Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the Crunchbase News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.

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Klarna valued at $46B following new funding

Sweden-based payments provider Klarna announced Thursday it raised $639 million in funding, led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, bringing the company’s post-money valuation to $45.5 billion.

Klarna enables shoppers to buy online through merchant partners and pay in installments via “buy now, pay later.”

Joining SoftBank in the investment were existing investors Adit Ventures, Honeycomb Asset Management and WestCap Group. The new funding gives Klarna total known venture capital investments of approximately $3.7 billion, according to Crunchbase data.

The company said the new funding will support international expansion and to further capture global retail growth.

Competitor Affirm went public in January, putting a spotlight on the growing buy now, pay later space. E-commerce fintech Katapult also started trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, under the tickers KPLT and KPLTW, after completing its SPAC merger with FinServ Acquisition Corp.

— Christine Hall

Eightfold AI raises $220M in SoftBank-led round

Mountain View, California-based Eightfold AI, developer of an artificial intelligence-powered platform for HR, raised $220 million in a Series E round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

Founded in 2016, Eightfold provides of an AI-powered talent intelligence platform for HR departments to hire, retain, and help manage careers for employees.  The company previously raised around $177 million in known funding, per Crunchbase data.

Eightfold said it doubled its valuation to more than $2 billion in the past six months.

— Joanna Glasner

Funding rounds

PostHog lands $15M for product analytics: PostHog, an open source product analytics provider, raised $15 million in a series B funding round backed by Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund and Google’s GV.

Public offerings

1stdibs prices IPO: 1stdibs.com, an online marketplace for furniture, art, antiques, and other luxury goods, raised $115 million in initial public offering. The New York-based company priced shares at $20, toward the high end of the proposed range of $18 to $21.

— Joanna Glasner

Fintech and e-commerce

Series F boosts Faire’s valuation to $7B: Online wholesale marketplace Faire announced $260 million in Series F funding, led by Sequoia Capital, that gives the company a $7 billion valuation, according to the company. That is triple the valuation of $2.5 billion just over six months ago, the company said. Faire connects more than 200,000 retailers in North America and Europe with 20,000 brands in 80 countries. The new funding will be deployed into new market expansion and technology development.

Osome inks $16M: Singapore-based Osome raised $16 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-based accounting software platform to global markets. The round was backed by a group of investors, including Target Global and AltaIR Capital. Aimed at small businesses in e-commerce, Osome’s accounting services include аccountants taking over your documents and converting them into actionable numbers, tax filings and reports.

Clair banks $15M: Clair, a social impact, embedded fintech startup, closed on $15 million in Series A funding, led by Thrive Capital, to bring its total funds raised to $19.5 million, according to the company. New York-based Clair enables human resources technology and gig companies to give hourly workers free cash advances on their earnings.

— Christine Hall

Health care

Transcarent raises $58M: Transcarent, a San Francisco-based consumer-directed health and care company that launched in March 2021, raised $58 million in Series B funding. General Catalyst and 7wireVentures co-led the round, which brings Transcarent’s total funding to $90 million, according to the company. The funding will be used to expand its virtual care offerings for self-insured employers and their families.

Kurome Therapeutics secures $15M: Cincinnati-based Kurome Therapeutics, a preclinical stage company, announced $15 million in Series A financing co-led by Medicxi and Affinity Asset Advisors. Kurome is developing treatments that target adaptive resistance mechanisms in cancer cells while inhibiting critical disease modifying genes. The funding will enable the company to expand its R&D to identify its first treatment.

— Christine Hall

Venture funds

Interlace Ventures raises $14M in debut fund: Early-stage venture firm Interlace Ventures announced $14 million for its first fund that will target pre-seed and seed-stage startups building the future of shopping that is more personalized and sustainable. The fund is backed by a group of investors, including PayPal, Bain Capital Ventures and Carta. The firm plans to invest in up to 30 companies and has already put together a portfolio of 13 companies, including Alloy Automation and b8ta.

— Christine Hall

Cybersecurity

Ledger lands $380M at $1.5B valuation: Paris-based Ledger raised a $380 million Series C round led by 10T Holdings, with participation from existing investors including Cathay Innovation, Draper Esprit, Draper Associates, Draper Dragon, DCG, Korelya Capital and Wicklow Capital, and newcomers including Tekne Capital, Uphold Ventures, Felix Capital, Inherent, Financière Agache (Groupe Arnault) and iAngels Technologies.

The new funding gives the company a $1.5 billion valuation. Ledger estimates it now secures an estimated 15 percent of all cryptocurrency assets globally,

The digital asset security company has raised a total of $468 million, according to Crunchbase.

— Chris Metinko

Enterprise software

Circulor closes $14M Series A: London-based Circulor raised a $14 million Series A led by The Westly Group with participation from Salesforce Ventures1, BHP Ventures, Future Positive Capital, 24 Haymarket and Sky Ocean Ventures. Circulor’s software helps businesses analyze, track and manage their supply chains to support responsible sourcing and sustainability.

— Chris Metinko

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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Source: https://news.crunchbase.com/news/briefing-6-10-21/