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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Blackstone raises $4.5B for first growth equity fund
Private equity giant Blackstone today announced the close of Blackstone Growth, its inaugural growth equity fund. With $4.5 billion in commitments, the firm says it is the largest first-time growth equity fund in history.
Blackstone says the fund will focus on providing capital to “entrepreneurs seeking to minimize the execution risks associated with high-growth environments.”
Previously, Blackstone has made a number of growth equity investments out of its other funds. This includes stakes in online dating company Bumble, oat milk pioneer Oatly, and enterprise software business ISN.
— Joanna Glasner
ThredUp sets IPO range
Online used clothing retailer ThredUp plans to offer 12 million shares, as part of its initial public offering, to raise as much as $168 million, according to the company.
Oakland-based ThredUp set the price range of the shares between $12 and $14 per share. The lead book-running managers are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Barclays.
ThredUp was founded in 2009 by Chris Homer, Dan DeMeyere, James Reinhart and Oliver Lubin to reimagine buying and selling secondhand women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes and accessories toward a more sustainable fashion industry.
It went on to raise more than $305 million in known venture funding, per Crunchbase data. The company’s most recent valuation, following a $175 million Series F funding in September 2019, was $650 million, per PrivCo data made available to Crunchbase. That round was led by Irving Investors and Park West Asset Management.
ThredUp filed its S-1 earlier this month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It revealed that it processed more than 100 million unique secondhand items since 2009 and saved users $3.3 billion when compared to purchasing new.
Competitors, including The RealReal entered the public markets in June 2019, while Poshmark, a social platform for buying and selling clothes and accessories, went public, also through IPO, in January.
ThredUp intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol TDUP and is expected to begin trading on March 26, according to IPO Scoop.
— Christine Hall
Funding rounds
China’s Momenta raises $500M for autonomous vehicles: China-based Momenta, a developer of autonomous driving technology, raised $500 million in a funding round with backing from strategic investors SAIC Motor, Toyota and Bosch.
— Joanna Glasner
Public offerings
Instil Bio raises $320M in IPO: Dallas-based Instil Bio, a venture-backed biotech developing immune cell therapies for cancer, announced that it raised $320 million in an upsized public offering. Shares will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol TIL.
— Joanna Glasner
New fund
Juxtapose raises second fund: New York venture fund Juxtapose said it raised $300 million for its second fund, bringing its total assets under management to $450 million. Founded by Jed Cairo and Patrick Chun in 2015, the fund invests in consumer technology companies. Its current portfolio includes Care/of, Tend, Orchard, Great Jones and DayForward.
— Christine Hall
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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