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DraftKings is in talks to go public via a reverse merger with a blank-check acquisition company called Diamond Eagle, as first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by Axios.
🚗 It's official: Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA Group announced their mega-merger, which would create the world's fourth-largest automaker by sales.
💸 Today in SoftBank: Scott Painter is out as founding CEO of Fair, the subscription-style service for car ownership that was valued by Vision Fund at $1.2 billion less than a year ago.
🎧 Pro Rata Podcast digs into the future of parking garages, which may be urban America's greatest redevelopment opportunity. Listen here.
Source: Giphy
Crunchbase, a private company information database that spun out of TechCrunch in 2015, raised $30 million in Series C funding led by OMERS Ventures.
🚑 Tmunity Therapeutics, a Philadelphia-based developer of T-cell immunotherapies, raised $75 million in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz led, and was joined by Westlake Village BioPartners, Gilead Sciences, UPenn, Be The Match BioTherapeutics, and the American Cancer Society. www.tmunity.com
• b8ta, a San Francisco-based retail-as-a-service startup, raised $50 million in Series C funding. Evolution Ventures led, and was joined by Macy’s, Khosla Ventures, and Peak State Ventures. www.b8ta.com
• Brut, a Paris-based digital content startup that focused on short-form social video, raised $40 million in Series B funding co-led by Red River West and Blisce. http://axios.link/N7QH
• Namogoo, an Israeli startup that prevents ecommerce customers being “hijacked” by other sites, raised $40 million in Series C funding. Oak HC/FT led, and was joined by return backers GreatPoint Ventures, Blumberg Capital, and Hanaco Ventures. http://axios.link/yUlS
• Particle, a San Francisco-based platform for IoT devices, raised $40 million in Series C funding. Qualcomm Ventures and Energy Impact Partners co-led, and were joined by return backers Root Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, Industry Ventures, Spark Capital, Green D Ventures, Counterpart Ventures, and SOSV. http://axios.link/re4R
• Mirror, a New York-based maker of at-home “mirrors” that stream studio fitness classes, raised $34 million in Series B-1 funding. Point72 Ventures led, and was joined by Lululemon, LionTree and return backers Spark Capital and Lerer Hippeau. http://axios.link/cVAb
• Curated, a personalized online shopping platform, raised $27.5 million in a combined seed and Series A funding. Forerunner Ventures led the Series A. http://axios.link/KAgv
• Stampli, a Mountain View, Calif.-based accounts payable automation and communications platform raised $25 million in Series B funding. SignalFire led, and was joined by NextWorld Capital and return backers Bloomberg Beta and Hillsven Capital. http://axios.link/SEKK
⚽ Toca Football, a Costa Mesa, Calif.-based soccer training startup, raised $25 million in Series D funding co-led by insiders WestRiver Group and RNS Partners. http://axios.link/PU9t
• DotData, a San Mateo, Calif.-based data science automation startup, raised $23 million in Series A funding. JAFCO led, and was joined by Goldman Sachs and seed backer NEC Corp. www.dotdata.com
• Duality Technologies, a Newark, N.J.-based provider of data encryption solutions, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Intel Capital led, and was joined by Hearst Ventures and return backer Team8. http://axios.link/u1ip
🚑 Cytovale, a San Francisco-based developer of biomarkers for early detection of sepsis, raised $15 million in new Series B funding (round total $22.4m) from Breakout Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures, and Western Technology Investment. www.cytovale.com
• Freetrade, a UK-based no-commission stockbroker app, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Draper Esprit. http://axios.link/Xkv0
• Muy, a cloud kitchen startup focused on Latin America, raised $15 million in Series B funding. ALLVP led, and was joined by return backer Seeya. http://axios.link/IyZY
• Folloze, a San Mateo, Calif.-based B2B hyper-personalization startup, raised $11 million in Series B funding. BGV led, and was joined by Canvas Ventures, Cervin Ventures, Grayhawk Capital, and SVB. http://axios.link/ktVD
• Stardog, an Arlington, Va.-based enterprise data unification platform, raised $9 million in Series B funding. Tenfore Holdings led, and was joined by Grotech Ventures, Boulder Ventures, and Core Capital. www.stardog.com
🚑 Inne, a Berlin-based maker of mini-labs for women to track hormones and fertility, raised €8 million in Series A funding. Blossom Capital led, and was joined by Monkfish Equity. http://axios.link/eSLR
• Link3D, a New York-based provider of additive MES workflow software, raised $7 million led by AI Capital. www.link3d.co
• Ruti, a Belmont, Calif.-based fashion brand for women over 35, raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Viola Ventures. http://axios.link/qAh0
• Capital, a New York-based venture debt lender, raised $5 million from Greycroft, Future Ventures, Wavemaker Ventures, and Disruptive. http://axios.link/n1Dk
• Workiz, an Israeli provider of field service management software, raised $5 million in Series A funding. Magenta Venture Partners led, and was joined by Aleph. http://axios.link/qUs2
• The Carlyle Group, KKR, and Triton each made it to the second round of an auction for Rank, the transmission-making company being sold by Volkswagen for around €700 million, per Reuters. http://axios.link/wF3Y
🚑 Eversana, a Chicago-based portfolio company of Water Street Healthcare Partners and JLL Partners, agreed to buy Cornerstone Research Group, a Canadian provider of health economics and outcomes research services. www.eversana.com
• Fedrigoni, an Italian paper packaging company owned by Bain Capital, agreed to buy Italian self-adhesive products maker Ritrama for nearly €300 million, per Reuters. http://axios.link/pQUf
• Graham Partners bought Gatekeeper Systems, a Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based provider of shopping cart containment systems for retailers, from HKW. www.gatekeepersystems.com
• Rockbridge Growth Equity acquired ProSites, a Temecula, Calif.-based online marketing firm, from The Riverside Company. http://axios.link/HYgJ
🚑 Alphamab Oncology, a Chinese immuno-oncology startup, is prepping a $350 million Hong Kong IPO, per Reuters. The company recently raised $60 million in Series B funding led by Hudson Bay Capital. http://axios.link/7SrO
• Meili Auto Holdings, a Chinese vehicle finance company for prime borrowers, filed for a $100 million IPO, It plans to trade on the NYSE (ML) with UBS as lead underwriter, and reports $34 million of net income on $143 million in revenue for the first half of 2019. http://axios.link/Righ
• Tyro Payments, an Australian payments company, is prepping a A$1.5 billion IPO for December, per Reuters. Backers include TDM Growth Partners and Tiger Global Management. http://axios.link/gFr0
• Epiris agreed to sell TI Media, a UK-based consumer magazine and digital publisher, to Future PLC (LSE: FUTR) for £140 million. http://axios.link/XPtJ
🍕 EQT is seeking a buyer for China F&B Group, the operator of Papa John’s and Dairy Queen stores in China, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/4dMh
• Francisco Partners and Elliott Management are seeking a buyer for Quest Software, an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based IT management software company that could fetch around $3.5 billion (including debt), per Bloomberg.
• North Castle Partners is considering a sale process for Barry’s Bootcamp, a fitness studio chain that could fetch around $700 million, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/OIf3
• Bombardier (TSX: BBD) is in talks to sell three manufacturing plans to Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE: SPR) for more than $1 billion, per Reuters. http://axios.link/MXk8
• The Chinese government “is close to abandoning” a proposed $100 billion merger between state-owned ChemChina and SinoChem, per the FT. http://axios.link/zrX3
• Zubaid Ahmad, founder and managing partner of New York-based merchant bank Caravanserai Partners, joined CPPIB as a U.S. senior advisor. www.cppib.com
• Jud Linville, former CEO of global cards and consumer services for Citigroup, joined General Atlantic as a senior advisor. www.generalatlantic.com
• Yngve Slyngstad will step down as CEO of Norway’s $1.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. http://axios.link/3IEl
• Cack Wilhelm quietly stepped down as a San Francisco-based partner with Accomplice. She had joined the Boston-based VC firm in 2017 from Scale Venture Partners. No word yet on future plans.
• Hansong Zhu will step down as co-head of China investment banking for Goldman Sachs, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/Xjhl
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