VC Deals: SoftBank, HPE Back Data Storage Startup

Welcome to Seeking Alpha’s Venture Capital Deals of the Week. Follow this account and turn on the e-mail alert to receive VCDeals in your inbox on Friday afternoons.

  • SoftBank Vision Fund (OTCPK:SFTBF,OTCPK:SFTBY), HP Enterprise (NYSE:HPE), and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) joined the $250M Series E for data storage company Cohesity. The round more than doubled Cohesity’s valuation to $2.5B. Cohesity helps companies unify secondary or non-mission critical data in one place. The startup estimates that about 80% of enterprise data is secondary in nature. Current customers include Wendy’s and LendingClub. The new funds will go towards R&D and domestic and international expansion.
  • Google ([[GOOG[[,GOOGL) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) quantum computing competitor PsiQuantum raised $215M. The startup is working to build a silicon photonic quantum computer with 1M qubits within a “handful of years.” Top chipmaker GlobalFoundries has started producing PsiQuantum’s chips. PsiQuantum’s backers include Microsoft, Redpoint Ventures, and Atomico.
  • Return backer GV joined the $125M Series C for SaaS startup Podium. Y Combinator’s Continuity fund led the round, which closed at a roughly $1.5B valuation. Podium creates interaction management tools for small businesses and recently expanded into payment services and launched a free user tier. The startup had $100M in ARR at the end of 2019, up from $60M the prior year.
  • Salesforce Ventures (NYSE:CRM) participated in the $80M funding for Privitar, a data privacy software company. Accel led the round, and partner Seth Pierrepont will join the startup’s board. Privitar’s software helps enterprises minimize risk and achieve regulatory compliance. The investment will be used for product development.
  • Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) participated in the $60M raise for Indian grocer BigBasket. The unicorn startup has raised about $720M to date. BigBasket says order volume has increased five times in recent weeks due to the nation-wide coronavirus lockdown. The company is having trouble finding enough drivers for deliveries and has recently teamed with Uber for help. The new funds will also go towards staffing.
  • Qualcomm Ventures (NASDAQ:QCOM), Insight Partners, and Olive Tree Ventures co-led the $50M round for remote medical exam company Tyto Care. The startup says it performed over 200,000 remote examinations in 2019. The on-demand model is increasingly attractive for patients during the coronavirus pandemic. Tyto Care also creates hardware, providing patients with a handheld tool to examine areas like the heart, lungs, and throat. The funding will help expand commercialization and introduce new AI-backed product capabilities.

Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

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