HP will acquire audio and video devices maker Poly for $1.7B in an all-cash deal. HP will offer $40 for each share of Poly, representing a premium of about 53% on the stock’s closing price on Friday. Including debt, the deal is valued at $3.3B. More: - Formerly known as Plantronics, Poly’s technology includes headsets, desk phones, and other conferencing products, which have become essential in the era of hybrid workplaces.
- It is expected to report $1.53B in revenue for its fiscal year that ends this month.
- The tie-up will help HP, which makes PCs, printers, and other computer products, integrate more hybrid workplace tech into its offerings.
- CEO Enrique Lores noted that only 10% of offices have been equipped with video-conferencing solutions.
- As employers rush to update their tech stack and employees improve their home office setups, HP sees a big opportunity.
- It expects the deal to immediately boost its revenue and profitability. It brought in $56.7B last year.
The wider lens: - This is only the latest in a pandemic-based consolidation wave for tech involved in making home office feasible.
- Salesforce.com’s $27.7B purchase of workplace messenger app Slack last year probably takes the cake as the highest profile of them to date.
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Span raised $90M in a fresh Series B round to boost its smart electrical panels for residential properties. The funding comes from lead investors Fifth Wall Climate Tech and Wellington Management, with participation from Angeleno Group, FootPrint Coalition, Obsidian Investment Partners, and A/O PropTech. More: - Span’s panels allow residents to track their energy consumption and integrate with Amazon’s Alexa.
- The technology directly responds to bottlenecks in electrification and micro-grid balancing, which require that homeowners can easily interact with sustainable electricity setups.
- Arch Rao, CEO and founder of Span, said that the inspiration for the company came while he was working in what became Tesla Energy.
- There, he saw the problems that came with installing solar panels, home batteries, and EV charging systems.
- In addition to expanding the Span Home suite of energy products, the company also launched a smart EV charger earlier this year.
- Span’s last funding came in the form of a $10.1M round back in 2020. It did not disclose a valuation from the latest funding.
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The war in Ukraine has put paid to Silicon Valley’s claim to be the center of economic growth, writes Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times. While tech does nudge history here and there, it is energy that determines its fundamental course. More: - Tech executives are hardly hesitant to wax philosophical during earnings calls or contemplate offering internet access as a human right.
- While certainly well-intentioned, these characteristics of tech leaders show how differently they conceive of themselves compared to execs in, say, retail or manufacturing.
- Though tech is important for the propaganda struggles raging in Ukraine, the larger factor of the conflict is energy, which keeps the Russian economy running and ties the hands of frantic Western leaders.
- For Ganesh, this revelation could have some positive repercussions.
- Tech could become more circumspect and less prone to elevating itself to the harbinger of the future of the human race.
- Perhaps, he writes, the childlike wonder regarding the purpose of politicians will also dissipate.
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Philippine digitization platform for small businesses GrowSari just raised $77.5M Series C from International Finance Corporation, KKR, Wavemaker Partners, and Temasek’s Pavilion Capital. With the latest capital injection, GrowSari’s total raised to date grew to just over $110M. More: - Founded in 2016, GrowSari serves 100,000 stores in over 220 municipalities in Luzon (the island that includes Manila). The company plans to expand to Mindanao soon.
- Its offerings currently include inventory management, pricing tools, a logistics network, and working capital loans.
- The company wants to build up its fintech offerings and its supplier marketplace, which will include commodities.
- Beyond its mainstay of corner retailers (sari-sari stores), GrowSari wants to serve small eateries, small over-the-counter pharmacies, and other roadside and market shops.
- The firm is apparently already in talks for its next round of funding.
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 Today’s Funding 💸 Adtech/Martech - EnquireLabs (New York N.Y.), DTC survey data operationalization platform: $4.5M Seed led by True Ventures, participation from V1.VC, FiDi Ventures, Hawke Ventures, Silicon Ventures.
Biotech/Health - Altibbi (Dubai, UAE), digital health platform: $44M B from Foundation Holdings, Hikma Ventures, Global Ventures, DASH Ventures.
- ITM Isotope Technologies (Munich, Germany), radiopharmaceutical biotech: $36.2M from Indigenous Critical Infrastructure Fund Canada, Portland Investment Counsel.
- Decisio (Houston, Texas), customizable clinical decision support platform: $18.5M B from undisclosed sources.
- Lantum (London, U.K.), care system working with the U.K.’s NHS:...
Want to read about all of today’s funding in one place? The funding roundup is only available to free users on Mondays and Fridays. Upgrade to Inside VC Premium for either $10/month, or $100 billed annually, to receive the full list in every issue! For a limited time, we are offering a 14-day free trial. Click here to sign up! | | | |
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- With its self-imposed loan-to-value ratio of 25% abandoned because of falling portfolio valuations, will SoftBank sell a portion of its 25% Alibaba stake to keep the lights on? It already sold a “tiny bit” in the last three months for a $558M gain.
- Berlin-based AlphaQ Venture Capital launched a fund of funds. The capital will be distributed to 50-60 funds, which could invest in over 1,200 startups. The first target is $550M (€500M), but the fund could grow to $1.1B (€1B).
- PiLab Technology, the South Korean developer of multichain middleware platform, BIFROST, raised a $57M Eco-Fund to expand its ecosystem. Funded projects will include metaverse, NFT, Defi, and general Web3 uses.
- Papaya Global, the Israeli operator of a global HR/payroll platform, will buy London-based money transfer business Azimo for $150M-$200M.
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 |  | Inside VC's writer/curator Stephen currently lives in Berlin and is pursuing a Master's degree in philosophy. He otherwise spends his time trying his hand at recipes from India and Southeast Asia, escaping it all at the kickboxing gym, and offending aural sensibilities with his band. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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