Happy 1st Anniversary! 🎉

March 29, 2021

It’s anniversary week for The Daily Stack, and we’re excited to give away a free month of PrivCo Select (worth $299) to one lucky winner who completes our survey giving us feedback on how we’re doing.
Click here to take the survey.

Since we started The Daily Stack last year amidst the pandemic, we have witnessed numerous events and trends.

🛒 Online grocery delivery is booming, with lots of first-time customers. A survey done in May 2020 by the Food Industry Association noted that 49% of grocery shoppers now do so online and 43% of them are doing it for the first time. It’s led to mega-round funding for online grocery delivery startups like goPuff, Weee, and Imperfect Foods. Notably, Instacart is the clear leader with its close to $40BN valuation. Read our spotlight on why Instacart is dominating the market.

🛍 Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar businesses such as gyms and retail shops have taken a huge hit. Top brands such as Brooks Brothers and Barneys New York have all filed for bankruptcy in 2020. But some companies have benefited from these moves. Read more.

💪 Staying healthy has also shifted how we work out, from fancy gym memberships to our own at-home gyms. Despite the lack of child-proof features, Peloton continues to perform with its sports equipment and membership plans, and the company is exploring additional connected gear with new acquisitions. Read more on the future of fitness.

📚 Even as children are slowly heading back to school and the CDC has eased social distancing guidelines for children, e-learning has been given the magical boost it needs to go mainstream. From K1-12 online education shifts to adult continuing education, virtual learning has taken precedence, and we are bound to see funding for startups in EdTech continue.

🛎 More companies are going public but not via the traditional IPO. To avoid the hurdles and painstaking process of a traditional IPO, 2020 helped make SPACs more alluring, and even WeWork, notorious for abandoning its IPO in the fall of 2019, has agreed to merge with a SPAC. Nevertheless, some warn of a bursting SPAC bubble.

💉 The rush to create a vaccine has helped bring a new appeal to biotech companies. Not only did startups working on COVID vaccinations welcome new funding, but the whole biotech industry is attracting booming rounds of funding up to $900MM.

We’ve definitely covered a lot of topics through our year of The Daily Stack, but we want to hear from you on how to make it better. Click here to take the survey.

Upcycling trend helps boosts thredUP IPO

thredUP saw a 43% jump in its first day of trading. A bright future is ahead for the resale company.
[Read More]

New York funding spike

Despite being the Big Apple, New York hasn’t been the center of funding in a long while. But 2021 is turning out differently.
[Read More]

Since last week, PrivCo has added:
405 Companies | 295 Funding Activities | 95 M&A Deals

Funding & Deal Highlights:

Fanatics raises $320MM
Specialty Retail • Equity • Jacksonville, FL

ServiceTitan raises $500MM co-led by Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital
Residential Services Software & Internet Service • Round F • Glendale, CA

Chainalysis raises $100MM led by Pardigm.xyz
Blockchain Software & Internet Services • Round D • New York, NY

DexCare raises $20MM led by Define Ventures
Digital Health Software & Internet Services • Round A • Renton, WA

Deako raises $12.5MM
Commercial & Industrial Engineering • Round B • Seattle, WA

VLP Therapeutics raises $16MM
Biotechnology • Round A • Gaithersburg, MY

Aura Biosciences raises $80MM co-led by Citadel and Matrix Capital Management
Biotechnology • Equity • Cambridge, MA

Afriex raises $1.2MM led by Launch Africa
Fintech Software & Internet Services • Seed • Oakland, CA

Epic Games raises undisclosed funding from Bank of America
Video Games Software & Internet Services • Equity • Cary, NC

Flex Logic Technologies raises $55MM led by Mithril Capital Management
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment • Round D• Mountain View, CA

TryNow raises $12MM
E-commerce Software & Internet Services • Round A • San Francisco, CA

XyloCor Therapeutics raises $22.6MM led by Fountain Healthcare Partners
Biotechnology • Round A-2 • Malvern, PA

Lev raises $10MM led by Pete Flint
Real Estate Software & Internet Services • Seed • New York, NY

Language I/O raises $5MM
Translation Software & Internet Services • Round A • Cheyenne, WY

Connected2Fiber raises $12MM led by Harbert Growth Partners
Automation Software & Internet Services • Round B • Milford, MA

Pison Technology raises $7MM led by Lavrock Ventures
Manufacturing Software & Internet Services • Round A • Boston, MA

WeWork merges with BowX Acquisition Corp for $9BN
Real Estate • SPAC • New York, NY

LOLA Energy PetroCo acquires Muddy Creek Energy Investments
Integrated Oil & Gas • Acquisition • Canonsburg, PA

Questex Media Group acquires Digital Signage Expo
Technology Services • Acquisition • Atlanta, GA

Procare acquires Allen’s PharmaServ
Pharmaceuticals • Acquisition • Youngstown, OH

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Happy 1st Anniversary! 🎉

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