Weekend Edition. Leapfrog Investments Closes new fund at $700M

VC Deals

Nextdoor, a popular social network for neighbors, announced today that it has raised a $123 million Series F led by Riverwood Capital. Founded in 2010, Nextdoor aims to connect people who live in the same, or nearby, neighborhoods together by creating a forum for them to communicate digitally. Its presence has grown over time (I’ve personally used it for years!) and currently, people in over 236,000 neighborhoods are using the platform. More

Impossible Foods, which makes a meatless plant-based burger and is backed by celebrities like Serena Williams and Katy Perry, said on Monday it has raised $300 million in the latest round of funding ahead of a possible initial public offering. More

Locketgo, which offers mobile-charging lockers for event attendees, has announced the close of a $1.2 million round of seed funding.The Montreal-based company said the new funding will enable it to push into the North American market, grow its team, and continue its research and development. This round was led by Anges Québec, and also included members of Real Ventures, CH Group, Maple Leaf Angels, and Jeffrey Kadanoff. More

MedCrypt, a company based in Southern California, has raised a $5.3 million Series A funding round led by Section 32. Participation also came from Eniac Ventures and Y Combinator. The startup was part of Y Combinator’s winter 2019 cohort. Founded in 2016, MedCrypt brings regulatory mandated cybersecurity practices to medical device vendors. Its offering can be used for medical imaging devices, pacemakers and surgical robots, among other devices. More

Trusted Health, a San Francisco, CA-based career platform for modern nurses to work, connect and grow, closed a $20m Series A funding. The round was led by Craft Ventures with participation from previous investors Felicis Ventures and Founder Collective. In conjunction with the funding, Jeff Fluhr, general partner at Craft Ventures and co-founder of StubHub, will also be joining the board. More

 Daye, a “femcare” startup developing a new type of tampon that uses CBD to help tackle dysmenorrhea, has quietly raised $5.5 million in funding from high-profile investors in the U.S. and Europe, TechCrunch has learned. Backing the seed round is Silicon Valley’s Khosla Ventures, along with London’s Index Ventures and Kindred Capital. The investment sees Khosla’s chief of staff Kristina Simmons, Khosla venture partner Tim Westergren (who also founded Pandora), and Hannah Seal, principle at Index, join Daye’s board. More

Cloud kitchens are the big thing in food delivery, with ex-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s new business one contender in that space, with Asia, and particularly Southeast Asia, a major focus. Despite the newcomers, a more established startup from Singapore has raised a large bowl of cash to go after regional expansion. More 

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Partnerships

Spur Energy Partners and global investment firm KKR have formed a partnership to acquire large, high-margin oil and gas production and development assets across the Lower 48. More 

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based ElevateBio announced its launch Monday with $150 million in Series A funding. The round was led by the UBS Oncology Impact Fund, which MPM Capital and F2 Ventures manage, along with EcoR1 Capital, Redmile Group and Samsara BioCapital. The company plans to form partnerships with academic researchers, medical centers and entrepreneurs and then launch new cell and gene therapy companies, including those with single product and with multiple products. ElevateBio will provide founders with scientists, manufacturing facilities and expertise in drug development and commercialization. More

New Funds

 LeapFrog Investments has closed a dedicated impact fund manager, at $700m. Investors include leading insurers, pensions and asset managers, development finance institutions, foundations and family offices. More

 U.S. Venture Partners, a Menlo Park, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $292.6m for its latest fund. According to a regulatory form filed with the SEC, U.S. Venture Partners XII, L.P., has a final target of $350m. 62 backers participated in the offering. Led by General Partners Casey Tansey, Steve Krausz, Jonathan Root and Rick Lewis, U.S. Venture Partners focuses on early-stage start-ups that transform cybersecurity, enterprise software, consumer mobile and e-commerce, and healthcare. More

Debt Financing

VanillaSoft, a tech-enabled sales engagement service, has received a $3 million loan from the Fonds Régional de Solidarité Outaouais (FRSO). This is in addition to a $1 million loan from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED), announced last month, bringing the company’s total funds raised over the last month to $4 million. More

Blockchain Technology News

HTC has unveiled the HTC Exodus 1s smartphone, a cheaper version of the Exodus 1 phone with built-in cryptocurrency and blockchain.The new phone will be launched at the end of the third quarter. The Exodus 1s combines blockchain with a smartphone to bring the decentralized ledger technology to a new audience. More

Legal

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against Apple on Monday on a case involving whether or not a group of iPhone users will be allowed to bring an antitrust lawsuit against the company regarding its App Store practices. The iPhone owners allege that Apple’s 30% commission on App Store sales is passed along to users, representing an unlawful and unfair use of Apple’s monopoly power. More 

Ontario Government Funding News

Canada's top innovation Institutions will be facing cutbacks following the Ontario government implements cuts to startup and later-stage businesses, according to the The Globe and Mail. An increasing number of innovation centres have said their funding has been affected. The province will be cutting funding to the Ontario Centres of Excellence by more than half. The OCE helps start-ups and later-stage companies get funding. More