Weekend business update: Apple rebukes FBI, multi-billion valuation for WeWork and more
Tensions between the authorities and Apple are steadily rising over the infamous “San Bernardino phone”, and the vibe in techland is strained. Many are awaiting the conclusion of this butting-of-heads between the private sector and the government – where the outcome is sure to be historic, regardless of the result.
Incidentally, 14 investments this week were made into security and cyber security startups.
At Index we spend every day gathering news on tech companies from around the world so that there’s a convenient platform for tech enthusiasts everywhere to access that data. In this series, we catch you up every week on what’s been happening in tech.
A view of the world
In the past week, Index logged 228 funding events from 38 different countries. The top five countries in terms of number of rounds can be seen below:
North America
This week in North America there were 118 investments made at a total of $2.62 billion. The biggest round picked up by a startup went to Los Angeles-based massage booking app Soothe, which collected a $35 million Series B. Check out the breakdown in funding round type for North America below:
Europe
Europe saw 42 funding rounds for a total of $225 million. The biggest round this week was hauled in by Ireland’s 4tech Inc. The medical device company received a $29 million Series B round from Neomed Management, RMM, Aortic and Valiance Solutions. Below you can see the breakdown of rounds for the week in Europe.
This week’s must-reads
Facebook announces a WordPress plugin that lets publishers easily create Instant Articles [NiemanLab]
WeWork is now a $16 billion company [Business Insider]
Microsoft mulled an $8 billion bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead [Techcrunch]
The CEO of billion-dollar startup Gusto has 75 angel investors and warns other startups: ‘There are no shortcuts’ [Business Insider]
Tune in next week for another update on the state of tech. If you can’t wait that long, consider signing up to the Index.co newsletter to get the week’s hottest tech news straight in your inbox!
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