Together with

Happy Friday,

Ridiculous day for tech stocks (FB down 26%, SNAP down 24% before rallying 52% after-hours, AMZN down 8% before rallying 12%), NYC wants to close gender pay gap with salary disclosure, Dolphins owner denies tanking allegations, Carlyle dealmakers made bank, the WNBA raised outside funding, Wormhole fixed its blockchain bridge, and Bengals DE Sam Hubbard said they want to win the Super Bowl for Harambe. Oh and Tiger Global raised $11B for a new VC fund (thiccc term sheets inbound!)

This Monday, we're gearing up to release our second annual Litquidity 30 Under 30. It's like Forbes, but actually 30 people, not 900. We've got some solid folks on this list, including a down-to-earth billionaire.

Karl will be crunching Comp Survey data over the weekend. Stay tuned for results next week. Tell your colleagues to sign up to Exec Sum if they want the data, because we're circulating it here.

Lastly, shoutout to today's sponsor, Franshares. To everyone who has ever had a "high thought" about owning a small franchise, these guys are making it possible. More info below.

It's been a long week. Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 2/3/2022 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 fell yesterday, halting an across-the-board rally as a huge drop in Meta stock scared investors

  • More fascinating earnings came in yesterday with Snap sliding 20% during trading then popping 40% AH after their first quarterly profit and Amazon jumping 15%+ after hours as well

  • US oil prices topped $90/barrel for the first time since 2014

  • On the economic data side, US jobless claims came in at 238K today, slightly lower than expectations, and investors will be watching tomorrow’s release of private payrolls (consensus estimates are +150K)

Earnings

  • Amazon shares jumped 16%+ after hours due to posting a big beat on its Q4 topline thanks in part to a gain in its stake in Rivian (CNBC) 

  • Ford dropped 4%+ after the automaker slightly missed on revenue and posted a huge miss on Q4 EPS expectations (CNBC)

  • Despite closing the day down ~24%, Snap stock popped 60%+ after posting their first quarterly profit and beating expectations on revenue and user growth (CNBC)

  • What we’re watching today: Regeneron

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Tiger Global raises $11B for latest venture capital fund (BBG)

  • NYC aims to close gender pay gap with salary disclosure requirements (BBG)

  • Billionaire Dolphins owner Ross denies ‘tanking’ allegations (BBG)

  • Biden says Islamic state leader Qurayshi killed in US raid in Syria (BBG)

  • UAE wealth funds behind $10B Israel plans scout for deals (BBG)

  • Carlyle dealmakers quadrupled profit on exits in 2021 (BBG)

  • Lenders to India’s Future Retail call for its assets to be put up for auction (RT)

  • Facebook feels $10B sting from Apple’s privacy push (WSJ)

  • Spotify CEO says he feels good about how he handled Joe Rogan controversy as stock drops (CNBC)

  • African-focused payments startup PalmPay raised a $100M Series A last August, though sources dispute how much it raised and how many users it services (TC)

  • Female-founded startup accelerator Graham Walker raised a $10M fund (TC)

A Message From FranShares

Passive Franchise Investing

Ultra-wealthy investors and private equity firms have long used franchise investing to diversify their portfolios, hedge against inflation, and earn passive income.

Meanwhile, everyone else was stuck buying ETFs and mutual funds, or throwing their hard-earned cash at stocks and crypto.

If only there was a way for the everyday investor to put some cash to work in the franchise market.

Enter: Franshares.

With FranShares, anyone can diversify their portfolio, hedge against inflation, and earn passive income through franchise investing with as little as $500.

Their team of franchise experts carefully selects, builds, and manages a diversified portfolio of franchises while investors enjoy earning passive income.

More than 8,000 investors are already on the FranShares waitlist. Don’t miss your chance to get in on this investment opportunity – join the waitlist and secure your spot today!

Join the waitlist

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • A group of investors led by Rock Mountain Capital and Olayan Group agreed to buy a 48% stake in consumer retail and commercial cleaning product maker PurposeBuilt Brands at a ~$1.6B valuation (BBG)

  • Packaging firm Five Star is considering a sale at a potential $1.5B+ valuation (BBG)

  • Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is considering a potential merger of his commodity empire’s indebted holding company Vedanta Resources with listed unit Vedanta (BBG) 

  • Global media company Legendary received a $760M equity investment from Apollo (GNW)

  • Defense company Raytheon is weighing a sale of navigation systems maker unit Raytheon Anschutz that could fetch ~$200M (BBG)

  • French aerospace company Daher agreed to buy a Triumph Florida aircrafts part plant as the US company moves away from the aerospace-segment (BBG)

VC

  • Australian AirTree Ventures raised $700M to close the biggest fund yet in the country (AFR)

  • The WNBA raised $75M at a $1B valuation in a funding round including Nike, Dell CEO Michael Dell, and Lauren Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs (CNBC)

  • Automotive software company TTTech Auto received a $285M investment at a $1B valuation from Aptiv (BW)

  • Cart.com, an end-to-end ecommerce leader, raised $240M in funding round led by Legacy Knight Capital Partners (PRN)

  • Trust Machines, a blockchain startup that will enable web3 applications to be built on the Bitcoin network, raised $150M from investors including Beyer Capital, Digital Currency Group, GoldenTree, and Union Square Ventures (Decrypt)

  • Dewpoint Therapeutics, a biomolecular condensates company, raised a $150M Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (PRN)

  • ICEYE, a synthetic aperture radar imaging startup, raised a $136M Series D led by Seraphim Space (TC)

  • Connected vehicle platform Platform Science raised a $115M Series C led by SoftBank (PRN)

  • Digital fitness coaching service Future raised a $75M Series C led by SC Holdings and Trustbridge Partners (PRN)

  • Bold, a LatAm payments startup, raised a $55M Series B led by Tiger Global (TC)

  • Frontline worker HR platform Snapshift raised a $45M Series A led by Highland Europe (TC)

  • Mos, a startup providing banking services for students, raised a $40M Series B that included Tiger Global, Sequoia, Lux Capital, Emerson Collective, Plural VC (TC)

  • Online video editing platform Veed raised a $35M round led by Sequoia (TC)

  • Dutch edtech startup Studytube raised a $30M Series B led by Energy Impact Partners (TC)

  • Frontline workers’ chat app Flip raised a $30M round led by Notion Ventures and HV Capital (TC)

  • Travel experiences app Headout raised a $30M round led by Glade Brook Capital (TC)

  • Modern Electron, a startup aiming to decarbonize heat, raised a $30M Series B led by At One Ventures (BW)

  • Agritask, a SaaS startup for the agri food ecosystem, raised a $26M round led by Liechtenstein Group (PRN)

  • Koya Medical, a healthcare company focused on lymphedema and venous disorders, raised a $26M Series B led by 3×5 Partners (BW)

  • Digibee, a low-code integration platform, raised a $25M Series A led by SoftBank Latin America Fund (PRN)

  • Customer onboarding software startup GuideCX raised a $25M Series B led by Meritech Capital Partners (BW)

  • Annotell, a startup focused on tech tests for autonomous vehicle perception systems, raised a $24M Series A led by Metaplanet (TC)

  • At-home blood testing startup Getlabs raised a $20M Series A led by Emerson Collective and Minderoo Foundation (TC)

  • Kyoto Fusioneering, a fusion energy startup based in Japan, raised an $11.7M Series B led by Coral Capital (TC)

  • RareCircles, an all-in-one platform for building powerful NFT memberships, raised a $7.5M seed round led by Tiger Global (PRN)

  • African insurtech startup Casava raised a $4M pre-seed round led by 01 Advisors and Velvet Sea Ventures (TC)

SPAC

  • Wag Labs, the developer of dog-walking app Wag!, agreed to merge with CHW Acquisition Corp. in a $350M deal (BBG)

Crypto Corner

  • Wormhole replenishes its blockchain bridge after $325M exploit (TBC)

  • Miami receives its first payout from CityCoins protocol (TBC)

  • Celebrity video platform Cameo announces pre-mint for NFT collection (TBC)

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

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures

Catch the latest episode of our Big Swinging Decks podcast on Spotify and Apple Music 🤝