{"id":8962,"date":"2020-05-04T15:55:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T15:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/?p=2540019"},"modified":"2020-05-04T15:55:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T15:55:00","slug":"there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/","title":{"rendered":"There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hello and welcome back to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?si=bjgo57TCQ-uFC38-iTy6HA\">Equity<\/a>, TechCrunch&rsquo;s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.<\/p>\n<p>What a week. Are you still standing? Did you make it? If you are upright and typing, congratulations, you&rsquo;re top-decile. If you&rsquo;re reading this from bed, that&rsquo;s fine too. We understand.<\/p>\n<p>The week was so busy that we actually ran a bit long this week, with lots left on the cutting room floor. So, with the full team aboard this week (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DannyCrichton\">Danny<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nmasc_\">Natasha<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CGates123\">Chris<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alex\">Alex<\/a>), we got into the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/29\/niches-one-stop-shop-for-college-searchers-raises-a-35m-series-c\/\">Niche raised $35 million in a Series C<\/a>&nbsp;for its one-stop shop for college searchers. We talk about the edtech company&rsquo;s growth, confusing past, and how its B2B strategy is especially attractive in our new normal.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/27\/understanding-duolingos-quiet-10m-raise\/\">Duolingo raised $10 million from General Atlantic<\/a>, a move that was more opportunistic than out of necessity for new cash, the company claims. It also is based in Pittsburgh, which had the whole trio excited.<\/li>\n<li>Bonsai, which has a fantastic name,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/28\/bonsai-raises-1-5m-to-help-students-get-professional-guidance-via-virtual-1-on-1s\/\">raised $1.5 million for 1-on-1 peer tutoring<\/a>. We talk about the small round, and why conservatism is a good thing in this sector.<\/li>\n<li>To cap off our edtech coverage, we&rsquo;re starting to see&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/29\/digging-for-dollar-signs-amid-edtechs-current-momentum\/\">sector momentum turn into actual dollars and deals<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/30\/figma-raises-50-million-series-d-led-by-andreessen-horowitz\/\">Figma raised $50 million at a reported $2 billion valuation<\/a>, a small figure compared to its new pricetag. a16z led the new investment, which came just over a year following Figma&rsquo;s Series C. That prior round valued the firm at around $440 million (post-money), so Figma just glowed up by about 4.5x between rounds. Not bad.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/28\/spark-fast-follows-with-a-25m-series-b-round-into-customer-success-platform-catalyst\/\">Catalyst raised $25 million Series B led Spark<\/a>, not long after it closed a Series A worth $15 million that Accel had led. The customer success industry is growing in importance as startups and larger companies double-down on selling more to existing clients as net-new logos become harder to scrape together.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/29\/stash-investing\/\">Stash raised $112 million led by LendingTree<\/a>, adding to the wave of savings-and-investing-focused services that are seeing a boom in demand (and, therefore, investor interest) as the economy falters.<\/li>\n<li>Particle Health raised money to make&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.crunchbase.com\/news\/particle-health-secures-12m-in-menlo-led-series-a-to-make-health-care-data-easier-to-access\/\">healthcare data easier to access<\/a>, because sharing (in some cases) is caring.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/30\/plantible-raises-4-6-million-seed-round-for-an-egg-white-replacement-that-isnt-aquafaba\/?tpcc=ECTW2020\">Plantible made us talk about aquafaba<\/a>, the liquid found in chickpea cans, for way too long.<\/li>\n<li>A host of new funds were locked down this week, including&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/27\/omers-ventures-announces-a-new-750m-fund-for-investing-in-north-america-europe\/\">OMERS Ventures putting together $750 million<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/29\/utah-based-seed-fund-kickstart-closes-fifth-fund-worth-110m\/\">Kickstart closing $110 million<\/a>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/28\/zetta-venture-partners-jocelyn-goldfein-chats-about-ai-investing\/\">Zetta Venture Partners snagging $180 million for AI-focused investing<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Then there was the bad news.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/29\/lyft-is-laying-off-982-employees-furloughing-a-further-288-due-to-covid-19-pandemic\/\">Layoffs at Lyft<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theinformation.com\/articles\/uber-discusses-plan-to-lay-off-about-20-of-employees\">possible layoffs at Uber<\/a>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/28\/tripadvisor-will-cut-almost-25-of-its-workforce-as-the-travel-industry-languishes\/\">cuts at TripAdvisor<\/a>. But, as Natasha reported,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/04\/28\/cleo-capitals-sarah-kunst-launches-a-fellowship-for-laid-off-workers\/\">some folks are working to undo some of the damage that the layoffs are causing<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We wrapped with a new Danny segment called &ldquo;Luckin Watch&rdquo; and will be back with a special ep on Saturday. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n<p class=\"tags\">\n<div><strong>See Campaign: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?si=bjgo57TCQ-uFC38-iTy6HA\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?si=bjgo57TCQ-uFC38-iTy6HA<\/a><br \/><b>Contact Information:<\/b><br \/>Alex Wilhelm, Natasha Mascarenhas<\/p>\n<p><b>Tags:<\/b><br \/><a href=\"\"><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/category\/news-category\/wire\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Wire<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/category\/global-regions\/united-states\/\" rel=\"category tag\">United States<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/category\/language\/english\/\" rel=\"category tag\">English<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\" alt=\"image\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" class=\"cwdfimg\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>Contact Information:<\/h3>\n<p>Alex Wilhelm, Natasha Mascarenhas<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello and welcome back to&nbsp;Equity, TechCrunch&rsquo;s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. What a week. Are you still standing? Did you make it? If you are upright and typing, congratulations, you&rsquo;re top-decile. If you&rsquo;re reading this from bed, that&rsquo;s fine too. We understand. The week was so busy that we &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/\">Continue reading <span>There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs?<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,22,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","category-united-states","category-wire"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs? - Business<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs? - Business\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hello and welcome back to&nbsp;Equity, TechCrunch&rsquo;s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. What a week. Are you still standing? Did you make it? If you are upright and typing, congratulations, you&rsquo;re top-decile. If you&rsquo;re reading this from bed, that&rsquo;s fine too. We understand. The week was so busy that we &hellip; Continue reading There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs? Continue Reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Business\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-04T15:55:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aneesa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Aneesa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/\",\"name\":\"There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs? - Business\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-04T15:55:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/#\/schema\/person\/cee3758d3201f95199de3522858ca7e2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/\",\"name\":\"Business\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/#\/schema\/person\/cee3758d3201f95199de3522858ca7e2\",\"name\":\"Aneesa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5635ace541744f4e232d93d2fafa63d478ed1fd5c863cbc1484fc2148961368f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5635ace541744f4e232d93d2fafa63d478ed1fd5c863cbc1484fc2148961368f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Aneesa\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/fc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/author\/aneesa\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs? - Business","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/05\/04\/there-is-money-in-design-tools-but-do-designers-have-a-target-on-their-backs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"There is money in design tools, but do designers have a target on their backs? - Business","og_description":"Hello and welcome back to&nbsp;Equity, TechCrunch&rsquo;s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. 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