IPO COMING SOON
Good morning, Term Sheet readers.
Term Sheet reported two weeks ago that Bitmain Technologies, the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining company, was close to filing for an IPO. It would be in Hong Kong or in an overseas market with U.S. dollar-denominated shares.
According to a Bloomberg report, the company could raise as much as $3 billion in a public offering. Bitmain’s CEO plans to file a listing application with the Hong Kong stock exchange as early as September. Bitmain closed a private funding round in the past few weeks that valued the company at about $15 billion, up from the company’s most recently reported $12 billion valuation.
As we previously reported, Bitmain’s financials are eye-popping. The company reportedly brought in $1.1 billion in net profit just in the first quarter of 2018. A conservative estimate of what the company could earn in net profit for the full year hovers at approximately $2 to $3 billion, according to an email obtained by Term Sheet.
A Bitmain IPO would be a big step for the burgeoning crypto market as it attempts to move further into the mainstream.
Fortune recently sat down with Bitmain co-founder and co-CEO Jihan Wu, in which the billionaire addresses some of the controversy and conspiracy theories that have swirled around his company. Read the full story here.
BETTING ON OSCAR: Google’s parent company, Alphabet, will invest $375 million in digital health startup Oscar Health at a reported $3 billion valuation. The company was co-founded by CEO Mario Schlosser and Josh Kushner (the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared). Alphabet now owns approximately 10% in the startup.
Oscar was originally inspired by the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, but it’s now focused on branching out into more states and markets beyond Obamacare’s individual insurance exchanges. With this latest infusion of cash, CEO Schlosser says Oscar will be able to expand into more cities and move into the Medicare Advantage segment for seniors. Read more.
NOT A MATCH: Ah, Tinder. Tinder’s founders, along with a group of former and current executives, have filed a lawsuit against parent company IAC and its Match Group subsidiary, claiming that the companies manipulated financial information and “stole” billions of dollars from executives, including including founders Sean Rad, Justin Mateen, and Jonathan Badeen. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $2 billion in damages.
The group says the parent company bullied and repeatedly lied to employees “to cheat them out of the money,” by falsifying financial information, hiding growth projections, and delaying product releases.
The lawsuit also claims IAC executive and former Tinder CEO Gregg Blatt groped and sexually harassed a Tinder executive during a holiday party in 2016—and that IAC and Match covered up the alleged sexual abuses, because Blatt was leading efforts to cheat employees of compensation.
IAC and Match group responded and said the allegations were “meritless” and that “sour grapes alone do not a lawsuit make.”
IAC, Match, and Tinder have had a complicated history with harassment. In 2014, Bumble CEO and Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd filed a lawsuit against Tinder and its parent companies, claiming she was harassed and forced out of the startup. “Although it is tempting to describe the conduct of Tinder’s senior executives as ‘frat-like,’ it was in fact much worse – representing the worst of the misogynist, alpha-male stereotype too often associated with technology startups,” the lawsuit said. Mateen left the company, and the suit was settled for a reported $1 million.
But wait, there’s more lawsuits! In March, Match sued Bumble over patent infringement and misuse of intellectual property. Bumble followed up with a $400 million suit of its own later that month, calling Match “a bully.” In other words, everyone is suing everyone.
I encourage you to read Fortune’s recent deep dive into Match Group if you’re interested in learning more about the complicated nature of the dating business.
THE LATEST FROM FORTUNE...
• Y Combinator Is Heading to China
• Uber's New Security Chief Is Ex-NSA. Is He Up to Its Transparency Challenge? (by David Meyer)
• NBA Stars Andre Iguodala and Jaylen Brown Talk Tech, Investing, and Championships (by Jonathan Vanian)
• What Big Tech's New Alliance Means for the Health of AI (by David Meyer)
VENTURE DEALS
• Progressa, a Canada-based fintech company leveraging big data to improve lending outcomes for sub-prime consumers, raised $84 million in Series B funding. Gravitas Securities and Canaccord Genuity co-led the round.
• AuditBoard, a La Palma, Calif.-based cloud-software platform for automating the way enterprises handle critical risk, audit and compliance work, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Battery Ventures led the round.
• Twistlock, a Portland-based provider of container and cloud native cyber security, raised $33 million in Series C funding. ICONIQ Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including YL Ventures, TenEleven, Rally Ventures, Polaris Partners and Dell Technologies Capital.
• Axoni, a New York-based provider of enterprise blockchain technology, raised $32 million in Series B funding. Goldman Sachs and Nyca Partners led the round, and were joined by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Citi, Coatue Management, Digital Currency Group, F-Prime Capital, Franklin Templeton Investments, J.P. Morgan, NEX Group, Wells Fargo and Y Combinator.
• Ubiquity6, a San Francisco-based provider of an AR platform, raised $27 million in Series B funding. Benchmark and Index Ventures co-led the round.
• RevJet, a San Carlos, Calif.-based operator of an online platform for audience-based ad creatives, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Nautic Partners led the round.
• Owl Cameras, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of an automobile security camera, raised $10 million in a Series A1 funding. Canvas Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Defy, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Sherpa Capital and CSAA Insurance Group.
• Full Harvest, a San Francisco-based provider of a B2B platform that connects large farms to food companies to sell surplus and imperfect produce, raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. Spark Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, Wireframe Ventures, Rent the Runway founder Jenny Fleiss, Jon Scherr and Adam Zeplain of Mark.vc.
• Backbone PLM, a Boulder, Colo.-based cloud-based platform that enables brands to streamline the product development process, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Signal Peak Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Grotech Ventures, Spider Capital, Novel TMT Ventures, Beanstalk Ventures, Brainchild Holdings and Peterson Ventures.
• meQuilibrium, a Boston-based provider of a digital coaching platform, raised $7 million in Series C funding. HLM Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Chrysalis Ventures and Safeguard Scientifics.
• Capillary Biomedical Inc, an Irvine, Calif.-based diabetes management startup, raised $2.9 million in funding. Cove Fund led the round.
• BioBeats, a London-based provider of digital health products, raised 2.4 million pounds ($3 million) in funding. Oxford Sciences Innovation, White Cloud and IQ Capital led the round.
• Concourse Global, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based educational tech company, raised $2 million in seed funding. Colle Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including A-Star Education and Third Kind VC.
HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCES DEALS
• Orchard Therapeutics, a London-based biotechnology company, raised $150 million in funding, according to Reuters. Read more.
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
• Blue Point Capital Partners recapitalized Next Level Apparel, a Gardena, Calif.-based maker of casual apparel for the promotional product, ad specialty and other decorated apparel markets. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Dwyer Group, which is backed by Harvest Partners, acquired Mosquito Joe, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based franchisor in the mosquito control services industry. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• Alpine Investors made an investment in VHT, an Akron, Ohio-based provider of customer experience solutions. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• AdSwerve, which is backed by Abry Partners, acquired Analytics Pros Inc, a Seattle-based Google Analytics 360 and Google Cloud partner and reseller, for $24 million.
• ClearCompany, a recruiting and talent management software solution, raised $60 million in funding. Primus Capital led the round.
OTHER DEALS
• Accenture (NYSE: ACN) made a minority investment in Malong Technologies, a China-based artificial intelligence startup. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• BuildingConnected acquired TradeTapp, a New York-based subcontractor risk analysis platform. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
• New York Media, a New York-based owner of New York magazine and several websites is exploring options including a sale, according to The Wall Street Journal. Read more.
EXITS
• PWP Growth Equity sold Western Window Systems, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based door and window manufacturer, to PGT Innovations Inc for $360 million in cash.
• littleBits acquired DIY Co., a San Francisco-based maker of the largest online learning community for kids. Financial terms weren't disclosed. DIY had raised approximately $9.5 million in funding from investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Founder Collective, Spark Capital, and Slow Ventures.
FIRMS + FUNDS
• GGV Capital, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture firm, is seeking to raise $1.88 billion for its seventh fund, according to an SEC filing.
• Summit Park, a Charlotte, N.C.-based investment firm, raised $245 million for its third fund.
• Amino Capital, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture firm, raised $20.5 million for its third fund, according to an SEC filing.
PEOPLE
• Borgman Capital named Jeffrey Germanotta a managing director.
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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.
