Fidelity has cut the value of its holding in Meesho by 33.6% since the original investment, giving the Indian social commerce startup a valuation of $3.5 billion, adjusted for outstanding shares.
Fidelity had marked down the valuation of Meesho to $4.1 billion at the end of October.
That sale valued Meesho at $3.5 billion, a factor that may have contributed to Fidelity’s assessment.
In a statement to TechCrunch, a Meesho spokesperson said: “Funds attribute value to their portfolio investments, considering various factors such as the valuation of comparable companies.
Based on Fidelity filings, the number of shares held and the current number of total outstanding fully diluted shares, the valuation is assessed at $3.5 billion.
Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech startup, has cut its valuation ask to $250 million in a rights issue it launched Monday as the Indian firm works to address its working capital needs.
If Byju’s succeeds in raising $200 million, the post-money valuation of the startup will be in the range of $220 million to $250 million, a 99% drop from the $22 billion value that the startup had previously attained.
The rights issue comes as Byju’s looks to secure capital amid a severe funding crunch.
Byju’s was preparing to go public in early 2022 through a SPAC deal that would have valued the company at up to $40 billion.
The company began facing mounting pressure from investors to address issues that it had previously left unresolved.
In this edition, I’m going to look at Brex’s latest round of layoffs, the state of fintech investing in 2023 and more!
I may be taking some time off in coming weeks but never fear, TechCrunch Fintech isn’t going away.
While interest rates were low, the company saw a bump in business and VC money was easier to come by.
The move came after reports the company burned $17 million in cash each month during the fourth quarter and that it is trying to preserve runway.
Fintech investors injected $34.6 billion in startups across 2,055 deals in 2023, a –43.8% and –32.4% YoY drop, respectively, according to PitchBook data.
Bilt Rewards, whose platform aims to allow consumers to earn rewards on rent and daily neighborhood spend, has raised $200 million at a $3.1 valuation, the company announced today.
General Catalyst led the financing, which more than doubles the New York-based company’s valuation compared to its $150 million October 2022 raise.
Ken Chenault, chairman and managing director of General Catalyst, is joining Bilt’s board of directors as part of the new funding.
It launched its rewards program in April of 2022.
Bilt also offers a co-branded Mastercard, issued by Wells Fargo, that can be used to pay rent and earn Bilt Points with no transaction fees.
The expectation that modern AI tech will find a home in every part of our lives is pandemic.
Fittingly, startups and investors are working overtime to build and fund new technology companies to either create or implement new AI tech.
But despite all the enthusiasm, there’s a niggling detail that deserves our attention: AI startups often have worse economics than most software startups.
The conversation around AI gross margins is not new.
Back in 2020, venture firm a16z argued that AI startups would have lower gross margins due to “heavy cloud infrastructure usage and ongoing human support.”
In 2019, then-President Trump tweeted a detailed image of a heavily damaged Iranian launch pad captured by a classified military satellite.
The image, which was declassified in 2022, revealed what many in the commercial Earth observation industry suspected: that U.S. defense had the ability to capture images at a staggeringly sharp 10-centimeter resolution.
In comparison, the biggest optical imagery providers today collect images at a 30-centimeter resolution, which is algorithmically improved to 15 centimeters.)
Now, the company says it has closed $35 million in Series A-1 financing, at an up round valuation.
Right now, Albedo is working toward launch of its first commercial satellite in the first half of 2025.
Byju’s, once valued at $22 billion, is willing to cut its valuation to below $2 billion as it hunts for new funding, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
Byju’s willingness to cut the valuation is a stunning reversal of fortune for the startup, once the poster child of the Indian startup ecosystem.
Byju’s has been chasing for new funding for nearly a year.
The new funding deliberation follows BlackRock cutting the value of its holding in Byju’s, slashing the implied valuation of the Indian startup to about $1 billion, according to disclosures made by the asset manager.
Byju’s was preparing to go public in early 2022 through a SPAC deal that would have valued the company at up to $40 billion.
TravelPerk, a business travel management platform targeted at SMEs, has raised $105 million in a fresh equity-based round of financing led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.
“In today’s climate, where startup funding is down by half and valuations are down across the board, this is a healthy and sober valuation,” Meir told TechCrunch.
Well-traveledFounded in 2015, Barcelona-based TravelPerk sells an all-in-one platform for companies to book, manage, and report all their domestic and international travel.
Customers can also extend the platform through integrations with expense management systems like Spendesk and HR software such as HiBob.
“[An] IPO has never been an objective per se for TravelPerk,” Meir said.
Welcome, folks, to TechCrunch Week in Review (WiR), a digest of the past few days in tech happenings.
As I write this, snow’s gracing New York City — an increasingly rare treat thanks to our changing climate.
Notion launches a calendar app: Notion, the incredibly popular note-taking and project management service, has launched a stand-alone calendar service.
AnalysisCES chases off sex tech: Despite being an industry that caters to a universal human experience, sex tech has always had an uneasy association with CES, Haje writes.
And this year, the conference effectively managed to chase the sex tech industry off its show floors — for better or worse.
Reddit is preparing to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in March, according to a new report from Reuters.
Reddit is planning to make its public filing in late February and complete the IPO by the end of March.
The company is looking to sell around 10% of its shares in the IPO, and will decide on what IPO valuation to pursue closer to the time of the listing.
However, Reuters sources cautioned that Reddit’s IPO plans could potentially be pushed back, which has happened in the past.
Its IPO plans have also been delayed due to uncertainty around the IPO market over the last two years, Reuters notes.
