This site uses cookies to enhance your reading experience. By using this site, you consent to our use of cookies.Okay
Skip to content
Axios
  • Newsletters
    Sign up for Axios AMAll newsletters
  • Sections
    Top StoriesTechnologyPoliticsBusinessHealth CareScienceFutureMediaEnergyWorldCitiesTransportationEducationSports
  • Special Features
    What Matters 2020Smarter FasterAxios VisualsPro Rata PodcastAxios on HBO
  • More
    NewslettersEventsAboutContact NewsroomPrivacy & TermsAdvertise With Us
  • Careers
    Search
Pro Rata
  • Mon, Dec 9
  • Fri, Dec 6
  • Thu, Dec 5
  • Wed, Dec 4
  • Tue, Dec 3
  • Mon, Dec 2
  • Wed, Nov 27
  • + More Issues
By Dan Primack

Greetings from the home office. Please remember that you can always get in touch with me via email (dan@axios.com), anonymous tip (http://axios.com/tips) or confidential apps like Signal, Telegram and Confide or texts (Dan Primack / 857-472-3072). Here we go...

Top of the Morning

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

The BFD

Unity, a San Francisco-based VR/AR gaming engine founded in 2004, has raised $400 million in new equity funding led by Silver Lake. Around half of the deal is a secondary, providing liquidity for early shareholders. The company is now valued at around $2.6 billion, and previously raised over $170 million from firms like DFJ Growth, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital and WestSummit Capital.

  • Why it's the BFD: Beyond the fact that Unity powers Pokemon Go, which was the hottest thing on the planet (and in my house) at this time last year? Okay, how about because Unity claims that half of all new mobile games and two-thirds of all AR/VR content is now made in its environment? That basically means that Unity can sidestep the "hits problem" of gaming, and instead is able to ride the industry's more secular trends.
  • Bottom line: "Unity's plan is to democratize game development. It has done so by creating an engine that enables games to run on just about any platform, without huge costs related to porting the games to each new platform. That allows game developers to cut their costs and generate more revenues from more platforms. In that sense, Unity frees the developers from being beholden to platform owners, who often front the cash for big game development in exchange for exclusivity." -- Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Venture Capital Deals

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Private Equity Deals

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Public Offerings

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Liquidity Events

• Merit Capital Partners has sold Ferrara Fire Apparatus, a Holden, La.-based maker of custom fire apparatus and rescue vehicles, to REV Group (NYSE: REVG) for an undisclosed amount. http://bit.ly/2qTrlsR

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

More M&A

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Fundraising

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

It's Personnel

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Final Numbers

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
  • Mon, Dec 9
  • Fri, Dec 6
  • Thu, Dec 5
  • Wed, Dec 4
  • Tue, Dec 3
  • Mon, Dec 2
  • Wed, Nov 27
  • + More Issues