Top VC deals: Roche acquires Flatiron, Harry's raises $112 million to go beyond shaving
Top VC deals: Roche acquires Flatiron, Harry's raises $112 million to go beyond shaving · CNBC
  • Roche has agreed to acquire Alphabet-funded Flatiron Health for $2.1 billion.

  • Harry's raised $112 million to expand beyond razors and men's grooming products.

  • Norwest Venture Partners closed a $1.5 billion fund to keep investing in tech.

Here's a roundup of the most important deals in venture capital from the past week.

Exits

Swiss pharma giant Roche is acquiring Flatiron Health in a deal valued around $2.1 billion . Flatiron created an electronic medical records system for physicians treating cancer, which analyzes the information to recommend the best potential treatments. Flatiron was founded by ex-Google employees Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg and previously raised more than $300 million from investors including Roche and Alphabet's venture arm, GV (formerly Google Ventures).

Sotheby's has acquired Viyet , an online marketplace for vintage and antique furniture. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sotheby's is in the midst of ramping up its online business. Owning Viyet will help Sotheby's to accept, and sell, entire estates the company told Architectural Digest. Prior to the deal, Viyet had raised around $7 million in venture funding from Social Stars and Rosecliff Ventures.

Start-ups

Grocery delivery start-up Instacart added $200 million to its coffers. Executives told CNBC that the merger of Amazon and Whole Foods has driven other grocers to partner with Instacart in order to extend easy online ordering and delivery options to shoppers. Coatue Management and Glade Brook Capital Partners led the new investment. The deal brings Instacart's valuation to around $4.2 billion.

Harry's raised $112 million to expand beyond razors and men's grooming products, the New York Times reported . While Harry's started out selling monthly shipments of razors online, it now also sells its products in major retailers including Target. The company has also purchased the factory that makes its razors. Investors in the series D round of funding included: Alliance Consumer Growth, Temasek, and earlier backers including Tiger Global and Wellington Management. The funding brings Harry's total capital raised to about $475 million.

Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors, Playground Global and Aleph VC poured $20 million into CommonSense Robotics , a start-up building robot-operated fulfillment centers that help groceries make fast deliveries. CommonSense CEO and co-founder Elram Goren tells CNBC, "We want 'on-demand' to become profitable and sustainable for groceries who aren't Amazon." With the funding, the company plans to open its first facilities in the U.S. It is currently operating one 5,000 square foot fulfillment center in Tel Aviv.