Santa Monica-based customer service and content moderation startup TaskUs received $250 million from funds tied to investment firm Blackstone Group, valuing the company at $500 million.
The investment last week is a massive jump in fundraising for TaskUs, which had only raised a $15 million Series A round from Navegar and $14 million in debt financing before the Blackstone deal, according to Crunchbase.
TaskUs operates as a sort of outsourcing firm for many tech companies, operating call centers and backend support out of the Philippines, where most of its employees are. Clients include online dating company Match Group Inc. subsidiary Tinder, email marketing firm Rocket Science Group (which does business as Mailchimp), and health care data company BetterDoctor Inc.
TaskUs co-founder and Chief Executive Bryce Maddock said in a statement that Blackstone’s capital infusion and expertise in scaling companies would help as the company continues to grow.
“We chose to partner with Blackstone because they have a track record at building category-defining businesses,” Maddock said. “Our goal is to build TaskUs into the world’s number one provider of tech-enabled business services. This partnership will help us dramatically increase our investment in consulting, technology and innovation to support our customers’ efforts to streamline and refine their customer experience.”
Maddock founded TaskUs in 2008 with co-founder and company President Jasper Weir.
$1 Billion for NewTV
An entertainment holding company founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg announced Aug. 7 that it had raised $1 billion for a digital, short-form video venture, including investments from every major motion picture studio.
Katzenberg’s one-year-old WndrCo, which has offices in West Los Angeles and San Francisco, disclosed in May that it had raised $800 million for the tentatively named NewTV.
The updated announcement not only raised the price tag of the initial funding round, but unveiled a big-name roster of investors. These include entertainment companies 21st Century Fox Inc., Walt Disney Co., Entertainment One, ITV, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., NBCUniversal Media, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Viacom Inc. and Warner Media.
Additional investors are Alibaba Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Liberty Global.
Madrone Capital Partners, a Menlo Park investment company started by the family that founded Wal-Mart Inc., lead the funding round.
Besides high-profile investors, Katzenberg also brought on Meg Whitman as chief executive of the new entertainment platform. The former Hewlett-Packard chief executive made the news recently for her investment in e-sports company Immortals.
Katzenberg has described NewTV as a professionally produced alternative to short-form online videos. He has offered the example of bored patients waiting in the doctor’s office as his audience for the platform.
WindrCo has not set a date for when its new video platform will start.
Strand Hot for Ice Cream
Century City-based private equity firm, Strand Equity Partners closed last week a minority investment in Brooklyn-based vegan ice-cream brand, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Van Leeuwen produces its own dairy-based and vegan ice cream products in its Brooklyn facility, and operates 13 shops and 6 trucks in New York and Los Angeles, according to the announcement. It sells its products in more than 700 retailers nationwide, including Whole Foods Market and Erewhon.
“Van Leeuwen is an iconic Brooklyn brand with a cult-like following of loyal consumers who enjoy its innovative-yet-accessible ice cream,” said Strand Equity Co-Founder Seth Rodsky in a statement. “We are … excited to help the company execute on its mission of serving the highest-quality ice cream to customers everywhere.”
Strand Equity specializes in consumer-branded products and has invested in beverage brands Vita Coco, Wtrmln Wtr and Bai Brands. In May 2017, it took an unspecified minority stakes in Hippeas, the Santa Monica-based maker Green Park Snacks. The firm typically invests in companies with revenues between $2 million and $10 million according to its website.
Have a deal tip? Henry Meier can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 556-8321.
