Bird will be the exclusive micromobility provider at the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals.
Bird Global Inc.
Infinite Realty Inc. has agreed to acquire esports and entertainment conglomerate ReKTGlobal Inc. in a $470 million all-stock deal, based on an equity valuation for iR of $2 billion, for a combined post-close valuation of $2.47 billion.
Infinite Realty is a Los Angels-based metaverse entertainment company born out of the merger of social ecommerce platform Display Social, production company Thunder Studios and Infinite Metaverse.
Founded in 2017 by industry veterans Dave Bialek and Amish Shah, ReKTGlobal is focused on helping brands participate in the gaming and esports industries through services including content creation, paid media, marketing, influencer activation, fan relationship building and monetization. The company is based in New York and has offices in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Charlotte, London, and Berlin. Its investors include the band Imagine Dragons; Nick Gross, son of billionaire investor Bill Gross; DJ Steve Aoki and Summit Partners.
As part of the deal, Infinite Reality will integrate ReKT’s four key business divisions, which include esports franchises, marketing and partnership services, talent management and technology products.
Ladder is a sports nutrition company created by LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Ladder
In other tech and startup news:
- GoodRx (Nasdaq: GDRX), a Santa Monica-based digital healthcare platform, has closed its acquisition of pharmacy services platform vitaCare for $150 million in cash, with an additional $7 million of consideration contingent payment upon vitaCare’s financial performance through 2023. The acquisition will expand GoodRx’s offering to pharmaceutical manufacturers and strengthen its Pharma Manufacturer Solutions offerings which span medication awareness, access and adherence.
- Bird Global Inc. (NYSE: BRDS) has launched a pilot program of its e-scooter service with the city of Indio, California. Through the exclusive agreement, Bird will bring its shared e-scooter service to the Coachella festival this weekend and Stagecoach, set to take place later this month.
- Ladder, the sports nutrition company created by LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger, releases new version of its “Superfood Greens” supplement. The new formula adds probiotics, new ingredients and a lemon-ginger flavor.
- Ori, a New York-based robotics furniture company, is substantially expanding in California, with more than 600 Ori apartments scheduled to open over the next 24 months. Among other multifamily developments, Ori’s robotic furniture will soon be featured in two new buildings – Inspire Hollywood in Los Angeles and The Residences at Springline in Menlo Park. Ori has more than 2,500 units in its pipeline for nationwide installation.
Genies CEO Akash Nigam
Genies
Funding
- Genies, a Web3 technology company that lets users create their own avatar ecosystems, has raised a $150 million Series C round led by Silver Lake. The investment values the company at $1 billion and includes participation from existing investors Bond, NEA and Tamarack Global. Since its last funding round in May 2021, Genies has become the official avatar and digital goods NFT provider for Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
- Obsidian Security has raised $90 million in Series C financing led by Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and IVP, with participation from existing investors Greylock, Wing and GV. Obsidian, which has now raised $119.5 million in total financing, will add Menlo Ventures Partner Venky Ganesan to its board. Obsidian was founded in 2017 to help security and IT operations teams bridge the security and compliance gaps created when lines of business adopt SaaS applications to run business-critical functions like finance, payroll, HR, sales and operations.
- Monthly, a creative skills learning platform, has changed its name to Studio and raised $50 million in a Series B round led by Human Capital. Other investors included Forerunner Ventures, Greenoaks Capital, Floodgate and Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo, as well as Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, LinkedIn Chairman Jeff Weiner, Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, StitchFix founder Katrina Lake. The company’s name change comes as the company expands its month-long online learning format.
- Welcome Tech, a digital platform that provides services to immigrant families, has raised $30 million in new capital, following an oversubscribed $35 million Series B in April 2021. This capital was raised exclusively from existing institutional investors including TTV Capital, Owl Ventures, SoftBank Group Corp's SB Opportunity Fund, Mubadala Capital, and Next Play Capital, bringing Welcome Tech's total funding to date to $70 million.
- Break Through Tech, an initiative to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities graduating with degrees in computing, has received a $26 million investment to launch a new artificial intelligence and machine learning program. Break Through Tech AI is a free 18-month program that will be offered to college undergraduate students in New York at Cornell Tech, Boston at MIT and Los Angeles at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. This program was developed with input and expertise from leaders in the tech industry and academia and will scale to a total of six markets - including a virtual option - by 2025.
- Beam Impact, which helps consumers use purchases to support social causes, has raised $13.3 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures, according to TechCrunch. Beam plans increase its headcount of six employees by 8x. The company has partnered with 100 brands, including Instacart, Parade, IKEA, Roots Canada and others.
WeeCare is expanding its childcare benefits program.
WeeCare
- Childcare network WeeCare has raised $12 million in Series A funding. This latest raise, led by M13, with participation from Gopher Asset Management and existing investors Equal Ventures and Fika Ventures, brings the startup’s total investment to $22.3 million. In addition to expanding its childcare benefits program, funds will be used to continue to build the company’s caregiver network and improve its platform.
- Digital Insight Games, a Web3 developer and publisher, has launched out of stealth mode with $7.5 million in Series A funding to build its first Web3 game title. The funding round was co-led by Hivemind Capital and Griffin Gaming Partners, with further investments from Hunt Technology Ventures, RSE Ventures and Signum Growth Investments.
- Winden, a bank for digital entrepreneurs, has raised $5.3 million in seed funding from Accel, with support from the venture fund of startup Ramp and Lacy Groom as well as founders of several fintech unicorns. The company, founded by a former Apple Card designer Daniel Sathyanesan, will use the funds to hire more staff, with plans to have 50 employees by the end of the year, according to TechCrunch.
- Trac, which helps independent musicians distribute songs, merchandise and NFTs, has raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding led by Nigerian investment firm Zrosk, according to dot.LA. Also participating in the round were AppWorks, InfinityVC, Calm Company Fund and Dapper Labs , as well as angel investors Roham Gharegozlou and Siqi Chen.
