The Crunchbase News Briefing: Wed., Sept. 23

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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GOAT closes $100M Series E

GOAT Group, a Los Angeles-based marketplace for authentic sneakers, said it closed on a $100 million Series E round of funding that brings the 5-year-old company to $300 million in total funding raised from venture capital and strategic investors.

D1 Capital Partners led the round. GOAT’s last funding raise was a $100 million corporate round led by Foot Locker in February 2019. Backers in previous rounds included Accel, Index and Upfront Ventures.

GOAT, operating the GOAT and Flight Club brand of sneakers, has 30 million members and will use the new funds to accelerate growth across its product categories and geographies. It offers 350 brands of apparel and footwear via 13 locations in the U.S., Asia and Europe, while also shipping products to 170 international markets.

Salsify secures $155M Series E

Salsify, which provides brands with tools to track and analyze inventories, presentation and sales of goods on digital shelves, closed on $155 million in a Series E round of financing led by Warburg Pincus.

The round brings total financing for 8-year-old Salsify to more than $250 million, per Crunchbase data.

The new investment for Boston-based Salsify comes as brands are increasingly looking for ways to improve online sales, particularly as traffic to brick-and-mortar stores remains down amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longitude Capital raises largest fund to date to invest in healthtech

Longitude Capital said Wednesday that it has closed on its fourth fund, a $585 million investment vehicle that it will use to invest in biotech, medical technology and other health tech companies. The fund is its largest to date, it said.

“We are in the golden era of medical and biological innovation. The significant unmet clinical needs and the inefficiencies of our current healthcare system are driving meaningful scientific breakthroughs and creative solutions,” Longitude Capital co-founder and Managing Director Patrick Enright said in a statement.

The Menlo Park, California-based VC firm noted that since its inception in 2006, it has raised nearly $2 billion in cumulative capital and seen more than 30 of its portfolio companies exit via IPOs or acquisitions. Its portfolio company IPOs include 89bio; Aimmune, which recently agreed to be acquired by Nestlé Health Science; Axonics Modulation Technologies; Checkmate Pharmaceuticals;  Inozyme Pharma; Molecular Templates; Poseida Therapeutics; and Vaxcyte. It also invested in KaNDy Therapeutics, which was acquired by Bayer, and Inflazome, acquired by Roche.

Funding rounds

• Nutcracker raises $60M for ACORN platform: Nutcracker Therapeutics announced a $60 million Series B round of funding to further develop its ACORN platform, a first-of-its-kind, computer-controlled RNA manufacturing system that produces treatments on single-use biochips. The round was led by ARCH Venture Partners with participation from a group of investors including Bluebird Ventures.
• Common lands $50M: Common, a residential brand and operating platform, has raised $50 million in a Series D round led by Kinnevik. The company will use the funding to grow its residential platform globally. Common expects to have more than 6,000 units under management by the end of the year.
• Uncapped raises $26M for revenue-based financing: Uncapped, a provider of revenue-based financing with a focus on  European startup founders, has raised $26 million in a new round led by Mouro Capital.
• Freeletics secures $25M: AI-powered fitness coaching app Freeletics closed on a $25 million Series B funding round led by JAZZ Venture Partners and Causeway Media Partners, with support from KKCG. The new funds give Freeletics $70 million in total funding, according to Crunchbase data, and will be used to develop new technologies and business verticals, as well as expand internationally.
• daring raises $8M to make clean plant-based chicken: daring, a startup that is making faux chicken products from plants, announced the closing of its $8 million Series A funding round that will be used for growth through marketing, innovation and staffing. The round was led by Maveron, with participation from GoodFriends, Stray Dog Capital, Palm Tree Crew Investments, Mike Smith and Brian Swette.
• Leaf inks $2M for digital agriculture technology: Leaf, a food and agriculture data infrastructure company, said it raised a $2 million seed round led by Cultivan Sandbox Ventures, with participation from SP Ventures and existing investor Radicle Growth, to scale its data integration tools, grow the team, expand its integration network, and further engage international markets.

Other news

• Ant moves closer to IPO: China-based online payments platform Ant Group submitted documents for registration of the Shanghai portion of its initial public offering, moving a step closer to a planned dual-listing expected to be worth about $35 billion. The company plans to list simultaneously on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market and in Hong Kong in an offering that could come as early as October.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Correction: An earlier version of the Briefing provided incorrect information about Salsify’s latest funding round. It was a Series E raise, not a Series B.