A TALE OF TWO COMEBACKS
Good morning, Term Sheet readers.
A SILICON VALLEY COMEBACK: It’s been less than a year since Mike Cagney was ousted from Social Finance Inc. Now, he’s back with a new startup and lots of funding from at least one of his previous investors. Here’s a quick refresher: Cagney quit as the CEO of student loan refinancer SoFi last summer following allegations of sexual misconduct and fraudulent actions by managers.
Seven months later, he’s back for his second act with a new blockchain-focused (surprise!) startup that helps expedite loan approvals called Figure. He has raised $50 million in venture funding from investors including DCM Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital Management, according to Bloomberg. DCM Ventures invested in SoFi back in 2012.
The fact that Cagney is launching a blockchain startup isn’t all that surprising as you might remember that he told Fortune at Brainstorm Tech last year that SoFi was exploring a way to use blockchain to revolutionize title insurance.
A WALL STREET COMEBACK: Anthony Scaramucci is back on Wall Street. After an uncensored rant ended his 10-day career as the White House communications director, Scaramucci is returning to SkyBridge Capital as co-managing partner. SkyBridge is the network of hedge funds that Scaramucci founded in 2005.
As you might remember, Scaramucci had reached a deal to sell his ownership in the business to Chinese conglomerate HNA Group at the start of 2017, and resigned from SkyBridge in order to get that infamous job at the White House. But on Monday, it was announced that HNA Group decided to drop its bid due to regulatory delays, so Scaramucci will head back to his business and focus on strategic planning and marketing.
It is unclear, however, what will happen to The Scaramucci Post, Scaramucci’s bizarre-emoji-filled-Twitter-account-supposed-to-be-media company thing. If anyone knows, send your leads my way.
A VENTURE CAPITAL ENTRY: Rapper Kanye West tweeted that “Yeezy is now a VC” and that he has invested in three companies since last week. If true, West would be the latest celebrity to enter the VC world. 💀
THE LATEST FROM FORTUNE...
• This Female-Led Startup Wants Women to Know What Their Condoms Are Made Of (by Beth Kowitt)
• Why It's Tough to Bet Against T-Mobile CEO John Legere (by Alan Murray)
• Pfizer Shares Deflate After Another Quarter Without a Big Transaction
• 'That's Not a Good Use of My Time:' Bill Gates Says He Turned Down a Job Offer From Donald Trump (by David Meyer)
...AND ELSEWHERE
WhatsApp founder plans to leave after broad clashes with Facebook. Didi vs. Meituan: China’s biggest tech battle heats up. World’s second most valuable cryptocurrency is under regulatory scrutiny.
VENTURE DEALS
• Hustle, a San Francisco-based peer-to-peer (P2P) messaging platform, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Insight Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including GV and Salesforce Ventures.
• Suki, a Redwood City, Calif.-based voice-based digital assistant for doctors, raised $20 million in total funding, according to TechCrunch. Venrock led the round, and was joined by investors including First Round, Social Capital, Nat Turner of Flatiron Health, and Marc Benioff. Read more.
• ZeroCater, a San Francisco-based provider of office catering and snacks, raised $12 million in Series B funding. Cleveland Avenue LLC led the round, and was joined by investors including Romulus Capital and Struck Capital.
• Algolux Inc., a Canada-based provider of machine-learning stacks for autonomous vision and imaging, raised $10 million in Series A funding. General Motors Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Drive Capital, Intact Ventures, and Real Ventures.
• Paragraf, a U.K.-based graphene technology development company, raised £2.9 million ($4 million) in seed funding. Cambridge Enterprise led the round, and was joined by investors including Parkwalk Advisors, Amadeus Capital Partners, and IQ Capital Partners.
• Covee, a network for decentralized data science collaboration, raised €1.35 million ($1.62 million) in seed funding. LocalGlobe led the round, and was joined by investors including Atlantic Labs.
HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES DEALS
• Crescendo Biologics Ltd, a U.K.-based biopharmaceutical company, raised $70 million in Series B funding. Andera Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Quan Capital.
• Attenua Inc, a developer of new chronic cough treatments, raised $35 million in Series A funding. Omega Funds led the round, and was joined by investors including Abingworth, OrbiMed and Redmile Group LLC.
• NovellusDx, an Israel-based provider of functional genomics, raised $6 million in funding. Investors include Helsinn Group, Bio Capital Impact Fund and Windham Venture Partners.
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
• L3 Technologies (NYSE:LLL) agreed to sell its Vertex Aerospace business to American Industrial Partners for $540 million in cash.
• L Catterton made an investment in Dentalcorp, a Canada-based network of general and specialist dental clinics. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Permira agreed to acquire Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions (SPVSS) business, to create a new company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Peter C. Foy & Associates Insurance Services LLC, which is backed by BHMS and Madison Capital, made four acquisitions: R.L. Milsner, Inc. Insurance Brokerage, Senex Insurance Services, Inc, Stratton Agency and Clark & Associates of Nevada Inc. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Anne Arundel Dermatology Management, a portfolio company of New MainStream Capital, acquired Tideway Dermatology, a Maryland-based dermatology practice. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Warren Equity Partners acquired Meridian Waste, a St. Louis, Mo., and Richmond, Va.-based solid waste company. No financial terms were disclosed.
• Future Planet Capital acquired a stake in Halo Neuroscience, a San Francisco-based developer of a neurostimulation headset, for $1 million.
OTHER DEALS
• Walmart Inc. will sell its British arm Asda Group Ltd. to rival J Sainsbury in a deal that values the chain at about £7.3 billion ($10.1 billion), according to the Wall Street Journal. Under the terms of the deal, Walmart gets a 42% stake in the combined company and almost £3 billion in cash. Read more.
IPOs
• Tencent Music, the Chinese music streaming giant, has called for banks to pitch for its $4 billion IPO in the U.S., IFR reports citing sources. Read more.
• Vinhomes JSC, a Vietnamese property developer, filed to raise $1.4 billion in the countries largest ever IPO. Read more.
• Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, a Lexington, Mass.-based firm creating products for autoimmune conditions, filed for an IPO of up to $100 million. Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are underwriters in the deal. Baker Bros. Advisors backs the firm. The firm plans to list on the Nasdaq as “KNSA.” Read more.
• Greensky, an Atlanta, Ga.-based sales platform, filed to raise $100 million in an IPO. Pacific Investment Management Company and TPG back the firm. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley are underwriters in the deal. The firm plans to list as “GSKY.” It has not yet chosen an exchange. Read more.
• Evelo Biosciences, a Cambridge, Mass.-basd biotech focused on the gut, said it plans to raise $85 million in an IPO of 5.31 million shares priced between $15 to $17. Flagship Pioneering (68% pre-offering) and Fidelity (7%) back the firm. Morgan Stanley, Cowen, and BMO Capital are underwriters in the deal. The firm plans to list on the Nasdaq as “EVLO.” Read more.
• Scholar Rock Holding, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech developing diseases in which protein growth plays a main factor, filed to raise $75 in an IPO. Fidelity (15%), Polaris Venture (14%), ARCH Venture (14%), and Artal International (10%) back the firm. Jefferies, Cowen, and BMO Capital Markets are underwriters in the deal. Read more.
EXITS
• Greenbriar Equity Group sold Ryan Herco Flow Solutions, a Burbank, Calif.-based specialty distributor of flow solutions for mission-critical fluids, to SunSource. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• EQT agreed to sell Piab Group, a Sweden-based supplier of industrial vacuum technology solutions like vacuum ejectors, suction cups and vacuum conveyors, to Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
FIRMS + FUNDS
• Andra Capital raised more than $500 million for its blockchain-focused late-stage technology growth fund.
• Sky9 Capital, a China-focused venture firm, raised $200 million for its third fund.
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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.
