IPO shares surge in first-day trading
Two venture-backed companies saw their shares shoot up more than 60 percent in first-day trading Wednesday. Venture, Calif.-based The Trade Desk, which offers tools for digital ad buyers, closed above $30 after pricing shares at $18. Durham, NC-based Novan, best known for an acne drug in late-stage trials, closed above $18 after pricing at $11.
Avalara raises $96M for growth, share repurchase
Avalara, a provider of cloud-based tax compliance software, has raised $96 million from Warburg Pincus, Sageview Capital, TCV and others. Of that, about $50 million will be for growth capital and $46 million will be for repurchasing shares. Since 2004, Seattle-based Avalara has raised more than $300 million.
Email leakers have an enemy in VCs
Email leaks have generated a lot of political headlines lately. But it’s not just politicians who worry about inbox breaches, as today’s news about a massive Yahoo hack makes clear. Email security is a big concern for enterprises and consumers, as well as a popular investment theme for venture capitalists. Since last year, more than twenty security startups with email as a focus area have raised funding rounds, according to a Crunchbase Pro search. To date, those companies have raised nearly a half-billion dollars.
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