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FinanceTerm Sheet

Term Sheet — Tuesday, May 23

By
Erin Griffith
Erin Griffith
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By
Erin Griffith
Erin Griffith
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 23, 2017, 10:03 AM ET

FALSE START

Good morning – today’s column didn’t come together in time. Back tomorrow!

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VENTURE DEALS

•Casper Sleep, a New York-based mattress startup, is raising “a large round” of funding led by Target, according to Recode. Target had reportedly offered $1 billion to buy the company, but the two companies could not reach a deal. Read more.

•Auto1 Group, a Berlin-based used-car marketplace, raised €360 million ($404 million) in debt and equity financing, according to TechCrunch. Investors include Princeville Global, Baillie Gifford & Co, and Target Global. The deal values the company at $2.8 billion. Read more.

•R3, a New York-based consortium of financial firms seeking to develop blockchain-based software, raised $100 million in funding. Investors include Intel, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. Read more at Fortune.

•Fastly, a San Francisco-based edge cloud platform, raised $50 million in funding. Sorenson Capital led the round, and was joined by Sapphire Ventures. Existing investors Iconiq Capital, Amplify Partners, August Capital, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures OATV, and IDG Ventures participated.

•Frichti, a Paris-based food delivery platform, raised €30 million ($33.7 million) in funding from Verlinvest and Felix Capital, according to TechCrunch. Existing investors Alven Capital and Idinvest Partners participated. Read more.

•Outreach, a Seattle-based sales-focused enterprise communication platform, raised $30 million in funding, according to TechCrunch. DFJ Growth led the round, and was joined by Four Rivers Group. Existing investors Mayfield, MHS Capital, Microsoft Ventures and Trinity Ventures participated. Read more.

•Echodyne Corp, a Bellevue, Wash.-based provider of data for autonomous machines and vehicles, raised $29 million in Series B funding. New Enterprise Associates led the round, and was joined by Bill Gates, Madrona Venture Group, Vulcan Capital, Lux Capital and The Kresge Foundation. Read more at Fortune.

•Cloudwise, a Beijing-based application performance management software, raised $26 million in Series C funding. CBC Capital led the round, and was joined by SIG. Existing Sequoia Partners China participated. Read more.

•CreativeLive, a Seattle-based online education platform, raised $25 million in funding. GSV Acceleration led the round, and was joined by REV Venture Partners, Jared Leto, Greylock Partners, Social Capital, Richard Branson and Creative Artists Agency.

•Frontier Car Group, a Berlin-based automotive marketplace focused on emerging markets, raised $22 million in funding. Balderton Capital led the round, and was joined by EchoVC+, TPG/Satya, NEA, Partech Ventures.

•PandaDoc, a San Francisco-based document automation software platform, raised $15 million in Series B funding. Rembrandt Venture Partners led the round. Investors including Microsoft Ventures, HubSpot,EBRD, and Altos Ventures participated.

•Blispay, a Forest Hills, Md.-based financial technology startup, raised $12 million in funding. Investors include FirstMark, Accomplice,NEA, Camden Partners, and F-Prime Capital.

•Hound Labs, an Oakland, Calif.-bassed marijuana breathalyzer developer, raised $8.1 million from Benchmark.

•KidPass, a New York-based children’s activities discovery platform, raised $5.1 million in Series A funding. Javelin Venture Partners led the round. Investors including CoVenture, Y Combinator, TIA Ventures,Bionic Fund, Cocoon Ignite Ventures, and FJ Labs participated.

•Stanley Robotics, a Paris-based automated valet parking service developer, raised €3.6 million ($4 million) in funding. Investors include Elaia Partners, Idinvest Partners and Ville de Demain

•GraniteShares, a New York City-based ETF company, raised $3.5 million in seed funding from Bain Capital Ventures.

•Mavin, a Mountain View, Calif.-based mobile app engagement tool developer raised $3 million round in Series A funding. Investors include Mousse Partners and Montane Ventures. [This item has been updated to reflect the correct name of the company.]

•Long Game, a personal finance platform, raised $4 million in seed funding. Investors include Collaborative Fund and Thrive Capital.

•Sayspring, a New York-based voice-enabled app tool developer, raised $1.5 million in funding, according to TechCrunch. Compound (formerly Metamorphic Ventures) led the round, and was joined by Scott Belsky, Alan Chung, and Peter Stern. Read more.

•HubHaus, a Redwood City, Calif.-based shared housing community startup, raised $1.4 million in funding. General Catalyst led the round, according to TechCrunch. Read more.

•American Robotics, a Boston-based commercial farming drone system developer, raised $1.1 million in seed funding. Investors included Brain Robotics Capital.

•StaffConnect Group, a mobile employee engagement platform with locations in London and San Francisco, raised more than $1 million in seed funding from investors including Finance South East.

•HIPPEAS, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based natural snack food company, raised funding of an undisclosed amount from Leonardo DiCaprio and Strand Equity Partners.

•N2W Software, a Wilmington, Del.-based cloud data protection provider, raised funding of an undisclosed amount. Insight Venture Partners led the round.

•Optimatics, an infrastructure planning software provider with locations in Kansas and Australia, raised funding of an undisclosed amount from Suez Ventures.

•TizetiInc, an Africa-focused broadband Internet service provider with locations in California and Nigeria, raised funding of an undisclosed amount from Zeno Ventures.

HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES DEALS

•TP Therapeutics, a San Diego, Calif.-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, raised $45 million in Series C funding. Lilly Asia Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors and S.R. One Ltd led the round, and were joined by Cormorant Asset Management and SV Tech Ventures.

•VitalConnect, a Campbell, Calif.-based medical-grade wearable biosensor systems developer, raised $33 million in Series C preferred stock equity funding. MVM Life Science Partners and Baxter Ventures led the round.

•Organogenesis, a Canton, Mass.-based regenerative medicine developer, raised $20 million from Eastward Capital Partners.

•Anaconda Biomed, a Spain-based pre-clinical stage medical device company, raised €15 million ($16.9 million) in Series A funding. Investors include Ysios Capital, Omega Funds, Banco Sabadell, and Innogest Capital.

•ViaCyte, a San Diego, Calif.-based regenerative medicine company, raised $10 million in funding from Asset Management Partners, W.L. Gore & Associates, JDRF, and other investors. [This item has been updated to include more of ViaCyte's investors].

PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS

•The Carlyle Group agreed to invest up to $400 million in EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) to fund its oil and gas assets in Ellis County, Okla.

•OneAccord Capital acquired Bestworth-Rommel, an Arlington, Wash.-based canopy and wall panel system manufacturer. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

•EQT has emerged as the leading bidder for a stake in Ottobock, a Germany-based prosthetics manufacturer, while talks with rival investor CVC continue, according to Reuters. The investors have each made an offer to acquire a 20% stake in Ottobock's core healthcare division. Read more.

•MetaSource, which is backed by LaSalle Capital, acquired Dataimage, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based business analytics and process automation provider. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

•Funko, which is backed by ACON Investments, has agreed to acquire Loungefly, a Chatsworth, Calif.-based handbag and fashion accessory seller. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

OTHER DEALS

• Chinese state-owned Sinochem (SHSE:600500) and ChemChina are in merger talks to create the world's biggest industrial chemicals firm, according to Reuters. The deal would be worth around $120 billion. Read more.

IPOS

•Avenue Therapeutics, a New York-based firm developing an intravenous version of opioid tramadol, revealed the terms of its IPO Monday. The company plans to offer some 5 million shares at a range of $9 to $11. At midpoint, the firm would raise $50 million. Avenue plans to go public on the Nasdaq under symbol “ATXI.” The company, formed February 2015, has yet to generate any revenue, and posted net loss of $3.2 billion for 2016. Raymond James acts as lead underwriter in the deal.

•Ranger Energy Services, a Houston, Texas-based rig and well operator, filed for an IPO Monday to raise $100 million. The company posted revenue of $52.8 billion in 2016 on net loss of $5 million. Credit Suisse, Piper Jaffray, and Wells Fargo are lead underwriters in the deal. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

EXITS

•RCN Telecom Services, which is owned by TPG Capital, is acquiring Wave Broadband, a Kirkland, Wash.-based regional broadband fiber company, for $2.37 billion. Following the acquisition, RCN and Wave will combine to create the sixth largest cable operator in the U.S. Oak Hill Capital Partners, GI Partners, and Wave management are the owners of Wave.

•ICV Partners acquired LeadingResponse, a Tampa, Fla.-based customer acquisition provider. The seller was Huron Capital Partners.

•High Road Capital Partners acquired Storage Battery Systems, a Menomonee Falls, Wisc.-based battery system manufacturer. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The seller was Supply Chain Equity Partners.

•Wind Point Partners sold portfolio company Petmate, an Arlington, Texas-based pet products manufacturer, to Olympus Partners. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

FIRMS + FUNDS

•Blue Water Energy, a London-based private equity firm, will raise between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion for its Blue Water Energy Fund II, according to Private Equity International. Read more.

•Brentwood Associates, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, raised more than $983 million for its sixth private equity fund, Brentwood Associates Private Equity VI. The fund’s target is $1.1 billion.

•PWP Growth Equity, the New York-based middle market private equity group of Perella Weinberg Partners, raised $750 million for its second fund.

•Bain Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm, raised $720 million for its first life sciences-focused investment fund, according to Reuters. Read more.

• Former Sequoia Capital China Managing Director Samantha Du is raising $150 million for a venture fund, Zai Venture Fund I.

PEOPLE

•Sofinnova Partners has appointed Graziano Seghezzi as a managing partner.

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Polina Marinova produces Term Sheet, and Lucinda Shen compiles the IPO news. Send deal announcements to Polina here and IPO news to Lucinda here.

About the Author
By Erin Griffith
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