What happens in Silicon Valley ... ends up in Vegas? The city of sin is poised for a rebrand. A new campaign by the city of Las Vegas is aimed at enticing remote tech workers to leave the Bay Area behind. The city lists shorter commutes, affordable housing and a lack of state income tax as a few of the reasons for Bay Area techies to make the move. In addition, the city has launched a strategic LinkedIn outreach campaign aimed at acquiring tech workers from specific companies. [ABC7]
Big Tech eyes prospects under a Biden administration. Now that a winner has been declared in the race for the White House, many are wondering what a Biden administration has in store for Silicon Valley. President-elect Joe Biden published a transition website detailing his administration’s agenda earlier this month. Little mention was made of the administration’s attitudes toward tech regulation, but the website does list an explicit intention to increase access to broadband internet nationwide.
In the past, Biden has argued for revoking Section 230, the section of the Communications Decency Act that shields internet companies from liability for the content that they host. Google’s antitrust lawsuit is expected to continue but experts note that the new administration has the ability to amend complaints with the Department of Justice. [MIT Technology Review]
DoorDash and Instacart prep IPOs. Following the approval of Prop 22 by California voters earlier this month, two tech heavy hitters in the Bay Area are making IPO moves. DoorDash filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday and reported $1.9 billion in revenue for the nine months ended September 30. The company’s last private valuation was $16 billion. Meanwhile, Instacart picked Goldman Sachs to lead its IPO, which could come early next year and value the company at an estimated $30 million. Last month the grocery delivery app raised $200 million in a private fundraising round, which placed the company’s valuation at $17.7 billion. [CNBC + Reuters]
Twitter invests $100 million in New Finance Justice Fund. The social media app announced the launch of a new fundraising arm in partnership with the Opportunity Finance Network. The New Finance Justice Fund intends to bring $1 billion in capital from corporate and philanthropic partners to low-income rural, urban and Native communities across the United States. Twitter is committing $100 million to the fund for long-term, below-market rate loans, in addition to making a $1 million grant to support the fund and the disbursement of loans. [PRNewswire]
Allbirds continues to soar. The ubiquitous understated sneaker brand has seen outstanding levels of growth since its launch four years ago. The company initially began with an online-only sales strategy but has since expanded to include 22 retail stores around the world. Since the company’s launch, several other sneaker startups have also popped up. Among them are Brooklyn-based company Atoms, which offers quarter-sizes, and Paris-based company Veja, which uses recycled plastics in the production of its shoes. [Wall Street Journal]
