Weekly Round Up: 12/11/20

At Greenspring we believe in venture capital's ability to propel innovation, job creation and positive societal change. We celebrate those who think differently, take measured risk and challenge perceptions. Here's what's trending in VC this week:

Byron Deeter, partner at Greenspring manager Bessemer Venture Partners and Theresa O Neil, CMO at Zylo, are hosting a webinar on 12/17 at 1 PM EST all about benchmarking SaaS solutions. Register here.

✈️This week we join the world in mourning the loss of Chuck Yeager, World War II fighter ace, Air Force general and fearless test pilot who was the first to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, a plane powered by 4 Reaction Motors engines. Greenspring has a deep connection to Chuck, as Reaction Motors was the first deal funded by Charles Newhall II, grandfather of Greenspring co-founder Ashton Newhall. This deal inspired Ashton’s father Chuck to follow in his father’s footsteps and co-found NEA.

“Laurance Rockefeller got a call at 3am from the Secretary of War and [he] said, ‘I’m calling at the request of the President and there’s a company that goes bankrupt tomorrow in Morristown, New Jersey, and if you don’t finance it, the future of the United States is in great jeopardy.’ So, Laurance called [Ashton’s grandfather], and he goes down with a check for $300, $400,000, which was big money in the day, and he goes into a bank where they’re foreclosing in this company... And they came to the United States to make up for the V-2 rockets and create the aerospace industry in this country. So, Reaction Motors was funded...this was the introduction for my family to the business.” – Oral History of Chuck Newhall. Read more here. 

Congratulations to Mary D’Onofrio of Bessemer Venture Partners, Nnamdi Iregbulem of Lightspeed Venture Partners, Vivek Ramaswami of Redpoint Ventures, John Luttig of Founders Fund and all of the other investors featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 VCs list! Read the full list here. 

Huge congratulations to Airbnb, an online marketplace for travel services and accommodations backed by Greenspring managers Accel, CRV and Founders Fund, on their public market debut this week! Airbnb opened at $146 per share, surging 115%! Read more on the IPO here. #ABNB

Wondering how to invest in vertical software markets like a pro? Check out Greenspring manager Bessemer Venture Partners’ most recent blog post on the 10 lessons they’ve picked up over a decade of vertical software investing here.

Congratulations to DoorDash, a food delivery service app backed by GA managers CRV, NFX and Benchmark on a remarkable debut today, opening trading at $182 per share for a market cap of $57.8 billion, well above its initial range! Read more about the IPO here. #DASH

Congratulations to digital home management platform Setter, and the team at NFX on the company’s acquisition by Thumbtack, a leading local services marketplace. Together with Thumbtack, Setter will deepen their relationship with homeowners to become a true partner in home maintenance. Read more here. 

Firebolt, a startup that is redesigning the concept of data warehouses to provide more efficiency at a lower cost, has raised $37 million in recent financing from Greenspring managers Zeev Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and TLV Partners. Read more on the round here. 

Join General Partner Hunter Somerville for a conversation with Randy Altschuler, Founder and CEO of Greenspring Direct Investment Xometry. In this interview, they discuss the human and enterprise capital Greenspring has brought to the partnership, how we worked together to source over $10 million in PPE for hospital systems across the country amid the shortage, how Xometry is stimulating the local & national manufacturing industry, and more here. 

Looking for holiday gifts for your loved ones? Check out our round up of Greenspring’s favorite venture-backed holiday gifts here. 

Our company featured #JobOfTheWeek this week is from StitchFix, a clothing subscription service backed by Greenspring manager Lightspeed Venture Partners. StitchFix is looking to hire an Engineering Manager to build novel customer experiences and expand the ways clients buy merchandise based on personalized recommendations. Sound like something of interest? Apply here. 

Our manager featured #JoboftheWeek this week is from Greenspring manager NFX who is looking to hire a Head of Public Relations & Social Media to create and capture valuable content for their founders and investors. Sound like something of interest? Apply here.

The content here is for informational purposes only and should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice. It does NOT constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase any investment or a recommendation to buy or sell a security. In fact, the content is not directed to any investor or potential investor and may not be used to evaluate or make any investment.