Briefing Venture

The Briefing: CoStar Buys Homesnap, Torchy’s Tacos bites into $400M, 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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CoStar to acquire Homesnap for $250M

CoStar Group, a leading provider of commercial property data, announced that it will pay $250 million in cash to acquire Homesnap, an online platform for real estate agents.

Founded in 2012, Washington, D.C.-based Homesnap previously raised $32 million in venture funding, per Crunchbase data. The company offers an online and mobile software platform used by over 300,000 agents nationwide to help manage workflow and enhance client relationships.

CoStar says it anticipates the addition of Homesnap’s offerings will quadruple the number of professional, paying brokers and active agent users on its U.S. platforms from approximately 100,000 today to over 400,000.

Torchy’s Tacos bites into $400M

Torchy’s Tacos, an Austin-based chain of hand-crafted taco restaurants, announced on Nov. 20 an investment led by General Atlantic, but later confirmed to Axios that it was $400 million. GA deepened its partnership with Torchy’s Tacos after initially investing in 2017.

This time, the firm is joined in the ownership group by D1 Capital Partners, T. Rowe Price, Lone Pine Capital and XN.

The new funding will be used to expand into 10 states over the next four years.

M&A

  • HelloFresh acquires Factor 75: U.S. subsidiaries of  meal kit company HelloFresh announced an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding equity interests of Factor 75, a provider of fully-prepared fresh meals, for up to $277 million.  Of that amount, $177 million is payable upon the closing of the transaction and up to $100 million is structured as a performance-based earn-out.
  • AvePoint to merge with Apex and go public: AvePoint, a data management solutions provider for the Microsoft cloud, agreed to combine with Apex Technology Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: APXT), a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal valued at $2 billion, according to the company. When the transaction closes, the combined company will be named AvePoint and will list under AVPT. AvePoint has raised $290 million in venture-backed funds since being founded in 2001, according to Crunchbase data.
  • Vettery acquires Hired: AI-driven talent marketplace Vettery announced it has acquired Hired, a job search marketplace for techworkers. News of the deal comes after The Information reported last week that Hired had started the process of selling assets and winding down. Vettery CEO Josh Brenner declined to share details of the deal last Friday when he spoke to Crunchbase News, including the purchase price and if it was an asset sale or acquisition. According to Brenner, joining forces with Hired made sense: While the companies have been competitors over the years, they found there was only a 5 percent overlap in their customer and candidate bases. “It truly is a complimentary opportunity that we found and in a marketplace business like the one we’re operating in, scale is key, and it also provides a lot of efficiencies,” he said. Hired, which has raised more than $132 million in funding, was last valued at $500 million, per The Information.

Funding rounds

  • Catamaran Bio launches with $42M for tumor therapy: Catamaran Bio, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company developing cell therapies to treat cancer, launched with $42 million in financing. Sofinnova Partners and Lightstone Ventures co-led the Series A round that is part of the launch financing, with participation by founding investor SV Health Investors, as well as Takeda Ventures and Astellas Venture Management.
  • MeUndies closes on $40M for clothing line: MeUndies, a Los Angeles–based underwear and loungewear company, raised $40 million in growth equity from Provenance to expand its product lines, production and distribution.
  • CreditKey inks $33.85M for lending tool: Credit Key, a Venice, California-based B2B e-commerce payments tool, closed $33.85 million in Series A financing from Greycroft, Bonfire Ventures, Loeb.nyc and other investors to continuing developing its “buy now pay later” point-of-sale lending tool.
  • Boulevard raises $27M for hospitality businesses: Boulevard, a West Hollywood-based business management platform for salons and spas, announced $27 million in Series B funding, co-led by Index Ventures and Toba Capital, with participation from VMG Partners, Bonfire Ventures, Ludlow Ventures and BoxGroup.
  • Gatik raises $25M for autonomous logistics: Gatik, a Palo Alto- and Toronto-based startup developing technology for deploying autonomous vehicles for short-haul  logistics, announced it has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Wittington Ventures and Innovation Endeavors.
  • GT Medical Technologies secures $16M for brain tumor treatmentGT Medical Technologies, a Tempe, Arizona-based company, announced $16 million in Series B funding toward commercial expansion of its GammaTile Therapy, a surgically targeted radiation therapy for patients with brain tumors. The round was led by MVM Partners with participation from returning investors MedTech Venture Partners and BlueStone Venture Partners.
  • Hellosaurus inks $3M for child entertainment: Hellosaurus, a New York-based company developing an interactive video platform for children, launched the beta version of its mobile app following a round of $3.5 million of seed funding led by General Catalyst.
  • Cure Hydration lands $2.6M: Cure Hydration, a New York-based company developing an organic, plant-based hydration brand, raised $2.6 million in seed funding to continuing expanding beyond 4,200 retail stores nationwide. The round was led by Lerer Hippeau.

New funds

  • Ibex Investors closes $100M fund: Denver-based Ibex Investors closed on its second Israel fund, Ibex Israel VC LP, with $100 million in total capital commitments. The company now has $670 million in assets under management and invests in seed through IPO across enterprise software, cybersecurity and other domains. Since 2012, Ibex has made 23 early- and growth-stage investments in Israel.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

 

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