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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Darktrace targets $4B London IPO
British cybersecurity company Darktrace has announced that it plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange. The company is reportedly targeting a public valuation of around $4 billion.
The Cambridge, U.K.-based company is known for applying AI to cybersecurity, with a focus on autonomous response technology. Founded in 2013, Darktrace has raised over $230 million in known funding to date, per Crunchbase data.
The IPO announcement follows an extended period of sharp growth. From fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2020, Darktrace said its revenue has grown from $79.4 million to $199.1 million at a compound annual growth rate of 58.3 percent.
— Joanna Glasner
The Honest Co. files for IPO
The Honest Co., offering eco-friendly products for babies and homes, filed IPO documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 9. The company is reportedly targeting a valuation of approximately $2 billion.
Actress Jessica Alba launched the company in 2012, and the Santa Monica, California-based company went on to raise $503 million in known venture-backed funding, according to Crunchbase data. The most recent was a $200 million private equity round led by L Catterton.
The filing did not give a price range or share count, but did reveal that the company’s revenue grew 27.6 percent from $235.6 million in 2019 to $300.5 million in 2020, with its diapers and wipes segment seeing the highest growth at 16 percent. At the same time, its net loss shrunk to $14.5 million in 2020 from $31 million in 2019.
— Christine Hall
Funding rounds
Memic lands $96M for surgical robot: Memic Innovative Surgery, a medical device company focused on robot-assisted surgery, raised $96 million in a Series D funding round led by Peregrine Ventures and Ceros. The Israel- and Fort Lauderdale-based company says funding will support commercialization of its surgical platform in the U.S. and potentially other countries.
— Joanna Glasner
Tend bites into $125M to expand dental studios: Tend, a New York-based dentistry startup, raised $125 million in Series C funding led by Addition, which was joined by existing backers GV, Juxtapose, Redpoint Ventures and Zigg Capital. Founded in 2019, the company has raised a total of $198 million, according to Crunchbase data. Tend plans to increase its New York locations to 20 this year, as well as expand into Washington, D.C., and Boston. In addition, the company intends to develop new dentist-designed products and build out its team across dental, operations and technology.
EcoCart bags $3 million for online shopping: EcoCart, a San Francisco-based e-commerce enablement startup, closed $3 million in seed funding led by Base10 Partners. The company offers an e-commerce plugin for merchants to offer a carbon neutral order option at checkout, as well as a Google Chrome extension that calculates the carbon footprint of users’ orders at over 10,000 stores and automatically offsets that impact by donating to independently verified carbon offsetting projects. EcoCart intends to use the capital injection to expand into new uses cases.
Sheesha Finance inks $9.44M: United Arab Emirates-based Sheesha Finance, a one-stop-shop decentralized finance mutual fund for investors to easily access a variety of DeFi projects, closed $9.44 million in funding raised through a Liquidity Generation Event. Backers in the deal included Quantum FinTech Group, A195 Capital and Protocol Ventures.
— Christine Hall
M&A
Microsoft eyes Nuance acquisition: Microsoft confirmed Monday it has entered into an agreement to acquire speech technology company Nuance Communications in an all-cash transaction valued at $19.7 billion. At that price, the deal would offer a premium of around 23 percent over publicly traded Nuance’s last closing share price of $56 per share. The acquisition will enable Microsoft to accelerate its cloud strategy for health care, called the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, which was introduced in 2020 and aims to address needs within the rapidly transforming and growing industry, Microsoft said.
— Joanna Glasner
Tipalti acquires Approve.com: San Mateo-based Tipalti, a payables automation platform, announced its intention to acquire Approve.com, a cloud procurement solutions provider. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. When combined, Tipalti will be the only company dedicated to mid-market businesses that automates the entire accounts payable cycle from procurement through to payment, according to the company. Tipalti most recently raised a $150 million Series E round, led by Durable Capital Partners, to give the company a more than $2 billion valuation and nearly $300 million in total fundraising, according to Crunchbase data.
— Christine Hall
Cybersecurity
Veriff secures $69M Series B: Online identity verification provider Veriff raised a $69 million Series B led by investment firms IVP and Accel. The Estonia-based cybersecurity company’s platform helps protect both businesses and customers from identity fraud. Founded in 2015, the company has raised $92.8 million to date and has more than 250 employees.
— Chris Metinko
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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