Briefing Venture

The Briefing: EA Buys Codemasters for $1.2B, Reddit Acquires Dubsmash, 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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EA buys Codemasters for $1.2B

Electronic Arts is buying U.K.-based game developer Codemasters in deal valued around $1.2 billion, after outbidding rival Take-Two Interactive.

London-based Codemasters is best known for its racing games, including its Formula One and Dirt racing game franchises. Combining with EA puts those titles under the same ownership as the popular racing game series Need for Speed.

The deal marks the largest acquisition to date for Electronic Arts.

Reddit acquires Dubsmash

Reddit announced that it has acquired short-form social video platform Dubsmash for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2014, New York-based Dubsmash previously raised at least $20 million in known venture funding, per Crunchase data. Its mission, per Reddit, is “to elevate under-represented creators.”

Going forward, Dubsmash will be run as its own entity and brand within Reddit.

Funding rounds

  • German Bionic raises $20M: German Bionic, an Augsburg, Germany-based startup developing exoskeleton technology that people can wear to augment their physical abilities, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Samsung Catalyst Fund and German investor MIG AG.
  • Neufund raises 4M euros: Neufund, a fintech startup headquartered in Liechtenstein that connects innovative companies seeking capital with progressive investors, announced a raise of 4 million euros led by Atlantic Labs and Udo Schloemer.
  • Cnote banks $3M for social investing: CNote, an Oakland, California-based financial technology platform focused on socially responsible investing, closed a $3 million funding round led by ManchesterStory.

M&A

MassMutual to acquire Flourish: Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) and Stone Ridge Asset Management announced that MassMutual will acquire Flourish, a fintech platform for registered investment advisers. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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