Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the Crunchbase News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.
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Sinch acquires MessageMedia for $1.3B
Stockholm-based Sinch, a provider of cloud-based mobile customer engagement tools, announced that it will pay $1.3 billion to acquire MessageMedia, a mobile messaging platform.
Under terms of the deal, Sinch will pay $1.1 billion in cash for Melbourne, Australia-based MessageMedia, with the remainder of the purchase in stock.
Founded in 2000, MessageMedia focuses on tools enabling businesses to engage with customers through text messages, offering a platform that can be deployed without coding or API integrations.
— Joanna Glasner
Northvolt raises $2.75B for EV batteries
Swedish battery developer Northvolt has raised $2.75 billion in a new round of funding, the company said Wednesday. The round was co-led by Swedish pension funds AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4, along with OMERS Capital Markets. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its Swedish gigafactory and invest in research and development. Northvolt counts BMW and Volkswagen among its customers, and has raised more than $6.5 billion in funding.
— Sophia Kunthara
Scalable Capital raises over $180M Series E
Munich-based Scalable Capital, a digital wealth management platform for banks, insurers and corporations, raised over $180 million in a Series E funding round led by Tencent.
The latest financing brings total funding to date for the 7-year-old company to around $320 million. Operating in several European markets, Scalable offers a digital trading platform giving private investors the opportunity to manage their investments themselves.
— Joanna Glasner
Venture funds
SVLC raises $22M for second fund: SV Latam Capital, or SVLC, said Wednesday that it has raised $22 million for Fund II, its newest early-stage investment fund, which will be focused on investing in startups focused on technology that addresses issues such as climate change, world hunger and chronic disease. Limited partners in the fund include PayPal, IPG and investors Crystal Sacca and Chris Sacca.
“We are focused on three pillars: environment, society, and health, and we chose specific themes for each pillar,” Consuelo Valverde, founder and managing partner at SVLC, said in a statement announcing the new fund. “Whether you are a serial founder, a tech entrepreneur, or a scientist, we are here to help you build a breakthrough company, from the moment of inception.”
The San Francisco-based fund is receiving funding from PayPal as part of the San Jose-based fintech giant’s commitment, announced last month, to invest $50 million in Black- and Latino-led venture funds.
— Marlize van Romburgh
Rev1 launches second fund: Rev1 Ventures, the startup studio that combines capital and strategic services to help startups scale and corporates innovate, launched its second fund, Rev1 Fund II, a $20 million corporate-backed fund aimed at supporting high-growth companies in Ohio and beyond. The fund will support high-growth seed and early-stage companies in the digital health, health care IT, HR technology, fintech, insurtech, data analytics, enterprise SaaS and life sciences sectors.
— Christine Hall
Enterprise software
Stoke closes $15.5M Series A: Palo Alto-based Stoke closed a $15.5 million Series A led by Battery Ventures, with participation from all previous investors and angels including TLV Partners, Dynamic and Loop. The remote teams and freelance management platform developer has now raised $20 million.
— Chris Metinko
Clean tech
Terraformation lands $30M: Terraformation, a Hawaii-based forest restoration company, announced $30 million in funding, led by Sam Altman and Max Altman, to support its mission to help solve climate change by restoring thriving ecosystems to capture carbon across billions of acres of degraded land. The funding will be used to accelerate global forest restoration projects, support R&D and expand hiring.
— Christine Hall
Health care
Hawthorne Effect secures $20M: Hawthorne Effect, a San Francisco-based company facilitating decentralizing clinical trials, closed on $20 million in Series A funding to continue developing its technology for patient recruitment and retention, as well as accelerate growth and help scale the company’s operations. Northpond Ventures led the round, which gives the company $24 million in total funding, according to Hawthorne.
— Christine Hall
Fintech
Wagely banks $5.6M: Jakarta-based Wagely, a fintech startup that enables workers to access their already earned wages in real-time, announced $5.6 million in funding led by Integra Partners.
— Christine Hall
Tech news
Sweet providing NFTs for Dave & Buster’s: New York-based Sweet, a broad-scale enterprise NFT tool is working with entertainment giant Dave & Buster‘s to offer NFT/digital collectible coins and cards that can be claimed as prizes.
— Christine Hall
Cybersecurity
Aura lands $150M Series E: Burlington, Massachusetts-based Aura closed a $150 million Series E funding round led by Warburg Pincus. The company — which helps consumers protect their digital identity — has more than 1.7 million customers with more than $220 million in annual revenue. The company has raised approximately $450 million to date from investors including Accel, General Catalyst and WndrCo.
— Chris Metinko
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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