Discord Raises $500M, SpotOn Gets $300M, and More SF Tech News

Here’s what happened last week in SF tech.
Written by Jeff Rumage
September 20, 2021Updated: September 21, 2021
A photo of the SpotOn team
Photo: spoton

Ranging from chat apps to food delivery, these San Francisco tech companies raised a lot of money this week. Here’s a recap of the Bay Area’s latest tech news. This is the Built In SF weekly refresh.

Discord raised $500M. The recent funding round puts the messaging app at a $15 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. Often referred to as the “Slack for gamers,” Discord has grown in popularity in recent years as it has tried to appeal to non-gaming audiences. The company plans to invest the recent funding in new hires and product features. [Built In SF]

SpotOn gets $300M. The Series E sent the unicorn’s valuation soaring to $3.15 billion. SpotOn, which develops software for point-of-sale transactions at small and medium-sized businesses, plans to use the funding to acquire Appetize, another mobile commerce platform, and then consolidate their technologies. [Built In SF]

Freshworks sets IPO terms. Freshworks disclosed that it’s seeking a valuation of up to $9 billion in its initial public offering. The Salesforce rival hopes to raise more than $800 million by going public. The company, which will list its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol “FRSH,” plans to sell 28.5 million shares at a price range of $28 to $32. [TechCrunch]

SF Tech Quote of The Week

“We are still the first mover in this space. No one else is doing consolidation on the supply chain side as we are. We are trying to consolidate through software technologies, while also trying to find the best solutions in this space.” —Mike Xu, CEO of GrubMarket

GrubMarket secured unicorn status. The farm-to-table delivery service raised $120 million in a Series E funding round, sending its valuation to more than $1 billion for the first time. The company operates in 13 states across the U.S. with nearly 40 warehouses. [Built In SF]

Persona pulled in $150M. Persona, the identity infrastructure company built to manage customer identities, is now valued at $1.5 billion following last week’s Series C round. Over the last year, Persona’s revenue has grown 20x. The new financing will further drive the company’s growth and be used to hire additional staff. [PR Newswire]

Sendoso nabbed $100M. Launched in 2016, Sendoso aims to provide sales teams with a way to woo their clients by sending them branded swag and eGifts throughout the deal. With the new funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the corporate gifting company plans to expand overseas, with a new European headquarters opening in Ireland. The 500-person company also plans to grow by 30 percent by the end of the year. [Built In SF]

 

More Funding News

Pacaso raised $125M. The Series C funding boosted the real estate platform’s valuation to $1.5 billion. [Built In SF]

Mynd got $57.3M. The platform for buying and managing single-family rentals is now valued at $807 million. [TechCrunch]

Constructor pulled in $55M. Partnering with leading retailers like Sephora and Backcountry, Constructor makes personalized product recommendations to online shoppers. [PR Newswire]

CodeSignal got $50M. The company helps tech firms conduct coding tests and other skills assessments at scale. CodeSignal is actively hiring. [VentureBeat]

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