Ahead of public market debut, Better.com lays off 9% of its staff

One day after announcing an amendment to its SPAC agreement, digital mortgage lender Better.com confirmed today that it is laying off roughly 9% of its nearly 10,000 person staff. Doing the math, that amounts to about 900 people. The company declined to comment beyond the following written statement from CFO Kevin Ryan: “A fortress balance […]

Fresh from a $10M round, Plan A launches SaaS tool for ESG reporting aimed at startups/VCs

With key ESG reporting regulations such as the EU Taxonomy and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) covering more than 75 percent of European companies, across the EU and the UK, the regulatory environment is evolving fast. Non-financial data, such as carbon emissions, is catching up with financial reporting burdens. And it’s not just the […]

Maple VC locks down $16.5 million for its second seed-stage fund by waving the Canadian flag

Maple VC is based in San Francisco, but don’t let that fool you, says its founder, Andre Charoo. The young fund, which launched in 2016 with $1.2 million in capital commitments, just closed on $16.5 million in capital commitments for a second fund that promises to almost exclusively back savvy Canadian founders, no matter where […]

Sydney-based medtech startup Harrison.ai gets $129M AUD led by Horizons Ventures

Harrison.ai, a Sydney-based company that creates medical devices with AI technology, announced today it has raised $129 million AUD (about $92.3 million USD) in what it says is one of the largest Series B rounds ever for an Australian startup. The funding was led by returning investor Horizons Ventures, and included participation from new investors […]

Indonesia-focused AC Ventures closes oversubscribed $205M third fund

More investor money is flowing into Indonesia’s startup ecosystem. Today, AC Ventures, which focuses early-stage startups in the country, announced it has raise $205 million in committed capital for its oversubscribed Fund II, more than double its original target of $80 million. Investors include World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Disrupt AD, the venture […]

Elon Musk shills a $50 Tesla Cyberwhistle with a joke about whistleblowers

Tesla has yet to produce its all-electric Cybertruck, but diehard fans who need to lay their hands on something new and associated with the highly anticipated and delayed vehicle can now buy a cyberwhistle for $50. Yes, a whistle. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday a link to the webpage for his 65.1 million followers to […]

Korea’s P2P lending startup PeopleFund gets $63.4M Series C led by Bain Capital

South Korea-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform PeopleFund announced today it has closed a $63.4 million (75.9 billion won) Series C round led by Bain Capital with participation from Goldman Sachs. Returning investors in the round include CLSA Lending Ark Asia and 500 Global. The latest funding brings the total raised by PeopleFund to about $83.6 […]