Sources tell us that Lacework — a cloud security startup that was valued at $8.3 billion post-money in its last funding round — is in talks to be acquired by another security player, Wiz, for a price of just $150–$200 million.
Wiz — valued at around $10 billion — is one of them.
The company is positioning itself as a one-stop-shop for all things cloud security en route to its IPO.
Earlier this month Wiz acquired Gem Security for $350 million, and it sounds like the M&A will not end with Laceworks.
We are always exploring compelling M&A opportunities that will enhance both our technological capabilities and business expansion, as we strive to build the world’s leading cloud security platform.”
After its IPO, the platform is planning a slew of product features for the year ahead, and — spoiler alert — most of them are powered by AI.
“I think the IPO was an important milestone, but we’re just focused on building for our users,” Reddit Chief Product Officer Pali Baht told TechCrunch.
Reddit’s product roadmap includes faster loading times, more tools for moderators and developers, and an AI-powered language translation feature to bring Reddit to a more global audience.
According to Reddit’s IPO filing, in December 2023, 50% of Reddit’s daily active unique users were from non-U.S. countries.
The company will build on those updates with other new tools, like an LLM that’s trained on moderators’ past decisions and actions.
Was the fundraising process any more or less difficult this time given the market?
If you really rewind the clock, back in 2018 when we raised our sixteenth fund, it was a “normal” environment.
There’s obviously a valuation reset going on for every company seemingly that’s not a large language model company, which is a lot of companies.
I’d guess that gives you easier access to top companies, but also hurts some of your existing portfolio companies.
I don’t think anyone has ever reached a great venture outcome feeling like, ‘Man, I got a steal on that deal.’ You always feel slightly uncomfortable.
Thrive Market is well, thriving.
The billion-dollar e-commerce company splashed onto the scene in 2016 with its idea of online grocery delivery.
Nick Green, one of the company’s co-founders, stopped by Found to chat about his company and the market’s evolution since he first launched it.
This argument is what helped Thrive Market become the first online grocery retailer that the USDA approved to accept food stamps.
Thrive Market had to raise money from content creators and influencers until VCs picked up on the craze.
Bumble’s new CEO talks about her critical mission: to spice things up at the company Tis the season for turnaround CEOsSince Bumble’s blockbuster IPO at the height of the pandemic, investors’ ardor with the dating service has cooled.
Part of it ties to AI, which Bumble’s rivals are also leaning into more heavily.
But as we approach our 10-year anniversary, it’s a great moment to think about how we best serve our mission.
Historically, what we’ve seen is that a lot of men will come to Bumble who believe in women being empowered.
Bumble has always been great at community-based marketing: hosting events and finding ambassadors who really want to represent the brand.
Tinder-owner Match Group has appointed two new members to its board of directors and signed an agreement with Elliott Management, the company announced on Monday.
Chief marketing officer at Instacart, Laura Jones, and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff, will be joining the board, effective immediately.
Match said in a press release that the appointments followed a “a constructive dialogue” with the activist investor, as the two companies have entered in an “information-sharing” agreement.
“We appreciate the collaboration with management and the Board over the past several months, and we are confident that Laura Jones and Spencer Rascoff are strong additions to the Board.
The activist investor’s push for change at the dating firm follows board shakeups at Crown Castle and Etsy.
Arjun Sethi speaks with the confidence of someone who knows more than other people, or else who knows that sounding highly confident can shape perception.
Namely, if Termina is so good, why are Sethi and Tribe giving other investment firms a way to better compete?
Relatedly, why should other investors trust Termina, which ingests its customers’ data to improve over time?
This may prove doubly true given Termina’s ties to Tribe Capital.
Among these is Alex Chee, who cofounded MessageMe with Sethi, joined him at Social Capital, and subsequently co-founded both Tribe and Termina with him.
TechCrunch reported about Lightspeed Venture Partners engaging to invest in Pocket FM last year.
ADIA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, whereas Pocket FM said it refrains from commenting on market speculations.
Pocket FM operates on a freemium model, leveraging long-form episodic storytelling to give users the choice to pay only for content they prefer rather than the entire library.
The startup announced last month that it will invest $40 million to grow its online reading platform Pocket Novel.
More than 90,000 writers had signed up to the app in less than a month, Pocket FM co-founder Rohan Nayak wrote on LinkedIn this week.
Media startup Dailyhunt is in advanced stages of talks to acquire the Bengaluru-headquartered social network Koo, two sources familiar with the matter told me.
The potential deal under discussion involves a share-swap agreement and could be finalized within weeks, the sources added, requesting anonymity as the matter is private.
The deliberation follows Koo, which has sought to become a Twitter rival, aggressively hunting for new capital throughout last year.
The social network, available in India and Brazil, is betting on the idea that its approach of supporting multiple local languages will help the eponymous app resonate broadly with the larger masses.
Dailyhunt, which was last valued at $5 billion, and Koo declined to comment.
Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has held discussions in recent weeks about potentially acquiring Dunzo, the hyperlocal delivery startup backed by Reliance Retail, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
The acquisition talks follow a turbulent year at Dunzo, which has been struggling to raise cash and make staff payroll.
Flipkart is skeptical about precisely what all it will be able to take over if it were to acquire Dunzo.
Reliance Retail, the largest investor in Dunzo, has also not approved the deal.
Flipkart and Dunzo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
