SoftBank-backed Oyo files for $1.16 billion IPO

Oyo is ready to explore the public markets. The eight-year-old Indian budget hotel giant has filed the paperworks (PDF) with the local market regulator for an initial public offering, in which it is seeking to raise about $1.16 billion. The Gurgaon-headquartered startup — which offers an operating system of sorts to help hoteliers accept digital bookings, payments, […]

Forta launches with $23M to bring better security to smart contracts

Blockchain cybersecurity startup OpenZeppelin this morning announced a $23 million investment in Forta, a security service aimed at smart contracts. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, which OpenZeppelin CEO and co-founder Demian Brener described as 3x oversubscribed. The investment also attracted capital from Coinbase Ventures, True Ventures and Blockchain Capital, among others. Per Brener, OpenZeppelin will […]

Accel, Tiger and Stripe’s COO back Mexico City-based Higo as it raises $23M for its B2B payments platform

Just six months after raising $3.3 million in seed funding, Mexico City-based Higo announced today it has raised $23 million in a Series A round led by Accel. Tiger Global Management also participated in the financing, along with existing backers Haystack, Homebrew, Audacious, Susa Ventures and J Ventures. A number of angel investors also put […]

Investible launches $100M AUD fund for early-stage climate tech startups

Investible, the Sydney-based early-stage venture firm known for investments in Canva and other top Australian startups, announced today it is raising a $100 million AUD (about $72.3 million USD) Climate Tech Fund. This is the first time Investible has launched a sector-focused fund. It’s first two funds, including a $50 million AUD one closed earlier […]

Finding fraud in a world of fast-moving deals

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture-capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. We got the crew together — Natasha and Danny and Alex — this time ’round to talk fraud, one of our favorite topics. Sure, we’ve riffed on the ups and downs at Luckin, and we’ve spent more time talking about WeWork’s implosion than […]