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Speaking of layers, let鈥檚 get into our latest stories from the site: most recently, our reporter听听unfolded听.

Now on to a busy week of funding rounds. In terms of real estate-related deals, we had听,听,听, and听听all raise money, with each tackling different parts of the complex residential and office markets. Next we wrote about a startup raising $100 million to听, and a company that raised听.

Outside the Valley, as always, brought a fresh mix of deal flow. For one, take听, a growing startup hub in India. We unpacked听, including one from a company that wants to compete with IKEA. From elsewhere around the globe, Brazil鈥檚听, a mobility startup, raised a $30 million Series A from global investors, and听, a digital onboarding startup (also听based in Brazil) raised $10 million.

Now for two unicorn updates: Coveo, a Canadian startup,听, and Cloudflare鈥檚 earnings taught us a听.

And before听you听go,听some听other hits听you听may want to check out include听听and听鈥檚 take on the听best听slides from Softbank鈥檚 WeWork-focused earnings report, and听鈥檚 piece on听.

Alright,听I鈥�m听off to travels!听I鈥檒l be back next week, Dunkin Donuts in hand.

Best,
Natasha

P.S.听Follow me () and听兔子先生传媒听News听on听听and听听for daily updates.

Illustration:听

While journalists strive for objectivity, oftentimes the subjective sits in between the lines of the stories we pursue, the voices we elevate, and the noise we clarify. For me, my most recent story on听immigration and how it impacts the Valley鈥檚 workforce听has a close-to-home undertone: both of my parents left India to come to the United States.

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This kind of perspective might make journalism professors cringe, but I鈥檓 firmly in the camp that the stories we care about are the stories that we tell the best.

More of this in our mini Podcast series, , but after that, grab your听non-WeWork fruit water听and let鈥檚 look at what else has happened in venture capital.

A handful of the news team was at TechCrunch Disrupt, a startup conference, for the week, giving us information on听Brex鈥檚 newest product听and听Impossible Meat鈥檚 鈥渟teak鈥� in the future.听听also walked us through a听nine-figure round scored by a scooter startup. It鈥檚 been a while, we know.

Putzing around the conference reminded me about how much is truly happening outside the Valley. And our coverage matched. This week, we got into Atlanta鈥檚听rise听and听challenges听as a startup hub, how听Nebraska is turning into a Silicon Prairie, and how听Taiwan is manufacturing the next wave of entrepreneurs.

Moving into some healthy funding rounds, a听Tokyo-based startup raised $42.9 million听to diagnose gastric cancer early and听a fertility product startup raised $5 million听in a seed round. Of course, there鈥檚 more in听Last Week In Venture.

From the fund side, we covered how听Brazil-based ONEVC closed a $38 million fund听to invest across the border, and how听SoftBank has dealt in tenth of worldwide VC dollar volume so far in 2019.

Also, to address the elephant in the coworking space:听WeWork officially pulled its IPO. Check out听our timeline of the implosion.

As always, thank you for reading,

Natasha

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Fall in San Francisco looks like听,听coffee-robot tension,听,听cannabis funding, and听esports. Last fall, while I was still in Boston, I would鈥檝e said that this month felt like meeting old friends,听, and the leaves actually changing colors.

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Adjustment aside, let鈥檚 get into the latest headlines with an IPO update. In this week鈥檚 line up, we had debuts from听Datadog听and听Ping Identity,听funding for Postmates, and a听set-the-record-straight moment from Airbnb听(and听WeWork).

Then there鈥檚 the still-private, but equally big companies. A Brazilian online home goods platform,听MadeiraMadeira, raised $110 million; payments company听Stripe raised $250 million; and WordPress owner听Automattic landed $300 million.

We also covered two industries that have been traditionally slow to adopting new technologies but seem to be coming around. Fieldwire, which has developed a听cloud-based task management tool aimed at those working in the construction field, raised $33.5 million. And Biproxi, which aims to be the听鈥淶illow of commercial real estate,鈥�听brought in $10 million in a seed round.

Through scouring filings, we also got a look at the latest venture funds. Deep-tech investor DCVC听landed $725 million for Fund V; March Capital Partners is听eyeing $410 million for Fund III; Revolution Ventures听closed $215 million for its third fund, and Precursor Ventures is听raising $10 million for an opportunity fund. As part of the Seed Series, Gen茅 Teare interviewed听#Angels on its investment taste buds. Mary Ann also looked into听Goldman Sachs鈥� startup investing spree.

Finally, here are some big topics in the late-stage and public markets you should understand: a theory behind听Slack鈥檚 market repricing,听the trend of supergiant seed rounds, and why, if you care about Andreessen Horowitz,听you should probably care about the J-Curve.

After all of this, I guess one thing has stayed the same between the move from Boston to San Francisco: September will always be a little nerdy after all.

P.S.听 Follow me on Twitter ()

I used to get frustrated when I left a tech networking event without a lead on a scoop or a new source. But last night, while sitting an off-the-record dinner with other empowering women, I realized that a successful night might be more about finding empathy for the other side than scoring the next exclusive.

While it feels like tech and media are often at odds, I feel thankful to be in a city that makes space for both sides to be vulnerable from time to time.

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For more on the power of face-to-face interactions, read听my final installment of the Loneliness In Tech series. It鈥檚 worth noting that the same power can be undermined through social media, as听听unpacked in her piece about听a startup that is tackling cyberbullying.

On a lighter note,听听wrote about funding rounds for听cricket-inspired cereal,听chickpeas, and听employee perk payments. Startups accelerated by nine-figure rounds included听Rivian Automotive, a Michigan electric SUV and truck company, which landed $350 million, and听Root Insurance, an Ohio insurance company, which landed the same sum. Also a ways away, we covered Brazil鈥檚 newest unicorn thanks to SoftBank:听QuintoAndar.

Turning the tables, we covered two new funds this week: Bee Partners’听$43 million pre-seed fund听and Work Life Ventures’ new听$5 million seed fund to invest in the next Superhuman.

Then we tackled WeWork,听from its up-and-down valuation, to its听governance shakeup. With whatever energy you have left, read about听its potential valuation haircut.

Despite WeWork, IPO momentum looks good.听听covered SmileDirectClub, the controversial DIY teeth straightening company, and its听less-than-shiny debut. She also jumped on听Cloudflare鈥檚 early pricing days,听and Jason mapped听Airbnb鈥檚 investment strategy听as it crawls toward a filing.

I鈥檒l end on a human note. This week, I caught up with听, the co-founder of Pinch, for Proust Goes Tech. Read her interview to find out听how she thinks ugly shoes and hoodies fit听into tech鈥檚 history.

Until next week,
Natasha

P.S. Follow me () and on Twitter.听听

Illustration:听.

After my notebook is tucked away and the recorder app stops, it seems that my conversations these days are taking the same not-so-subtle turn. Everyone I speak to, in some way, is lonely. Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and everyone hoping for outsized success are no exception.

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The realization inspired me to investigate the intersection of loneliness and tech and write a series focusing on those tensions. The first installment,听unpacking how founders deal with loneliness, went live this past week.

But I am not the only one talking about mental health in tech. Y Combinator, which coaches and invests in hundreds of startups each year, is focusing on founder mental health, too, and it was a central theme at Y Combinator鈥檚 Demo Day.

On the YC Demo Day beat,听听reported on the听growing size of Y Combinator startup batches听and听听helped host a听live Equity Podcast interviewing the president of Y Combinator, Michael Seibel. We also听dove deeper into Tandem听and听all the other startups that share its name, and听I had a lot of thoughts听on the startups presenting听and wrote about听YC鈥檚 investment cadence in India.

Speaking of India, Tala, a digital lending startup,听raised $110 million to expand its services in the region. International coverage continued when Yijipui, an online liquor retailer and Chinese unicorn,听raised $80 million for its ongoing Series D. Plus, JUUL Labs听raised $325 million to fuel the global expansion of its e-cigarettes.

Other rounds this week: Root Insurance听raised $350 million, Better.com听raised $160 million, and ThredUp听raised $175 million to dress you up in what your friends got rid of. SpotHero also听raised $50 million to make it easier to park your car.

On a final note,听we welcomed Sophia Kunthara to the 兔子先生传媒 News family听by way of the San Francisco Chronicle and Reuters. She鈥檒l be covering the late-stage scene for us from the San Francisco desk, so听听to stay up to date. Of course, in honor of her first week here,听Datadog filed to go public.

We鈥檙e one fantastic person stronger here, and we鈥檙e really proud of it.

Thanks for reading,

P.S.听Follow me () and听兔子先生传媒听News听on听听and听听for daily updates.

Illustration:听.

So, Bolt struck twice this week, and听. Let me explain.

Two startups, both named Bolt, both working on widely different products from ride-hailing to the checkout process, announced they raised roughly around the same amount of money at roughly the same amount of time. For more, read听here听and .

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Beyond realizing that Bolt appears to be a听听and听that founders might be getting lazy, I thought this example serves as an ironic anecdote into our flagship story this week:听the Q2 global venture capital report.

In our quarterly report,听听used 兔子先生传媒 data and projections to learn more about deal and dollar volume in venture capital, uncovering data around most active lead investors and how angel investment is looking, globally. Come for the bullish and bearish findings, and stay for the charts.

For more quarterly coverage, read Joanna鈥檚 report on听North America鈥檚 venture activity听(which is flat) and if the boom of funding into听construction tech has slowed after a peak. We also took a look at听Texas鈥� last quarter, and how听China went from number one in venture volume, to not that.

Up next week,听听and I will be publishing a report on how the past few months have played out for female-founded companies at every stage of investment.

Until then, peek at one smart woman in tech鈥檚 story in the most recent edition of Proust Goes Tech. This week, I spoke to Lolita Taub, who recently left Backstage Capital to join an artificial intelligence startup as its chief of staff.

The week also had its fair share of funding news. Clara, which听wants to help startups with legal advice, launched with $2 million in seed funding from investors like 500 Startups and TechStars, and Exyn raised $16 million for a Series A to help fly its pilotless drones under the radar, literally;听three cancer drug developers secured over $500 million; Sonder raising $210 million to become听hospitality’s latest unicorn; and Argo AI grabbed $2.6 billion in an听on-brand move to fuel its autonomous driving efforts.

While our coverage focuses a lot on startups and their data, Mary Ann reminds us that it鈥檚 important to remember the heart of most communities: the mom and pop businesses. Read her听break down on startups helping local businesses thrive, then go to your nearest non-chain coffee shop, grab a mug for-here, don鈥檛 tweet about it, and pat yourself on the back for all of the above.

Until next time,

.

Illustration: .