CEO tax proposal passed. The measure (Measure L) required a simple majority to pass and was approved by about 65 percent of San Francisco voters last Tuesday night. Supervisor Matt Haney introduced the measure, which will levy an extra 0.1 percent to 0.6 percent tax on gross receipts made in San Francisco for companies whose highest paid executive makes 100 times or more its median worker’s salary. According to an estimate by the city, the measure is expected to generate between $60 million and $140 million a year in general funds starting in 2022. [CalMatters]
Prop 22 passed. Californians voted to approve the measure, which decides how gig workers should be classified, and, in turn, what benefits they should receive. The proposition states that app-based workers will be classified as independent contractors, not employees. Supporters of the proposition claim that the victory will help gig workers keep their independence and give them more say in how and when they work. [Built In SF]
Visa runs into legal trouble. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to block Visa’s planned acquisition of San Francisco-based startup Plaid. The DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit on the grounds that the acquisition could limit competition in the payments industry. In a statement, Visa said it “strongly disagrees” with the legal move. Plaid uses APIs to connect consumer bank accounts to popular finance apps like Venmo or Robinhood. [CNBC]
Pony.ai grabbed $267M. The Fremont-based autonomous vehicle company closed on a Series C that brings its total capital raised to over $1 billion and its valuation to $5.3 billion. The unicorn launched a program this year to use its autonomous fleet to deliver essential goods in California and has distributed more than 15,000 packages so far. The additional capital will help the company rapidly increase its production capabilities. [Built In SF]
Envoy plans massive hiring push. Choosing to re-open an office in the middle of a pandemic can be a difficult task to say the least. As such, demand for workplace management platforms like Envoy have soared. Envoy’s platform enables customers to digitize visitor registration desks, book conference rooms, manage package deliveries and more. According to the company, Envoy plans to hire for 25 additional roles at its San Francisco headquarters by the end of the year. [Built In SF]
Buffalo Market gets the cart rolling. The grocery delivery game has been booming since the onset of the pandemic, and San Francisco is a hotbed of activity for up and coming food-focused startups. Buffalo Market offers organic produce for next-day delivery through partnerships with local vendors in Northern California and the Central Valley. The company’s corporate office is in San Francisco but it has its sights set on a refrigerated warehouse space in Sacramento before the end of the year. It plans to add up to 400 jobs locally there within two years. [SF Business Times]
Udacity raised $75M. The additional capital came by way of a debt facility agreement with Hercules Capital. At the time of its Series D in 2015, the Mountain View-based edtech unicorn received a $1 billion valuation. On Udacity, students can obtain “nanodegrees” in tech-related subjects like programming, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The company will use the funds to attract more business clients to its platform as it continues to scale. [Built In SF]
Ayar Labs secured $35M. The Emeryville-based startup announced Thursday that it raised $35 million in a Series B co-led by Downing Ventures and BlueSky Capital. The new funding will be used to accelerate the development and commercialization of the company’s core product, TeraPHY. TeraPHY is described by the company as a high-density electronic-photonic chiplet that fully integrates into traditional semiconductor packages. [Built In SF]
