Here are the most exciting deals in the VC space of late:
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Google's parent company, poured $375 million into Oscar Health, a tech-focused health insurance start up founded in 2012 by Joshua Kushner (who is the brother of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner). In addition to offering insurance plans, Oscar Health is developing technology to streamline the insurance claims process. Alphabet previously invested in Oscar Health a few months ago to the tune of $175 million via two subsidiaries: Capital G, an investment division, and life sciences division Verily. Alphabet now owns about 10% of Oscar Health, which was recently valued at $3.2 billion.
DoorDash - the hip food delivery service app - reached an even higher valuation, or $4 billion, from its most recent funding round. This is nearly double its prior valuation. DoorDash secured $250 million in funding from two tech investment firms, Coatue Management and DST Global. Earlier this year, DoorDash raised $535 million from a funding round led by SoftBank's Vision Fund. DoorDash is part of an increasingly crowded food delivery startup space, including competitors like GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB), Uber Eats, Postmates, and Caviar.
OneSpace Technology, a private aerospace company based in China, raised $43.6 million through a series B funding round, with the goal of conducting its first orbital launch later this year (it already launched its first private rocket earlier in 2018). CICC Jiatai Equity Fund, FinTrek Capital, and China Merchants Venture Capital contributed. OneSpace, which intends to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX, has amassed $116 million in total thus far.
Sila Nanotechnologies, a California-based materials and manufacturing startup, gathered $70 million in a recent funding round to put towards the development of a sophisticated, high-capacity battery to be used for everything from health devices to electric vehicles. A venture firm backed by Siemens (ETR: SIE) and Sutter Hills Ventures led the round.
And lastly, in the medical space, Blueberry Therapeutics accumulated $12.7 million primarily from two Chinese VC firms to develop nano-medicines that treat skin and nail infections.