附近上门

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

BYJU’S raises $500M from Silver Lake

Indian online learning unicorn 聽has raised $500 million in a new financing round that reportedly sets a for the Bengaluru-based company.

led the financing, which brings the 9-year-old company’s total funding to date to more than $2 billion.

The fundraise comes as venture and growth investment in the edtech space is on a tear. Global edtech funding hit $4.1 billion for January through July of 2020, per 附近上门 data. The spending spree was fueled in part by rising demand for distance learning options amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Founded in 2011, BJYU’S focuses primarily on K-12 students, offering online classes and learning apps, as well as exam prep. In the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns, BJYU’S has reportedly added 20 million new students on its platform. Today, the app has over 64 million registered students and 4.2 million annual paid subscriptions.

Zymergen raises $300M

Science and material innovation company announced $300 million its first closing of a Series D investment to accelerate its delivery of sustainable chemicals and materials.

The Emeryville, California-based company鈥檚 was founded in 2013. It’s proprietary platform uses a combination of biology, chemistry, machine learning to commercialize materials.

The funding was led by , joined by and . Zymergen said it expects to raise additional capital in later this year as part of the Series D round.

In addition, the investment provides Zymergen to bring its Hyaline product to market more quickly, and accelerates its development of all-natural pesticides and other bio-derived crop protection products and a bio-based insect repellent.

Funding rounds

• GM takes $2B stake in electric truck maker Nikola: is investing $2 billion for an 11 percent stake in , an electric pickup truck maker with plans to roll out a fuel cell truck by late 2022. Shares of both companies jumped following the news.
• Mollie raises $110M for payments:聽, an Amsterdam-based payments platform, has raised $106 million in a led by . The company offers an easy-to-implement process for integrating payments into a site or app.
• Melio gets $80M for B2B payments: , a New York City-based payments startup that caters to small businesses, came out of stealth Tuesday and that it had raised $80 million in Series C funding last month, bringing its total raised to date to $144 million. Its backers have included , , , , , , and .
• Ouster Lidar lands $42M for digital lidar sensors: , a San Francisco-based lidar sensor maker, said Tuesday that it has raised $42 million in new funding. The company has now raised $132 million to date, according to 附近上门 data. The company is developing high-resolution digital lidar sensors for self-driving cars, robotics, industrial automation and infrastructure. Existing investors , and all participated in the latest round, a Series B funding, .
• Sarbacane lands $27M: , 鈥檚 parent company, closed on $27 million. The France-based company, with a U.S. headquarters in New York, publishes applications for corporate communications and will use a majority of the investment for external growth. is investing nearly $10 million in the company alongside the management, including founder , who remains the majority shareholder.
• Adona Medical raises $22M:, a portfolio company, announced a $22 million round of Series A financing, which will be used to advance product development for its heart failure management platform, support pre-clinical testing, and expand its team. The financing was led by , with participation from , and angel investors. The investment included previous debt investments that converted to preferred shares.
• scores $20M for commercial kitchen delivery tech: This food delivery and logistics tech startup founded by former Uber executives Ken Chong and Matt Sawchuk raised $20 million in a round led by of , according to a first .
• CATALOG secures $10M for R&D: Boston-based closed on a $10 million round of Series A funding. The company touts itself as having the 鈥渨orld’s first鈥� DNA-based platform for massive digital data storage and computation. led the oversubscribed round, joined by .
• Sumsub inks $6M for product development: London-based , developing an identity verification platform, announced $6 million in Series A funding, bringing the total capital raised to more than $7.5 million. The round was led by and also involves a group of strategic investors and several existing investors, including .

New fund

Brightspark Capital鈥檚 third fund closes with CAD$60M: said it had the third close of its new Brightspark Canadian Opportunities Fund with commitments of CAD$60 million toward an ultimate fund size of $75 million. Investors in the new fund include , , , , , and Teralys Capital Fonds Amor莽age Qu茅bec managed by , as well as individual investors and family offices. The fund will focus on early and Series A investments in entrepreneur-driven technology companies in Canada. Since its first closing in January, Brightspark has made six investments from this fund in , , , , and .

IPOs

• Suma Logic Sets IPO Price Range: Cloud management software company Suma Logic has set its IPO price range between $17 and $21. At the top of the range, the company would raise about $310 million through its IPO.
• JFrog Sets IPO Price Range: Sunnyvale’s JFrog set its IPO price range between $33 and $37 per share. JFrog’s stock is set to start trading on the public markets on Wednesday, September 16, according to IPO Scoop.

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