Capital Gains: Zenefits cut its own valuation to keep the lawyers out of the equation, Airbnb swells to $30 billion - Recode

Todd Bernard / Recode

Once-mighty Zenefits has a new deal with its investors to keep them from suing the pants off Zenefits for the company’s major compliance scandal from earlier this year. More on that, and last week’s other big VC deals, below:

• Airbnb is in the middle of a new funding round that would set the company’s value at $30 billion. Airbnb recently raised $1 billion in debt financing, and last year raised $1.5 billion at a $25.5 billion valuation.
• Zenefits has altered the terms last year’s Series C funding round, giving investors (like Andreessen Horowitz, TPG and Insight Venture Partners) more equity in the company in exchange for no investor lawsuits related to its huge regulatory scandal earlier this year. The deal reduces Zenefits’ valuation from $4.5 billion to $2 billion (BuzzFeed News).
• In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that self-driving car startup Zoox in the middle of raising a round at a billion-dollar valuation. That round has now wrapped up, and it’s $200 million (Business Insider).
• Thrive Market, a digital grocery that wants “to become the online equivalent of Costco for healthy foods,” raised $111 million in a round led by Invus, with participation from Greycroft Partners, E-Ventures, Cross Culture Ventures and others (New York Times).
• Robotics startup Anki landed a $52.5 million funding round led by J.P. Morgan, with additional cas

via www.recode.net