Crunchbase Daily: Rivan, DriveNets, Amazon and Bling Capital

Rivan raises $700M for electric trucks

Plymouth, Mich.-based Rivian, a developer of electric pickup trucks, has raised $700 million in a fresh funding round led by Amazon. The company plans to launch its first truck in the U.S. in 2020.

Networking startup DriveNets secures $110M

Networking software startup DriveNets has emerged from stealth mode with some big funding news. The Israeli company has secured $110 million in an initial funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Pitango Growth. DriveNets targets communications service providers looking for lower cost methods to handle rising demand for services.

Amazon cancels New York HQ2 plans

Amazon is cancelling plans to move forward with a secondary headquarters location in the Long Island City neighborhood of New York following resistance from local politicians who objected to pricey tax incentives extended to lure the company as well as potential negative impacts on residents.

Bling Capital raises seed and follow-on funds

Seed stage venture firm Bling Capital has closed on $60 million for its first fund and raised an additional $30 million for an investment vehicle to make later-stage investments in portfolio companies. The firm is founded and led by Ben Ling, a former general partner at Khosla Ventures and prior executive at Facebook and Youtube.

Slightly more top VC roles go to women

A recent survey of more than 280 venture capital shops shows that the percentage of decision-makers at VC companies who are women has steadily risen, if slowly.

VCs aren’t in love with dating startups

With the arrival of Valentine’s Day, Crunchbase News takes a look at that most awkward of pairings: startups and the pursuit of finding a mate. We find that venture investors have been put relatively meager sums into the space in recent quarters. And while the U.S. is home to the majority of known funded companies, the bulk of investment has gone to China.

Flow Kana harvests $125M for sustainable cannabis

Flow Kana, a distributor of cannabis products from small growers concentrated in Northern California, has raised $125 million in what it describes as the largest private funding round for a U.S. cannabis company to date. Backers include Gotham Green Partners.

Overtime raises $23M for sports network

Brooklyn-based Overtime, a digital sports media startup, has just raised $23 million in a Series B round led by Spark Capital and joined by a crew of NBA players including Carmelo Anthony, Victor Oladipo, and Baron Davis. Its short-form programming focuses on high school athletes who play basketball and football.

Momentum builds for construction tech

A wave of startups is looking to capitalize on opportunities within the multi-trillion-dollar construction industry, and investors are taking notice. Funding for U.S.-based construction tech startups surged by more than 300 percent year-over-year to nearly $3.1 billion in 2018. M&A deals are also picking up.

Why time is a lazy way to measure startup runway

Most founders think of their startup runway in terms of time. They take money in the bank and divide it by monthly operating cost. But that number doesn’t tell you much. There’s a better way to think through your runway