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Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the ¸½½üÉÏÃÅ News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.

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Korea’s Kakaobank surges in IPO

Shares of surged nearly 80 percent in first day trading in South Korea.

The South Korean company is the country’s first digital bank to go public and its largest IPO in  years. Kakaobank launched in 2017 and reported turning profitable in 2019. Its private equity backers include and .

— Joanna Glasner

Stage 2 launches $80M fund to invest in B2B software startups

Boston-based announced its second fund, an $80 million investment vehicle aimed at helping B2B software startups scale. The firm said it expects to invest in about 20 late-seed stage to Series A companies with the new fund, which has already made investments in , , ,  and others.

Stage 2 was founded in 2018 by , former investor at , and , former chief revenue officer at .

— Marlize van Romburgh

Foodtech and agtech

• John Deere scoops up Bear Flag: Agriculture technology giant is buying , a startup developing autonomous technology for tractors and other farm equipment, for $250 million. Newark, California-based Bear Flag has raised $11.4 million from venture investors, per ¸½½üÉÏÃÅ data, including a $7.9 million seed extension in January led by . Bear Flag is one of a growing number of agtech startups drawing investor interest. In fact, agtech funding in the U.S. increased from about $1.8 billion in 2018 and $2.4 billion in 2019 to $3.3 billion in 2020. This year already has seen more than $1 billion invested in the space, per earlier ¸½½üÉÏÃÅ News reporting.

• V2Food chows down on $53M:  Australia-based alternative protein company announced it has raised 45 million euros ($53 million) in funding, led by European impact fund, .

Transportation tech

• Voi raises $45M for micromobility:  Stockholm-based , a provider of electric scooters for last-mile transportation, $45 million in a Series C round extension. Founded in 2018, the company previously raised around $356 million, per ¸½½üÉÏÃÅ data.

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