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Circle’s raise is the latest in the crypto cash rush

Rey Mashayekhi
By
Rey Mashayekhi
Rey Mashayekhi
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Rey Mashayekhi
By
Rey Mashayekhi
Rey Mashayekhi
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 1, 2021, 9:48 AM ET
Circle founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire.
Circle founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire.David L. Ryan—Boston Globe/Getty Images

Good morning, and hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. This is Fortune finance reporter Rey Mashayekhi, filling in for Lucinda while she takes a well-deserved break.

Our colleague Robert Hackett had the scoop Friday on cryptocurrency startup Circle’s latest raise, a $440 million injection of new funding from the likes of asset management giant Fidelity and crypto exchange FTX. As Robert explains, it’s the latest boon for a crypto sector that is seeing unprecedented appetite from investors in the private and public markets alike.

While the Boston-based, blockchain-enabled payments startup declined to disclose its latest valuation in wake of the funding, it’s believed that Circle is now eying a SPAC deal that would take it public at a $4 billion valuation. In addition to taking advantage of the ongoing—yet somewhat cooling—SPAC craze, that listing would see Circle become the latest crypto player to tap the public markets at a moment when Wall Street investors are flocking to a space they long viewed with skepticism, if not outright derision.

The tipping point may well have been Coinbase’s April IPO, which ranked as one of the largest new listings in Wall Street’s history. Though the crypto exchange has since struggled to top its $250-per-share reference price, it’s still trading at prices that give it a market capitalization of nearly $50 billion. More importantly, as the first major cryptocurrency company to go public in the U.S., Coinbase has kicked down the barriers of market psychology for Circle and other crypto firms, for whom the idea of a public listing would have been fanciful not long ago.

Circle’s eight-year journey has seen the company cycle in and out of various business lines in search of a sweet spot. It discontinued Circle Pay, its peer-to-peer payments app, in 2019, and has since refocused efforts on its stablecoin, the dollar-backed USD Coin (or USDC), which now has a circulation of more than $22 billion. Circle collaborated with none other than Coinbase on USDC, and recently struck a partnership with Visa allowing businesses worldwide to transact with the stablecoin.

It’s those kinds of inroads with established players—designed to facilitate practical end-use applications for nascent cryptocurrencies—that help crypto startups overcome the dogma that colors the way much of the financial establishment continues to view them. A few more multibillion-dollar public listings surely couldn’t hurt, either.

Wanda luring investors by the score: In April, it emerged that Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group was looking to raise 20 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) in a pre-IPO funding round for its commercial property management business, Wanda Light Asset Commercial Management. So far, it sounds like the Beijing-based giant is having no problem drumming up interest; Bloomberg reports that more than 20 investors have expressed a willingness to contribute to the funding round, including sovereign wealth funds, Chinese tech firms, and private equity funds.

***

As ever, you’ll find today’s deals below. Enjoy your Tuesday and see you again tomorrow.

Rey Mashayekhi
Twitter: @reym12
Email: rey.mashayekhi@fortune.com

Anne Sraders helped curate this version of Term Sheet.

VENTURE DEALS

- Wefox, a Berlin-based digital insurer focused on personal insurance products, raised $650 million in Series C funding, valuing it at $3 billion. Target Global led the round and was joined by investors OMERS Ventures, Gsquared, Merian, Horizons Ventures, Eurazeo, Mubadala, Creditease, Salesforce Ventures, Speedinvest, Alma Mundi Ventures, Victory Park Capital, GR Capital, Mountain Partners, Seedcamp, and Sound Ventures. New investors include LGT, Partners Group, Jupiter, and FinTLV.

- Circle, a Boston-based financial technology firm that provides payments infrastructure for businesses, raised $440 million in funding. Investors included Fidelity Management and Research Company, Marshall Wace, Willett Advisors, Intersection Fintech Ventures, Atlas Merchant Capital, Digital Currency Group, FTX, Breyer Capital, Valor Capital Group, Pillar VC, and Michael J. Price and Friends. 

- Bought By Many, a London-based digital pet insurance provider, raised $350 million in Series D funding at a pre-money valuation of more than $2 billion. EQT Growth led the round and was joined by investors Octopus Ventures and Munich Re Ventures.

- QuintoAndar, a São Paulo-based digital real estate marketplace, raised $300 million in Series E funding, valuing it at $4 billion. Ribbit Capital led the round and was joined by investors including SoftBank, LTS, Maverik, Alta Park, Kaszek Ventures, Dragoneer and Accel’s Kevin Efrusy.

- Delhivery, an India-based e-commerce logistics firm, raised $277 million in funding, valuing it at $3 billion. Fidelity led the round and was joined by investors GIC, Chimera, and Baillie Gifford.

- Flash Express, a Thailand-based e-commerce logistics firm, raised $150 million in Series D+ and Series E funding, valuing it at more than $1 billion. SCB 10X led the Series D and was joined by investor Chan Wanich Security Printing Company. Buer Capital led the Series E and was joined by investors SCB 10X, eWTP Capital, PTT, Durbell, and Krungsri Finnovate.

- Homeward, an Austin-based digital home-buying startup, raised $136 million in Series B funding, valuing at more than $800 million. Norwest Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors Blackstone, Breyer Capital, Adams Street, Javelin, and LiveOak Venture Partners.

- Anthropic, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research firm, raised $124 million in Series A funding. Jaan Tallinn led the round and was joined by investors James McClave, Dustin Moskovitz, Eric Schmidt and the Center for Emerging Risk Research.

- Binx Health, a Boston-based health care technology and diagnostics firm, raised $104 million in Series E funding. OrbiMed led the round and was joined by investors Arrowmark Partners, Hildred Capital Management, Alta Life Sciences, Parian Global, LSP, and Johnson & Johnson.

- Chipper Cash, a cross-border payments startup focused on the African market, raised $100 million in Series C funding. SVB Capital led the round and was joined by investors Decines Capital, Ribbit Capital, One Way Ventures, 500 Startups, Tribe Capital, Brue2 Ventures, and Jeff Bezos.

- Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals, a Shanghai-based biotech company focused on immunology-related treatments, raised $100 million in Series C funding. HighLight Capital and Panacea Venture led the round and were joined by investors VMS Asset Management and Triwise Capital.

- GenapSys, a Redwood City, Calif.-based genomic sequencing firm, raised $70 million in Series D funding. Farallon Capital Management and Soleus Capital led the round.

- Scientia Vascular, a Salt Lake City-based medical device company, raised $50 million in growth equity funding. Vivo Capital led the round.

- MotoRefi, an Arlington, Va.-based digital auto refinancing startup, raised $45 million in Series B funding. Goldman Sachs Asset Management led the round and was joined by investors IA Capital, Moderne Ventures, Accomplice, Link Ventures, Motley Fool Ventures, and CMFG Ventures.

- Truebill, a Silver Spring, Md.-based personal finance app, raised $45 million in Series D funding. Accel led the round and was joined by investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Cota Capital, and Eldridge Industries.

- Zenyum, a Singapore-based cosmetic dentistry startup, raised $40 million in Series B funding. L Catterton led the round and was joined by investors Sequoia Capital India, RTP Global, Partech, TNB Aura, Seeds Capital, and FEBE Ventures.

- Redacted, a San Francisco-based cloud security company, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Ten Eleven Ventures led the round and was joined by investors Valor Equity Partners and SVB Capital.

- Jai Kisan, a Mumbai-based consumer finance startup, raised $30 million in Series A funding. Mirae Asset led the round and was joined by investors Syngenta Ventures, Blume Ventures, Arkam Ventures, NABVENTURES, Prophetic Ventures and Better Capital.

- ElectroNeek, a San Francisco-based robotic process automation software platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding, valuing it at more than $100 million. Baring Vostok led the round and was joined by investors Dragon Capital, I2BF, Angelsdeck, YellowRockets.vc, and Gokul Rajaram.

- Plum, an India-based employee health insurance startup, raised $15.6 million in Series A funding. Tiger Capital led the round and was joined by investors Sequoia Capital India, Tanglin Venture Partners, Incubate Fund and Gemba Capital.

- HumanFirst, a San Francisco-based remote health care startup, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Maverick Ventures led the round and was joined by investors Lux Capital, Arkitekt Ventures, Boost VC, SV Angel, Village Global, and Threshold Ventures.

- Filtered, a Boston-based hiring platform for the engineering and technology industries, raised $7 million in seed funding from investors AI Fund and Silicon Valley Data Capital.

- Almentor, a Dubai-based video learning platform targeting Arabic speakers, raised $6.5 million in Series B funding. Partech led the round and was joined by investors Sawari Ventures, Egypt Ventures, and Sango Capital.

- Kitt, a London-based proptech startup connecting landlords and office tenants, raised $5 million in seed funding. Barclays Ventures led the round.

- Rocket Doctor, a Toronto-based telemedicine startup, raised $3.8 million in seed funding. F7 Ventures and Emergent Medical Associates’ Dr. Irv Edwards led the round.

- Paired, a London-based relationship app catering to couples, raised $3.6 million in seed funding. Eka Ventures led the round and was joined by investors Taavet Hinrikus and Harold Primat.

PRIVATE EQUITY

- KKR and Clayton Dubilier & Rice have agreed to acquire Cloudera, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based enterprise data cloud software company, in an all-cash transaction valued at $5.3 billion.

- KKR and TIGA Investments have agreed to acquire The Executive Centre, a Hong Kong-based flexible office space provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- KKR invested in EQuest Education Group, a Vietnam-based educational services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Silver Lakeinvested in Exact, a Netherlands-based provider of business and accounting software. Financial terms were not disclosed.

EXITS

- CAI Capital Partners has agreed to sellFeeney Utility Services, a Boston-based provider of maintenance and repair services to natural gas utilities, to Artera Services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Atlas Holdingshas soldBanker Steel, a Lynchburg, Va.-based steel fabricator, to DBM Global. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER

- HEXO Corp. has agreed to acquire fellow Canadian cannabis producer Redecan in a cash and stock transaction valued at 925 million Canadian dollars ($768 million).

IPOS

- Codex DNA, which makes an automated synthetic biology workstation and related solutions, filed to raise up to $100 million. The San Diego-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol DNAY.

- Sprinklr, which provides customer experience management software for enterprises, filed to raise up to $100 million. The New York City-based company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol CXM.

- Ambrx Biopharma, a Phase 2/Phase 3 oncology biotech developing engineered antibody-drug conjugates, filed to raise up to $100 million. The La Jolla, Calif.-based company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol AMAM.

- D-MARKET Electronic Services & Trading, which operates the e-commerce platform Hepsiburada in Turkey, filed to $100 million. The Istanbul-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol HBX.

- AhiHiuShou International, a pre-owned consumer electronics transactions and services platform in China, filed to raise up to $100 million. The Shanghai-based company plans to list on the NYSE under symbol RERE.

- First Advantage, which provides technology solutions for human capital management, filed to raise up to $100 million. The Atlanta-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol FA.

F+FS

- BBH Capital Partners, the New York-based private equity arm of Brown Brothers Harriman, closed its sixth fund with capital commitments totaling $1.215 billion. 

- Rockbridge Growth Equity Management, a Detroit-based private equity firm, closed its second fund with capital commitments totaling $345 million.  

About the Author
Rey Mashayekhi
By Rey Mashayekhi
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