TechTaffy

tech:

taffy

SecondMarket Shareholders Sell $13 Million in Shares on SecondMarket

By TechTaffy Desk

SecondMarket traded on SecondMarket, as part of its first internal liquidity program. “It was a resounding success” says Barry Silbert, founder and CEO with the company. The secondary transaction was led by The Social + Capital Partnership, a new fund created by former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya. SecondMarket was the fund’s first investment. Additional investors include A Grade Investments, Yuri Milner, Stephan Paternot, Shakil Khan, Ian Osborne, Frank Lavin, Dan Schwartz and others.

SecondMarket shareholders, including current employees, sold approximately $13 million in common stock at a valuation of about $160 million in what the company anticipates will be an annual liquidity event.

Barry Silbert  (founder and CEO, SecondMarket): Market observers believe companies should have a market cap of $1 billion+ before contemplating an IPO. However, $200M companies – not unlike SecondMarket – want to provide interim liquidity to their shareholders.

Just in

Series E

Vercel raises $250M

San Francisco-based Vercel, a frontend cloud platform provider, has secured $250 million in Series E funding, bringing the company's valuation to $3.25 billion.
Series A

Worky raises $6M (Mexico)

Mexico City-based Worky, a provider of HR and payroll software solutions for Mexican companies, has closed a $6 million Series A financing round.
Industry

Amazon announces $1.31B investment in France

Amazon has announced a new investment of about $1.31 billion (€1.2 billion) in France, which the company says will lead to the creation of over 3,000 permanent jobs in the country.
Around the web

Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky to step down — CNBC

Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon’s cloud computing business, will step down from his role next month. Matt Garman, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Amazon Web Services, will succeed Mr. Selipsky after he exits the company June 3, writes Annie Palmer. 
AI

Palo Alto Networks, Accenture expand alliance to offer generative AI services

Palo Alto Networks and Accenture have announced the expansion of their strategic alliance to provide new offerings that combine Palo Alto Networks' Precision AI technology with Accenture's secure generative AI services.