raised more than $1 billion in new equity funding at a $45 billion valuation, according to the WSJ. All-Stars Investment (led by ex-Morgan Stanley analyst Richard Ji) led the round, and was joined by DST Global, GIC and Yunfeng Capital. Read more.
VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS
• Flipkart, an Indian online retailer, has raised $700 million at a reported $11 billion post-money valuation. T. Rowe Price Associates, Baillie Gifford, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital and and Qatar Investment Authority were joined by return backers DST Global, GIC, Iconiq Capital and Tiger Global Management. Read more.
• Rent the Runway, a New York-based women’s clothing rental service, has raised $60 million in Series D funding. Technology Crossover Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers Bain Capital Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Advance Publications. Read more.
• Elemental Technologies, a Portland, Ore.-based provider of video solutions for multiscreen content delivery, has raised $14.5 million in Series D funding. Telstra (ASX: TLS) led the round, and was joined by Sky PLC (LSE: SKY) and return backers General Catalyst Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Voyager Capital. www.elementaltechnologies.com
• ImmusanT Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based immunology startup focused on restoring tolerance to gluten in celiac disease, has raised $12 million in Series B funding from Vatera Healthcare Partners. www.ImmusanT.com
• NoteVault Inc., a San Diego-based provider of voice-to-text-based mobile reporting solutions for the engineering and construction industry, has raised an undisclosed amount of new funding from return backer West Partners. www.notevault.com
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
• 24 Hour Fitness USA Inc. has acquired 32 fitness clubs from Bally Total Fitness, including clubs located in New York, New Jersey, Denver and the San Francisco Bay Area. No financial terms were disclosed. San Ramon, Calif.-based 24 Hour Fitness was acquired earlier this year by AEA Investors, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Fitness Capital Partners. Bally is owned by Harbinger Capital Partners. www.24hourfitness.com
• 3i Group has completed its previously-announced $160 million acquisition of Q Holding, a Twinsburg, Ohio-based global manufacturer of rubber and silicone components, from Industrial Growth Partners. www.3i.com
• Blue Point Capital Partners has acquired Handi Quilter, a North Salt Lake, Utah-based maker of mid- and long-arm quilting machines for the consumer market, from High Road Capital Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. www.handiquilter.com
• Bunker Hill Capital has acquired Rizing LLC, a Stamford, Conn.-based provider of SAP IT consulting solutions. No financial terms were disclosed, except that Abacus Finance Group and Webster Bank provided $29.5 million in senior secured credit facilities. www.rizing.com
• The Carlyle Group and Warburg Pincus have agreed to acquire Toronto-based credit rating agency DBRS Ltd. No financial terms were disclosed, although sources confirm earlier media reports that the deal was for more than US$500 million. Also participating in the buyout group were DBRS management and company founder Walter Schroeder. www.dbrs.com
• Ferro Corp. (NYSE: FOE) has sold its polymer additives division to H.I. G. Capital for an undisclosed amount. The business will be renamed Valerus Specialty Chemicals. www.ferro.com
• Levine Leichtman Capital Partners has completed a dividend recap for portfolio company Global Franchise Group LLC, a Norcross, Ga.-based brand management company. No financial terms were disclosed. www.globalfranchise.com
• New State Capital Partners has acquired United Medical Systems Inc., a Westborough, Mass.-based provider of transportable medical technologies and solutions to hospitals and surgery centers, from listed German medical equipment company UMS United Medical Systems International AG. No financial terms were disclosed. Lincoln International managed the process. www.umsag.com
• Searchlight Capital Partners has acquired a control stake in Ocean Outdoor UK Ltd., a British digital out-of-home advertising company. No financial terms were disclosed. www.oceanoutdoor.com
• Treadstone Energy Partners II, an oil and gas exploration and production company focused on the Mid-Continent region and Texas, has been formed via a $100 million equity commitment from Kayne Anderson. www.treadstone-ep.com
• West Dermatology, a dermatology-practice management group operating in Nevada, California and Arizona, has secured an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Enhanced Equity Funds. www.westdermatology.com
IPOs
• Asante Solutions Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based maker of disposable insulin pumps for patients with diabetes, has filed for a $45 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol PUMP, with Leerink Partners and Cowen & Co. serving as lead underwriters. Shareholders include Novo AS (28.72% pre-IPO stake), Lundbeckfond Invest (26.88%), Sunstone Life Science Ventures (17.68%), Thomas, McNerney & Partners (14.19%), Seed Capital Denmark (13.21%) and De Novo Ventures (9.72%). www.asantesolutions.com
• HKBN Ltd., a provider of broadband services in Hong Kong, has filed for a Hong Kong IPO. No pricing plans were disclosed, although an earlier media report suggested that the float could raise up to $500 million. HKBN backers include CVC Capital Partners, GIC and AlpInvest Partners. Read more.
EXITS
• Roche (Swiss: RO) has acquired Bina Technologies Inc., a Redwood City, Calif.-based provider of a data platform for centralized management and processing of next generation sequencing data. No financial terms were disclosed. Bina Technologies had raised around $10 million in VC funding from backers like AME Cloud Ventures, Columbus Nova Technology Partners, Sierra Ventures and Mindful Investors. www.binatechnologies.com
OTHER DEALS
• ABC Supply Co. Inc., a Beloit, Wis.-based wholesale distributor of roofing and siding products, has acquired Siding World, a Detroit-based distributor of of exterior building products in the Midwest. No financial terms were disclosed. Quarton Partners managed the process. www.abcsuppy.com
• Blinkx PLC (AIM: BLNX) has acquired AdKarma LLC, a Columbia, Mo.-based video supply side platform. No financial terms were disclosed. Mooreland Partners managed the process. www.adkarma.net
• News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA) has acquired BigDecisions.com, an Indian financial planning services site. No financial terms were disclosed. Read more.
FIRMS & FUNDS
• Rincon Venture Partners, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based VC firm focused on early-stage Internet companies, is raising up to $40 million for its third fund, according to a regulatory filing. www.rinconvp.com
MOVING IN, UP, ON & OUT
• First Reserve, an energy-focused private equity firm, has promoted both Eduard Ruijs and Mark Saxe to managing director. Ruijs joined the firm in 2011 from NIBC Infrastructure Partners, while Saxe joined in 2011 from Loews Corp. www.firstreserve.com
• Goldman Sachs has expanded its board to 14 people, with the additions of Mark Flaherty (ex-Wellington Management) and Mark Winkelman (ex-GS head of fixed income). www.goldmansachs.com
• Bobby Goodlatte has joined venture firm Greylock as designer-in-residence and an associate on its investing team. Goodlatte was a product designer with Facebook between 2008 and 2012. www.greylock.com
• Technology Crossover Ventures has promoted principals Ted Coons and Dan O’Keefe to general partners. Both are based in the firm’s New York office. TCV also promoted Palo Alto-based vice president Sean Giese to principal. www.tcv.com
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