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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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Databricks hits $28B valuation

San Francisco-based closed a $1 billion Series G funding led by new investor . The artificial intelligence and data analysis company will use the new funding for research and development, as well to scale its growth globally. The round follows other AI/data companies such as and hitting the public markets last year.

New investors in the round include , and , along with new strategic investors , and 1. Existing investors聽, , , funds and accounts managed by , , funds and accounts advised by , and also participated in the round.

According to Crunchbase data, Databricks has now raised nearly $1.9 billion.

Knotel files for bankruptcy

Real estate leasing startup filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the weekend after its business took a hit amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New York-based company, which was founded in 2016, competed with . The company signed long-term leases for office spaces in large cities and then rented them out to other tenants.

With many employees still working from home because of the pandemic, office space in general is less occupied. Knotel agreed to be taken over by real estate services firm Newmark Group, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company had raised about $560 million in funding and was last valued at $1 billion in 2019.

Robinhood secures another $2.4B

Record customer growth has going after another significant raise, $3.4 billion, which includes the $1 billion announced on Jan. 29, the zero-fee stock trading platform said in a Monday.

led the round, with participation from existing investors including , , , and , with terms being finalized, the company said.

The company said the funding would enable it to continue building products and adding capabilities so that more people have access to investing. This comes as Robinhood faced an extraordinarily high volume of trading last week as individual investors piled into video game retailer and seven other stocks, including .

鈥淭his round of funding will help us scale to meet the incredible growth we鈥檝e seen and demand for our platform,鈥� said , Robinhood鈥檚 CFO, in the blog. “We are humbled by our customers鈥� response to our offering, and remain inspired by everyday people taking control of their financial futures.”

Related to GameStop and the other seven stocks, Robinhood also said Monday that it is easing trading restrictions made last week, including raising its trading limit on GameStop to four shares from a single share. However, customers who already own more than four shares of GameStop cannot buy any new shares, .

TikTok rival Kuaishou launches $5.4B IPO

Chinese short video app will raise $5.4 billion from its Hong Kong listing, hitting its maximum fundraising target, The Wall Street Journal .

The offering will value the -backed company at nearly $61 billion. The company’s聽services in China had 305 million average daily active users in the nine months ended in September.

Shares are expected to start trading on Friday.

The Honest Co. poised to enter public markets

Insiders at that the Los Angeles-based company is considering a confidential IPO filing.

The Honest Co., co-founded by actress in 2011 and offers baby and beauty products, has raised just over in total known funding, most recently a round led by in 2018, according to Crunchbase data. Other backers include , and .

Funding rounds

• Weights & Biases Lands $45M: , a聽 startup developing software tools for machine learning, in a Series B round led by .
• Future Meat Technology gobbles up $26.75M: , an Israel-based company developing technology to produce cultured meat, an additional $26.75 million in funding through its strategic partners. The company is backed by companies including , and investors such as .
• ELSA raises $15M for language learning: , a language-learning app with a focus on pronunciation, has in a Series B round led by 聽 and .
• Wallbox inks 33 million euros: , an electric vehicle charging station company with headquarters in Barcelona, closed on 33 million euros ($39.8 million) in financing, led by and .
• Axoni banks $31M: , a New York-based provider of financial market infrastructure, $31 million equity financing from investors, including , and , to give the company a total of $90 million in funding.
• Cellino brings in $16M: , a personalized regenerative medicine company developing an AI-guided laser editing platform for autologous cell-based therapies, closed on $16 million in a seed round co-led by and .

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