Weekend Edition: Boehringer Ingelheim to acquire Swiss cancer vaccine developer for up to 325M euros

VC Deals

Life House, a startup hospitality company that both manages its own branded hotels and provides its technology platform as a white-label solution for independent hotel owners, has received $100 million in equity commitments from Blue Flag Partners. Boston-based Blue Flag is an investment, real estate development and branding firm that has a collection of hotels in its portfolio. More

iCrx, Inc., an automatic eyeglass prescription technology startup, received an investment from UAVenture Capital Fund (UAVC), a Tucson based venture capital fund dedicated to the University of Arizona commercialization of discovery products, technology and services. More

Salt Lake City-based biotech Recursion Pharmaceuticals, which is part of the group of companies looking to use AI technology to accelerate drug development, has raised a $121 million Series C financing round led by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. More

Amperity, a Seattle, WA-based AI-powered Customer Data Management platform, raised a $50M Series C financing. Backers included Tiger Global Management, Goldman Sachs, Declaration Partners, Madera Technology Partners, Madrona Venture Group, and Lee Fixel. More

Originally founded in 2011 as a social networking site for Chicago’s startup scene, Built In has since transitioned into a local tech media and recruiting platform with national reach. Today, Built In announced it raised $22 million in a Series C round led by Washington, D.C.-based Updata Partners. More

Today, Finix raised $17.5 million to help companies bring payment processing in-house to lower the costs that traditionally come with the service. The Series A round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Insight Venture Partners, Aspect Ventures, and Visa. More

The esports boom is rolling along this summer as 100 Thieves, a popular esports team, announced that it closed a $35 million Series B today. The firm’s new capital event was led by Artist Capital Management and included funds from Aglaé Ventures and Groupe Arnault according to a release. More

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IPOs

DouYu, a China-based private technology company focused on streaming content and esports, announced that it priced its IPO at $11.50 per share. The company sold just under 45 million shares at that price in the transaction, while existing shareholders sold around 22.5 million. More

Acquisitions

A large family-owned drugmaker in Germany plans to shell out more than $350 million to buy a cancer vaccine maker in Switzerland. Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim said Monday it would spend up to 325 million euros – or $364.5 million – to acquire Geneva-based Amal Therapeutics, also a privately owned company. The deal includes an upfront payment and up to 100 million euros in milestone payments. More

Partnerships

VW Group is investing $2.6 billion in capital and assets into Argo AI, the Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle startup that burst onto the scene two years ago with $1 billion in backing from Ford. The deal, which has been rumored for months, is part of a broader alliance between VW Group and Ford that covers autonomous and electric vehicles. More

New Funds

Fifth Wall, a venture capital firm focused on real estate technology, raised $503 million from a group of 50 large U.S., European and Asian property owners who will provide a market for the start-ups and their products it invests in. More

Tech News

Cargo, an in-car commerce company that helps ride-hailing drivers earn extra cash by selling stuff to passengers, is officially launching its Cargo Store mobile app today, giving riders the chance to earn cash back on a host of goods from an expanded marketplace. More