ET CETERA
Good morning!
New Money: Education startup EverFi has raised a giant new round of funding from Rise, social impact fund managed by TPG Growth. A few notes, via my colleague Robert Hackett:
- This the third-largest ever "ed tech" deal, aside from German publishing giant Bertelsmann's $230 million stake in HotChalk and a $200 million fundraising by TutorGroup, an Alibaba-backed English tutoring startup.
- This is the first deal for Rise, which contributed $120 million to the round. TPG Growth contributed $30 million, alongside new investor L.A.-based MainStreet Advisors.
- Big names: Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt and Evan Williams are existing investors in EverFi. Meanwhile Rise was co-founded by TPG Growth’s Bill McGlashan, Bono and Jeff Skoll. The fund's board includes Laurene Powell Jobs, Richard Branson, Reid Hoffman, Lynne Benioff, and Pierre Omidyar.
- Hackett reports that company “has not, at this stage, hit that oft-vaunted billion-dollar milestone.”
- Read more about Rise’s social good strategy – don’t call it philanthropy! – right here.
Where are they now? Updates on a pair of Term Sheet scoops:
Robinhood, which we reported was raising a big round of funding that valued the company at over $1 billion, has closed that round with a valuation of $1.3 billion. More details on the deal below.
And Yik Yak, which we reported was for sale earlier this month, has sold in a talent acquisition to Square for just $3 million, according to Bloomberg.
The future of TV: The TV Upfronts, and their digital version, the NewFronts, are coming up next month. To catch you up before the news deluge, check out my colleague Michal Levram’s feature story on Hulu, which notes that “Hulu’s hybrid nature and its hesitance to shake up its parents’ business models help explain why it’s currently the ‘oh, yeah, I forgot about them’ player in streaming services.” Now, the company is pushing into live TV.
Relevant to Term Sheet readers: It’s not always wise for private equity firms and strategic investors to invest alongside one another. Levram writes:
[Hulu’s] unusual ownership consortium had its drawbacks. The TV partners not only were fierce rivals, but didn’t want to make moves that could threaten their other revenue streams; the PE folks wanted a fast return on their investment. “We the owners were not fully aligned on what the future should be,” admits Kevin Mayer, Disney’s chief strategy officer and a Hulu board member. The partnership got more awkward after cable giant Comcast took a majority share in NBCUniversal in 2011. One condition regulators placed on the deal was that Comcast could be only a silent partner in Hulu. As a result, NBCUniversal had to relinquish its board seat, and Comcast execs were forbidden from even talking to other Hulu owners about the startup.
Around that same time, rumors were circulating that an IPO was imminent, and several companies expressed interest in buying Hulu. But the media giants decided to hold on to their baby. Providence, reportedly frustrated with the outcome, asked for and got a buyout. (The firm declined to speak with Fortune.) Its departure left Hulu completely media owned.
Meanwhile, this week Hulu’s cord-cutting peer Netflix announced it is raising €1 billion in new debt for content acquisitions, capital expenditures, investments, working capital and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions.
Fun fact about Netflix: The company has never once made an acquisition. Not for talent. Not for tech. Other tech companies of its size ($66 billion) and age (20 years) have done dozens of deals. Not Netflix. In 2008, the company made a single tiny investment in Roku. So, expect that debt to be used for content acquisitions, not M&A.
The one area Netflix might consider an acquisition would be internationally. (For more on the company’s big global push, read Levram’s profile on the company from last year.) But even there, Netflix is getting creative there with partnerships like the one it is reportedly about to strike with with Baidu in China.
Antitrust: I’ve been thinking a lot about this recent New York Times op-ed on whether Google, Facebook and Amazon have monopolies that should be broken up. There are a quite a few weird and just plain wrong points in this article. But I’m not as convinced the premise is entirely flawed, from this perspective: It is nearly impossible to live in the developed world as a modern human without using the services of five companies: Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. Has anyone ever made a stronger case for why these companies might actually warrant antitrust scrutiny?
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VENTURE DEALS
•Oyo Rooms, an India-based online hotel booking platform, raised $250 million in funding, according to the Economic Times. Read more.
•EverFi, a Washington D.C.-based learning and education technology platform, raised $190 million in Series D funding. Rise, a newly established social impact investing fund managed by TPG Growth, led the round, and was joined by TPG Growth and MainStreet Advisors. Existing investors Advance Publications, Rethink Impact, Allen & Co, Jeff Bezos. Read more at Fortune.
•Robinhood, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based stock trading app, raised $110 million in Series C funding from DST Global,Greenoaks Capital and Thrive Capital. Existing investors Index Ventures, NEA, and Ribbit Capital participated. The deal values the company at $1.3 billion.
•Ivalua, a Redwood City, Calif.-based web-based spend management software company, raised $70 million in growth equity minority funding from KKR. Existing investors include Ardian.
•Prescient, an Arvada, Colo.-based construction technology company, raised $40 million in Series D from undisclosed investors.
•RapidSOS, a New York-based emergency communication tech provider, raised $14 million in Series A funding. Highland Capital Partners led the round, and was joined by Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, A3Ventures, The Westly Group, Two Sigma Ventures, and Responder Ventures.
•Quovo, a New York-based financial analytics platform, raised $10 million in Series B funding. F-Prime Capital and Napier Park Financial Partners co-led the round, and were joined by existing investors, FinTech Collective and Long Light Capital.
•Sense360, a Culver City, Calif.-based market research startup, raised $7 million in Series A funding. Firstmark led the round, and was joined by Qualcomm Ventures and Upfront Ventures.
•Lynk, a Hong Kong-based data-driven knowledge sharing platform, raised $4 million in Series A funding. Hong Leong Group led the round, and was joined by Cyberport, Zhuhai Da Heng Qin, and CRE Venture Capital.
•Pockit, a London-based mobile banking app, raised £2.9 million ($3.7 million) in funding, according to TechCrunch. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Read more.
•Getsurance, a Berlin-based digital insurance company, raised €2 million ($2.6 million) in seed funding. Investors include Picus Capital and Swiss Postfinance Bank. Read more.
HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES DEALS
•AltheaDx, a San Diego, Calif.-based molecular diagnostics company, raised $27 million in Series D funding from undisclosed investors.
•Forge Therapeutics, a San Diego, Calif.-based biotechnology company raised $15 million in Series A funding. MagnaSci Ventures led the round, and was joined by Evotec AG, Alexandria Venture Investments, MP Healthcare Venture Management, Red Apple Group, and WS Investments.
•AIDoc Medical, an Israel-based medical imaging analysis platform, raised $7 million in funding round led by TLV Partners led the round. Existing investors Magma Ventures and Emerge participated. Read more.
•MPIRICA Health, a Bellevue, Wash.-based healthcare transparency startup, raised a $4.6 million in funding. OurCrowd led the round.
•Top Doctors, a Barcelona, Spain-based medical technology startup, raised an investment round of €3 million ($3.2 million). Addventure led the round. Read more.
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
•Oak Hill Capital Ventures acquired Checkers & Rally’s, a Tampa, Fla.-based restaurant drive-thru chain, for $525 million. The seller was Sentinel Capital Partners.
•Nidec Group acquired SECOP, a German-based energy-efficient compressor developer, from AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (XTRA:AR4) for €185 million ($202 million). Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
•Gauge Capital recapitalized Pediatric Dental Providers, a pediatric dental and orthodontic services provider. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
•TCC Software Solutions acquired Vertex SolutionsGroup, a Falls Church, Va.-based human capital development services provider, and Triple Impact. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
•Encore Consumer Capital sold Thanasi Foods, a Boulder, Colo.-based snacks manufacturer, to Conagra Brands. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
OTHER DEALS
•Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Baring Private Equity Asia agreed to acquire the rest of Nord Anglia Education (NYSE:NORD), a Hong Kong-based international school operator, in a deal that values the company at $4.3 billion.
•Hyland Software, a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo, is nearing a deal to acquire the software division of Lexmark International, a Lexington, Kentucky-based printer maker, for nearly $1.5 billion, according to Reuters. Read more.
•Gett, a New York-based on-demand transportation service backed by Volkswagen, is acquiring Juno, a New York-based ride-sharing rival, at a valuation of around $250 million, according to TechCrunch. Read more.
•Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) has made an offer for Straight Path Communications (AMEX:STRP), topping an earlier bid from AT&T (NYSE:T). Straight Path said it received a $104.64 per-share all-stock buyout offer from a "multi-national telecommunications company,” according to Reuters. Read more.
•Hitachi (TSE:6501) plans to sell its chipmaking equipment subsidiary Hitachi Kokusai Electric (TSE:6756) to KKR and Japan Industrial Partners. Read more.
IPOS
•Dole Food Company, a Westlake Village, Calif.-based multinational fruit and vegetable producer, filed to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. This is likely a placeholder amount and Renaissance Capital estimates the company could raise $400 million. Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank are the joint bookrunners on the deal. Read more.
•TPG RE Finance Trust, a New York-based commercial real estate finance company, filed to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. Renaissance Capital estimates the deal could raise as much as $1 billion. It plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol TRTX. BofA Merrill Lynch, Citi, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo Securities are the joint bookrunners on the deal. Read more.
•Ovid Therapeutics, a New York-based biopharmaceutical company, announced terms for its IPO, according to Renaissance Capital. The company plans to raise $80 million by offering 5 million shares at a price range of $15 to $17. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol OVID. Citi, Cowen & Company, William Blair and JMP Securities are the joint bookrunners on the deal. Read more.
•Catasys, a Los Angeles-based behavioral health management provider, announced terms for its IPO. The company plans to raise $15 million by offering 1.8 million shares at a price of $8.40. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol CATS. Joseph Gunnar & Co. is the sole bookrunner on the deal. Read more.
EXITS
•Infor acquiredBirst, a San Francisco-based business intelligence platform. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but media reports peg the price at about $100 million. Birst raised about $129 million in venture funding from investors including Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management, and Northgate Capital. Read more at Fortune.
•Chirisa Investments, Lumerity Capital and Longboat Advisors acquired 365 Data Centers, a Connecticut-based data center solutions provider. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 365 Data Centers raised about $16 million in venture funding from investors including Crosslink Capital and Housatonic Partners.
•Telegraph Media Group acquired Gojimo, an exam prep app developer, according to TechCrunch. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Gojimo raised about $3 million in venture funding from undisclosed investors. Read more.
FIRMS + FUNDS
•Warburg Pincus, a New York-based private equity firm, set a target of $1.6 billion for its first fund dedicated to financial services, according to Bloomberg. Read more.
•Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, a Detroit, Mich.-based venture capital fund-of-funds, invested in Next Coast Ventures, an Austin, Texas-based venture capital fund that backs early-stage technology businesses.
PEOPLE
•Edison Partners promoted Jordy Albert to senior associate.
•Tim Smith joined Bee Partners as the lead of portfolio operations. Previously he was the founder and principal of the applied.design consulting practice.
•Keith Cox joined Parthenon Capital Partners as partner. Previously he was the managing director and head of commercial bank acquisition finance at SunTrust Bank.
