VC firms were busy in the Bay Area last week fueling an abundance of innovation from companies across the tech industry. Read up on what’s new. This is the Built In SF weekly refresh.
Reddit secured $700M. With plans to raise a huge sum for its Series F round, the online forum giant is valued at over $10 billion. This latest round of funding is led by Fidelity and will go toward onboarding about 700 new employees as it works to double its headcount. The social media company is also making other growth-oriented initiatives as it builds out its business. [Built In SF]
Talkdesk got $230M. The developer of a cloud-based call center software solution works to help companies better their customer service. With its Series D round, the company’s total venture funding comes to $498 million. This latest injection of capital will go toward product R&D as Talkdesk continues to scale. It’s currently hiring for about 100 positions across the board. [Built In SF]
SF Tech Quote of the Week
Agora raised $33M. Working to bring the construction industry into the digital age is Agora with its materials procurement platform. In addition to automating office team tasks, Agora provides field teams with a mobile app full of cataloged materials. With its Series B funding led by Tiger Global, Agora plans to expand its team across all departments as well as invest in R&D ahead of expanding its product into new verticals. [Built In SF]
Divvy Homes raised $200M. Just six months following a $110 million Series C, the buzzy rent-to-own startup pulled in a Series D round co-led by Tiger Global and Caffeinated Capital that brought its valuation to $2 billion. Other investors included Andreessen Horowitz, GGV Capital, GIC and Moore Specialty Credit. Divvy currently operates in 16 markets and is now expanding to Georgia, Texas and Florida. [Crunchbase News]
Upgrade raised $105M. With a pre-money valuation of $3.3 billion, the fintech company announced the close of its Series E round led by KDT. Upgrade’s platform works to provide mainstream consumers with affordable credit cards and loans. The fresh capital enables the company to further establish its Upgrade Card product as well as fuel new product innovation. [Upgrade]
Snorkel AI pulled in $85M. The company’s enterprise platform automates the process of acquiring all the data needed to train an AI. Snorkel is planning to expand its go-to-market and customer success infrastructure and fuel AI research with this Series C funding round. Led by Addition, this investment brings Snorkel’s valuation to $1 billion. [Built In SF]
Motional opens new West Coast locations. Specializing in driverless tech for robotaxis, Boston-based Motional is expanding its California footprint. As it works toward the mass commercialization of its product, Motional is growing its West Coast presence beyond LA into SoCal and the Bay Area. It’s also doubling the size of its team with 45 roles open now in engineering, data and more. [Built In SF]
DroneDeploy acquired Rocos. The drone software developer added New Zealand-based Rocos to its ranks. It’s working to automate data workflows in the air and on the ground for its customers in the construction, energy and agriculture industries. Rocos builds robotic control technology that DroneDeploy is already using to deliver autonomous 360 walkthroughs and inspections at scale. The company is also currently hiring for a variety of roles. [Built In SF]
Pave secured $46M. Powered by real-time data on the labor market, HR company Pave works to help companies make fairer compensation decisions. With its Series C funding led by YC Continuity Fund, Pave is continuing its growth momentum and expanding its team in departments across the board. Pave has raised $63 million in VC to date. [Built In SF]
In more Bay Area VC funding news: San Mateo-based digital assets and crypto company FalconX raised a $210 million Series C led by Altimeter Capital. The money will go toward expanding its products, exploring acquisitions and hiring new team members. [FinSMEs]
Feature management platform LaunchDarkly closed on a $200 million round. With the fresh capital, the Oakland-based company plans to hire across several departments as it continues to scale its enterprise solution. [LaunchDarkly]
Redwood City-based People.ai pulled in $100 million in Series D funding co-led Akkadian Ventures and Mubadala Capital to invest in its SmartData platform and expand the reach of its revenue operations and intelligence services. [PR Newswire]
With its AI- and machine learning-powered car insurance comparison platform, Palo Alto-based Jerry raised a $75 million Series C led by Goodwater Capital. It’s investing in launching its marketplaces into new verticals. [TechCrunch]
