Sexual harassment or gender discrimination lawsuits are rare in the tightly knit, still male-dominated world of venture capital and startups—a world where where nondisclosure agreements or non-disparagement clauses are prevalent and settlements typically precede public accusations.
That’s why high-profile cases such as the Ellen Pao-Kleiner Perkins case from 2012, the Whitney Wolfe-Tinder lawsuit in 2014, or the Ann Lai-Binary Capital lawsuit in 2022, made waves.
And it’s also why the ongoing litigation at equity management startup and unicorn darling Carta is remarkable. Carta—which was last valued at $7.4 billion two years ago and is backed by a16z, Silver Lake Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners—has now had three women file gender-related lawsuits against the company as of this summer. Another woman published an essay on Medium in 2020, laying out alleged grievances against the company. (Carta, its CEO Henry Ward, and CRO declined to comment for this story but, in court filings, have vehemently denied all allegations against them.)
I wrote about this in a feature story published this week, detailing the most recent allegations against the company. I also spoke with eight former and current employees, investors, and people familiar with the board and company to report the story, as well as reviewed a letter that Carta’s former CTO sent to Carta’s eight board members—which include Marc Andreessen, Joe Osnoss, etc.)—that prompted a board investigation this time last year. (Carta’s former CTO was fired two months after he sent the letter, and Carta is engaged in an ongoing lawsuit against him, alleging that he secretly recorded executives, among other claims.)
This plus a remarkable degree of turnover among Carta’s senior employees, seems to be plaguing the equity management company. “The perception is that [Ward] doesn’t really have control over anything, really, because of what is going on publicly,” a current Carta employee told me.
The venture capital and startup world is a small one, as is made evident by the resumes of people involved in the ongoing Carta lawsuits. We at Fortune have written extensively about how Pao’s case against Kleiner Perkins in 2012 (that she ultimately lost) helped lay ground for the #MeToo movement. Some of those very people are involved in Carta’s litigation. The lawyer defending Carta’s CRO, Jeff Perry, is Lynne Hermle—the same lawyer who defended Kleiner Perkins against Ellen Pao in 2012–2015. Perry’s wife, Jessica Perry, had also been on Kleiner’s legal defense team. And Matt Murphy sits on Carta’s board. He’s the one who fired Pao.
You can read the full story here if you want (please do!). And you can reach out to me below if you have relevant information as I continue to report on Carta.
Yesterday afternoon….Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave issued an apology after a tweet he wrote about Israel’s military response to the Hamas attacks prompted intense backlash and led the Israeli government and some speakers to cancel plans to attend the upcoming conference in Lisbon. “I understand that what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused profound hurt to many,” Cosgrave said in his apology, noting that he firmly believes that “Israel should adhere to international law and the Geneva Conventions – ie, not commit war crimes…even if atrocities were committed against it.”
The manifesto…By now you have probably read Marc Andreessen’s Techno-Optimist Manifesto. It goes into everything from how technology “opens the space of what it can mean to be human” to how tech ethics is the enemy. One thing it interestingly doesn’t mention is crypto.
Because I don’t say this enough, I would quickly like to say how grateful I am that you read this newsletter every day, and for the tips and constructive feedback you continue to send my way. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Term Sheet readers are truly the best in the business. Thank you for supporting the journalism we do here at Fortune.
See you tomorrow,
Jessica Mathews
Twitter: @jessicakmathews
Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- Nirvana, a San Francisco-based insurance provider for commercial car fleets, raised $57 million in Series B funding. Lightspeed Ventures led the round and was joined by General Catalyst and Valor Equity Partners.
- Nova Credit, a New York City-based data analytics company for lenders, raised $45 million in Series C funding. Canapi Ventures led the round and was joined by General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Y Combinator, Geodesic Capital, Harmonic Capital, and others.
- Lanes & Planes, a Munich, Germany-based booking, billing, and management platform for corporate travel, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Smash Capital led the round and were joined by existing investors Battery Ventures, coparion, DN Capital, and Allron.
- Darwinium, a San Francisco-based fraud detection platform for businesses, raised $18 million in Series A funding. U.S. Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Blackbird, Airtree Ventures, and Accomplice.
- Urban Sky, a Denver, Colo.-based developer of aerial imagery balloons, raised $9.75 million in Series A funding. New Legacy Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, and Lavrock Ventures led the round and were joined by Catapult Ventures, Union Labs VC, DA Ventures, and TenOneTen Ventures.
- Quote Machine, a Montreal, Québec-based provider of digital sales software for companies, raised $3.7 million in seed funding. Manresa Ventures led the round and was joined by Clocktower Technology Ventures and Precursor Ventures.
- Auquan, a London, U.K.-based compliance, analytics, and risk identification platform for financial services companies, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Neotribe Ventures led the round and was joined by Episode 1 and Stage 2 Capital.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- J.F. Lehman & Company took Crystal Clean, a Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based waste management, used oil-refining, and industrial services firm, private for approximately $1.2 billion.
- Addtronics, a portfolio company of Kaho Partners, acquired Sirius Automation, a Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based developer of laboratory robotic systems. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Anthesis, backed by The Carlyle Group, acquired Progressive, a London, U.K.-based growth consultancy company for businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Consolidated Equipment Group, a portfolio company of Dominus Capital, acquired PRO-DIG, an Elwood, Kan.-based manufacturer of foundation drilling equipment and tooling, and Dirt Dog Manufacturing, a Commerca, Ga.-based parts manufacturer for tractors and ATVs/UTVs.
- KKR agreed to acquire a minority stake in Catalio Capital Management, a New York City and London, U.K.-based investment firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Stax, backed by HarbourVest Partners, acquired Atlantic-Pacific Processing Systems, a Las Vegas, Nev.-based payment processing platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Flatfile acquired ChatCSV, a Burnley, Great Britain-based app designed to use AI to analyze data and produce insights from CSV files. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Mercer Global Advisors, backed by Harvest Partners, acquired Kingfisher Capital, a Charlotte, N.C.-based wealth management firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
- Hamilton Insurance Group, a Hamilton, Bermuda-based reinsurance and specialty insurance provider, filed to go public in the U.S. The company posted $1.2 billion in revenue for the year ending June 30, 2023. Magnitude Capital, Blackstone, Hopkins Holdings, Sango Holdings, Hamilton Investments, and MLC Investments back the company.
- Waystar Holding, a Lehi, Utah-based revenue management software provider for the healthcare industry, filed to go public. The company posted $747 million in revenue for the year ending June 30, 2023. EQT Partners, CPP Investment Board, Bain Investors, and Francisco Partners back the company.
PEOPLE
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a New York City-based private equity firm, hired Jonathan Porter as an operating advisor. Formerly, he was with Bright Health Group.
- Decibel Partners, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm, hired Jess Leão as a partner. Formerly, she was with Maverick Ventures.
- Firebrand Ventures, an Austin, Texas, Boulder, Colo., and Kansas City, Mo.-based venture capital firm, promoted Claire Hansen to partner. Formerly, she was with the Army Futures Commands' Corporate Ventures unit.
- Hoxton Ventures, a London, U.K.-based venture capital firm, hired Bryan Gartner as a partner. Formerly, he was with Khosla Ventures.
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