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The rivalry between Lyft and Uber is an epic one, as far as the ride-hailing market goes. But the two businesses are also starkly different: While Uber has expanded into a whole roster of other businesses including food delivery and trucking, Lyft largely has stuck with one thing: Moving people.
So why has Lyft remained on the sidelines of the food delivery business?
When asked during a Coins2Day Reinvent podcast if Lyft ever would compete with the DoorDashes and UberEats (which is slated to acquire rival Postmates) of the world, Lyft cofounder and president John Zimmer explained the thinking: “We don’t think the world needs another one of those,” Zimmer says. “It’s also not our specialty. Our focus is on transportation—on going deep on personal transportation.”
That’s not to say Lyft won’t enter the delivery business—but the model it may choose to take on could be quite different, at least based on what Zimmer suggests in the podcast. The Lyft cofounder says he has sought to address longstanding criticism that food-delivery companies charge restaurants so high a fee that some mom-and-pop shops find it difficult to survive.
“What we’ve heard directly from retailers and restaurants is that they don’t want to pay the 20 or 30% being charged by something like UberEats—they are coming to us and saying how can we help them with delivery to their customers,” he says. “That is the conversation we are having, and that is something we may continue to lean into over the next few months.”
The question is, will Lyft stay in delivery in the long run? Early in the pandemic, Lyft launched a pilot program for drivers to make “Essential Deliveries” of goods such as medical supplies and groceries to partner organizations. The move was aimed at giving drivers a new stream of income at a time when ride-hailing had ground to a halt. A few weeks ago, the company also added free GrubHub food delivery as a perk for subscription-based Lyft customers.
Undoubtedly, starting a food delivery business may have been lower on the list of priorities in past years as Lyft went up against its much better funded competitor, Uber. When Uber raised more than $3 billion in 2016 from Saudi Arabia, “everyone said … we could not compete. Someone even thought we should return money to our investors at that point.”
Meanwhile, across the pond, another ride-hailing startup, Grab, says it is partnering with Microsoft to reskill its drivers for the digital economy. That comes as the Southeast Asian company has become a super-app akin to Tencent’s WeChat, complete with food delivery, financial services, and even health care.
THE LARGEST IPO IS NOT IN THE U.S.: Ant Financial, the Chinese financial technology giant that is listing in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, is set to raise $34.5 billion—making it the world’s largest-ever initial public offering, beating out oil titan Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion raise in January.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: [email protected]
VENTURE DEALS
- PT Tokopedia, an Indonesia-based e-commerce marketplace, is set to raise $350 million in funding from Google and Temasek Holdings, per Bloomberg. Read more.
- Caris Life Sciences, an Irving, Texas-based precision medicine company, raised $235 million in funding. Highland Capital Management and Coatue led the round and were joined by investors including T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., OrbiMed, Millennium Management, Neuberger Berman, ClearBridge Investments, First Light Asset Management, and Sixth Street.
- FreshToHome, a Bangalore-based online brand in fresh fish and meat e-commerce, raised $121 million in Series C funding.. Investment Corporation of Dubai led the round and was joined by investors including Ascent Capital, DFC, the Allana Group, and Iron Pillar.
- SimilarWeb, an Israeli-based startup for tracking site traffic, raised $120 million. ION Crossover Partners and Viola Growth co-led the round. Read more.
- Ordermark, a Los Angeles-based online ordering management platform for restaurants and virtual kitchens, raised $120 million in Series C funding. Softbank Vision Fund 2 led the round.
- VSPN a Shanghai-based esports events platform, raised over $100 million in Series B funding. Tencent led the round and was joined by investors including Tiantu Capital, SIG, and Kuaishou. Read more.
- Cognite, a Norway-based industrial software company, raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding valuing it at $550 million. Accel led the round.
- DriveWealth, a digital trading startup, raised $56.7 million in funding. Point72 Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Raptor Group, SBI Holdings, Route 66 Ventures, Mouro Capital and Fidelity International Strategic Ventures.
- Grayshift, an Atlanta-based provider of mobile device digital forensics, raised $47 million in Series A funding. PeakEquity Partners led the round.
- Rockset, a San Mateo, Calif.-based analytics company, raised $40 Million in Series B funding. Sequoia led the round and was joined by investors including Greylock.
- Toka, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity company, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Eclipse Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Dell Technologies Capital, and Entrée Capital.
- GoodCell, a Waltham, Mass.-based DNA testing company, raised $17.9 million in funding. Investors included Prairie Fire Capital and Intellectual Digital.
- Theta Lake, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based cybersecurity and compliance solutions for video conferencing software, raised $12.7 million in Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Cisco Investments, Neotribe Ventures, Firebolt Ventures, and WestWave Capital.
- Linktree, an Australian marketing tech company, raised $10.7 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by investors including AirTree Ventures, Harry Stebbings (Twenty Minute VC), Sam Yam (CTO of Patreon), and Doug English (CTO of Culture Amp).
- Stackhawk, a Denver-based application security startup, raised a $10 million in Series A funding. Sapphire Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Foundry Group, Costanoa Ventures, Flybridge Capital, and Matchstick Ventures.
- Strider Technologies, a Washington, D.C.-based maker of software for identifying economic risk from nation-states, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Koch Disruptive Technologies led the round and was joined by investors including One9 Ventures and DataTribe.
- Deci, a Tel Aviv-based deep learning company, raised $9.1 million in seed funding. Emerge led the round and was joined by investors including Square Peg.
- Rune Labs, a San Francisco-based developer of software that enables the development and delivery of neuroscience therapeutics, raised $5 million in seed funding. DigiTx Partners led the round and was joined by investors including TruVenturo, Moment Ventures, Loup Ventures and Sabbatical Ventures.
- GetVantage, a Mumbai-based revenue-based financing platform for online businesses, raised 5 million in seed funding. Chiratae Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Dream Incubators.
- Hubilo, a San Francisco-based global virtual events platform , raised $4.5 million in seed funding. Lightspeed led the round and was joined by investors including Girish Mathrubootham (CEO Freshworks), Nishant Rao (ex-CEO LinkedIn India), Jonathan Boutelle (Co-founder, Slideshare), and Abinash Tripathy (CEO Helpshift).
- 3Commas.io, an Estonia-based non-custodial order management system, raised $3 million in a Series A funding. Alameda Research led the round.
- ShearShare, a Dallas-based marketplace hair salons, raised $2.3 million in seed funding. Investors included Precursor Ventures, the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Structure Capital. Read more.
- Moxie, an online fitness studio, raised $2.1 million. Investors weren’t disclosed.
- ZeroEyes, a Philadelphia-based maker of an A.I.-based weapons detection platform, raised $1.5 million in funding. Grateful Investments led the round and was joined by investors including Legion Capital, Backswing Ventures, and Natoma Group.
- Sēkr, a San Diego, Calif.-based-based company creator of The Vanlife App—an app for outdoor travel resources, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Backstage Capital and Gaingels.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Newlight Partners acquired Pondurance, a cybersecurity firm. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- PatientPoint, a Cincinatti, Oh.-based healthcare advertising company backed by L Catterton, is in talks to combine with rival Outcome Health, backed by Littlejohn & Co. A deal could value the duo at $600 million, per Bloomberg. Read more.
- Auxo Investment Partners acquired GC Dies, an Elmhurst, Ill.-based steel rule die manufacturer. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Atwater Capital agreed to acquire a minority stake in Freepik Company, a Spain-based provider of digital visual content. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- New Mountain Capital agreed to acquire Natrol, a Los Angeles-based vitamins, mineral and supplements brand. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Lion Equity Partners acquired TY Group, a provider of linens, from Bed Bath & Beyond. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
EXITS
- Procore Technologies acquired Esticom, an Austin-based cloud-based preconstruction tech maker. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Stone Point Capital acquired a stake in Lone Wolf Technologies, a Ontario and Dallas-based provider of residential real estate software, from Vista Equity Partners. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
Breakups and bankruptcies
- Rubio’s Restaurants, a restaurant chain backed by Mill Road Capital, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.
IPO
- Databricks, a San Francisco-based data analytics company, is preparing for an IPO that could come in the first half of 2021, per Bloomberg. Databricks has raised from investors including a16z, Coatue, NEA, Tiger Global Management, and BlackRock. Read more.
- Sotera Health, a Broadview Heights, Oh.-based provider of lab services, filed to raise up to $100 million in an IPO. It posted revenue of $778 million in 2019 and losses of $20.9 million. Warburg Pincus and GTCR back the firm. Read more.
OTHER
- AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) agreed to acquire Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX), a competing chipmaker, for $35 billion in stock.
- B&G Foods (NYSE: BGS) agreed to acquire Crisco, the oils and shortening brand, from The J.M. Smucker Co. For approximately $550 million in cash.
- Las Vegas Sands is exploring a sale of its flagship casinos in Las Vegas in a deal that could raise $6 billion, per Bloomberg. Read more.
IPOs
- Caixa Economica Federal, Brazil’s state-owned lender, is planning an initial public offering of its Caixa Tem unit in the U.S. As soon as next year, per Reuters. Read more.
- Root, a Columbus, Oh.-based auto insurer, now plans to raise $578 million in an offering of 24.6 million shares (11% insider sold) priced between $22 to $25 as more insiders seek to sell their shares. It also plans to raise $500 million via a concurrent private placement from Dragoneer Investment Group and Silver Lake.
- Mavenir, a Richardson, Texas-based provider of software applications, says it plans to $275 million in an offering of 12.5 million shares priced between $20 to $24. Read more.
SPAC
- Health Assurance Acquisition Corp., a healthtech-focused blank check company from General Catalyst, is aiming to raise $500 million. Read more.
- Lux Health Tech Acquisition Corp., the health focused SPAC founded by Lux Capital, raised $300 million in IPO.
- Genius Sports Group, a London-based provider of data to sports betting firm , is nearing a deal to go public via merger with a SPAC, DMY Technology Group Inc. II. The deal could value the company at $1.5 billion, per Bloomberg. Read more.
- Bolder Industries, a rubber ingredient maker, plans to merge with GigCapital2, a SPAC. The deal will value the company at $900 million including debt, per Reuters citing sources. Read more.
F+FS
- Blackstone Group’s private equity business raised $8 billion for its second core fund. Read more.
- Scale Venture Partners is looking to raise $500 million for its seventh fund, per the Wall Street Journal. Read more.
- NTTVC, a venture capital firm founded by Van Goel, raised $500 million in capital commitments.
- The Engine, the VC firm spun out of MIT, raised $230 million toward its second fund.
- North Branch Capital raised $132 million for its first fund.
- Intuitive (Nasdaq: ISRG), a company focused on robotics assisted surgery, launched Intuitive Ventures with an $100 million fund.
PEOPLE
- J.F. Lehman & Company named William P. Brown and Bridget A. Harding as associates.
