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Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between. This morning we’re exploring Airbnb’s march to the public markets. The popular DIY hospitality startup promised last year that it would go public in 2020. That timeline means that its 2019 performance will be included …
February 12, 2020 | by Raheel“Whatever your symptom, WebMD says you have cancer.” It’s a long-running joke that underscores the distrust of perhaps the top source of medical advice, stemming from a confusing site clogged with ads that’s been criticized for questionable information and pushing pills from its sponsors. Health Guide is the new medical handbook for the internet, where …
February 12, 2020 | by RaheelHeadspace, the Los Angeles-based mindfulness and meditation company locked in a bitter competitive struggle with Calm for leadership in the mental wellness world, has raised new capital to try to take the pole position. The company has just closed on $93 million in new equity and debt financing from a slew of investors as it …
February 12, 2020 | by RaheelMeet Ramp, a new startup that offers corporate credit cards with 1.5% cash back on everything. The company thinks that a cash-back program combined with an analysis of your payments to help you spend less is more valuable than alternative corporate card offerings. Ramp is launching publicly today and has raised $25 million in funding …
February 12, 2020 | by RaheelFor decades, the best urban planning simulation wasn’t a simulation for urban planners at all, but the wildly popular city building game, SimCity, says Peter Calthorpe, an expert in the field and the co-founder of UrbanFootprint. Calthorpe began his career as an urban planner and designer in the late seventies, and in the mid-eighties he …
February 12, 2020 | by RaheelStudent loan debt in the U.S. totals $1.5 trillion, and more than 44 million Americans have outstanding student loan debt. According to research by Villanova law professor Jason Iuliano, a million student loan debtors have filed for bankruptcy in the past five years. However, 99.9% of them did not include their student loan debt in …
February 12, 2020 | by RaheelFifty percent of families are scared they can’t cover the cost of a funeral. They end up overpaying because no one wants to comparison shop amidst a tragedy. That’s why ex-Googler Alison Johnston’s startup Ever Loved built a free funeral crowdfunding tool. Now it’s addressing one of the most expensive parts of saying goodbye: burial. …
February 12, 2020 | by RaheelJapanese orbital debris removal technology startup Astroscale is going to be working with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on the agency’s first mission to remove some of the junk that currently exists on orbit. They’ve been selected by the agency to participate in its Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration project (CRD2), which includes two …
February 12, 2020 | by RaheelAround 70% of the world’s population now has some form of bank account or — thanks to mobile phones — a facility to receive and send money virtually, according to the World Bank. But when it comes to people crossing borders and setting up lives in new countries, they essentially leave behind their financial histories, …
February 12, 2020 | by RaheelMike Volpi Contributor Share on Twitter Mike Volpi is a general partner at Index Ventures. Before co-founding the firm’s San Francisco office with Danny Rimer, Volpi served as the chief strategy officer at Cisco Systems. More posts by this contributor How open-source software took over the world Much has been made about the roles and …
February 12, 2020 | by Raheel