• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
FinanceTerm Sheet

Term Sheet — Tuesday, September 12

By
Polina Marinova
Polina Marinova
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Polina Marinova
Polina Marinova
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 12, 2017, 9:29 AM ET

ROBOT LAWYER

Good morning, Term Sheet readers.

Just a reminder that if you have comments, feedback, or tips, find me on Twitter or send me an email at polina.marinova@fortune.com.  

EQUIFAX SAGA: OK, this is my favorite story of the day. After the Equifax security breach left more than 143 million Americans vulnerable, one founder took matters into his own hands. Joshua Browder, who has been called “The Robin Hood of the Internet,” created a chatbot called DoNotPay that lets people sue Equifax for up to $25,000 without a lawyer. (It’s the same bot that has helped people fight more than 375K parking tickets in NYC, Seattle, and the U.K. #priorities).

There’s been chatter that blockchain technology, specifically smart contracts, will replace lawyers, but DoNotPay demonstrates it doesn’t have to be so complicated to cut out the middleman. In one day, Browder literally replaced your lawyer with an incredibly simplistic chatbot. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “It’s really such a low-hanging fruit. All you have to do is figure out how these documents are constructed and then use technology to automate them,” Browder said in January.

On the bright side, at least we’re getting some cool innovation out of the whole mess.

DEEP POCKETS: Sovereign investors are not playing around. Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), which run more $6.59 trillion in assets, are on the hunt for unicorns.

Since 2012, the number of SWF-funded tech deals has grown by 38% and now represents 27% of total deal flow. In other words, the taboo around taking money from SWFs has largely gone away. Sovereigns were long criticized for their inexperience in high-growth scaling and lack of expertise in the tech sector, but now most of them are considered to be on par with some of the leading traditional global VC funds. Crazy what a few years and a few (very large) SoftBank Vision Fund checks can do.

Courtesy of Boston Consulting Group
Courtesy of Boston Consulting Group

Read the full report here.

SOFI CEO OUT: Well, that was fast. Following allegations of sexual misconduct at SoFi, Michael Cagney will be stepping down from his position as CEO. In a memo to the staff, he said, "the combination of HR-related litigation and negative press have become a distraction from the company’s core mission.”

THANKS: As always, thank you for all the feedback that’s continued to pour in since I took on Term Sheet. So far, I’ve heard that you’d like to keep the top portion of Term Sheet short & sweet. My questions for you are: Do you want more commentary? Or do you prefer for the blurbs to stay news-focused with my comments interspersed throughout? Just out here living & learning. Appreciate you guys.

THE LATEST FROM FORTUNE...

• The diamond industry is obsessed with the blockchain(by Jeff John Roberts)

• REI boss shows how to be a CEO in the Age of Trump (by Claire Zillman)

• This former chemical company went ‘green’—and its stock took off (by Erika Fry)

• This place lets you pay your taxes in Bitcoin(by David Meyer)

• What a $2.7 million Mercedes looks like (by Kirsten Korosec)

…AND ELSEWHERE

DowDuPont to change breakup plan. Gen Z enters the workforce. What to expect at the Apple event. Facebook is testing ‘instant videos.’ What private equity bubble?

VENTURE DEALS

•Zoox, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based self-driving car startup, is reportedly in talks to raise at least $1 billion from SoftBank, according to Axios. The deal could value the company at between $3 billion and $4 billion. Read more.

•Lesara, a Berlin-based online fashion and lifestyle retailer, raised $40 million in funding. Investors were not disclosed.

•SendinBlue, a France-based digital marketing suite for small businesses, raised $36 million in Series A funding. Partech Ventures led the round.

•SPR Therapeutics, Inc., a Cleveland, Ohio-based medical device company, raised $25 million in Series C funding. Frontcourt Ventures led the round.

•Ieso Digital Health, a U.K.-based mental health care services provider, raised $24 million in funding. Investors include Draper Esprit and Touchstone Innovations.

•Eco-Site LLC, a Durham, N.C.-based wireless tower and infrastructure company, raised $20 million in funding. MSouth Equity Partners led the round.

•Zilingo, a Thailand-based fashion marketplace, raised $18 million in Series B funding, according to TechCrunch. Sequoia Capital India and Burda Principal Investments led the round. Read more.

•Tonbo Imaging, a Bangalore- and Palo Alto-based developer of advanced imaging and sensor systems, raised $17 million in Series B funding. WRV Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Artiman Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and Edelweiss Private Equity.

•Ampt LLC, a Fort Collins, Colo.-based power conversion technology provider, raised $15 million in funding. Investors included Bohemian Investments.

•Entrepreneur First, a London-based company builder that invests in individuals “pre-team, pre-idea” to help create new technology startups, raised $12.4 million in new funding, according to TechCrunch. Greylock Partners led the round. Read more.

•SoftIron, a London-based provider of enterprise data storage, raised $7 million in funding. Earth Capital Partners led the round.

•Lenda, a San Francisco-based mortgage platform, raised $5.25 million in Series A funding. SF Capital Group led the round, and was joined by investors including CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund and Rubicon Venture Capital.

•Red Dot Payment, a Singapore-based payment gateway startup, raised $5.2 million in Series B funding. Investors include GMO Venture Partners, Wavemaker Partners, Toivo Annus, MDI Ventures, and DORR Group.

•InfoSum, a U.K.-based data security firm, raised $5 million in seed funding. Investors include Saul Klein, Mike Chalfen, and Mark Suster.

•Genvid, a New York-based game technology solutions provider, raised $2.5 million in funding. March Capital Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including OCA Ventures.

•EEVO, a Brooklyn-based provider of tools for the creation of interactive virtual reality content, raised $1.3 million in seed funding. Investors include Eagle Advisors, FundersClub, and 37 Angels.

•Cadmus Group, a Waltham, Mass.-based technical and strategic consultancy, raised funding of an undisclosed amount from Enlightenment Capital.

•Pegasus Solar, a San Jose, Calif.-based designer and manufacturer of rooftop mounting systems for solar installations, raised funding of an undisclosed amount. Ecosystem Integrity Fund led the round, and was joined by investors including Okapi Capital, Howard Wenger, and Mike Miskovsky.

HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES DEALS

•23andMe, a Mountain View, Calif.-based personal genetics company, raised a previously announced $250 million round in funding. Sequoia Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Euclidean Capital, Altimeter Capital, the Wallenberg Foundation, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Casdin Capital.

•SpecificiT Pharma Inc, a Montreal-based developer of personalized hematological cancer immunotherapies, raised seed funding of an undisclosed amount. Investors include AmorChem, Sanderling Ventures and Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator.

PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS

•Stone Point Capital agreed to acquire a minority stake in Applied Systems, a University Park, Ill.-based provider of cloud-based software that powers the business of insurance. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

•Levine Leichtman Capital Partners acquired Capsa, a Portland, Ore.-based provider of mobile workstations, medication management products and pharmacy automation solutions for healthcare settings. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

•Genstar Capital recapitalized Apex Fund Services and the subsequent acquisition of Equinoxe Alternative Investment Services. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

•Silverfleet Capital agreed to buy Pumpenfabrik Wangen GmbH, a Germany-based screw pump maker. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

•Bullhorn, a portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners, acquired Connexys, a Netherlands-based provider of recruitment solutions for mainland Europe. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

•Elliott Management Corp’s private equity arm has submitted a bid to acquire networking software maker Gigamon Inc (NYSE:GIMO), according to Reuters. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Read more.

OTHER DEALS

•Teva Pharmaceutical Industries agreed to sell its contraceptive brand Paragard to a unit of Cooper Cos for $1.1 billion, according to Reuters. Read more.

IPOs

•Vivint, the home security company, is reportedly considering a dual-track process, according to Fox Business. A deal could value the company at over $3 billion.  Blackstone backs the company.

•Cabot Credit Management, a U.K.-based debt collection firm, has reportedly delayed its $1.3 billion IPO after a resignation from its board. The company is backed by Encore Capital Group. Reuters.

•Secoo Holdings, a Beijing-based online luxury retailer, has set the terms of its IPO of American Depositary Share. The company said it plans to raise 8.5 million shares at a range of $11.50 to $13.50, raising about $106 million. In 2016, the company lost $94.5 million on revenue of $382.6 million.Secoo is backed by IDG Ventures(24.5% pre-offering) Ping An Insurance(9.2%) China Capital Media (11.7%), and Ventech China(7.2%). Jefferies and BNP Paribas have been named joint bookrunners in the deal,. Secoo plans to list on the Nasdaq as “SECO.”

•BP Midstream Partners, the U.K.-based petroleum company, has filed for an IPO to raise up to $100 million. BP was said to be considering an IPO for its some of its assets, including crude oil, natural gas, and refined product pipelines located in the Midwest and on the U.S. Gulf Coast. In 2016, it booked revenue of $103 million and earnings of $45.9 million. Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, and UBS are joint bookrunners in the deal. The company plans to list on NYSE as “BPMP.”

•Canuelas Mill, a Buenos Aires, Argentina-based food company, filed for an IPO of ADSs raising up to $100 million. In 2016, the company posted sales of $2 billion on earnings on $53 million. J.P. Morgan and UBS are joint global coordinators in the deal, with HSBC and Itau BBA as joint bookrunners. The company plans to list on the NYSE as “MOLC.”

EXITS

•Rackspace agreed to acquire Datapipe, a Jersey City, N.J.-based manager of multi-platform hybrid IT, according to TechCrunch. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Datapipe raised more than $310 million in venture funding from investors including Goldman Sachs, Caterpillar, CIT Group, and GE Capital.

FIRMS + FUNDS

•Point Judith Capital, a Boston-based venture capital firm, raised $61 million toward a $100 million for its fourth venture fund, according to a filing with the SEC.

PEOPLE

•Kevin Lin Lee joinedPear VC as a principal, according to his LinkedIn. Previously, Lee was at FundersClub.

•Matrix Capital Markets Group promoted Vance Saunders to managing director and principal, John J. Underwood to managing director, and Carlton C. Zesch to senior analyst. Martin C. P. McElroy, Jr. and Kyle B. Tipping joined as analysts.

•D.A. Davidson & Co. hired Joe Schimmelpfennig,Jeff Ng and Eric Rindahl as managing directors and Dan Friedman as a director.

•Michael McStay joined McDermott Will & Emery  as a partner.

SHARE TODAY'S TERM SHEET

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 Polina Marinova
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Price of silver for December 12, 2025
Personal Financesilver
Current price of silver as of Friday, December 12, 2025
By Joseph HostetlerDecember 12, 2025
3 minutes ago
farmers
EconomyTariffs and trade
Bailed-out farmers don’t want to live on Trump welfare: ‘they don’t want to go to the mailbox and get a check from the government’
By Josh Funk, Mark Vancleave and The Associated PressDecember 12, 2025
6 minutes ago
InvestingMarkets
Retail investors drive stocks to a pre-Christmas all-time high—and Wall Street sees a moment to sell
By Jim EdwardsDecember 12, 2025
1 hour ago
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Disney plus OpenAI: What could possibly go wrong?
By Alexei OreskovicDecember 12, 2025
1 hour ago
Trump
EconomyTariffs and trade
Tariffs are taxes and they were used to finance the federal government until the 1913 income tax. A top economist breaks it down
By Kent JonesDecember 12, 2025
3 hours ago
Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg
SuccessWomen
Sheryl Sandberg breaks down why it’s a troubling time for women in the workplace right now
By Emma BurleighDecember 12, 2025
3 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
At 18, doctors gave him three hours to live. He played video games from his hospital bed—and now, he’s built a $10 million-a-year video game studio
By Preston ForeDecember 10, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Investing
Baby boomers have now 'gobbled up' nearly one-third of America's wealth share, and they're leaving Gen Z and millennials behind
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 8, 2025
4 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Palantir cofounder calls elite college undergrads a ‘loser generation’ as data reveals rise in students seeking support for disabilities, like ADHD
By Preston ForeDecember 11, 2025
21 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
‘We have not seen this rosy picture’: ADP’s chief economist warns the real economy is pretty different from Wall Street’s bullish outlook
By Eleanor PringleDecember 11, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
16 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
‘Be careful what you wish for’: Top economist warns any additional interest rate cuts after today would signal the economy is slipping into danger
By Eva RoytburgDecember 10, 2025
2 days ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.