Axios Pro Rata: Elon tries again

Plus, YC turns over a new leaf | Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Pro Rata By Dan Primack · Aug 30, 2022     Top of the Morning Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios   Garry Tan was a Y Combinator founder in the summer of 2008, back when the famed startup incubator was known for its exclusivity. But Tan has no plans to return YC to its limited roots, when he takes over as president and CEO early next year. There were 21 startups in the same batch as Posterous, which Tan co-founded and later sold to Twitter. The most recent summer batch was more than 10 times larger, despite having been culled from the 414 startups involved last winter. What Tan's saying: "There are some people who say only 10 or so companies matter per year and some say it's 100 or hundreds of companies per year that matter. I'm a believer in the hundreds ... and that that http://www.ycombinator.com/apply is the most valuable URL ever created." He does, however, support YC's move back to in-person batches in San Francisco, after the pandemic persuaded the program to go remote. Beyond that, Tan declined to get too granular, saying his first job is to listen to existing stakeholders. Sam Altman, a former YC president and current CEO of Open AI, agrees with Tan's approach: "The people who complain about YC batch sizes are the people whose goal is to tell everyone for the rest of their lives that they went to Harvard. If you want to create a really good startup, and to benefit from YC's advice and network, the program getting bigger is better." VC angle: Tan's path back to YC, and its impact on the venture capital firm he co-founded (Initialized Capital), are a bit less clear. Tan says he only began talks with YC within the past several weeks, and demurred when asked if he had been in competition with longtime YC exec and longtime friend Michael Seibel. He adds that some limited partners in Initialized Capital, which last year raised $700 million for two funds, were aware of the negotiations. But he declined to say if LPs must vote to continue to funds' investment periods, due to keyman provisions, except to say that Initialized is "in the middle of figuring all that out." Tan will be succeeded as managing partner at Initialized by Jen Wolf and Brett Gibson, with sources saying that Wolf for years has been in charge of the firm's day-to-day management (Tan didn't have any direct reports). The bottom line: YC reached into its past to transition into the future.     The BFD Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images   Elon Musk sent a second merger termination letter to Twitter, this one citing recent whistleblower allegations made by former Twitter chief security officer Peiter "Mudge" Zatko. Why it's the BFD: This is a legal Hail Mary, particularly without government corroboration that Twitter violated its 2011 settlement, but possibly stronger than Musk's original argument about spambots. 🎧 Bonus: A trailer is out for Axios' new podcast series coming next month. How it Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter. The bottom line: Musk's move was expected, as was Twitter's response about not breaching any of its merger representations or obligations. The question now is if Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick will entertain Musk's new line of backtrack, or at least delay the trial that's scheduled to begin on Oct. 17.     Venture Capital Deals 🚑 MedGenome, a Foster City, Calif.-based provider of genomic solutions for South Asia populations, raised $50m led by Novo Holdings. www.medgenome.com 🚑 Vilya, a Seattle-based biotech focused on medicines that "precisely target disease biology," launched with $50m led by Arch Venture Partners. https://axios.link/3pVCmr2 🚑 Theranica, an Israeli prescription digital therapeutics startup focused on migraine treatments, raised $45m in Series C funding. New Rhein Healthcare Investors led, and was joined by insiders aMoon, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LionBird, Takoa Invest and Corundum Open Innovation. www.theranica.com • Aleph Farms, an Israeli cultivated meat startup, raised $40m from L Catterton, Strauss Group, VisVires New Protein, CPT Capital, Synthesis Capital, Food Tank and Christensen Global. www.aleph-farms.com • Xterio, a Swiss mobile and web3 game developer, raised $40m from FunPlus, Makers Fund, FTX Ventures, XPLA, HashKey, Foresight Ventures, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Matrix Partners and Animoca Brands. www.xter.io ⚡ Recurve, a data software startup for utilities, raised $18m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Calpine Energy Solutions led, and was joined by Quantum Energy Partners, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions and insider Energy Foundry. https://axios.link/3ASagSD • Tarci, an Israeli sales leads intelligence startup focused on SMBs, raised $17m in Series A funding. Sound Ventures led, and was joined by GFC and Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures. https://axios.link/3PZ9FnE • Astro, an Austin, Texas-based startup that seeks to connect Latin American devs with U.S. tech companies, raised $13m. Greycroft led, and was joined by Obvious Ventures. https://axios.link/3AV7lcY 🚑 Olio Health, an Indianapolis-based provider of post-acute care workflow software, raised $13m in Series A funding. Fulcrum Equity Partners led, and was joined by Mutual Capital Partners. https://axios.link/3pSftVp • Pezesha, a Kenyan embedded finance startup, raised $11m in equity and debt funding. Women's World Banking Capital Partners led, and was joined by Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund, cFund and Cardano. https://axios.link/3cydQsO • Opkey, a Dublin, Calif.-based packaged app testing startup, raised $8m led by Vertica Venture Partners. www.opkey.com • Stake, a Dubai-based fractional property investment platform, raised $8m in Series A funding from BY Ventures, MEVP and Vivium Holdings https://axios.link/3CCUpcZ 🚑 Power, a search tool startup seeking to expand clinical trial patient diversity, raised $7m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Footwork and CRV co-led, and were joined by Artis Ventures, South Park Commons and AirAngels. https://axios.link/3CDJVdd ⚡ SparkCharge, a Somerville, Mass.-based EV charging network, raised $7m in Series A funding from Cleveland Avenue. www.sparkcharge.io 🚑 Medu, a Mexico City-based reusable PPE provider, raised $4m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. MaC Venture Capital led, and was joined by Halcyon Fund. https://axios.link/3wFSmRA     A message from Axios The biggest Axios Pro sale all year     Take $300 off Axios Pro and see how smarter, faster news and analysis can transform your decision making. Be smart: This is our biggest discount of the year, so don't miss out. Offer ends September 6th. Use code LABORDAY at checkout to get $300 off your subscription.     Private Equity Deals • Accel-KKR acquired a majority stake in Teamcore, a retail execution platform focused on Latin America. www.teamcore.net • Avance Investment Management invested in RIA Advisory, a Coral Gables, Fla.-based provider of revenue management solutions. www.riaadvisory.com • Ed's Supply, an LA-based portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, acquired Controlled Temp Supply, an Oxford, Miss.-based HVAC/R equipment distributor. www.edsbox.com • Genstar Capital acquired Numerix, a New York-based capital markets risk management tech company. www.numerix.com • Kelso & Co. acquired WilliamsMarston, a Boston-based accounting, tax and valuation advisory, from Align Capital Partners. www.williamsmarston.com 🚑 LifePoint Health, a portfolio company of Apollo Global Management, acquired a majority stake in psychiatric hospital organization Springstone for $250m from Medical Properties Trust (NYSE: MPW). https://axios.link/3TlgOl3 • Lightnet Group, a Singapore-based cross-border payments company, raised $50m from LDA Capital. https://axios.link/3R0sxnl ⚽ Main Street Advisors and the New York Yankees agreed to become minority investors in Italian soccer club AC Milan, as part of its acquisition by RedBird Capital Partners, as first reported by the FT and confirmed by Axios. The deal is expected to close tomorrow. • Oakley Capital bought a stake in British testing and inspection firm Phenna Group from Inflexion Private Equity. https://axios.link/3x3e6qX     SPAC Stuff • Abacus, a Florida-based buyer of life insurance policies and insurance-focused alternative asset manager, agreed to go public at an implied $618m valuation via East Resources Acquisition (Nasdaq: ERES). https://axios.link/3RfSa3a     Liquidity Events Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios   • Roper Technologies (NYSE: ROP) agreed to buy Frontline Education, a Malvern, Pa.-based provider of K-12 administration software, from Thoma Bravo for $3.725b in cash. www.frontlineeducation.com • S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) agreed to buy the 50% stake it doesn't already hold in private market data provider Private Market Connect from Hamilton Lane. www.spglobal.com • SGH (Nasdaq: SGH) completed its $275m purchase of Stratus, a Maynard, Mass.-based provider of autonomous computing solutions, from Siris Capital Group. www.stratus.com     More M&A • Cerberus Cyber Sentinel (Nasdaq: CISO) acquired Cuatroi, a Chilean cloud and managed services provider. www.cerberussentinel.com • HP (NYSE: HPQ) completed its $3.3b acquisition of Poly, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based provider of workplace collaboration solutions. https://axios.link/3RgZCvH • MetLife Investment Management agreed to buy Affirmative Investment Management, a London-based ESG investment manager with around $1b in AUM. https://axios.link/3pRmo10 • PostEx, a Pakistani e-commerce fintech whose backers include GFC and MSA Capital, acquired logistics services firm Call Courier. https://axios.link/3ctFRBF     Fundraising • Kli Capital, launched as a family office for Shmuel Gniwisch, is raising $50m for its first institutional VC fund, per TechCrunch. https://axios.link/3e7f0M6     It's Personnel • Shawn Cappello joined Tonka Bay Equity Partners as a director. He previously was a VP with Cerberus Capital Management. www.tonkabayequity.com • Julie Laperouse joined VC firm Advantage Capital as chief talent officer. She previously was with Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Co. www.advantagecap.com • Shak Thakur joined Credit Suisse as a managing director of tech investment banking, per Bloomberg. He previously was a VP at telco Ciena Corp. https://axios.link/3AZyg7C • Bessemer Venture Partners promoted Janelle Teng to VP. www.bvp.com • First Round Capital promoted Whitnie Narcisse to operating partner. https://axios.link/3pSkMUL • Ripple Ventures promoted Dominic Lau to partner. www.rippleventures.com     Final Numbers Source: Axios Visuals The truth just keeps getting uglier for Truth Social, and for the SPAC seeking to take it public. The latest relates to Truth Social's Android app, which has yet to launch. Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes recently said, "I don't know what's taking them so long," when it comes to Google approving the app for Play store distribution. But Google tells Axios that on Aug. 19 it informed Truth Social that the app's content moderation tools were insufficient and that Truth Social told Google it's "working on addressing these issues."     A message from Axios The biggest Axios Pro sale all year     Take $300 off Axios Pro and see how smarter, faster news and analysis can transform your decision making. Be smart: This is our biggest discount of the year, so don't miss out. Offer ends September 6th. Use code LABORDAY at checkout to get $300 off your subscription.   🙏 Thanks for reading Axios Pro Rata! Please ask your friends, colleagues and Android developers to sign up. Why stop here? Let's go Pro. 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