It’s heating up in NYC, and the city’s tech ecosystem is following suit. Huge funding rounds and acquisitions backed by big-name companies like Cox Enterprises and Pfizer were announced last week. Read on to see who’s hiring, acquiring and scaling. This is the Built In NYC Weekly Refresh.
Axios announced it will soon be acquired. Media company Axios announced last week that it will be acquired by digital media company Cox Enterprises. D.C. based Axios has a strong NYC presence and will be acquired in a cash deal valued at $525 million. Axios also received an additional $25 million investment from Cox to be used to further expand Axios’ media branch of local, national and subscription news. [Built In D.C.]
Overtime raised $100M. Digital-first sports and entertainment company Overtime raised $100 million in its Series D funding round led by Liberty Media, the parent company of the Atlanta Braves, SiriusXM and Live Nation Entertainment. The sports media startup produces original sports content that reaches 1.5 billion viewers and owns two esports teams. With its new capital, Overtime will grow its basketball and football leagues and expand the creation of new sports leagues into e-commerce and Web3. [Built In NYC]
nyc Tech Quote Of The Week
Pfizer entered an agreement to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics. Vaccine developer and multinational pharmaceutical/biotechnology company Pfizer entered an agreement to acquire San Francisco-based Global Blood Therapeutics. GBT is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses its work on developing treatments for sickle cell disease. With the acquisition, Pfizer will expand its work in hematology. Pfizer is set to acquire the outstanding shares of GBT for $68.50 per share, which equates to a total enterprise value of approximately $5.4 billion including debt and net of cash acquired. [Built In NYC]
Injective Labs raked in $40M. Blockchain and dApp foundation platform Injective Labs raised $40 million in a funding round led by Jump Crypto last week. The startup is behind the next wave of app development: dApps, or decentralized apps, operate on the blockchain unlike Web2 apps. With its new capital, Injective plans to fund its INJ token, provide liquidity to existing dApps built on Injective and support new dApps in the future. [Built In NYC]
Kumospace pulled in $21M. Virtual chat platform Kumospace raised $21 million in its Series A funding round last week. The round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, will be used to expand its immersive workplace video chat platform. Unlike existing video conferencing platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet, Kumospace users operate in a digital environment that’s interactive and simulates an office or school setting with digital furniture, meeting places and refreshments. [Built In NYC]
Salvo Health gained $10.5M. The NYC-based startup offers direct-to-consumer telehealth options for those living with chronic gut conditions. The seed funding round was led by Threshold Ventures. Currently available in 13 states, Salvo Health plans to use the fresh funding to expand into more states, continue developing its technology and market its platform. [FinSMEs]
She Matters secured $1.5M. Mental health and wellness platform She Matters secured $1.5 million in funding from Oxeon Partners, Chingona Ventures, The Fund and Emmeline Ventures. With its new funding, She Matters will expand its focus, which originally was to help Black mothers navigate postpartum mental health concerns. Soon, the platform will rebrand into We Matter to be more inclusive of other birthing parents that also experience medical neglect such as Asian-American, Indigenous and Hispanic women, along with members of the LGBTQIA+ community. [Built In NYC]
Fiverr partnered with Selina. Freelance talent marketplace Fiverr announced a partnership with London-based Selina, a global experiential hospitality and coworking startup, last week. Through the partnership, both companies hope to connect remote workers to meet one another through networking events and co-working spaces hosted by Selina. In addition to establishing a partnership, both Fiverr and Selina are hiring. Fiverr, which is based in New York, has nearly 100 open roles. Selina has over 400 global job openings. [Built In NYC]
