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Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the ½ûÂþÌìÌà News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.

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Illumina eyes $8B Grail acquisition

Genetic sequencing giant is in talks to acquire , the heavily funded cancer diagnostics startup it spun off in 2016, in a deal that could be valued at around $8 billion.

News of the potential purchase comes just a week after Grail in what has been touted as one of the largest venture-funded biotech offerings in recent years.

Prior to the IPO filing, Grail had raised at least $2 billion in known funding from a long list of venture and strategic backers, including Illumina, and .

Menlo Park, California-based Grail is focused on pioneering new technologies for early cancer detection. Its best-known offering is a multi-cancer early-detection blood test that detects more than 50 types of cancer from a single blood draw.

Funding rounds

• Olive raises $106M for AI workflows in health care: , which provides on-site command centers that rapidly deploy and manage artificial intelligence workers to health systems, has announced $106 million in financing. and co-led the round along with , and . To date, the company has raised over $220 million.
• Finch Therapeutics gets $90M for new microbiome drugs: said it closed on a $90 million Series D round of funding to advance its pipeline of investigational oral microbiome drugs. New investors in the round include , , , , and . Existing investors participating included , , , , , and .
• Lava Therapeutics brings in $83M for cancer treatments: , a Dutch and U.S. biotechnology company, said it raised $83 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing round. co-led the financing with . New investors in the round include  , and . Existing investors , and also participated in the round. The new investment will prepare Lava’s gamma-delta T cell engager platform for clinical trials expected to start in 2021.
• Joint Academy secures $23M for expansion: , a Sweden-based company providing digital treatment for chronic joint pain, announced it raised a $23 million Series B funding round led by . Existing investors and also participated in the round, which will enable Joint Academy to expand in the U.S. and Europe.
• Bunch secures $20M for mobile game socializing: , a startup that adds a social layer for friends in multiplayer mobile games, has in venture funding. led the round, which also including backing from multiple mobile game developers.
• JupiterOne lands $19M to improve enterprise security: , a Morrisville, North Carolina-based company specializing in cyber security asset management, announced $19 million in venture funding. led the round with participation from , and individual investors.
• Air raises $12M for workplace productivity: , a New York-based cloud collaboration tool for visual work, raised $12 million in Series A funding. led the round, joined by , , , and .
• AirWorks raises $2.7 seed for new hires: , a Boston-based developer of autonomous processing software for aerial mapping and surveying, announced a seed II funding round of approximately $2.7 million. The round was led by and included ,, and angel investors. AirWorks will use the funds to make sales and customer success hires and product development.
• Zuper raises $1.1M seed, appoints new CEO: , a Seattle-based intelligent workforce and customer management platform, said it raised $1.1 million in seed funding and appointed former product leader as CEO. led the round with participation from and .

Other News

More SPACs hitting the market: Two new and very large blank check acquisition companies are hitting the market with plans for a future acquisition. VG Acquisition Corp., a blank check company formed by , filed on Wednesday with the to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering. The same day, Apollo Strategic Growth Capital, a blank check company formed by private equity firm , filed to raise up to $750 million in an IPO.

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