Uber Comes Full Circle

Uber will list all NYC taxis on its app, Google employees want more money, Marlboro is making plans to pull out of Russia, Toshiba shareholders reject plan to split the company, Ukraine struck the Russian Navy, Apple is working on a hardware subscription for iPhones, and airline CEOs want Biden to end the air mask mandate.

Together with

Happy Friday,

Uber will list all NYC taxis on its app, Google employees want more money, Marlboro is making plans to pull out of Russia, Toshiba shareholders reject plan to split the company, Ukraine struck the Russian Navy, Apple is working on a hardware subscription for iPhones, and airline CEOs want Biden to end the air mask mandate.

Heading down to Miami next month for "Miami Tech Week", with events spanning the tech, finance, media, fashion, and crypto industries. More info about it here.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 3/24/2022 market close.

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

  • US stocks ticked up yesterday with the major averages closing in the green, largely erasing Tuesday’s losses

  • We will receive both March’s consumer sentiment reading and February’s pending home sales data today

  • Biden announced at a NATO summit in Brussels that the US would respond if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine, which could also be key for market changes

Earnings

  • Nio posted in-line Q4 earnings numbers, but delivery guidance was lackluster due to supply chain pressure (YHOO)

  • Darden Restaurants reported worse-than-expected top and bottom line numbers, citing omicron as the reason for disappointing Olive Garden sales; Darden also lowered their 2022 outlook, expecting food and labor costs to keep rising (CNBC)

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Uber reaches deal to list all New York City taxis on its app (WSJ)

  • Google employees bombard execs with questions about pay at recent all-hands meeting (CNBC)

  • US to sanction over 300 Russian elites and block Russian central bank gold (CNBC)

  • First Trust launches digital health solutions ETF in partnership with Lux Capital (BW)

  • Rivian CFO has a plan to revive share price and gain Wall Street trust (BBG)

  • Marlboro maker Philip Morris working on options to leave Russian market (BBG)

  • Apple is working on a hardware subscription service for iPhones (BBG)

  • US indicts four Russian hackers for attacks on energy sector (BBG)

  • Biden calls for Russia to be expelled from G-20 (WSJ)

  • Mexico's president AMLO announced a central bank rate hike before the official announcement (BBG)

  • Ukraine strikes Russian Navy as war enters second month (WSJ)

  • Toshiba shareholders reject plan to break into two parts (WSJ)

  • Airline CEOs ask Biden to drop mask requirement for planes and airports (WSJ)

A Message From The Daily Peel

The Most Critical Market Moves and Financial Entertainment, courtesy of The Daily Peel

If you enjoy the ripest financial news and finmemes from Exec Sum, you will thoroughly enjoy The Daily Peel. Delivering fresh hot takes to your inbox, The Daily Peel is a free, insightful newsletter that will keep you up to date on the day’s macro and micro movers in a format that you can peel back in just five minutes.

Wall Street Oasis and its team of seasoned finance professionals deliver a recap of equities, options activity, NFTs, real estate moves, & even shitcoins with a slightly irreverent twist that you won’t find anywhere else. The Daily Peel gives you what you need to turn your well-earned bananas into more bananas, all while keeping things ape-solutely hilarious. There’s a reason why The Daily Peel is a-peeling enough to be read by tens of thousands of bankers, investors, VCs, founders, and executives every morning.

You can check out The Daily Peel here.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • EQT is exploring a sale of Cast & Crew, a provider of payroll & accounting resources for Hollywood movie & TV studios, that could fetch $8B+ (BBG)

  • Two bids backed by US billionaires have become frontrunners for the ~£3B purchase of Chelsea Football Club. The preferred bids are from an investor group led by Todd Boehly (financier and owner of the LA Dodgers) and another led by Josh Harris and David Blitzer (PE billionaires who own the Philadelphia 76ers) (FT)

  • Luxury goods company Richemont sold its entire 20% stake in Swiss watchmaker Greubel Forsey (BBG)

  • Nasuni, a provider of file data services, received a $60M equity investment from Sixth Street Growth (PRN)

VC

  • Celsius Therapeutics, a startup treating cancer and autoimmune patients with its human tissue-based platform, raised $83M in a Series B and Series A extension led by Casdin Capital (BW)

  • Osso VR, a virtual reality surgical training and assessment platform, raised a $66M Series C led by Oak HC/FT (PRN)

  • Digits, a startup modernizing accounting software, raised a $65M Series C at a $565M valuation led by SoftBank Vision Fund (TC)

  • Weglot, a French startup building a translation solution for websites, raised a $50M Series A led by Partech (TC)

  • Podimetrics, a startup helping save the limbs and lives of diabetics, raised a $45M Series C led by D1 Capital Partners (PRN)

  • Tokenomics and metaverse data visualization startup Datavault raised a $30M Series A led by Tingo and Coinfield (PRN)

  • Flock Homes, a startup giving landlords the ability to exchange rental shares for a diversified portfolio of homes, raised a $26M Series A led by a16z (TC)

  • Industrial AI startup OnePredict  raised a $25M Series C led by LB Investment, Korea Development Bank, DAOL Investment, and more (PRN)

  • The Mothership, a UK-based e-commerce rollup startup, raised a $22M round from Glenn Elliott, Jonathan Quin, Adrian Thompson, and more (BW)

  • Colombian payment infrastructure startup Simetrik raised a $20M Series A at a $100M+ valuation led by FinTech Collective (TC)

  • Geneos Therapeutics, a startup developing tumor neoantigen targeted personalized immunotherapies, raised a $17M Series A-2 led by Flerie Invest (PRN)

  • Open-source feature management tool Unleash raised a $14M Series A led by Spark Capital (TC)

  • Cloud-native identity security and governance startup Clear Skye raised a $14M Series A led by Storm Ventures and Toba Capital (BW)

  • Chinese EV chassis maker PIX raised an $11M pre-Series A from an unnamed ‘major sanitation solution provider’ in China (TC)

  • SparkMeter, a grid management, equipment, and software provider, raised a $10M round led by Accurant International (PRN)

  • Pet nutrition startup Native Pet raised a $6M Series A led by CAVU Venture Partners (PRN)

  • AI-powered contract negotiation platform LexCheck raised $5M in funding led by Ulu Ventures (PRN)

  • Radish, a startup providing municipal governments and midsize businesses with affordable healthcare, raised a $4M seed round led by Tusk Venture Partners (PRN)

  • Zero trust data connectivity startup Karlsgate raised a $4M seed round led by M12 and Motley Fool Ventures (BW)

  • Space debris monitoring and satellite collision avoidance platform Neuraspace raised $2.75M in funding from Armilar Venture Partners (PRN)

  • Kwik, a Nigerian and French-based startup providing logistics services for B2B merchants and social vendors, raised a $2M Series A led by XBTO Ventures (TC)

  • In-game sports betting startup Kero Gaming raised a $1M seed round from Acies InvestmentsSharpAlphaFund, and more (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • State-owned power and water company Dubai Electricity & Water Authority is planning to sell a 6.5% stake in its IPO to raise as much as $2.2B, valuing the company as high at $33.8B (BBG)

Debt

  • Apollo increased its unitranche loan to SoftBank from $4B to $5.1B, representing the largest of its kind in the private-credit market; the loan bears an interest rate of ~5% (BBG)

  • Rental car delivery startup Kyte raised a $200M asset-backed credit facility from Ares Global Management and Goldman Sachs (TC)

Fundraising

  • Knox Lane, an investment firm focused on growth oriented and founder-owned businesses, closed its first institutional fund at $610M (PRN)

  • GHK Capital Partners, a middle market PE firm, raised a $410M fund focused on industrial companies (BW)

  • Tishman Speyer, a real estate developer / operator, secured $100M in commitments for its proptech VC fund from the National Pension Service of Korea and the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (PRN)

  • SkyDeck, a global accelerator based at UC Berkeley, raised $60M for its second fund. SkyDeck hosts more than 300 global and UC-affiliated startups per year (BW)

  • Blockchain technology company PiLab Technology raised a $57M Eco-Fund to expand its BIFROST ecosystem (PRN)

  • at.inc/ raised a $35M Fund II focused on seed rounds to double down on its strategy of investing globally in founders "at incorporation" (PRN)

Crypto Corner

  • Grammy winning DJ Diplo to sell $99 tokens in new single using the Royal platform (DC)

  • Russia energy committee chair says the country will accept payment in bitcoin (DC)

  • BlackRock looks to offer crypto services as client demand rises (CD)

  • Bukele slams US bill that targets ‘potential risks’ of El Salvador’s bitcoin law (DC)

  • Solana price gains 10% as gaming adoption accelerates (DC)

Exec's Picks

  • Our friends at Amberjack are giving away $20k worth of shoes to those in need. If you know anyone in need of a pick me up, have them email [email protected] for a pair (local pickup in NYC only) 

  • Yesterday, Morgan Housel wrote a great long-form piece detailing 17 of the most common and influential ways that people think, both in their finances and their lives. Check out How People Think here.

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 40+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

Meme Cleanser

Catch the latest episode of our Big Swinging Decks podcast, presented by CoinFLEX.US, on Spotify and Apple Music 🤝 

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