Are kids’ allowances recession-proof?

I’d thought that in a pandemic-induced recession, parents would cut allowances and kids would find fewer things to spend on. 

But that’s not what Greenlight CEO Tim Sheehan has seen on his platform that helps parents pay their children’s allowances when they complete chores.  

On Thursday, the Atlanta-based provider of an app-managed kids’ debit card announced that it had raised $215 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at $1.2 billion. Canapi Ventures and TTV Capital led the round and were joined by investors including BOND, DST Global, Goodwater Capital, Fin VC, and Relay Ventures.

According to Sheehan, the platform’s revenue grew more than four times in the past year, thanks to its subscription service and payments processing fees.

Kids may be spending less in a pandemic. But signups on the platform have continued, and allowances did not decrease on it because, well, there could’ve been a revolt from the children. And parents are generally paying a small amount for chores to be completed anyway.

But what about competition? Distill it down, and Greenlight is a way for parents to move money from one account to a subordinate—a role that several money-transfer services already fulfill with Square’s Cash App and PayPal’s Venmo. Many other startups are seeking to tackle the particular issue of multigenerational finances too. Greenlight has, in fact, sued a former CFO candidate who later took a job with a competitor also focused on kids’ finances, Step Mobile. “We’ve ended conversations with the former candidate,” Greenlight said in a statement. 

Greenlight says it is looking to differentiate itself with a broad suite of financial teaching tools: In the fourth quarter, it plans to launch a stock-trading platform for children in which they can trade fractional shares with the approval of their parents. 

PETER THIEL GETS A SPAC: Bridgetown Holdings, a SPAC formed by Peter Thiel’s Thiel Capital, Pacific Century, and Pinebridge Investments, filed for a $575 million raise. It plans to seek a tech or fintech company in Southeast Asia, as the sector is “entering a new era of economic growth,” per the filing. Its CEO David Wong previously led a Series D investment in Tokopedia, a Indonesia-based tech company, on behalf of Pacific Century. Matt Denzeisen, Thiel’s husband, is the SPAC’s chairman.

Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: [email protected]

VENTURE DEALS

- Byju’s, an Indian education tech startup, raised $300 million valuing it at about $11.1 billion, per Bloomberg. Funds came from investors including BlackRock, Sands Capital and Alkeon Capital. Read more.

- Attentive, a New York-based marketing mobile messaging platform, raised $230 million in Series D funding. Coatue led the round and was joined by investors including Tiger Global, Wellington Management Company, D1 Capital Partners, Atomico, and Sozo Ventures.

- Beyond Limits, a Los Angeles-based A.I. Company focused on industrial sectors, raised $113 million in Series C funding. Group 42 led, and was joined by investors including BP Ventures. Read more.

- Silverback Therapeutics, a Seattle-based biopharma developing a cancer treatment, raised $85 million in Series C funding. EcoR1 Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Boxer Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Nantahala Capital Management, and RA Capital.

- MineralTree, a Cambridge, Mass.-based payments automation provider, raised $50 million in Series D funding. Investors included Great Hill Partners,.406 Ventures, and E ight Roads Ventures. MineralTree also acquired Inspyrus and Regal Software.

- Libra Therapeutics, a San Diego-based cancer therapeutics company, raised $29 million in Series a funding. Epidarex Capital, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Santé led the round and were joined by Yonjin Venture, Dolby Family Ventures, and Sixty Degree Capital.

- Turntide Technologies, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based maker of an electric motor, raised $33 million. Investors included Amazon Climate Pledge Fund. 

- Babson Diagnostics, an Austin-based medtech company, raised $13.7 million in Series A funding. Investors included Siemens Healthineers, Prism Ventures, Genesis Merchant Capital, and Lago Consulting Group.

- Spectrum Labs, a provider A.I. And services to help consumer brands recognize and respond to toxic behavior online, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Greycroft and was joined by investors including Wing Venture Capital, Ridge Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Super{set}.

- Laika, a New York-based information security company, raised $10 million in funding. Canapi Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Bain Capital, NYCA Partners, and Third Prime.

- Blueboard, a San Francisco-based rewards and recognition platform to engage employees, raised $9.3 million in Series A funding. Origin Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Greycroft, Bullpen Capital, Gaingels, and Martin Babinec (founder of TriNet).

- Camera IQ, a Los Angeles-based company for creating augmented reality marketing campaigns, today raised $5 million in Series A funding, Shasta Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Waverly Capital, Betaworks Ventures, Sway Ventures, Grand Ventures, Space Capital, and Gingerbread Capital.

- Spiceology, a Spokane, Wash.-based spice company, raised $4.7 million in funding. Ty Bennett led the round and was joined by investors including Cowles Company and Kickstart Funds III & IV.

- WhyLabs, a Seattle based company spinning out of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence to provide a platform for running A.I. Models, raised $4 million. Madrona Venture Group led the round and was joined by investors including Bezos Expeditions and Defy Partners.

- Data Gumbo, a Houston-based maker of a industrial blockchain network, raised $4 million in Series B funding. L37 led the round and was joined by investors including Equinor Ventures and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures.

- Vurbl, a Los Angeles-based platform for audio streaming, raised $1.3 million in seed funding. AlphaEdison led the round and was joined by investors including Halogen Ventures, TEN13, and Angellist.

PRIVATE EQUITY

- TCG took a majority stake in SketchyMedical, a Los Angeles-based online education company that teaches concepts through visual memory techniques, for  $30 million.

- Warburg Pincus agreed to invest in GA Foods, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based provider of nutritional meals for senior customers. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- KKR agreed to acquire a 1.3% stake in Reliance Retail, the Indian retail group backed by Mukesh Ambani, for $754 million. 

OTHERS

- CrowdStrike Holdings (Nasdaq: CRWD) agreed to acquire Preempt Security, a cybersecurity firm for about  $96 million. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

IPOs

- Deutsche Börse acquired a majority stake in Quantitative Brokers, a provider of execution algorithms. Centana Growth Partners exited its stake. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

- WeWork is selling a majority stake in its China business. Trustbridge Partners, an existing investor in WeWork’s China subsidiary, invested an additional $200 million and now owns over 50%. Read more.

IPOs

- Ant Group Co., a Chinese fintech, aims to raise $17.5 billion in its Hong Kong share sale. Read more.

- Chindata Group Holdings, backed by Bain Capital, plans to raise as much as $621 million in the U.S. Read more.

F+FS

- L Squared Capital Partners closed L Squared Capital Partners III with just over $500 million. 

- Peterson Ventures raised $65 million for the Peterson Ventures Fund III seed fund.

PEOPLE

- NFX named Morgan Beller, co-creator of the Libra digital currency, as a general partner.

- Silversmith Capital Partners named Lauren Chan, Thomas Patek and Danielle Waldman as vice presidents.
- Centana Growth Partners promoted Tom Davis to partner.