NEWS OF THE DAY
Good morning, Term Sheet readers.
It’s a news-y morning. Here are the highlights to start your day:
NEW INVESTMENT: Hyundai has invested in Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab, Uber’s biggest ride-hailing rival in Southeast Asia. Grab did not disclose the value of Hyundai’s investment, but it joins other investors, including Didi Chuxing, SoftBank and Toyota Tsusho in the latest fundraising round. The two companies plan to work on a new mobility service platform that will use Hyundai vehicle models such as the Ioniq Electric.
Here are two reasons this strategic investment makes sense for Hyundai:
- It would give the automaker an inside look into what works in the so-called sharing economy.
- It could also help Hyundai position itself to offer its own mobility services in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, Southeast Asia.
NEW FUND ALERT: Social Leverage, the San Diego-based seed and early-stage venture capital firm, is looking to raise up to $50 million for its third fund, according to an SEC filing. Howard Lindzon, the serial entrepreneur behind WallStrip and StockTwits, is a general partner at the firm. Sources tell Term Sheet that the new fund will focus on financial services investments. Some existing portfolio companies include ProducePay, Robinhood, and DataFox.
PEOPLE MOVES: GV’s sole female general partner Avid Larizadeh Duggan has joined music tech company Kobalt. Larizadeh Duggan had previously led Kobalt’s $60 million Series C round. She will be the company’s EVP, Chief Strategy and Business Officer.
I wrote about Larizadeh Duggan in 2016 when she participated in a Product Hunt live chat. She said, “As a woman in this industry, you are often in the minority, there is no hiding that. It is important to note though that it is getting more balanced.”
In 2015, former GV chief Bill Maris was asked why the firm only has one female general partner, and he said, “It’s not good enough. Because we’ve failed. Because we haven’t succeeded in finding women for that role, probably because it was easier to find men. That’s not really a great answer.”
Her departure leaves GV with just two women (one principal & one partner) on its 16-person investing team.
(One fun fact about Larizadeh Duggan: She’s Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s second cousin.)
ONE FUN THING: Allow me to introduce you to an investor you probably hadn’t heard of before — Mike “Rooster” McConaughey. Rooster is the (much) older brother of actor Matthew McConaughey, and he made his money working in the oil business in Texas. Now, he invests. During our interview, he said “Bitcoin is like trading underwear.” Read the full Q&A here.
THE LATEST FROM FORTUNE...
• Struggling Xerox is reportedly in deal talks with Japan's Fujifilm
• Bitcoin’s price is flopping on South Korea cryptocurrency crackdown
• New York City is suing Big Oil over climate change
• Warren Buffett: Tax cut will make companies more valuable
...AND ELSEWHERE
Comcast Ventures is betting on blockchain in 2018. Uber’s secret tool for keeping the cops in the dark. Bitcoin miners on track to use more electricity than all of Argentina.
VENTURE DEALS
• Cadre, a New York-based real estate investment platform, raised $250 million from Goldman Sachs‘ private wealth clients.
• YieldStreet, a New York-based alternative investment platform working to change the way wealth is created, raised $113 million in funding. Investors include Greycroft, Raine Ventures, Saturn Ventures, Expansion Venture Capital, the Family Office and FJ Labs.
• minuteKEY, a Boulder, Colo.-based network of self-service kiosks for accurate key duplication, raised $83 million in funding. Investors include Comvest Partners.
• Skyword, a Boston and Pittsburgh-based provider of content marketing software and services, raised $25 million in funding. Investors include Rho Acceleration, a division of Rho Capital Partners.
• Unbabel, a Lisbon-based developer of an AI translation platform, raised $23 million in Series B funding. Scale Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Microsoft Ventures, • Salesforce Ventures, Samsung Next, Notion Capital, Caixa Capital, and Funders Club.
• Voyage, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based self-driving taxi service, raised $15 million in funding. Investors include InMotion Ventures, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Initialized Capital, Amino Capital and Charles River Ventures.
• NiYO, an India-based fintech startup for salaried employees, raised $13.2 million in Series A funding. Investors include Social Capital, JS Capital LLc, Horizons Ventures, and Prime Venture Partners.
• Reviver Auto, a Foster City, Calif.-based creator of a digital license plate, raised $11.1 million in funding. ACK Group led the round, and was joined by investors including WRV.
• CryptoMove, a Walnut Creek, Calif-based cybersecurity startup, raised $6 million in Series A funding. Social Capital led the round.
• Qualifio, a European interactive marketing and data collection platform, raised €3 million ($3.6 million) in Series A funding. Investors include Volta Ventures and SRIW.
• Sync-Think Inc, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of eye-tracking technology products, raised $3.5 million in funding. Quadrant Management Inc led the round.
• Fritz, a computing platform for mobile developers, raised $2 million in seed funding. Eniac Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Uncork Capital and Hack VC.
• FloDesign Sonics, a Wilbraham, Mass.-based provider of acoustic separation technology, raised funding of an undisclosed amount. The investor was Dynamk Capital.
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
• The Riverside Company acquired InTouch, a U.K.-based provider of accounting and related services for professional freelance consultants, as an add-on for its Brookson platform. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Techniks Industries, a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, acquired Eide Saw, a Minneapolis-based reseller of and service provider for carbide tipped saw blades and band saws primarily used for cutting wood and non-ferrous metals. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Sheridan Capital Partners invested in SpendMend LLC, a Grand Rapid, Mich.-based provider of spend visibility and audit recovery services to the healthcare industry. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
• General Atlantic invested in Alkami Technology Inc, a Plano, Texas-based provider of digital banking solutions to credit unions and banks. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Emerald Media, a KKR portfolio company, acquired a controlling stake in Cosmos-Maya, a Mumbai-based animation studio. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
OTHER DEALS
• S&C Technologies Holdings Inc is in advanced talks to acquire DST Systems Inc (NYSE:DST) for more than $5 billion, according to Reuters. Read more.
• InMobi acquired AerServ, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based mobile SSP and monetization platform, for $90 million in cash and stock.
• Olympus Capital Asia is looking to sell its stake in Li Tong Group, a recycler of Apple iPhones, according to Bloomberg. A sale could value Li Tong at between $750 million to $1 billion. Bain Capital and Blackstone are bidding for the company, while the sale has also attracted initial interest from Silver Lake. Read more.
EXITS
• Vidaris Inc acquired C2G International, an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based provider of claims, dispute, litigation and project advisory services for the construction industry. Financial terms weren't disclosed. C2G is backed by True West Capital Partners.
• Seacoast Capital exited its investment in Mountain Alarm, a Ogden, Utah-based maker of residential and commercial security and fire alarm systems. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Winchester Interconnect, a portfolio company of Snow Phipps Group, acquired C&M Corporation, a Dayville, Conn.-based maker of wire, cable and coil cords. Financial terms weren't disclosed. C&M is backed by the Watermill Group.
• Sodexo acquired a majority stake in FoodChéri, a Paris-based online restaurant and food delivery startup, according to TechCrunch. Financial terms weren't disclosed. FoodChéri had raised approximately €6 million ($7.2 million) in venture funding from investors including 360 Capital Partners, Breega Capital, Samaipata Ventures.
PEOPLE
• Sun Capital promoted Jordan Wadsworth and Lionel de Posson to managing director.
• Pine Brook promoted Nicholas Chew to principal.
• Billy Deitch joined Oak HC/FT as principal.
• Carlyle Group promoted 58 professionals to senior positions. This includes eight to partner, 19 to managing director and 31 to principal/director.
• Nathan Pastron joined Shorehill Capital as an associate. Previously, Pastron was at Livingstone Partners.
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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.
