- E*Trade (NASDAQ:ETFC) competitor: Robinhood Markets raised around $350M in a round led by Russian firm DST Global, according to WSJ sources. The round will push the stock trading app’s valuation up to about $5.6B.
- Robinhood now stands among the top 15 private tech companies in the U.S. according to valuation. And it’s new value stands at a third of E*Trade, which has a $15B market cap.
- The Robinhood app has over 4M users, up nearly double on the year, with an average age of 30. The app offers free stock trades and premium services that include Gold subscriptions that cost $6/month. Gold gets users the ability to trade after-hours and to borrow capital. Robinhood collects interest on cash in client accounts.
- Chinese news app: Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY, OTCPK:TCTZF) led a $100M pre-IPO investment in Chinese news recommendation app Qutoutian. The round gave the app a valuation of around $1.5B, according to local media. Rumors have Qutoutian seeking a U.S. IPO of up to $3B as early as this year.
- The app stands out from the competition by including digital coins that users receive for registering, reading or sharing news, and inviting friends. The coins are worth money (currently 1K coins = RMB0.5) with the worth rising with the app’s ad revenue.
- Competitor: Toutiao, which has a $20B valuation, Alibaba’s (NYSE:BABA) UC Web Browser, and Tencent News. The competitors all sit ahead of Qutoutiao in local App Store rankings.
- Warby Parker: T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW) invested $75M in eyewear retailer Warby Parker. Recode reported that the round valued Warby Parker at $1.75B. The company has now raised nearly $300M with the last infusion coming three years ago with a $100M investment.
- Warby Parker was founded in 2010 and offers trendy, $95 glasses for sale online. But customers can try frames for free at home and a Prescription Check app lets some users adjust their prescription without an eye doctor visit. Warby Parker also has 65 brick-and-mortar locations, which it hopes to grow to nearly 100 this year.
- Competition: Online competitors like ZenniOptical and brick-and-mortar competitors like LensCrafters and Pearle Vision, both owned by Luxottica (OTCPK:LUXTY).
- AI processors: Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) venture capital arm GV leads a $56M round in SambaNova Systems, which builds computer processors and software for AI and data analytics. The round was co-led by Walden International and included Atlantic Bridge Ventures, and Redline Capital.
- The investment marks GV’s first funding of an AI hardware company.
- SambaNova doesn’t have first-gen chips available yet, but the startup is speaking to potential customers and public cloud providers.
- Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) competitor: GV led a $34M Series C round in workout clothing company Outdoor Voices. The round also included General Catalyst, Forerunner Ventures, and Drexler Ventures (from former J. Crew CEO / current Outdoor Voices chairman Mickey Drexler.)
- Total funding now sits over $64M. Outdoor Voices can use the funds towards expanding its push beyond an online presence into the world of brick-and-mortar retail.
- Competitors: Athletic clothing is a crowded industry but specialists include Lululemon and Gap’s (NYSE:GPS) Athleta.
- Women-focused newsletter: GV led and 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA) participated in a $12M round for TheSkimm, creator of a woman-focused newsletter. The round brought total fundraising up to $28M and also included investments from Spanx founder Sara Blakely, Homebrew, and RRE.
- According to Recode, TheSkimm was looking for a $100M valuation this round compared to the $55M value after the last round in September 2016.
- TheSkimm says it has 7M readers who open its letter at least once a month, with a 30% daily open rate. The company has expanded into podcasts, e-commerce, and a calendar app and wants to use the new money to build more subscription services.
- Previously: Alibaba participates in $866M round for bike-sharing company (March 13)
- Now read: Stocks To Watch: Wake-Up Call For The IPO Market
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