The Briefing: Bumble Raises IPO Range, SentinelOne Buys Scalyr, And More

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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Bumble raises IPO pricing range

Dating app Bumble has increased the share price range for its upcoming initial public offering to between $37 and $39 apiece.

Previously, the company set a range of between $28 and $30. At the increased range, the company could raise up to $1.8 billion by selling 45 million shares.

According to IPO Scoop, Bumble is expected to start trading Thursday under the ticker BMBL, a few days before Valentine’s Day.

— Sophia Kunthara

SentinelOne Buys Scalyr for $155M

 Mountain View, California-based SentinelOne, an endpoint security company, bought data analytics platform Scalyr for $155 million.

The San Mateo, California-based company’s platform will be integrated into SentinelOne’s extended detection and response offering, allowing it to ingest large amounts of data in realtime from platforms including Microsoft, AWS, Google and CrowdStrike to help find malicious behaviors. 

SentinelOne competes in the endpoint sector which has seen consolidation in recent years with Cylance and Carbon Black being acquired. Its competitors include Symantec and Trend Micro.

The company has raised more than $696 million of funding since being founded in 2013, according to Crunchbase data.

— Chris Metinko

Reddit raises $250M as valuation soars to $6B

Reddit secured $250 million in fresh funding as its valuation soared to $6 billion, roughly double its value a year ago.

The financing follows a period in which the social media company has been heavily in the spotlight as stock traders used the forum to push trades in GameStop and other companies. Reddit has also been adding users amid the COVID-19 pandemic as people look for ways to stay engaged online.

Vy Capital led the financing for San Francisco-based Reddit, bringing the total raised since its inception in 2005 to around $800 million.

Fintech and e-commerce

• Mesh, Jackpocket raise rounds: Corporate payments processor Mesh Payments raised a $13 million financing round, led by TLV Partners, with participation from Meron Capital, R-Squared Ventures and a group of angel investors. Mesh, headquartered in New York, said it increased its paying customers last year by 20 times. The funding will be used on its go-to-market strategy and establishing partnerships. And Jackpocket, a third-party app providing a secure way to order official state lottery tickets, said it closed on $50 million in Series C funding by a group of investors that includes Raine Group.
• Fabric secures $43M: Fabric, which is building a headless commerce platform, said it raised a $43 million Series A funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners. The news comes four months after the Bellevue, Washington-based company announced $9.5 million in seed funding. Although e-commerce is booming, known investment into the space was down slightly last year. Investors infused $2.4 billion into 128 deals in the U.S. in 2020, compared with $2.5 billion in 195 deals in 2019, according to Crunchbase data. Globally, that was $4 billion in 363 deals in 2020, compared with $5.1 billion in 534 deals the year prior. Global e-commerce is now a $3.9 trillion market with online sales expected to make up 19.2 percent of all U.S. retail spending by 2024.

— Christine Hall

Health care

• Koa, Daybreak raise funds to focus on mental health: Koa Health, a digital mental health care provider, closed on an oversubscribed $36 million Series A round. Wellington Partners Life Sciences and Ancora Finance Group led the first close of the round and are now joined by MTIP and others. The new funds will be used by the Spain-based company for R&D and to expand internationally into the U.S. In addition, online teen counseling platform Daybreak Health, headquartered in San Francisco, raised $1.8 million in seed funding led by Maven Ventures. The company’s platform matches teens to counselors and is developing its clinical and software engineering team to increase its reach within California and expand into additional states. Startups in this space are also gaining attention from investors. In a list of U.S. startups working in mental health, 140 deals were venture-backed within the past five years. In fact, investors pumped $1.3 billion into these companies during that time frame, according to Crunchbase data. This comes as more than half of adults reported that pandemic-related stress and worry is having a negative impact on their mental health.
• Sitka, Nanome, PatientsLike Me raise funds for virtual care, discovery: Sitka, a customizable video software platform and virtual specialty provider network, announced $14 million in Series A funding led by Venrock. The San Francisco-based company aims to expand access to specialty care through a telehealth platform connecting providers to specialists. Meanwhile, virtual reality software company Nanome closed on a $3 million round led by Bullpen Capital. The San Diego-based company provides an open platform for virtual collaboration for scientific discovery. And, personalized health network PatientsLikeMe raised $26 million in financing led by Alta Partners and others. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, PatientsLikeMe will use the funds to support people managing significant health conditions. Digital health startups are likely to see more investment as people rethink the way health care is delivered. Investors in the space poured record investment dollars into digital health startups in 2020: $14.2 billion globally and $9.2 billion domestically, according to Crunchbase data. Investments in 2021 could rival 2020 as investors expect innovation to come from areas such as data interoperability, mental health and personalized care.
• RapidSOS, Mate Fertility raise rounds: RapidSOS, which created an emergency response data platform, announced $85 million in Series C funding led by Insight Partners. The investment brings the New York-based company’s total funding to $200 million and will be used to connect emergency data to first responders. Mate Fertility, a Los Angeles-based company offering affordable and accessible fertility services, closed a $2.8 million funding round led by Struck Capital. Funds will go toward building the company’s management team and launching new clinics.

— Christine Hall

M&A

DoorDash acquires Chowbotics: Food delivery service DoorDash announced that it is acquiring Chowbotics, a startup best known for its salad-making robot, Sally, for an undisclosed sum. Hayward, California-based Chowbotics, which focuses on robotics for the food services industry, previously raised $21 million in known funding.

New funds

Finch Capital launches European fintech fund: Finch Capital, a venture firm based in Amsterdam and London, announced a first close of a 150 million-euro ($181 million) fund, Europe III, which will go to fintech and artificial intelligence companies shaping the future of finance.

Illustration: Dom Guzman