Term Sheet — Wednesday April 18 – 学期表- 4月18日星期三

Term Sheet -- Wednesday April 18 - 学期表- 4月18日星期三

By

Robert Hackett

April 18, 2018

On Crypto

Good morning, Term Sheet readers.

Robert Hackett here, once again standing in for Polina.

Last night at Fortune’s annual Brainstorm Tech dinner in San Francisco, Chain CEO Adam Ludwin regaled attendees with his astute take on cryptocurrencies. Virtual money represents “the new Internet counterculture,” he said, and the movement stands in contrast to today’s Silicon Valley establishment: old fogies like Alphabet, Facebook, et al. (I have yet to debrief with the evening’s moderator, Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky, who was not hot on Bitcoin last I checked.)

While I was not in attendance at the meal, I have spoken to Ludwin on many prior occasions. In fact, he was responsible for much of my early education about blockchains, the distributed accounting ledgers at the heart of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. One of my earliest stories for Fortune consisted of a sleepless dispatch from a two-day Bitcoin hackathon at New York University that was sponsored, in part, by Ludwin’s company (before it pivoted to enterprise software). We stayed up much of the night, and he introduced me to the technical underpinnings of bank-less money.

If cryptocurrency represents the new counterculture, as Ludwin says, then the punks are already growing up. This morning, Intangible Labs, the startup behind a project formerly known as Basecoin, said it raised $133 million in a new fundraising round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Like an adolescent casting off a childhood nickname, the team dropped “coin” and rebranded its forthcoming product to Basis. Other participants in the funding round include venture capital firms, such as Lightspeed Ventures, Alphabet’s venture arm GV, and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as cryptocurrency hedge funds, such as Metastable, Polychain Capital, and Pantera Capital, among others.

Basis aims to eradicate the fun—er, volatility—from cryptocurrency. To date, much of cryptocurrency’s rise has been due to speculative investor activity, excited by quick, wild price swings. Basis is designing a blockchain to eliminate those market uncertainties. Its token, which the company says will initially be pegged to the value of one U.S. dollar, strives to become a legitimate medium of exchange, a true crypto-currency as opposed to a crypto-commodity, like Bitcoin. The team wants to build a decentralized, autonomous central bank at the most fundamental, protocol level. In theory, algorithms will control the monetary supply, keeping the market value stable.

“Our thesis is that the volatility of cryptocurrency is preventing their mainstream adoption,” Nadar al-Naji, Basis’s CEO and cofounder, told me on a call. “Basis is a cryptocurrency with an algorithmic central bank designed to adjust the supply of cryptocurrency to keep purchasing power stable.” That way, fiat-skeptics can one day pay out salaries in Basis without having to worry about the crypto-economy’s boom and bust hyper-cycles, so the thinking goes.

Salil Deshpande, a managing director at Bain who led the deal, told me on a call that he foresees Basis having both short-term and long-term market potential. First, the coin is a natural fit for cryptocurrency traders who need a way to move between online exchanges while avoiding price collapses or surges. A rival coin, Tether, has proven this out, he said. On a longer timeline, Basis could help foster commerce, especially in developing countries with unreliable central banks. (You can read Deshpande’s reasoning in a Medium essay he penned.)

If you’re interested in learning more about Basis and so-called “stable-coins,” tune into Fortune’s new show, Balancing The Ledger, set to air Friday around 11 a.m. ET. We’ve invited Basis’s al-Naji on as a guest this week. Also, subscribe to Fortune’s forthcoming newsletter, The Ledger, where we’ll keep you up to date with insights on all the latest fintech, crypto, and blockchain trends.

While we’re on the subject of counterculture—and since I don’t get to man Term Sheet very often—I’ll make note of another interesting deal that crossed the wire this morning. Green Bits, a startup that supplies software to marijuana merchants, announced a $17 million fundraising round led by Tiger Global. The New York-based investment firm, which once backed Facebook and LinkedIn, now finds itself making deals alongside Snoop Dogg, whose VC firm Casa Verde Capital joined the round. Looks like John Boehner isn’t the only who see potential in the green stuff. Just in time for 4/20, too.

Ping deals to [email protected].

More deals below.

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THE LATEST FROM FORTUNE…

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s New Model 3 Target: 6,000 Per Week By End of June (by Kirsten Korosec)

• Parkland Survivor Wants Investors to Boycott BlackRock and Vanguard (by Chris Morris)

• Chain CEO Adam Ludwin Talks Cryptocurrencies and Counterculture (by Jonathan Vanian)

• New York’s Attorney General Wants to Know What the Winklevoss Twins Are Doing to Protect Cryptocurrency Customers (by David Meyer)

…AND ELSEWHERE

A better-than-expected quarter for Morgan Stanley. Susan Fowler backs end to forced arbitration. The first millennial-led female VC. Cambridge Analytica’s ICO. Alibaba to jump into the self-driving business. Amazon teams up with Best Buy. Satellite project draws in Bill Gates, SoftBank.

VENTURE DEALS

Basis, a Hoboken, N.J.-based firm seeking to create a stable cryptocurrency, raised $133 million in funding.  Bain Capital Ventures, GV, Stanley Druckenmiller, Kevin Warsh, Lightspeed, Foundation Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Wing VC, NFX Ventures, Valor Capital, Zhenfund, INBlockchain, Ceyuan, Sky9 Capital, and others invested in the firm.

Tala, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based financial services firm for underserved consumers, raised $50 million Series C funding. Revolution Growth led the round and was joined by investors including IVP, Data Collective, Lowercase Capital, Ribbit Capital, and Female Founders Fund. Tala also raised an additional $15 million to power its loan book.

Project44, a Chicago-based global shipping firm, raised $35 million in funding. OpenView led the round, and was joined by investors including 8VC, Emergence Capital, Omidyar Technology Ventures, Chicago Ventures, and Pritzker Group Venture Capital.

Applitools, a San Mateo, Calif.-based AI app testing firm, raised $31 million in Series C funding. OpenView led and was joined by investors including Sierra Ventures, Magma Venture Partners, iAngels, and La Maison.

Eightfold.ai, a Mountain View, Calif.-based hiring platform, raised $18 million in Series B funding. Lightspeed and Foundation Capital led the round the round.

Green Bits, a San Jose, Calif-based compliance platform that helps cannabis dispensaries and retailers run their businesses, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Tiger Global, led the round and was joined by investors including Casa Verde Capital.

Vicarious Surgical, a Cambridge, Mass-based robotic surgery firm, raised $16.75 million in Series A funding. Khosla Ventures and Innovation Endeavors led the round the round, and was joined by investors including Gates Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, and Marc Benioff.

RapidSOS, a New York-based emergency technology company, raised $16 million in funding. Highland Capital Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Microsoft Ventures and CSAA Insurance Group.

BookingBug, the Boston-based scheduling platform, raised $13.4 million in Series C funding. PeakSpan Capital and Downing Ventures led the round.

Wonolo, a San Francisco-based staffing platform enabling businesses to fill their immediate labor needs, raised $13 million in a Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital.

• Parsley Health, a New York-based personalized healthcare firm, raised $10 million in funding. FirstMark Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, Amplo, Trail Mix Ventures, Combine and The Chernin Group.

Squarefoot, a New York-based workspace-seeking platform, raised $7 million in funding. Rosecliff Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including RRE Ventures, Triangle Peak Partners, and Armory Square Ventures. More.

Node, a San Francisco-based AI-powered discovery engine, raised $5 million in funding. Recruit Strategic Partners, WndrCo, David Brewer of Aragon Capital, Linnea Roberts of GingerBread Capital, Falmouth Ventures, and Marc Weiss of Open Field Capital were the investors.

Nano-C, a Westwood, Mass.-based developer of nanostructured carbon for energy and electronics applications, raised $11.5 million in funding, including a $3 million tranche from Ray Stata, cofounder and current chairman of Analog Devices.

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PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS

Monogram Capital Partners invested in Ellenos, a Seattle-based Greek yogurt brand. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Falfurrias Capital Partners invested in Tax Guard, a Boulder, Colo.-based a proprietary data and services firm for lenders.

Arsenal Capital Partners took a majority interest in Fralock, a Valencia, Calif.-based manufacturing firm. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Gauge Capital recapitalized American Nuts, a Sylmar, Calif.-based supplier and processor of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

GI Partners acquired Consilio, a Washington D.C.-based document review, and legal consulting services. Consilio was combined with Advanced Discovery. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Vista Equity Partners acquired LogicMonitor, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based performance tracking firm. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Castle Harlan acquired the North American production equipment manufacturing assets of Exterran Corp., a Houston-based oil and gas firm. Financial terms weren’t announced. The new firm will be called Titan Production Equipment.

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OTHER DEALS

BCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCBP) acquired IA Bancorp and its subsidiary, Indus-American Bank, of Edison, N.J. Indus-American Bank  has been merged with and into the Bank. IA Bancorp shareholders will receive $2.55 million in cash and 631,994 shares of the BCB common stock.

SS&C, a Windsor, Calif-based financial software firm, acquired DST systems, a Kansas City-based tech firm, for $5.4 billion. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

HighTower, a Chicago-based investment advisors, acquired Salient Private Client, the New York-based wealth management business of Salient Partners.

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EXITS

Ward Energy Partners, a Fort Collins, Colo.-based energy firm, sold assets located in Adams and Weld Counties in Colorado to an undisclosed buyer.  

VizExplorer, a San Diego, Calif.-based analytics platform for the casino industry, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. Endeavor previously held the firm and will continue to have a minority investment in the company.

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FIRMS + FUNDS

BBH Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., raised $250 million in funding.

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Lucinda Shen produced today’s Term Sheet. Send deal announcements to Polina here and IPO news to Lucinda here.

Robert Hackett 2018年4月18日密码 早上好,学期表读者。Robert Hackett在这里,又一次站在polina。昨晚在财富杂志的年度科技头脑风暴在三藩的晚宴,款待与会者链首席执行官Adam Ludwin与他的精明以cryptocurrencies。虚拟货币是“新的互联网文化,”他说,和移动站与今天的硅谷的建立:老年人喜欢的字母,脸谱网,等。(我还没有汇报晚会的主持人,幸运的Adam Lashinsky,谁是不热的比特币,上次我检查。)虽然我没有出席这顿饭,我到Ludwin之前的很多场合的发言。事实上,他负责我很多关于blockchains早期教育、分布式的会计账簿在比特币和其他cryptocurrencies的心。我最早的财富故事之一是失眠的调度从一个为期两天的比特币Hackathon纽约大学主办,部分由Ludwin公司(前转的企业软件)。我们熬夜了,他向我介绍了银行较少资金的技术基础。如果cryptocurrency代表了新的反主流文化,就像Ludwin说的,然后小混混已经长大。今天上午,无形的实验室,后面的项目原名basecoin启动,说它筹集了1亿3300万美元新一轮融资由贝恩资本企业。像一个青少年摆脱了儿时的绰号,球队放弃“硬币”更名为其即将推出的产品的基础上。在该轮融资的其他参与者包括风险投资公司,如光速创投,字母的风险臂GV、和Andreessen Horowitz,以及cryptocurrency对冲基金,如亚稳态,polychain资本和Pantera资本,其中。依据旨在根除的有趣儿,波动从cryptocurrency。到目前为止,大部分的cryptocurrency的上涨是由于投资者投机活动,兴奋的快,价格剧烈波动。基础设计的blockchain消除市场的不确定性。该公司表示,它最初将钉住一美元的价值,努力成为一种合法的交换媒介,一种真正的密码货币,而不是像比特币这样的密码商品。该小组希望建立一个分散的、自主的中央银行,在最基本的、协议层面。从理论上讲,算法将控制货币供应量,保持市场价值稳定。“我们的论文是cryptocurrency波动防止其成为主流产品,“Nadar al Naji,基础的首席执行官和联合创始人,告诉我一个电话。“基础上是一个算法设计的调整中央银行cryptocurrency供应保持购买力稳定的cryptocurrency”。这样,菲亚特持怀疑态度的人可以一天支付工资的基础上,而不必担心密码经济繁荣和萧条的超循环,所以这想起去。Salil Deshpande,董事总经理贝恩带领,告诉我在打电话,他预见到有短期和长期的市场潜力的基础。第一,硬币是cryptocurrency交易者需要一种方式来移动之间的在线交流而避免价格崩溃或潮天作之合。他说,竞争对手的硬币,绳索已经证明了这一点。在较长的时间线上,基础有助于促进商业,尤其是在那些不可靠的中央银行的发展中国家。(你可以阅读Deshpande的推理中他写的文章。)如果你在学习更多关于基础和所谓的“稳定的钱币很感兴趣,“调成财富的新节目,平衡Ledger,集空气星期五凌晨11点左右ET.我们邀请的基础上的al Naji在本周做客。同时,订阅财富即将通讯,总帐,在那里我们将使你了解了解最新的趋势和blockchain FinTech,密码。虽然我们对反文化的主题,因为我没人会注意often-i术语表的另一个有趣的交易,今天早上过线。Green BIT是一家为大麻商提供软件的创业公司,宣布由老虎环球公司领导的1700万美元的融资活动。总部位于纽约的投资公司,曾经支持脸谱网和LinkedIn,现在发现自己做交易的还有史努比狗狗,其VC公司Casa豪园资本加入圆。看来约翰·博纳并不是唯一看到绿色环保潜力的人。正好赶上4/20点。平交易[email protected]。更多的交易如下。广告财富的最新…特斯拉CEO Elon musk’s •新模型的3个目标:每周6000到六月底(Kirsten Korosec)•公园的幸存者希望投资者抵制贝莱德和先锋(克里斯·莫里斯)首席执行官亚当•链卢德威会谈cryptocurrencies和反文化(Jona比vanian)•新york’s律师总想知道他们是如何保护cryptocurrency客户(David Meyer)…and别处优于预期的曲在摩根斯坦利。Susan Fowler支持强制仲裁。第一个千年的LED女性VC。剑桥Analytica的ICO。阿里巴巴跳进自驾车业务。亚马逊与百思买合作。卫星项目吸引了比尔盖茨,软银。风险交易•基础上,霍博肯、N.J.为基础的公司寻求创造一个稳定的cryptocurrency,筹集了1亿3300万美元的资金。 Bain Capital Ventures,GV,Stanley Druckenmiller,Kevin Warsh,光速,基金会的资本,Andreessen Horowitz,翼VC,该合资企业,英勇的资本,zhenfund,INBlockchain,Ceyuan,Sky9资本,投资于其他公司。•;Tala,一个圣莫尼卡,Calif.的金融服务企业为缺医少药的消费者提出的5000万美元的C系列融资。革命成长带动轮的投资者包括IVP,加入数据集合,小写资本,Ribbit Capital,和女性创业基金。Tala还提出了一个额外的1500万美元的贷款。•project44,芝加哥为基础的全球航运公司,筹集了3500万美元的资金。它带动了一轮,是由投资者包括8vc,加入出现资本,奥米迪亚科技公司、芝加哥公司、和普利兹克集团创业投资。•applitools,圣马特奥,Calif.为基础的人工智能应用测试公司,筹集3100万美元的C系列融资。OpenView LED和被投资者包括Sierra Ventures公司的加入,岩浆创投,iangels,和La Maison。•eightfold.ai,芒廷维尤、Calif.的招聘平台,筹集1800万美元的B系列融资。光速和佛

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Term Sheet -- Wednesday April 18 - 学期表- 4月18日星期三

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