Briefing Venture

The Briefing: Taboola To Go Public Via SPAC, Clubhouse Raises New Round, And More

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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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Taboola to go public via SPAC

Taboola, the content recommendation engine well known for running links at the bottom of publishers’ pages, announced plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

The New York-based company plans to merge with a SPAC called ION Acquisition Corp., with the deal expected to close in the second quarter.  The combined company will operate under the Taboola name and will trade under the new symbol TBLA.

Founded in 2007, Taboola has raised $160 million in known venture funding to date, per Crunchbase data. Under terms of the planned merger, the company will have an initial valuation of around $2.6 billion.

Funding rounds

  • Clubhouse raises new funding: Clubhouse Voice, the social app for group chats, said it has raised a new funding round of  an undisclosed size with prior backer Andreessen Horowitz as lead investor.
  • Wolt nabs $530M for deliveries: Helsinki-based Wolt, a delivery app best known for restaurant orders, has raised $530 million in a fresh funding round led by ICONIQ Growth as it works to expand to other delivery categories.
  • BlackCart bags $8.8M for try-before-you-buy platform: Toronto-based BlackCart closed on $8.8 million in Series A funding led by Origin Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners. The company is developing a platform that enables customers to pick out items from e-commerce retailers, get them shipped to their homes for free and only pay for what they keep.
  • Yac raises $7.5M Series A for voice messagingFlorida based Yac, an asynchronous voice messaging platform raised $7.5 million in funding led by GGV Capital and previous investor the Slack Fund. In this remote work world, the service aims to help companies cut down on meetings with voice messages.
  • Hurdle secures $5M for mental health platform: Hurdle, a startup developing a teletherapy tool for employers and insurers to provide mental health care services for Black and minority communities, closed on a $5 million seed round co-led by 406 Ventures and Seae Ventures, with participation from F-Prime.
  • Goalsetter scores $3.9M to develop children’s financial literacy: Brooklyn-based Goalsetter, a children and family finance app that provides a next-generation, education-first banking experience, announced the raise of a $3.9 million seed round led by Astia.

 

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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