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Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.

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Udaan raises $280M for B2B e-commerce

India’s , operator of an online business-to-business marketplace, $280 million in an extension of its Series D round.

New and existing investors participated in the financing, including Ìý²¹²Ô»å .

Founded in 2016, Bangalore-based Udaan previously raised $899 million in private funding, per SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ data.

Hootsuite acquires Sparkcentral

Social media management platform announced Wednesday its acquisition of , a customer engagement tool that enables one-on-one messaging via social channels. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sparkcentral, based in New York and Belgium, has raised $37.6 million in funding since its founding in 2011, according to SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ data. Its most recent investment was a in 2016 led by .

The deal enables Hootsuite to tap Sparkcentral’s automated message distribution platform to connect all facets of the customer care workflow, the companies said in a written statement.

The acquisition is Canada-based Hootsuite’s 13th since being founded in 2008 and is its first since 2017, according to SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ data. The company itself has just under $300 million in funding.

Funding rounds

• Senti Biosciences raises $105M: , developer of a programmable biology platform for cancer therapies, raised in a new funding round led by the venture arm of pharma giant .
• Starburst Data gets $100M for data analytics at unicornÌý±¹²¹±ô³Ü²¹³Ù¾±´Ç²Ô: , a Boston-based data access and analytics startup, said Wednesday that it has raised $100 million in Series C funding led by , with participation from 1, as well as existing investors and . The latest round puts its valuation at $1.2 billion, according to the company, and triples its Series B valuation of $342 million. 
• Monument lands $10.3M for alcohol treatment platform: , a New York-based online treatment platform designed for users looking to change their relationship with alcohol, announced a $10.3 million Series A round of funding led by . Monument launched in May 2020 following a $7.5 million seed round and has raised a total of $17.8 million.

Public offerings

Edtech startup Kahoot eyes public listing: Oslo-based online education company is reportedly on track to list on the main Norwegian stock market by the end of March,  . The plans for a listing follow several quarters of sharp growth, with the pandemic driving more people to online learning platforms.

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