Tuesday, April 7, 2020
E-comm moratorium proposal worries India
Oyo gives pink slips to US staff
Google says G Suite now has over 6M paying businesses, up from 5M in February 2019, and that Google Meet has 25 times more users than it did in January 2020 (Jordan Novet/CNBC)
Google says G Suite now has over 6M paying businesses, up from 5M in February 2019, and that Google Meet has 25 times more users than it did in January 2020 — - Google's G Suite, which competes with Microsoft Office 365, has passed 6 million paying customers, according to executive Javier Soltero, who previously worked at Microsoft.
Hong Kong-based Neat, which helps startups and small businesses do cross-border banking online and apply for corporate credit cards, raises $11M Series A (Catherine Shu/TechCrunch)
Hong Kong-based Neat, which helps startups and small businesses do cross-border banking online and apply for corporate credit cards, raises $11M Series A — Neat, a Hong Kong-based fintech startup, announced today that it has raised a $11 million Series A to help small businesses do cross-border banking.
Sources: Airbnb is paying 10%+ interest on the $1B funding it raised on Monday; investors were offered free stock warrants based on a company valuation of $18B (Wall Street Journal)
Sources: Airbnb is paying 10%+ interest on the $1B funding it raised on Monday; investors were offered free stock warrants based on a company valuation of $18B — Airbnb's new investors get free warrants based on company valuation of $18 billion — Airbnb Inc. agreed to pay …
Australian startup SafetyCulture nabs $800 million valuation on $35.5 million round
SafetyCulture, the Australian enterprise software company that manages security and compliance checks at companies around the world, has raised $35.5 million at an $800 million valuation in its latest round of funding.
Nearly half of the new money was meant to provide liquidity to employee shareholders who had been with the company over three years, according to a person familiar with the transaction.
The round was led by the Australian growth capital investor TDM Growth Partners, with participation from other local Australian investors like Blackbird Ventures, Skip Capital (the firm created by Atlassian co-founder and co-chief executive, Scott Farquhar and helmed by his wife, Kim Jackson) and former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife.
In all the company has raised over $100 million for its compliance software.
“This is an exciting milestone for us to achieve as a company, especially during uncertain times like these,” SafetyCulture founder and CEO Luke Anear said in a statement. “We’re particularly happy about giving employees the opportunity to sell some of their equity as a reward for all their hard work and continued loyalty.”
Over 26,000 companies in 85 countries use the iAuditor app to make safety checks every year. The company just crossed the cash-flow positive threshold and has operations in Kansas City, Sydney, Townsville, Manchester and Manila.
The new funding will be used to continue the company’s product development as it looks to move from being a security and safety checklist to a more robust collaboration and communication platform, the company said.
“Today’s announcement continues what has been 12 months of hyper growth for SafetyCulture’s Americas headquarters in Kansas City,” said Bob Butler, General Manager of SafetyCulture Americas. ” The North American market currently makes up around 40% of our customers and this significant injection of capital enables us to accelerate product development for items customers need, along with the talent and marketing needed to scale our business to serve more customers and have a greater impact on safety and quality for workers all around the US.”
In light of the COVID-19 epidemic, the company said it would offer its premium safety audit product and other features free for six months to healthcare, emergency, education, and volunteer organizing companies and on-profits.
SafetyCulture’s current customers include: Emirates, Coca-Cola, GE, IKEA, Unilever, BHP Billiton and Accor. SafetyCulture.
Silicon Valley Bank only started processing stimulus loan applications today
In a sign of just how broken the process is for startups looking to receive stimulus dollars, Silicon Valley Bank, the bank that claims “more innovative startups bank with us than any other bank,” only just began processing claims today.
“Since the CARES Act and the PPP were announced, we have been hard at work advocating for our clients to have access to this funding. We have been working around the clock to develop a process that works for our clients. Thousands of companies have indicated interest in the last several days,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. “We are currently accepting and processing PPP applications and continue to receive a high volume of interest. We will continue to listen to our clients and do everything we can to support their success.”
The stimulus loans that startups hope to access were created to save jobs at companies affected by the government’s closure of non-essential businesses. The initiative is part of a broad range of measures meant to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 epidemic.
For startup companies, the loan package has proven to be a source of nearly as much consternation as the government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“I’m a startup founder who banks with Silicon Valley Bank,” wrote one tipster. “They are totally dropping the ball on the Paycheck Protection Program. Other banks began accepting applications on Friday, it’s now Tuesday and no word from SVB. Really bad for startups.”
For its part, Silicon Valley Bank said it was working around the clock to make sure its customers were able to access the federal money.
Many companies and their investors are confused about whether they are even eligible for stimulus money — and if they are eligible whether they should apply. Investors have refused to go on the record about the advice they’re giving to their portfolio companies.
Perhaps the clearest view of the conundrum startups face has come from the Los Angeles-based investor Mark Suster, who “open-sourced” his own firm’s advice on how to approach the Paycheck Protection Loans — the $. 349 billion small business lending program at the heart of the CARES Act.
Small banks aren’t the only ones having problems getting those much-needed stimulus dollars in the hands of the companies that desperately need them. Several businesses have been stymied in their attempts to receive loans through applications to larger banks.
Customers at Bank of America href="https://twitter.com/Drkcbugg/status/1246126907244118017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1246126907244118017&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2020%2F4%2F7%2F21209584%2Fpaycheck-protection-program-banks-access"> have reported being unable to apply for the government-backed loans from the program without having an existing line of credit with the bank.
And those aren’t the only problems. The Small Business Administration, tasked with overseeing the loan process, is not equipped to dole out the nearly $2 trillion in government funds that are expected to flow through the agency.
“If you can’t get the loan today or tomorrow, don’t worry,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday on Fox Business. “There will be money. And if we run out of money, we’ll come back for more.”
Meanwhile startup entrepreneurs are left holding the bag. And their concerns are warranted. Even by the standards of other financial services firms, the Silicon Valley Bank response was slow. The loans became available on Friday and SVB only started issuing loans on Tuesday of the following week.
When asked when SVB first made the loan applications available, the company said it started this morning.
“Due to the high volume, each company’s randomized notification of the ability to apply did not appear all at the same time,” a company spokesperson wrote in an email.
It’s a sign of a broader failure in the market. As one entrepreneur wrote in an email earlier today:
“Lots of startups (mine included) bank with SVB. The PPP loans are given out on a first come first serve basis – so their screwup might result in thousands of startups not getting these critical loans and we will have to lay people off.
SVB promised to have the program up and running by 4PM PST yesterday. At 5PM PST they put a weak ass message on their website (link below) saying they regret missing their own deadline.There has been no subsequent communication from them and their phone lines are all disconnected. Relationship managers are not responding to emails or calls either.
LOTS of startup founders I know are furious, and rightfully so. We are going to lose 2.5x months payroll because our bank fucked up. It is ridiculous and we would expect better from a bank that prides itself on serving startups. Main street banks like Bank of America and Chase had their PPP applications up and running on Friday (April 4th) but only for existing clients, so all of us startups who were dumb enough to rely on SVB are FUCKED. Switching to a new bank is not an option because a) all the branches are closed and b) the KYC process takes a couple of weeks so it’s too late.”
Taiwan bars all government agencies from using Zoom for official work due to security concerns, becoming the first national government to impose a ban on Zoom (Bloomberg)
Taiwan bars all government agencies from using Zoom for official work due to security concerns, becoming the first national government to impose a ban on Zoom — - Taipei joins SpaceX in halting use of video-conferencing app — Researchers say Zoom routes data via servers in China
Livongo stock jumps over 10 percent on revised earnings guidance, pointing to digital health boom
Livongo Health’s stock jumped over ten percent on a day that saw most exchanges tumble after a day of crazy volatility.
The digital diagnostics and therapeutics company is benefiting from booming demand for digital health services as remote medicine takes center stage for beleaguered health care providers looking to keep treating patients while also responding to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Livongo, a provider of behavioral management treatments and diagnostic tools for chronic conditions including diabetes, hypertension, weight management, and mental health, sits squarely in the center of current medical needs.
The company announced a revised preliminary guidance for its first quarter 2020 revenue to be in the range of $65.5 million to $66.5 million versus prior guidance of $60 million to $62 million according to the company.
The better-than-expected results sent the stock surging in trading on Tuesday, jumping $3.07 per share to close at $33.16, a better than ten percent gain even as the major indices fell in late trading.
“We began 2020 well positioned to pursue our mission of empowering people with chronic conditions to live better and healthier lives, and now more than ever, our efforts are necessary to support our Members and Clients through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Zane Burke, Livongo’s chief executive, in a statement.
“Our record Client launches of over 620 in the first quarter and Member enrollment are ahead of expectations and we continue to see strong demand in our pipeline. Livongo is in the unique position of providing assistance to some of the most vulnerable populations, people with chronic conditions, and according to last week’s CDC report, 78 percent of people who were admitted to the intensive care unit due to COVID-19 had at least one pre-existing health condition.”
Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in late December, digital health startups have seen demand soar. Everything from telemedicine consultations to digital diagnostics and remote monitoring and triaging of health conditions has seen record growth.
Livongo is an early, public, beneficiary of a trend that’s playing out in private startups as well. That’s reflected in recent rounds for telemedical startups like K Health, which raised $48 million in a Series C round. Or in the financing for the Seattle-based startup 98point6, which raised $43 million in a Series D funding round.
“Virtual care plays an important part in enabling social distancing to help flatten the curve and slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Brad Younggren, MD, chief medical officer of 98point6, in a statement.
Hong Kong fintech startup Neat raises $11 million Series A to give small companies more banking services
Neat, a Hong Kong-based fintech startup, announced today that it has raised a $11 million Series A to help small businesses do cross-border banking. The round was led by Pacific Century Group, with participation from Visa and MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia, and returning investors Dymon Asia Ventures, Linear Capital and Sagamore Investments.
Neat also announced a strategic partnership with Visa, which means that in the next few months Neat will start issuing Visa credit cards to SMEs and startups.
This brings Neat’s total funding to $16.5 million, including its seed round announced at the end of 2018.
Like San Francisco-based Brex, which achieved a $2.6 billion valuation last year, Neat focuses on giving startups and small businesses a more efficient, online alternative to traditional banking.
Its services allow them to open business accounts for multiple currencies online, send and receive payments from different countries and apply for corporate credit cards. Neat’s new funding will be used for expansion, with a focus on Southeast Asian customers that do trade with European companies. Last year it opened a Shenzhen office to serve Chinese export businesses, as well as an office in London for Western European companies that trade in China.
Neat co-founder and CEO David Rosa told TechCrunch that businesses are still looking to digitize more of their operations despite the worldwide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Neat is serving entrepreneurs around the world that trade with Asia. Before they may have fitted visits to the bank into their business trips to Hong Kong, this is no longer an option,” he said.
Corporate credit cards can be difficult for startups and SMEs to get because they typically need about three years of audited financials to qualify even for low spending limits, Rosa said. Employees often cannot get a corporate card because their managers do not have the tools to control their spending limits, making reimbursement more difficult. Neat’s partnership with Visa aims to solve many of the problems they encounter (it also offers a Neat Mastercard). In the future, Neat will launch tools for automated payroll, accounting and logistics.
In a statement, MassMutual Ventures managing director Ryan Collins said, “We’re proud to support Neat in the company’s vision to support entrepreneurs. There is a clear demand for better financial products for SMEs, especially when it comes to cross-border payments and trade, and we’re confident that Neat’s passionate and innovative team will deliver.”
Government scales up drone monitoring to enforce ban on religious gatherings
In a small experiment, Facebook approved seven scheduled ads with content that violated company rules about COVID-19, indicating flaws in automated ad screening (Kaveh Waddell/Consumer Reports)
In a small experiment, Facebook approved seven scheduled ads with content that violated company rules about COVID-19, indicating flaws in automated ad screening — A CR experiment raises questions about how the social media giant screens ads on its platform
With no fresh content, broadcasters rely on old classics, web shows to entertain viewers
Toast, a cloud-based restaurant management software provider, cuts ~50% of its staff after raising $400M at a $4.9B valuation in February (Natasha Mascarenhas/TechCrunch)
Toast, a cloud-based restaurant management software provider, cuts ~50% of its staff after raising $400M at a $4.9B valuation in February — Last valued at $5 billion, restaurant management platform Toast has joined the sweep of startups laying off employees due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inside the global efforts to build a privacy-conscious COVID-19 tracking app, with experts contributing from the US, UK, Australia, Switzerland, and elsewhere (NBC News)
Inside the global efforts to build a privacy-conscious COVID-19 tracking app, with experts contributing from the US, UK, Australia, Switzerland, and elsewhere — The hope is that smartphone tracking — combined with widespread testing — can help create a framework for cities to let people resume their lives.
A new English-language Polish film about Vladimir Putin, in which AI is used to superimpose his real face onto an actor, sparks a debate about use of AI (Alicja Ptak/Notes From Poland)
Alicja Ptak / Notes From Poland : A new English-language Polish film about Vladimir Putin, in which AI is used to superimpose his real fa...
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Jake Offenhartz / Gothamist : Since October, the NYPD has deployed a quadruped robot called Spot to a handful of crime scenes and hostage...
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Lorena O'Neil / Rolling Stone : A look at the years of warnings about AI from researchers, including several women of color, who say ...
