The Crunchbase News Briefing: Fri., Oct. 16

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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Ant Group raises IPO valuation to $280B

Chinese fintech giant Ant Group  reportedly plans to increase the valuation target for its initial public offering to at least $280 billion due to strong demand.

The Hangzhou-based company is said to be increasing the target by at least 12 percent from a prior estimate of $250 billion, with plans to raise about $35 billion in the offering.

The offering is poised to set records for its enormous size, with same-day listings planned in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Funding rounds

• Fivestars raises $52.5M: Fivestars, an integrated payment processing and marketing platform, announced it has raised $52.5 million in a combination of Series D equity and debt financing. The Series D was led by Salt Partners.
• Popmenu inks $17M: Popmenu, an Atlanta-based digital marketing and ordering SaaS platform for restaurants, raised $17 million in a Series B funding round. Bedrock Capital led the round with participation from existing investors Base10 Partners and Felicis Ventures, as well as new investors Mantis Ventures and Chapter One Ventures. Popmenu plans to develop more features to streamline ordering for customers.

Other news

• Engineer productivity declined amid COVID-19: Internal data from Google reportedly shows a decline in productivity among engineers working from home  amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particularly strong decline from those who were newly hired.

Illustration: Dom Guzman