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Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the Crunchbase News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.

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Kahoot acquires Clever for up to $500M

Oslo-based , a game-based online learning platform, that it acquired U.S. education portal in a deal at up to $500 million.

Currently, more than half of all K-12 students in the U.S. log in to Clever to access digital resources, the company says. Clever says it through the Kahoot acquisition to expand its offerings internationally, as the latter reaches 200 countries with its content.

Founded in 2012, Kahoot previously raised $364 million in known funding, while Clever raised about $43 million, per Crunchbase data.

—Ìý Joanna Glasner

Bill.com to acquire Divvy in $2.5B deal

Cloud-based financial software company confirmed on Thursday the of spend management company in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $2.5 billion.

San Jose-based Bill.com will acquire Draper, Utah-based Divvy for approximately $625 million in cash and $1.875 billion of Bill.com common stock, according to a written statement.

Since its inception in 2016, Divvy raised in known venture capital, according to Crunchbase data. It most recently raised funding in January. Meanwhile, shares of Bill.com trade on the under the symbol BILL. Though the company’s share price was down 6 percent during the day’s trading Thursday, shares are trending up in , according to .

Both companies said that the acquisition will provide a one-stop-shop platform combining the spend management with automated payment and workflow capabilities and real-time insights to small and medium businesses.

The transaction is expected to close by September 30, 2021, according to Bill.com.

— Christine Hall

Funding rounds

Shift Technology secures $220M for insurance SaaS: Paris-based , a provider of AI-enabled automation and optimization software for the global insurance industry, that it raised $220 million in a Series D financing led by at a valuation of more than $1 billion.

Oculii picks up $55M for AI-powered radar: Dayton, Ohio-based , a provider of AI-enabled software for radar perception, that it raised $55 million in a Series B funding round co-led by and .

—ÌýJoanna Glasner

Lightmatter closes $80M Series B: Boston-based raised an $80 million Series B led by with participation from , , , , , and others. Using light, the company creates photonic compute chips specialized for AI. The company has raised $113 million to date.

— Chris Metinko

Health care

Dyno Therapeutics inks $100M: , a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company applying artificial intelligence to gene therapy, announced a $100 million Series A financing led by . Dyno’s technology targets liver, muscle, eye and central nervous system diseases, and enables more effective, safer and more manufacturable treatments, as well as makes them applicable to more diseases, and will use the new funds to expand capacity.

Florence raises $80M: , based in Atlanta, closed on an $80 million round of Series C funding to further develop its clinical trials platform. The round was led by and will enable Florence to connect pharmaceutical companies and study sites aimed at decentralizing trials for more efficient drug development lifecycles.

TwinStrand Biosciences lands $50M: brought in $50 million in Series B funding to expand its technology for revealing exceptionally low-frequency genetic variants. led the round.

Sporos Bioventures launches with $38.1M: announced its company’s launch Thursday after closing on a $38.1 million Series A financing from undisclosed investors. The Houston-based company aims to catalyze the rapid and accurate development of cancer and immune disease treatments.

Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals secures $27M: , a New York-based biotechnology company focused on utilizing psychedelic-related medicines for the treatment of certain mental health conditions, closed on a $27 million Series A round of funding led by .

— Christine Hall

Fintech

FloatMe banks $25M: San Antonio-based announced a $25 million financing partnership agreement with to accelerate growth and expand FloatMe’s product line to help millennials cover cash gaps and improve finances. Since the company’s launch in February 2020, FloatMe has saved members more than $30 million in overdraft fees through its financial platform, which provides its members with Floats to help members bridge cash gaps, alerts to notify them when they are at risk of overdraft, and personalized budgeting and financial education tools to help them plan for expenses.

Burnt Finance launches with $3M: A group led by decentralized finance company is investing $3 million to launch , a fully decentralized auction protocol built on the blockchain network to enable fast and seamless auctions for a diverse array of assets, such as non-fungible tokens and synthetics. The investor group is known for an original Banksy piece in March that was sold for nearly. The platform is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2021.

— Christine Hall

Insurtech

180° raises $8M: Brazilian insurtech brought in $8 million in seed funding led by , and . The company was founded in 2020 and provides an insurance-as-a-service business model aimed at transforming how insurance is distributed and consumed in Latin America.

— Christine Hall

Public markets

dLocal files to go public: Cross-border payment processor , based in Uruguay, filed a with the with the intention to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol DLO. The company has raised a in known venture capital funding since its inception in 2016, according to Crunchbase data. dLocal reported working with more than 330 merchants and brought in $104 million in revenue in the past year.

— Christine Hall

New fund

QED Investors creates LatAm-focused fintech fund: closed on a $12 million fund that will target seed and pre-seed fintech startups in Latin America. The Alexandria, Virginia-based firm, which has a focus in fintech, will invest its Fontes fund, named for the Latin word meaning fountains, across Latin America in strong founding teams that are working with a fintech element in the business model.

— Christine Hall

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