🎧 Axios Re:Cap speaks with Parler's chief policy officer about the app's popularity, process and controversies. Listen via Apple, Spotify, or Axios.

• TikTok remains in legal limbo, as yesterday's CFIUS deadline passed without an extension or injunction (although a court did ask for documentation by mid-December).

• The Commerce Department dropped its related Nov. 12 deadline, largely because a court already issued an injunction against it. Treasury again today declined comment, while DOJ also remains silent.

And. We're. Off.

• Driving the news: DoorDash this morning filed for its IPO, which is expected to price in the window between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Close on its heels should be filings from Airbnb, Affirm, Roblox and Wish.

Big takeaway: There's a lot more noise than signal because of the pandemic.

Financials: DoorDash reports a $149 million net loss on $1.9 billion in revenue for the first nine months of 2020, versus a $533 million net loss on $587 million in revenue for the year-earlier period. It did turn a $23 million profit in Q2 but went back into the red in Q3.

• Total costs and expenses doubled year over year for the nine-month period, while adjusted EBITDA moved from negative $372 million to positive $95 million.
• Total orders increased from 181 million to 543 million, while there are over 390,000 merchants and one million "Dashers" on its platform. As Axios' Felix Salmon messaged me via Slack: "Imagine if those people had to be counted as some kind of employees."
• DoorDash has $1.6 billion of cash on its balance sheet as of Sept. 30.

Caveat: DoorDash acknowledges that COVID-19 lockdowns played a significant role in its year-over-year growth, and says "we expect the growth rates in revenue, total orders, and [marketplace revenue] to decline in future periods."

Investors: DoorDash had raised nearly $3 billion in VC funding, most recently at a $16 billion post-money valuation.

• Shareholders include: SoftBank Vision Fund (24.9% pre-IPO stake of Class A shares), Sequoia Capital (20.4%), and GIC (10.5%). CEO Tony Xu holds 41.6% of Class B shares. SoftBank Vision Fund has invested at least $680 million.

More IPO details: Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are co-leading the offering, with a total of 12 banks listed. DoorDash plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol DASH.

• There are no equity grants or purchase programs for Dashers. The company did yesterday announce a $200 million workforce development program that will include around $12 million in cash bonuses.

Coming attractions: DoorDash isn't the only food delivery economy company planning to go public. Grocery-focused Instacart just picked Goldman Sachs to lead a 2021 IPO at upwards of a $30 billion valuation, per Reuters.

Bottom line: The numbers all seem to be moving in the right direction, but we'll need several more quarters before we can see DoorDash clearly through the coronavirus fog.

Guitar Center, a 61 year-old musical instrument retailer owned by Ares Management, plans to file for prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, per the New York Times.

• Why it's the BFD: This is one of the last chapters of private equity's so-called Golden Age, during which well-known retailers were taken private with huge new debt obligations but without meaningful e-commerce strategies.

• History: Bain Capital bought Guitar Center for $2.1 billion in 2007, while Ares acquired control in 2014 via a debt-for-equity swap. It currently has around $1.3 billion in debt and missed an interest payment last month.
• Bottom line: "Although many people have turned to hobbies like playing music while homebound, the biggest winners have been those with the strongest e-commerce infrastructure. In musical instruments, the online retailer Sweetwater was already threatening Guitar Center’s brick-and-mortar business." — Lauren Hirsch, NY Times

🚑 Carbon Health, a San Francisco-based healthcare provider startup, raised $100 million in Series C funding. Dragoneer led, and was joined by return backers Brookfield Technology Partners, DCVC and Builders VC. http://axios.link/rJtm

🚑 Metagenomi, an Emeryville, Calif.-based gene editing company, raised $65 million in Series A funding. Bayer and Humboldt Fund co-led, and were joined by Sozo Ventures, Agent Capital, InCube Ventures and HOF Capital. http://axios.link/JT4Z

🚑 Kira Pharma, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of therapies for immune-mediated diseases, raised $46 million in Series A and B funding from Quan Capital, 6 Dimensions Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and Sinopharm Capital. http://axios.link/r677

• Livestorm, a Paris-based video communications platform, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Aglaé Ventures and Bpifrance co-led, and were joined by Raise Ventures and IDInvest. http://axios.link/lm0n

• GuideCX, a Salt Lake City-based customer onboarding platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Sorenson Ventures led, and was joined by Epic Ventures, Orchard Ventures, Album VC and Prelude Ventures. http://axios.link/zdsV

• Nana Technologies, a San Francisco-based reskilling platform, raised $6 million in seed funding led by Spero Ventures. http://axios.link/9z96

• InFeedo, an Indian provider of HR analytics SaaS, raised $3.2 million in Series A funding led by Bling Capital. http://axios.link/UiKU

• OthersideAI, an email writing automation startup, raised $2.6 million in seed funding. Madrona Venture Group led, and was joined by Active Capital, Hustle Fund and Chapter One. http://axios.link/ii0t

• Stakester, a London-based competition marketplace for gamers, raised $2 million in seed funding led by RTP Global. http://axios.link/2eZi

nCino’s close partnership with Barclays resulted in a successful IPO that is helping the innovative SaaS company power its global expansion – and aid its mission to transform financial services through cloud innovation.

Watch the video.

• EQT approached listed Dutch phone company Royal KPN about a takeover, per Bloomberg, with the news boosting the Royal KPN’s market cap past $13 billion. http://axios.link/Igy8

• GCOM, an Albany, N.Y.-based portfolio company of Sagewind Capital, acquired 20/20 Teknology, an Ashburn, Va.-based managed services provider and systems integrator. www.2020teknology.com

• Believe, a French music distributor, is prepping a 2021 IPO that could value it at around €2 billion, per Reuters. Backers include TCV, XAnge Private Equity, Siparex Group, GP Bullhound and Ventech. http://axios.link/DKHz

• Hydrofarm Holdings Group, a Woodside, Calif.-based provider of hydroponics equipment and supplies, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (HYFM) with JPM and Stifel as lead underwriters, and reports $2 million of net income on $255 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2020. http://axios.link/mY3E

• Nuix, an Australian provider of investigation software, disclosed plans to raise A$975 million for what would be the year’s largest Australian IPO. http://axios.link/sqAj

🚑 Seer, a Redwood City, Calif.-based developer of proteograph products for biomedical research, filed for a $150 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (SEER) with JPM as lead underwriter, and reports a $20 million net loss on $320k in revenue for the first nine months of 2020. The company raised over $100 million from firms like Maverick Capital (16.5% pre-IPO stake), Invus (15.6%), aMoon (15.6%), Fidelity (9.6%), Emerson Collective (7.7%) and T. Rowe Price (7.5%). Seer also said it’s secured a concurrent and contingent $135 million private placement from Fidelity, SoftBank, T. Rowe Price and aMoon. http://axios.link/3vMW

⚡ Nuuve, a San Diego-based developer of electric vehicle-to-grid projects, agreed to go public via a reverse merger with Newborn Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: NBAC). http://axios.link/pO4Q

• Better World Acquisition, a SPAC formed by N*GEN Partners, raised $110 million in its downsized IPO. http://axios.link/kHMs

• Rodgers Silicon Valley Acquisition, a tech-focused SPAC led by Cypress Semiconductor co-founder Thurman Rodgers, filed for a $200 million IPO. http://axios.link/x4Jp

• Utz Brands (NYSE: UTZ) agreed to buy Truco, a Dallas-based maker of tortilla chips and salsa under the On The Border brand, from Insignia Capital Group.

⚡ State Grid International Development of China agreed to buy Chilean electric utility Compania General de Electricidad from Spain’s Naturgy (Madrid: NTGY) for just over $3 billion in cash. http://axios.link/Mzzq

• Tata Consultancy Services of India agreed to buy select assets of Ireland-based tech services group Pramerica Systems from Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU). The deal involves more than 1,500 Pramerica employees. http://axios.link/39wX

• Zoom Telephonics (OTCQB: ZMTP) agreed to merge with Minim, a Manchester, N.H.-based cloud WiFi management platform, in a deal that values Minim at $30 million. http://axios.link/AjL4

• Better Tomorrow Ventures, a fintech-focused VC firm co-founded by Jake Gibson (co-founder of NerdWallet) and Sheel Mohnot (ex-500 Startups), raised $75 million for its debut fund. http://axios.link/P39G

• Qiming Venture Partners USA promoted principals Anna French and Colin Walsh to partners. http://axios.link/vyhj

One of the biggest failures of the current administration and Congress will be a Day One problem for President-elect Biden — and an urgent test of his theory that Republicans will be more willing to work with him once President Trump is gone, Axios' Alayna Treene and I write this morning.

• Republican and Democratic lawmakers have agreed for months that the economy would suffer without stimulus, but things may soon deteriorate faster than they forecast.
• COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are rising fast throughout the country, in the absence of any national containment strategy.
• Some state and local governments are reinstituting, or talking about reinstituting, lockdowns. Including for schools. Many restaurants that survived via outdoor eating will soon be forced to take down their tents as cold weather arrives.

It wouldn't quite be like March, when scientists knew much less about how the virus was transmitted, but it could cause many businesses to yearn for the halcyon days of summer 2020. Go deeper.

nCino’s close partnership with Barclays resulted in a successful IPO that is helping the innovative SaaS company power its global expansion – and aid its mission to transform financial services through cloud innovation.

Watch the video.

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