Term Sheet -- Thursday, March 8
TRAVIS KALANICK, THE VENTURE CAPITALIST
Good morning, Term Sheet readers.
M&A: Health insurer Cigna Corp. plans to buy Express Scripts Holding Co. in a cash-and-stock deal worth $67 billion (includes the assumption of $15 billion in debt). Express Scripts has been under pressure amid consolidation in the health industry. Read more.
SECOND ACT: Meet Travis Kalanick, the investor. Uber’s ex-CEO re-emerged with a new fund. He tweeted that he will form 10100, an investment fund that will be home to his “passions, investments, ideas, and big bets.” He adds that the fund will focus on “large-scale job creation” with investments in real estate, e-commerce, and emerging innovation in China and India. In other words, this says everything and nothing at the same time. It covers a lot of ground, but I’m working on getting more details.
Kalanick will invest his own capital, and he has plenty of it. His new fund comes on the heels of the news that he sold 29% (worth about $1.4 billion) of his stake in Uber. As he begins this next chapter, it’s not likely Kalanick will make a play to come back to Uber and “Steve Jobs” it.
#StartWithEight: We all know the stats. Only 2% of venture funding went to female founders in 2017, and just 8% of partners at the top venture capital firms are women. In honor of International Women’s Day, venture firm Alpha Edison wrote a Medium post about “doing something about these statistics through action.”
The post urges male and female investors to take meetings with eight women outside of their networks in the month of March. So far, 29 firms, including Canaan Partners, 8VC, and Flybridge Capital Partners, have signed the pledge to do so. People have also started using the hashtag #StartWithEight to highlight female founders and investors in the industry. Read more.
BRAINSTORM TECH 2018: Fortune has announced its speakers for the annual Brainstorm Tech Conference in Aspen. Speakers include Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Lyft president John Zimmer, Walmart’s head of digital Marc Lore, and former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
Speakers from the world of venture capital include: Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures and Bradley Tusk of Tusk Ventures. See the full list here.
THE LATEST FROM FORTUNE…
• Snap Prepares For a Fresh Round of Job Cuts (by David Meyer)
• 7 Women VCs on How Female Founders Can Get More Venture Dollars (by Polina Marinova)
• How UX Is Being Changed by New Technology (by Eli Meixler)
• Owning an Actual Car Is Soon Going to Seem Obsolete. (by Debbie Yong)
…AND ELSEWHERE
Fantasy sports site FanDuel in talks to go public. Spotify picks Citadel Securities to handle NYSE debut. Meet JAB, the secretive company building a coffee empire. Facebook ad costs spiked higher after a big change to its News Feed algorithm.
VENTURE DEALS
• Nubank, a Brazil-based financial startup, raised $150 million in funding.DST Global Investment Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Founders Fund, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital LP and QED.
• Ancient Nutrition, a Franklin, Tenn.-based bone broth protein supplementation company, raised $103 million in funding. Investors include VMG Partners, Hillhouse Capital, and ICONIQ Capital.
• solarisBank, a Germany-based banking platform with a full banking license, raised 56.6 million euros ($70 million) in Series B funding. Investors include Arvato Financial Solutions, SBI Group, BBVA, Visa, Lakestar and ABN AMRO’s Digital Impact Fund.
• Atom Tickets, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based developer of an application that allows users to find and buy movie tickets and concessions, raised $60 million in Series C funding. Investors include Fidelity Management & Research Company.
• TripActions, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based business travel platform, raised $51 million in Series B funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Oren Zeev of Zeev Ventures.
• Netsparker, a U.K.-based developer of web application security scanning software, raised $40 million in funding. Turn/River Capital led the round.
• Qualia, a San Francisco-based real estate technology company, raised $33 million in Series B funding. Menlo Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including 8VC, Bienville Capital and Barry Sternlicht.
• Starsky Robotics, a San Francisco-based self-driving truck startup, raised $16.5 million in funding. Investors include Shasta Ventures, Y Combinator, Trucks.vc, 50 Years, and 9Point Ventures.
• Eight, a New York-based developer of a smart bed cover, raised $14 million in Series B funding. Investors include Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, and Yunqi Partners.
• FishBrain, a Stockholm-based mobile social network for sport fishing, raised $13.5 million in a Series B funding. B Capital Group led the round.
• Wildflower Health, a San Francisco-based mobile health software company, raised $8 million in funding. Health Enterprise Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Hatteras Venture Partners and Echo Health.
• M.io, an Austin, Texas-based startup developing a universal messaging network, raised $5.75 million in funding. Investors include Goldcrest Capital, Eniac Ventures and Two Sigma Ventures.
• Blockdaemon, a New York City-based blockchain deployment facilitator, raised approximately $3.3 million in funding. Investors include Comcast, Boldstart, MState and Plug and Play.
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
• Spice Private Equity, an affiliate of GP Investments, will acquire Bravo Brio Restaurant Group (Nasdaq: BBRG) for $100 million.
• Vopne Capital made an investment in RatPac Dimmers, a Van Nuys, Calif.-based maker of lighting control and power distribution products. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
• Liebman Group acquired a majority stake in Utah-based C-Slide, a maker of patented web camera covers. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
• Salt Creek Capital acquired Sound Building Supply Inc, a Renton, Wash.-based maker of metal flashing, roofing, and building products. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
• Wind Point Partners acquired Ox Engineered Products, a Constantine, Mich.-based specialty maker of structural sheathing and thermal insulation building products. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
• Health & Safety Institute, a portfolio company of the Riverside Company, acquired Vivid Learning Systems, a Pasco, Washington-based provider of online safety training. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
• Riviera Investment Group acquired a minority stake in LMP Automotive Holdings, a Plantation, Fla.-based ecommerce platform for buying, selling and financing used cars. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
• Belt Power, a portfolio company of Shore Hill Capital, acquired Regional Supply, a Marietta, Ga.-based lightweight conveyor belt distributor.
• Battery Ventures acquired Plixer, a Kennebunk, Maine-based developer of network traffic monitoring and analysis tools. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
OTHER DEALS
• J.M. Smucker Co (NYSE:SJM) is considering a sale of its baking brands, including Pillsbury, according to Bloomberg. The unit could fetch as much as $700 million. Read more.
• PMC acquired SheKnows Media, a New York and Scottsdale, Arizona-based women’s lifestyle digital media company. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
EXITS
• Conga agreed to acquire Octiv, an Indianapolis-based provider of web-based document solutions. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Octiv had raised approximately $20 million in venture funding from investors including GE Ventures, Greycroft, and FundersClub.
• KKR agreed to acquire a majority stake in Heartland Dental, an Effingham, Ill.-based dental support organization. The sellers include Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
FIRMS + FUNDS
• Juniper Capital Advisors LP, a Houston, Texas-based private equity firm, raised $677.5 million for its third fund, Juniper Capital III.
• Ventech Capital, a France-based venture capital firm, raised 140 million euros ($174 million) for its fifth fund, Ventech Capital V.
• Turn/River Capital, a San Francisco-based growth equity and buyout firm, raised $168 million for its third fund, Fund III.
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Polina Marinova produces Term Sheet, and Lucinda Shen compiles the IPO news. Send deal announcements to Polina here and IPO news to Lucinda here.
