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Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for July 16, 2021. A PSA: A couple of of us at TechCrunch took a while this week to speak about funding rounds, masking them and the way startups would possibly stand out. If that’s your kind of factor, you possibly can try the chat right here. OK, information time! — Alex
The TechCrunch Top 3
Startups/VC
- Blend is not a startup: Banking tech unicorn Blend went public this week. It’s now price $Four billion or so, greater than its ultimate non-public spherical. So think about the corporate not solely not a startup, but in addition not a personal unicorn. Blend’s software program powers the mortgage possibility in different apps, making it an organization that you could be not have heard of however might have used.
- Halla raises $4.5M to assist guess what you will eat: Buying groceries on-line is huge enterprise. Amazon is into it. It’s Instacart’s core remit. And European grocery supply providers have been elevating oodles of cash. Halla desires to assist these firms promote extra stuff by “using human behavior to steer shoppers to food items they want while also discovering new ones as they shop online.”
- Rivian as soon as once more delays EV deliveries: The international chip scarcity — see our earlier word relating to Intel — is exhibiting up in a number of locations, together with Rivian’s ramp towards business manufacturing of its electrical automobiles. Other points are holding the corporate up, however this chip scarcity is an actual kettle of fish for firms of all styles and sizes.
- Yummy desires to construct Venezuela’s superapp: Then there’s Yummy, which simply raised a $Four million spherical. It has huge aspirations: ride-hailing, supply and extra. The superapp mannequin might have been spearheaded in Asia, however it’s going international. Yummy will want greater than $Four million to construct it, nonetheless. So if issues go effectively, anticipate the corporate to lift once more in brief order.
From our current Early Stage occasion, we’ve one thing new on your enjoyment: Cleo Capital’s Sarah Kunst explains tips on how to prepare to lift your subsequent spherical.
Outdoorsy co-founders element how they expanded the sharing economic system to RVs
Seven years in the past, advert govt Jen Young and tech entrepreneur Jeff Cavins stepped away from the careers they’d constructed to launch Outdoorsy, an RV rental market.
Last month, they introduced a partnership with high-end tenting firm Collective Retreats and raised a $90 million Series D and $40 million in debt to hurry up an already spectacular charge of progress.
To be taught extra about their strategy to constructing a transportation firm that caters to individuals who crave a style of nomadic existence, Rebecca Bellan interviewed Young and Cavins for Extra Crunch.
Their dialog explored the impacts of COVID-19, their enterprise technique and why they determined to tackle $30 million in debt financing:
Jeff Cavins: We like to have a look at macro developments as a enterprise and I believe U.S. financial coverage goes to get us all in just a little little bit of bother. So we wished to lock in a credit score facility for the corporate at advantageous phrases.
(Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup groups get forward. You can enroll right here.)
Big Tech Inc.
- FedEx pours $100M into Delhivery: First, we love the identify for the Indian logistics startup. It’s rumored to be heading for an IPO this yr. The deal underscores how key the Indian market is proving to be not merely for its home traders and founders, but in addition for international manufacturers.
- Paytm goes public: Indian fintech large Paytm has filed to go public. We’re together with it on this part of the e-newsletter as a result of, as we reported, the non-public firm “plans to raise up to $2.2 billion in an initial public offering.” That’s an enormous, big sum of money. It’s laborious to name Paytm a startup when it’s elevating just a few enterprise capital funds’ price of capital in a single go.
- Tumblr’s mum or dad firm buys Pocket Casts:…
