Image: The LawPath team.
↧
LawPath raises $1.3 million; Cisco to acquire Lancope for $452.5 million; Alteryx raises $85 million
↧
Activision Blizzard to acquire King Digital Entertainment for $5.9 billion; Handy raises $50 million; Shoeboxed Australia raises $775,000 angel round
Document processing startup Shoeboxed Australia has closed a $775,000 angel investment round led by Smorgon Capital, with participation from Andrew Bird and Jono Herrman, Steph Hinds of Growthwise, and the BlueChilli Venture Fund. Shoeboxed Australia Founder and CEO Simon Foster said the investment will fund further product development and customer acquisition marketing.
Zenchef raises €6 million Paris startup Zenchef, which helps restaurants build an online presence and manage bookings, has raised €6 million in a round led by Edenred Capital Partners, with participation from Xange, Metro, and existing backers Elaia Partners, Accélérateur Capital Partners and Kima Ventures. The startup will be using the funding to achieve its goal of reaching 25,000 restaurants around Europe by 2018. RelayRides raises $47 million Series C round RelayRides, a peer-to-peer marketplace for car rentals, has rebranded to Turo after announcing that it has raised $47 million in a Series C round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, with participation from existing investors including August Capital, Canaan Partners, Google Ventures, and Shasta Ventures. Kleiner Perkins partner Brook Porter has joined the startup's board. The fresh funding brings the total raised by the company to date to $101 million. LISNR raises $10 million Series B round LISNR, a startup that has created a new communications protocol that allows for data to be sent through audio, has raised $10 million in a Series B round led by Intel Capital, with participation from investors including Mercury Fund, Jump Capital, and R/GA Ventures. Body Labs raises $8 million Series A round Body Labs, a startup creating advanced 3D body scanning technology, has raised $8 million in a Series A round led by Intel Capital, with participation from FirstMark Capital, Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH, Osage University Partners, and Catalus Capital, as well as company founders and certain company employees. Uniplaces raises $24 million in Series A round Uniplaces, a Portuguese startup helping university students find housing, has raised $24 million in a Series A round led by Atomico, with participation from existing investors including Octopus Ventures, Shilling Capital Partners, and Caixa Capital. SnapApp raises $12 million Series A round SnapApp, a platform helping B2B marketers create and measure interactive content, has raised $12 million in a Series A round from Providence Equity Partners. iboss raises $35 million Series A round Cybersecurity startup iboss has raised $35 million in a Series A round from Goldman Sachs’ Private Capital Investing group, with Goldman Sachs now holding a minority stake in the startup and Stephen Kearns, a vice president in the Private Capital Investing group, joining the iboss board. The funding will allow the startup to develop new technology and roll out its next-generation cloud platform as it also expands globally. Lumo Bodytech raises $10 million Series B round Lumo Bodytech has raised $10 million in a Series B round led by WuXi Healthcare Ventures, with participation from existing investors Madrona Venture Group, Innovation Endeavors, AME Cloud Ventures, and Innovalue Capital Ltd. The funding will go towards the launch of a wearables biomechanics platform, a combination of hardware, software, and data that will enable companies to integrate human body movements into the next generation of wearables technology. nestpick raises $11 million Series A round Berlin-based, Rocket Internet-backed startup nestpick, which wants to move the whole process of renting online, has raised $11 million in a Series A round from Magrove, Enern, and Rocket Internet. The platform has listed more than 21,000 homes and transacted over €16 million in rental income for landlords since it was founded in May 2014. Handy raises $50 million Series C round On demand home services startup Handy has raised $50 million in a Series C round led by Fidelity Management and Research Company, with participation from existing investors includingPG Growth, General Catalyst, Highland Capital, and Revolution Growth. The funding will go towards helping the startup solidify its position in the US and UK markets. Netatmo raises $32 million French IoT startup Netatmo, creator of a range of connected devices for the home, has raised $32 million in a round led by Legrand, with participation from existing investors including Iris Capital, Bpifrance, Pascal Cagni, and Netatmo’s CEO and co-founder Fred Potter. As Legrand is a provider of electrical and digital building infrastructure solutions, the investment will open the door for Netatmo to work with the company as a partner on large building projects.Image: King Digital Entertainment CEO Riccardo Zacconi. Source: King.com.
↧
↧
Bluethumb raises $500,000; Udacity raises $105 million Series D round; ClassPass raises $30 million
Image: Bluethumb's Philip Slusarski and Edward Hartley. Source: Supplied.
↧
Pandora to acquire Rdio for $75 million; Ola raises $500 million; ShopandBox raises $1 million seed round
PlanGrid, a platform that allows users in the construction industry to store blueprints and other documents, has raised $40 million in a Series B round led by Tenaya Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, YC Continuity and Northgate. The funding will be used to continue building out its product.
Athos raises $35 million Series C round Smart fitness apparel startup Athos has raised $35 million in a Series C round led by Social+Capital, with participation from investors including MAS Holdings, Lightspeed Venture, Felix Capital, and Golden State Warriors managing partner Joe Lacob. This fresh funding brings the total raised by the startup to date to $51 million and will go towards developing new products. Craftsvilla raises $34 million Series C round Indian startup Craftsvilla, which has created an online marketplace for ethnic goods, has raised $34 million in a Series C round led by existing investors Sequoia and Lightspeed Ventures, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Global Founders Capital, also existing investors, and Apoletto Asia. UrbanClap raises $25 million Series B round UrbanClap, India's largest services marketplace, has raised $25 million in a Series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors SAIF and Accel Partners. It comes just a few months after the startup raised $12 million across two rounds from SAIF and Accel Partners. ProtectWise raises $20 million Series B round Cybersecurity startup ProtectWise has raised $20 million in a Series B round led by Tola Capital, with participation from Crosslink Capital, Trinity Ventures, Paladin Capital Group, and Arsenal Venture Partners. Sheila Gulati, managing director at Tola Capital, is joining the ProtectWise board. This brings the total raised by the startup to date to over $37 million, with this fresh funding to go towards supporting the company's growth, tech innovation, and expansion. APX Labs raises $13 million APX Labs, the company behind the Skylight smart glasses development platform, has raised $13 million in a round led by NEA, with participation from investors including CNF Investments, GE Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and more. Styletag raises $7.5 million Indian fashion marketplace Styletag, which focuses on emerging designers, has raised $7.5 million in angel funding from Jitu Virwani, chairman and managing director of real estate company Embassy Group. The funding will go towards expanding the site's range of labels, and acquiring more designer brands. Tubi TV raises $6 million Series B round Free streaming service Tubi TV has raised $6 million in a Series B round led by Cota Capital, with participation from existing investor Foundation Capital, and Hollywood studios MGM and Lionsgate. This brings the total raised by the startup to date to $10 million.Image: ShopandBox founders Xin-lung Tai and Rebecca Chia. Source: Provided.
↧
Perion acquires Undertone for $180 million; AppDynamics raises $158 million; Tyro Payments raises $100 million
Image: AppDynamics founder Jyoti Bansal and CEO David Wadhwani. Source: AppDynamics.
↧
↧
IBM acquires Clearleap; Airbnb confirms $1.5 billion raise; Booodl raises $2.85 million
Image: Clinton House, Peter Rossdeutscher, Greg Riebe of InHouse Group. Source: Supplied.
↧
Digital Guardian raises $66 million; Housejoy raises $23 million Series B round; ERM Power acquires Greensense
Image: Housejoy founders Arjun Kumar, Saran Chatterjee, and Sunil Goel. Source: YourStory.
↧
Activision Blizzard acquires Major League Gaming; Silvercar raises $28 million in Series C round led by Audi; Toast raises $30 million
Featured Image: Silvercar CEO, Luke Schneider | Source: bizjournals.com
↧
Microsoft acquires technology from Brisbane company Event Zero to boost Skype for Business
Image: Zig Serafin. Source: enterpriseconnect.
↧
↧
Grindr sells 60 percent stake for $93 million; SkyScanner raises $192 million; CarTrade raises $145 million
Image: CarTrade CEO Vinay Sanghi. Source: YourStory.
↧
AOL acquires Kanvas Labs and Millennial Media; letgo raises $100 million; MoneyBrilliant raises $1.5 million
Image: Jemma Enright, co-founder and CEO of MoneyBrilliant.
↧
IBM to acquire Merge Healthcare for $1 billion; Microsoft acquires Incent Games; HotDocs raises $2.2 million
After another busy week, a number of Australian startups have raised capital. iSeekplant raised $1 million, while Beat the Q Posse Group raised $5 million and HotDocs secured $2.2 million in a round led by AirTree Ventures. Also this week, Adidas acquired Austrian fitness startup Runtastic, and IBM acquired Merge Healthcare for $1 billion.
Acquisitions
Adidas acquires Runtastic for $240 million
Austrian fitness startup Runtastic, which has over 140 million downloads and 70 million registered users, has been acquired by Adidas for $240 million. Florian Gschwandtner, co-founder and CEO of Runtastic, explained in a blog post that Runtastic will continue to operate as its own entity within the Adidas Group, keeping its offices in Austria and San Francisco. “We will continue deliver further optimizations, unique content and a highly-anticipated new app by the end of the year,” he added.
FinTech services company Affirm has acquired the talent behind LendLayer, a startup offering student loans for coding bootcamps. The acquisition allows Affirm, which offers online shoppers monthly loan repayment options, to gain a foothold in the education space. Affirm’s CEO Max Levchin said in a statement, “Our core value is bringing transparency back to financial services. We believe lending to bootcamp students is the single best way to help them invest in themselves, improve their quality of life, and become successful contributors to the new economy.”
IBM to acquire Merge Healthcare for $1 billion
IBM is set to buy medical imaging company Merge Healthcare for $1 billion. The company will be woven into Watson Health, IBM’s health analytics unit, which is powered by the Watson computer.
WeWork, a network of startup coworking spaces and communities, has acquired Case, a building information consultancy. The two companies have worked together in the past. Case’s founders explained in a blog post that the acquisition will see “the team will focus completely on expanding and enhancing the already impressive physical and digital platform that enables WeWork members to create incredible things.”
Instacart acquires Wedding Party
Grocery delivery startup Instacart has acquired Wedding Party, an app which makes it easier for friends and family to capture and share photos and videos at a wedding. The deal is being termed an ‘acqui-hire’, with Instacart interested in Wedding Party’s team of engineers. Instacart’s vice president of communications told The Business Times that Wedding Party is good at creating custom experiences, which is Instacart’s primary focus.
Tencent to buy remaining shares of Elong
Chinese internet service portal Tencent has signalled its intentions to buy all remaining shares in online travel agent Elong. Tencent has offered $18 per American depository share; it already owns shares that give it a 15 percent voting stake in the company.
Microsoft acquires Incent Games
Microsoft has acquired Incent Games, the maker and owner of FantasySalesTeam, a fantasy sports-like sales gamification platform that looks to boost productivity by driving collaboration and competition in sales teams. FantasySalesTeam will be integrated into Microsoft’s Dynamic CRM offering.
Supplyframe, the owner of hacker blog Hackaday, has acquired Tindie, a marketplace for hardware creators to sell their products. Supplyframe CTO Aleksandar Bradic wrote in a blog post that the platform fills the gap between prototype and initial production. He wrote, “Crowdfunding provides access to capital for some (and access to laughs for others), but it’s not always the way to go. You might not be ready to quit your day job or take on a project full-time. You might be working on rev1 of the project and want to try the “lean manufacturing” thing. Or maybe you’re building something for your own purposes and have some extras lying around. Tindie is a platform that has helped launch many such projects, and we’re incredibly lucky to have it be a part of Hackaday.”
Funding
HotDoc raises $2.2 million Series A round
Doctor appointment booking and software platform HotDoc has closed a $2.2 million Series A round, led by AirTree Ventures with participation from NCN Investments. The startup has signed over 3,500 GPs, having secured multi-year contracts with corporate partners Sonic Healthcare, Healthscope and ZedMed. The funding will be used to boost marketing efforts and make new hires, with HotDoc expected to double its team over the next year.
Beat the Q Posse Group raises $5 million
Ten months after merging, Australian startups Beat the Q and Posse have announced the closure of an oversubscribed Series A $5 million funding round led by Westpac’s $50 million venture fund Reinventure and 12-year-old venture capital firm Exto Partners. The new investment will be used to fund product development – specifically, to improve the payment process for customers when dining out or buying coffee and to introduce new features – as well as marketing and scaling merchant acquisition.
iSeekplant raises $1 million
Australian plant hire startup iSeekplant, which allows companies in the mining and construction industries to search for and hire machinery, has raised $1 million from angel investors. iSeekplant reports having 70,000 monthly users, with more than 50,000 machines for hire in its database. The funding will allow the startup to scale and add to its current offering.
Rebagg, a platform that sources and resells second-hand designer handbags online, has raised $4 million in seed funding from investors including General Catalyst, Metamorphic Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and Founder Collective. The funding will go towards expanding its service across the United States and adding to its team.
Tintri raises $125 million in Series F funding
Tintri, a California startup which provides storage solutions for virtual products, has closed a $125 million Series F round led by Silver Lake Kraftwerk, with participation from existing investors Insight Venture Partners, Lightspeed Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and NEA, bringing the total raised by the startup to date to $260 million. The funding will go towards driving adoption of the company’s products globally. Tintri has also hinted that it will be looking to IPO in 2016.
SavingGlobal raises €20 million
European startup SavingGlobal, which aims to create a single market for financial services across Europe by allowing users to access the best deposit rates from banks around the continent, has closed a €20 million Series B round led by Palo Alto-based Ribbit Capital and Index Ventures, with participation from Yuri Milner and Tom Stafford. This brings the total raised by the startup to date to €30 million.
Jibo, the startup behind the ‘social robot for the home’, has raised $11 million in Series A extension financing from investors around Asia, including Acer, Dentsu Ventures, and LG Uplus. It comes after Jibo raised a $23 million Series A round in January. The company stated that this extension round will be used to accelerate Jibo operations, product enhancements, partner content integrations, and Jibo’s market introduction.
Indian doctor booking startup Practo has raised $90 million from investors including China’s Tencent Holdings, Yuri Milner, and Google Capital. According to TechCrunch, Practo is set to launch into six new countries soon. As well as India, it is already active in Singapore and the Philippines, and aims to be in 100 cities around India and 10 international markets around Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe by early next year.
Dinner Lab raises $7 million Series A round
New Orleans social dining startup Dinner Lab, which gives members access to private dinner parties it hosts around their city, has raised $7 million, with $5.3 million of that venture funding and $1.7 million crowdfunded from its subscribers. The venture funding was led by James River Capital, with participating from all existing investors. It will be used to expand into new US markets.
Leanplum raises $11.6 million Series B round
Leanplum, a platform helping mobile developers and marketers engage users through things like A/B testing, UI optimisation, and personalised triggers, has raised a $11.6 million Series B round led by Kleiner Perkins. The funding will be used to expand its team.
Fastly, a content delivery network, has announced that it has raised $75 million in Series D funding led by Iconiq Capital, with participating from existing investors Amplify Partners, August Capital, Battery Ventures, IDG Ventures, and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. Fastly will use the funds to expand its global reach, and further its ecommerce and security expansion.
Work management solutions startup Workfront has raised a $33 million Series E round led by JMI Equity. The funding will be used to support the sales, marketing, and product strategies the company has defined.
Amplitude raises $9 million Series A round
Amplitude, a mobile analytics startup, has closed a $9 million Series A round led by Benchmark Capital, with participation from existing investors including Quest Venture Partners, Data Collective, Merus Capital, Charlie Cheever, and Dave Morin. As well as the funding, the startup announced that it will be offering companies tracking less than 10,000 monthly events its flagship service for free.
Bright raises $4 million in seed funding
Solar panel installation and distribution startup Bright, which launched out of Y Combinator, has raised $4 million in seed funding to help it provide Mexican homes with solar power. The funding comes from investors including First Round Capital, Felicis Ventures, Max Levchin, Patrick Collison, and a number of YC partners.
Tokyo startup Ptmind, which has created a platform that analyses user behaviour on websites, has announced that it has raised $9 million in pre-Series A financing from CAC Capital, which will be used for product development and new hires.
Cloud security company Zscaler has raised $100 million at a valuation of $1 billion in a Series B funding round led by TPG. Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry said in a statement, “The investment and partnership from TPG and the global relationships and experience they provide will enable us to accelerate investment in our technology, grow our customer base and aggressively scale our business to meet growing demand.”
Riffsy raises $10 million Series A round
GIF keyboard maker Riffsy has raised a $10 million Series A round led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from previous investor Redpoint Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, and Signia Venture Partners. The startup explained in a statement that the funding will be used to support the growth of its mobile products and “building GIFs and video into the daily language of every mobile user.”
EduTech startup Panorama, which allows schools and school districts to collect and analyse student feedback, has announced that it has raised a $12 million Series A round from investors including with Owl Ventures and Spark Capital. Jed Smith, co-founder of Owl Ventures, and Andrew Parker, general partner at Spark Capital, have joined Panorama’s board. The funding will be used to expand the platform’s capabilities and expand the Panorama team.
Berlin startup Zeotap, which helps telecos activate and monetise their data, announced that it has raised $6.4 million in Series A funding from Capnamic Ventures, Iris Capital, prominent angels and existing investors. The funding will go towards developing its platform and expanding its US presence, as well new hires for its engineering team in India.
Image: The HotDoc team.
↧
I sold my startup at its highest growth phase and started all over again
I was one of the three co-founders of leading online accounting startup, Nudge Accounting. We successfully sold Nudge in March 2015 when Nudge was only two and a half years old. When we sold, Nudge was at a point where we were experiencing month-on-month the strongest growth we had ever had. We had a strong brand name in the market, and potential clients were getting in touch with us through referrals from existing clients. Added to this, our focus on providing good content through our blogs and contributions (such as to startup daily), had also earned us the top spots in google for online accountants and small business accountants.
So why did we decide to sell? And why would I give up being a founder of a high-growth startup for the uncertainty of starting all over again and in a completely new market?
Why we sold
It was in a co-founders meeting two years into the business when myself and one of the other co-founders presented to our third co-founder that we wanted to sell. We had both raised with each other that whilst we loved our business and our clients, we had lost a lot of the passion we once had. We found ourselves dreaming of other businesses and business interests. We knew we were at a stage in the business that to take it to the next level, we really needed to have our heart completely in it.
It was hard to admit at first, because Nudge was quite literally our baby. We had been working on Nudge a year or so before launching, and since then it had consumed all our thoughts. We also had grown close to our clients, many of which had become friends, and would be sad to end our business relationship.
A lot of our clients were startups, and we had been on the journey with them as their startup grew, and felt part of their team as we celebrated their successes and talked through the ups and downs with them.
We also knew that having a business with strong growth and brand presence, there should be good interest in our business and this would present solid financial opportunities when it came to the sale.
How did we sell?
In this meeting we had discussed how we would sell. For the three of us, this was our very first business we had sold. We had developed some strong relationships with other accounting firms who had taken an interest in us, and considered approaching them. We decided not to do this. We thought it would be best to approach the market as a whole to gauge greater interest. We then considered whether we would manage the sale ourselves or use a business broker. In the end, we decided to use a broker. This was the best decision for us.
While business brokers take a decent cut of the sale price (generally around 5% for the finance industry), we wouldn’t have had the time to maintain the strong growth while spending time filtering potential buyers. During the sale process, it was crucial to find a buyer who saw and understood the maximum potential of the business. For us it was also important that our story matched our performance so it didn’t give buyers the upper hand in negotiations.
Starting again – Itchy Baby Co.
Shortly after starting the Nudge sale process, I was having a coffee catchup with my sister Julia who is a pharmacist and mum to two toddlers. Her toddlers (my niece and nephew) had experienced very bad eczema and itchy skin since birth. Not happy with the existing products on the market, and lack of natural and effective products for toddlers, she had created her own bath soaks.
Since using these natural bath soaks her toddlers eczema had improved significantly. Now wIth the success she had managing her own toddlers’ eczema, Julia told me she wanted to offer the natural bath soaks to other parents and commercialise her natural bath soaks. Immediately I agreed to jump on board to manage the operations side of the business.
I have a very close relationship with my little niece and nephew and had seen the pain that they had gone through with their itchy skin. I wanted to be part of this journey with my sister. I really believed in it and the good it had done for my little niece and nephew. It was from there that Itchy Baby Co. was born.
I have to admit that starting a business in a completely new industry than what I had experience in has been a challenge, and it’s amazing how much the online startup space has developed over the last three years now that I’m entering it again with Itchy Baby Co.
However, one thing I didn’t realise was how transferrable skills are across completely different industries (accounting to health) and even when moving from a service-based industry to a product industry.
The key is that you really need to believe and live what you are offering to your customers. I think once you have a passion for business, whilst you may lose that passion in one business, you will find it in another and it will continue to reinvent itself.
↧
↧
Alibaba to acquire $4.6 billion stake in Suning; Startups.co acquires Zirtual; Vox Media raises $200 million
At the end of another week, Alibaba has signalled its intentions to acquire a 20 percent stake in Chinese electronics chain Suning for $4.6 billion, Startups.co rescued virtual assistant startup Zirtual, and Vox Media got a $200 million investment from NBC Universal. Closer to home, Sydney on-demand cleaning startup WHIZZ raised $2 million.
Acquisitions
Opera Software, developer of the Opera browser, has acquired Latin American platform Bemobi, which offers users a subscription to access apps in the Android ecosystem. Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software, said in a statement, “Opera has expanded rapidly in the mobile-app ecosystem, and our goal is to innovate within this space in a manner that benefits everyone. Bemobi is a natural fit for Opera in this direction. This acquisition brings an added dimension to our app-discovery services, with a new monetisation model that has proven to work well in our core markets.”
Alibaba to buy 20 percent stake in Suning for $4.6 billion
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is to acquire a 20 percent stake in Chinese electronics retailer Suning for $4.6 billion. In turn, Suning is spending almost $2.3 billion to acquire a 1.1 percent stake in Alibaba. The strategic partnership will see the two companies work together on logistics and omni-channel strategies; Suning will be opening a flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall.com platform, and will also become a partner of Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics affiliate. According to Alibaba, Cainiao’s delivery solutions paired with Suning’s distribution network will soon allow customers to receive products in two hours.
Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, said, “We are seeing the integration of e-commerce with traditional commerce where consumers are able to enjoy a more engaged, omni-channel and seamless shopping experience. Customers will be able to enjoy the vast online offerings while having convenient access to physical stores. By maximising Suning’s bricks-and-mortar assets with Alibaba’s vibrant ecosystem, we are in the best position to provide the ultimate shopping experience for all our customers.”
The Carlyle Group acquires Symantec’s Veritas for $8 billion
Symantec has sold Veritas, its information management business, for $8 billion in cash to the Carlyle Group and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. Michael Brown, Symantec president and CEO, said in a statement, “This transaction strengthens our financial foundation, paving the way for Symantec to grow its security business and increase its lead as the world’s largest cybersecurity company.”
At the start of the week, virtual assistant startup Zirtual let customers and over 400 staff know that the company was likely to be shutting down. Just a few days later, one of Zirtual’s clients, Startups.co, offered to acquire the company. Zirtual founder Maren Donovan wrote in a blog post that, despite the fact that Zirtual had raised $5 million over the last 3 years, the funds weren’t enough to manage shifting workers from independent contractors to employees. Thanks to Startups.co, Zirtual’s service will be resuming on Monday.
Branch Metrics acquires ClassOwl
Mobile deep linking startup Branch Metrics has acquired education startup ClassOwl, which helps students and teachers communicate and collaborate more easily. ClassOwl’s team will be joing Branch, with Branch co-founder Mada Seghete saying in a statement that the ClassOwl team could be key to expanding deep linking to mobile markets worldwide. The ClassOwl service will continue to operate during the acquisition.
Funding
Just six months after launching, Sydney-based WHIZZ has announced a $2 million Series B funding round. WHIZZ has secured investment from five high-profile Australian investors including Simon Rothery, CEO of Goldman Sachs; Tom Krulis, CEO of Godfreys; Alex Waislitz, Founder of Thorney Investment Group; Tony Gandel from Melbourne’s renowned Gandel family; and Allen Linz, Founder of Rebel Property Group.
Massdrop raises $40 million in Series B round
San Francisco startup Massdrop, which provides e-commerce services for communities of hobbyists and enthusiasts, has raised a $40 million Series B round led by August Capital with participation from First Round Capital, Mayfield Fund, and Cowboy Ventures. David Hornik, general partner of August Capital will be joining the company’s board. With the funding Massdrop, which now reaches 1 million users, will be looking to expand on its team of 70.
Who What Wear raises $8 million Series B round
Who What Wear, a platform giving users style tips from the runway and celebrities and then directing them to where they can buy the same items online, has closed an $8 million Series B round. Investors in the round include Amazon, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Greycroft, and Lerer Hippeau Ventures. Who What Wear will be looking to expand into Europe and Australia.
View, the company developing ‘dynamic glass’ which can change tints in response to the sun, has raised $150 million from investors including the New Zealand Super Fund, Corning Incorporated, Madrone Capital Partners, and others. The funding will go towards manufacturing and company growth.
Online media company Vox Media has raised $200 million thanks to a strategic investment from NBC Universal which will see the two companies work together on programming, advertising, and technology. The deal values Vox at $1 billion.
Grey Orange raises $30 million
Grey Orange, an Indian company producing advanced robotics systems to automate warehouses and distribution centres, has raised $30 million in a Series V round led by Tiger Global and Blume Ventures. The funding will help the startup execute on its expansion plans.
German dating app Spotted, which allows people to ‘subtly’ ping someone they’ve walked past in public if they want to get to know them better, has raised a $14.5 million Series A round that it will use to expand into the US, Korea, and Japan. The round was led by Media Ventures and Wolfman Holdings.
Indian interior design startup LivSpace has raised $8 million from existing investors Helion Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Jungle Ventures. The startup, which launched last December, raised a $4.6 million Series A round earlier this year. The funding will be used to expand its service around India.
On-demand massage startup Soothe has raised $10.6 million in a round led by The Riverside Company. Soothe is active in 12 cities around the US; the funding will be used to hire new employees, further develop the platform’s technology, and expand.
Israeli photo app developer Lightricks, creator of the iOS apps Enlight and Facetune, has raised $10 million from Carmel Ventures in its first venture funding round. According to VentureBeat, the startup will be looking to double its employee headcount with the funding, as well as develop premium apps for Android.
DoubleDutch raises $45 million
DoubleDutch, a startup helping clients measure the performance of their events, has raised $45 million in a round led by KKR, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures, and others. The funding will go towards international expansion, sales and marketing, and acquisitions.
PokItDok raises $34 million Series B round
California startup PokItDok, which helps healthcare providers streamline transactions, has raised $34 million in a Series B round led by Lemhi Ventures. According to a statement from PokItDok, the funding will go towards business development, marketing, and technical support to better assist clients.
IT services startup Infogain has raised $63 million from private equity firm Chrys Capital. The funding will help Infogain expand its offering, make acquisitions, make new hires, and expand internationally.
StyleLounge raises €2.3 million
German startup StyleLounge, which helps users compare prices for fashion and lifestyle products, has raised €2.3 million from investors including TA Ventures, Axivate Capital, and ASTUTIA Ventures. Already active in Germany, France, and the Netherlands, the startup plans to expand into five new European countries by the end of the year.
Image: Zirtual founder Maren Donovan. Source: J Carter Rinaldi
↧
FanDuel acquires NumberFire; Palette raises $1 million; BuzzFeed raises $200 million from NBC Universal
It’s been another busy week around the startup space in terms of acquisitions and funding. A week after sinking $200 million into Vox Media, NBC Universal has invested another $200 million in BuzzFeed, Kik has raised $50 million from Chinese giant Tencent, and fantasy sports startup FanDuel has acquired NumberFire. Closer to home, SwatchMate raised $1 million and rebranded to Palette, and Swift raised $675,000.
Acquistions
Japanese video site Viki has acquired Soompi, an English-language site dedicated to Korean cinema. Sump boasts around 7 million monthly visitors, while Viki has around 40 million; the acquisition will see content integrated across the two sites. Viki CEO Tammy J Nam explained the acquisition in a statement, “Soompi’s recent exponential growth underscores global fans’ changing tastes in popular entertainment, and we’re excited to fuel this growth even more. Joining forces with the Soompi team enables Viki to kick-start our news and fan forum offering, starting first with Korean and with plans to expand into other vertical categories.”
Rise, a startup helping users find diet coaches, has acquired HealthyOut, a restaurant recommendation service focused on healthy restaurants. HealthyOut uses machine learning to process the menus of over 140,000 restaurants around the US.
Anova acquires Get Fresh for $9.2 million
Anova, the startup behind an automated sous vide cooker, has acquired Get Fresh, a management services company that works with early stage hardware brands. Get Fresh CEO Stephen Svajian is set to become CEO of Anova.
Fantasy sports company FanDuel has acquired sports analytics company NumberFire in a bid to help FanDuel expand beyond fantasy sports. While it will continue operating as a separate service, NumberFire’s team will be joining FanDuel. Nigel Eccles, CEO and co-founder of FanDuel, said in a statement, “NumberFire’s demonstrated ability to grow a business around sports data, engage their users, create compelling content and support the fantasy industry makes them an ideal complement to FanDuel. It’s our intention to build a multiplatform sports entertainment company, and joining NumberFire and FanDuel creates the opportunity to meaningfully grow both businesses while providing fantasy sports users the best tools around.”
Social marketing company Spredfast has acquired fellow social marketing startup Shoutlet. Spredfast CEO Rod Favaron told TechCrunch that though the startups are in the same industry, there are more complements than overlaps between their products, with Spredfast focused on helping companies create social media content while Shoutlet is more focused on data.
Funding
Swift raises $675,000
Swift, a logistics management software platform for delivery businesses, this week raised $675,000 from BlackSheep Capital and BlueChilli Venture Fund. The funding will go towards further product development and continuing the startup’s growth in the US.
SwatchMate raises $1 million and rebrands to Palette
SwatchMate, the startup behind Cube, a portable colour digitiser, has announced a $1 million Series A funding round and a rebrand to Palette. The round was led by Adam Lewis, Palette chairman and ex-managing director of McKinsey Australia. The funding will go towards the expansion of Palette’s retail strategy, international partnerships, and staffing needs.
BuzzFeed raises $200 million from NBC Universal
Just a week after putting $200 million into Vox Media, NBC Universal has sunk $200 million into another digital media player. In a post explaining the deal and BuzzFeed’s new partnerships with Yahoo! Japan and other digital platforms, CEO Jonah Peretti wrote, “All these deals were structured to assure BuzzFeed’s continued editorial and creative independence. Equally important, the investment from NBCU and our rapidly growing revenue assures our financial independence, allowing us to grow and invest without pressure to chase short-term revenue or rush an IPO. Our independence and a long-term focus align us with our readers and viewers and help us deliver the best possible service for our audience.”
ZocDoc, a New York startup helping patients search for and book doctor’s appointments, has raised $130 million in a funding round led by Baillie Gifford and Atomico, with participation from existing investor Founders Fund. The funding puts the startup’s valuation at $1.8 billion.
Chat app Kik has raised $50 million from Chinese giant Tencent, the maker of WeChat. The funding is part of a new partnership that aims to make Kik the “WeChat of the West”, allowing Kik users to use the app to do more than just chat. Ted Livingston, founder and CEO of Kik, explained the two companies’ vision in a blog post: “Want to get a soda from a vending machine? You can use WeChat to scan the machine to start chatting and get the menu sent to you instantly. Then you can select the item, agree to pay through the app, and get your drink.”
Analytics company Datameer has raised $40 million in a Series E round led by Singapore investment firm ST Telemedia, with participation from firms including Top Tier Capital Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Redpoint Ventures. This funding brings the total raised by Datameer to date to more than $76 million, and will be used to accelerate global expansion and develop teams across all business units.
Roposo, an Indian fashion-focused social media startup, has raised $15 million from Tiger Global, who had previously invested $5 million in the startup’s Series A round. This fresh funding will be used to expand the Roposo team, and improve the product and technology.
Kindara raises $5.3 million seed round
Colorado-based women’s health startup Kindara, which helps women track their period, has raised $5.3 million in a seed funding round led by Boston Seed Capital, with participation from SOSV, Good Works Ventures, PV Ventures, MENA Venture Instruments, and 62 Mile Ventures. A portion of the funding will go towards expanding the health concerns addressed by the startup, including the launch of Wink, a bluetooth thermometer which helps women plan or avoid pregnancy naturally.
Threat management solutions provide AlienVault has raised $52 million in a round led by Institutional Venture Partners, with participation from investors includingTrident Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and GGV Capital. This funding brings the total raised by the startup to date to $116 million. Steve Harrick, general partner at IVP, will join the board of directors. The company will use the funding to scale its global sales and marketing programs and to increase investments in product innovation.
On-demand parking startup SpotHero has raised $20 million in a Series B round led by Insight Venture Partners. Existing investors including Battery Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Chicago Ventures, and Draper Associates also participated in the round. The funding will go towards accelerating marketing efforts, new strategic partnerships, and hiring 25 new positions in Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco.
GrabTaxi raises $350 million Series E round
Chinese taxi booking app has closed a $350 million Series E round, bringing its total funding to date to over $700 million. Investors in the round include the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation and Didi Kuaidi, Uber’s big Chinese rival.
Indian ecommerce giant Snapdeal has raised $500 million in a funding round led by Softbank, Foxconn, and Alibaba, with participation from existing investors. Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO of Snapdeal, said in a statement, “We see this milestone as a significant endorsement of Snapdeal’s strategy and commitment to creating life changing experiences for millions of small businesses and consumers in India. With global leaders like Alibaba, Foxconn and SoftBank, in addition to our other existing partners, supporting us, our efforts towards building India’s most impactful digital commerce ecosystem will be propelled further, enabling us to contribute towards creating a Digital India.”
Owlet, a startup which has created a smart baby bootie which monitors a baby’s breathing, has raised $7 million. According to Owlet, $6 million came in a Series A round led by Formation 8, with participation from Carpe Diem VC and existing investors Azimuth Ventures, ffvc, Eniac Ventures and Peak Capital. The other $1 million came from a government healthcare grant.
Carbon3D raises $100 million Series C round
3D printing startup Carbon3D has raised $100 million in a Series C round led by Google’s investment arm, Google Ventures, with participation from existing investors. A statement from the company explained the funding would go towards continuing to “develop technology and materials that will enable customers to address the fundamental limitations of conventional 3D printing as they move toward a flexible 3D manufacturing solution.”
Grand Rounds raises $55 million
Grand Rounds, a startup connecting patients with specialist healthcare providers, has raised $55 million in Series C funding, with the investment from Greylock, Venrock, Harrison Metal, and David Ebersman along with a “new global mutual fund investor.” The fresh capital brings Grand Rounds’ total funding to date to $106 million, and will go towards expanding the startup’s technology, care team, and analytics platform.
Image: Palette’s co-founders Paul Peng, Djordje Dikic, and Rocky Liang.
↧
Houzz acquires GardenWeb; Coursera raises $49.5 million Series C round; Accodex raises $180,000 seed round
At the end of another busy week across the startup space, home design community Houzz has acquired GardenWeb, investment management firm BlackRock has acquired online financial advisory startup FutureAdvisor, and learning platform Coursera has raised $49.5 million. Closer to home, EnergyTech startup carbonTrack raised $2 million and Adelaide accounting startup Accodex raised $180,000 in seed funding.
Acquisitions
ixigo acquires Square Hoot Hikes
Indian travel search marketplace ixigo has acquired Square Hoot Hikes, the parent company of Rutogo, an aggregator service for inner-city taxis. Aloke Bajpai, co-founder and CEO of ixigo, said in a statement, “This acquisition fits well with our overall strategy of providing comprehensive choice across intra-city and inter-city taxi booking options. We will be launching outstation taxis in the coming weeks, and will also be opening up the cabs marketplace and partner with other booking apps in the inter-city taxis space shortly. With flights, trains, buses, and cabs, we are now the most comprehensive transportation search in India.”
Life360, a startup making apps to keep families connected, has acquired Chronos, which has created apps that passively collect vast amounts of a user’s data to highlight connections and trends. In a statement, Alex Haro, cofounder of Life360, said, “The Chronos technology allows us to give our users an even deeper level of contextual awareness around their family’s daily activities. By showing them where they go most often and how much time is spent on specific activities, we can empower our families with key insights around family behaviour.”
BlackRock to acquire FutureAdvisor
Investment management firm BlackRock has signalled its intent to buy FutureAdvisor, an online financial advisory firm. The startup will operate as a business within BlackRock Solutions. Tom Fortin, head of retail technology for BlackRock, said in a statement on the deal, “As demand for digital wealth management grows, we believe that our combined offering will accelerate our partner firms’ abilities to serve the mass affluent in a convenient, scalable way.”
Home design community Houzz has acquired GardenWeb, a site devoted to homes and gardening, from NBC Universal, who had bought the site as part of the $600 million iVillage package in 2006. The GardenWeb platform and its forums are already being integrated into the Houzz platform.
Big data company Hortonworks has acquired Onyara, the creator of Apache NiFi, a top-level open source project they have developed in conjunction with the NSA. A statement from Hortonworks explained that the acquisition will make it easy for customers to automate and secure data flows and to collect, conduct and curate real-time business insights and actions derived from data in motion.
Chic by Choice acquires La Remia
Portuguese fashion startup Chic by Choice, which lets customers rent designer dresses, has acquired German competitor La Remia. The founders of La Remia, Anna Mangold and Claudia von Boeselager, will be staying on as advisors.
Funding
Energy-tech startup carbonTRACK announced it closed a new $2 million round of funding. The capital will be used to scale up the organisation within Australia and expand internationally. Last financial year, the company completed a $1.1 million round that was led by Wolf Capital. This has allowed the startup to grow quite rapidly within the local market, adding 15 new people to the team within the last 12 months alone. The company was also recently shortlisted to pitch in the NRMA Slingshot Jumpstart Scale-up Program.
Accodex raises $180,000
Adelaide accounting startup Accodex, which has created a cloud-based platform for freelance accountants, has raised $180,000 in a seed round from private investors around Australia and North America. The funding will go towards expanding in the US; the startup opened its first North American office last month, with CEO Chris Hooper set to relocate next year.
HealthTech startup Mocacare, which ran a $120,000 Kickstarter campaign for its heart health tracker, has raised $2 million in a Series A round led by Singapore-based JDM Mobile Internet Solutions Co. This brings the total raised by the startup to date to $4 million.
Velostrata raises $14 million Series A round
Hybrid cloud startup Velostrata, which “”streams production workloads to and from the cloud in minutes while keeping the storage and boot images on-premises,” has this week come out of stealth mode and announced that it has raised a $14 million Series A round led by Norwest Venture Partners and Greylock IL Partners.
Intercom raises $35 million Series C round
Intercom, a startup promising to change the way internet companies communicate with their customers, has raised $35 million in a Series C round led by ICONIQ Capital, with participation from The Social + Capital Partnership and Bessemer Venture Partners. The funding will go towards building new and existing products on the platform.
Modumental raises $33.5 million
Modumental, a Seattle company that develops nanolaminated metals for the gas and oil industries, has raised $33.5 million in a round led by Founders Fund. There is a huge opportunity for the startup in gas and oil, industries which lose trillions of dollars a year due to corroded equipment and pipes.
EHANG raises $42 million Series B round
Chinese drone startup EHANG has raised $42 million in a Series B round led by GP Capital, with participation from GGV Capital, ZhenFund, Lebox Capital, OFC, and PreAngel. The startup has also announced the appointment of four new senior executives who have experience at companies like21Vianet, Lenovo, and Microsoft. EHANG raised a $10 million Series A round last year.
Another Chinese drone startup, Yuneec, has raised $60 million from Intel, with the two companies set to work on developing new products together.
Spare5, a startup helping companies outsource menial data-related tasks, has raised a $10 million Series A round led by Foundry Group, Madrona Venture Group, and New Enterprise Associates. The funding will go towards growing Spare5’s engineering, design, marketing, community management, and customer relationship capabilities.
BlueData raises $20 million Series C round
Big data infrastructure startup BlueData has raised $20 million in a Series C round led by Intel Capital, with participation from existing investors including Amplify Partners, and Atlantic Bridge. Doug Fisher, senior vice president of Intel and general manager of its Software and Services Group, will join BlueData’s board of directors as part of the deal, while BlueData and Intel are also embarking on a collaboration through which they will execute a joint engineering roadmap and joint go-to-market strategies that include coordinated product, channel, and sales programs.
Eko Communications raises $5.7 million
Bangkok-based corporate communications startup Eko Communications has raised $5.7 million in a Series A round led by Asian venture capital firm Gobi Partners. The funding will go towards expanding into new markets, growing its team, and upping its marketing efforts.
Coursera raises $49.5 million Series C round
Online education startup Coursera has raised a $49.5 million Series C round led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, International Finance Corporation, and Indian newcomer Times Internet Limited. This brings the total raised by the startup to $600 million and will be used to further its global expansion.
Recruitment startup Greenhouse has raised $35 million in Series C funding led by Thrive Capital, with participation from return investors Benchmark, The Social+Capital Partnership, and Groupe Arnault. The startup previously raised a $13.6 million Series B round in March. The funding will go towards expanding its team and offering.
Everything but the House raises $30 million Series B round
Online real estate marketplace Everything by the House has raised a $30 million Series B round led by Greenspring Associates, with participation from existing investors Greycroft Partners and Spark Capital. The funding will be used to expand into additional US markets, grow the executive team, and optimise the user experience. It brings the total raised by the startup to date to $43 million.
Narvar, a startup looking to improve the way online stores interact and engage with customers after an online purchase, has raised $10 million, bringing its total raised to date to $12 million.
Image: Accodex founders Chris Hooper and Markus Cirillo.
↧
The Onion sells 40 percent stake for $200 million; Meituan-Dianping raises $3.3 billion; YourGrocer raises $600,000
It has been another busy week for deals across the global startup landscape. IBM has acquired live streaming platfrom UStream, while the parent company of satirical news site The Onion sold a 40 percent stake to a Spanish broadcaster for $200 million. Meanwhile, China’s biggest deals platform Meituan-Dianping raised a $3.3 billion round and, closer to home, Melbourne grocery delivery startup YourGrocer raised $600,000 as it looks to further expand across Melbourne and into Sydney.
Acquisitions
IBM has acquired live streaming platform UStream in a move that IBM states will “extend the IBM Cloud platform to help enterprise clients unlock the value of video, a rapidly-evolving digital media and data asset.”
Spotify acquires Cord Project and Soundwave
Spotify has made two acqui-hires this week, bringing on board music discovery startup Soundwave and Cord Project, a company creating audio products for connected devices. Both teams will join Spotify’s product development organisation, where they will look to boost Spotify’s “existing strengths in developing engaging and innovative music experiences.”
Kraken acquires Coinsetter and Cavirtex
European Bitcoin exchange Kraken has acquired two, exchanges Coinsetter of New York City and Canada’s Cavirtex. The company states that the acquisitions “set the stage for an immediate and significant expansion into prime North American markets”, with Kraken to fully absorb both brands in the acquisition. Client accounts of both exchanges will be automatically transferred to Kraken’s platform next week.
Univision Communications acquires 40 percent stake in The Onion for $200m
Spanish broadcaster Univision Communications has acquired a 40 percent stake in the parent company behind satirical news site The Onion, as well as sister sites including ClickHole and The A.V. Club for a reported $200 million, valuing the company at $500 million.
General Motors acquires Sidecar
General Motors has acquired the technology and assets of ride hailing startup Sidecar, which shut down last year. It will also bring on around 20 Sidecar employees, though cofounder and CEO Sunil Paul will not be joining GM. The price wasn’t disclosed but is estimated to be less than the $39 million in funding the startup had raised from investors across its lifetime.
Docker acquires Unikernel Systems
Docker, a company that has created an open platform for distributed applications, has acquired UK company Unikernel Systems, which is focused on unikernel development. A statement from Docker explained that through the integration of the two teams, Docker will have access to a wealth of deep systems, kernel and virtualization expertise, which will benefit users across the Docker platform.
Axway has acquired app development platform Appcelerator. Appcelerator cofounder Jeff Haynie wrote in a blog post, “There are lots of “flavors” of acquisitions, and not all of them care about preserving the acquired company’s culture, technologies, or team. Axway does. Not only are they keeping our offices and our entire staff, but they’re looking to expand investments in the areas most important to our customers and our developers.”
FireEye acquires iSIGHT Partners for $200 million
Cyber security company FireEye has acquired iSIGHT Partners, a provider of cyber threat intelligence for enterprise for $200 million in cash. The companies are working towards an intelligence-led security model.
Funding
Melbourne grocery delivery startup YourGrocer has raised $600,000 as it looks to expand its reach across Melbourne and into Sydney. The funding came from investors including Michael Doubinski, who is an investor in and adviser for Menulog, and Envato founders Collis and Cyan Ta’eed. In addition to the funding, the startup announced the addition of Emelia Jackson, a former Masterchef finalist, to its marketing team.
Meituan-Dianping raises $3.3 billion
China’s largest group deals site Meituan-Dianping, formed through a merger between Meituan and Dianping last October, has raised $3.3 billion in a round that puts its valuation at $18 billion. The round was raised from investors including Tencent, DST Capital, TBP Capital, Baillie Gifford, and Temasek Holdings.
WeLab raises $160 million Series B round
WeLab, the operator of a number of mobile lending platforms in the Chinese market, has raised $160 million in a Series B round led by Khazanah Nasional Berhad and a consortium of international and domestic investors, including ING Bank.
Music streaming service Deezer has closed $109 million from a group of investors led by Len Blavatnik; Blavatnik’s Access Industries invested 100 million euros into the startup in 2012. The raise comes after the company’s plans to IPO fell through.
Telecom startup FreedomPop has raised $50 million in a financing round that brings its total funding to over $109 million; the startup is not revealing the name of its investor. The funding will go towards accelerating international expansion around Europe, Asia, and South America.
Instart Logic raises $45 million in Series D round
Application delivery solutions provider Instart Logic has raised $45 million in a Series D round led by Geodesic Capital, with participation from investors including the Stanford-StartX Fund and Harris Barton Asset Management and existing investors. The company also announced a strategic investment from Telstra Ventures, the venture arm of Aussie telco Telstra.
Citymapper raises $40 million Series B round
London public transport startup Citymapper has closed a $40 million Series B round which saw investment from Index Ventures, Benchmark Capital, and others including Yuri Milner and Tom Stafford. The startup said the funding will go towards creating the ultimate transport app.
Kumu Networks raises $25 million Series C round
Wireless networking startup Kumu Networks, which was spun out of Stanford University, has raised $25 million in a Series C round led by Cisco, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, and Swisscom.
BlueVine raises $40 million Series C round
FinTech startup BlueVine has raised $40 million in a Series C round led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Rakuten FinTech fund and existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, 83NORTH, and Correlation Ventures. The funding will go towards strengthening the startup’s management, developing new features, and expansion into new verticals.
Jfrog, a startup that has created a software automation platform, has raised $50 million in a funding round from Scale Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, Vintage Investment Partners, and Qumra Capital, with participation from existing investors. The funding will be used to invest in talent and tech advancements, as well as push global expansion.
Patreon raises $30 million Series B round
Patreon, a platform which allows for creators to secure ongoing funding from fans, has raised $30 million in a Series B round led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Allen and Company, and existing investors including Charles River Ventures, Index Ventures, Accomplice, and Freestyle Capital. The funding will go towards building new tools into the platform, including analytics, better communication tools, and better reward management.
Swiggy raises $35 million in Series C round
Indian food delivery startup Swiggy has raised $35 million in a Series C round led by RB Investments and Harmony Partners, with participation from investors including Norwest Venture Partners, SAIF Partners, and Accel Partners. The funding will be used to build a strong leadership team, upgrade the startup’s tech, and enhance customer experience.
Olo, a startup that has created digital ordering and delivery solutions for restaurants, has raised $40 million from The Raine Group. The funding will be used to support the startup’s growth, and to further develop its offerings.
Malwarebytes raises $50 million
Security startup Malwarebytes has raised $50 million from Fidelity Management and Research Company. The startup, which was bootstrapped until its $30 million Series A round in July 2014, surpassed $100 million in annualised billings in 2015.
Image: YourGrocer cofounder Morgan Ranieri. Source: thenorthinsider.
↧
↧
Y Combinator startup Statwing acquired by Qualtrics
Customer experience software company Qualtrics today announced that it would be acquiring Y Combinator-funded startup Statwing for an undisclosed sum. Statwing is a San Francisco-based startup that makes data science easy for anyone.
Qualtrics will integrate with Statwing’s point-and-click tool into the Qualtrics Insight Platform removing technical barriers and making data science faster, easier and more accessible. This new combination of the two platforms will help the organisations dig deeper, be more predictive and increasingly data-driven.
“Our mission at Qualtrics is to democratise customer experience,” says cofounder and CEO of Qualtrics, Ryan Smith.
“Historically, setting up a customer experience program, implementing a technology, and driving revenue growth through customer satisfaction has been very hard and service intensive because of technology shortfalls. We’re changing that, and the addition of Statwing is just one more piece of the puzzle.”
“In today’s business environment, employees across the organisation must be able to analyse data, draw insights, and predict customer needs to drive revenue growth. The combination of Qualtrics and Statwing is allowing organisations to reach a level of insight they have never had access to before – it’s incredibly simple and can be used by anyone.”
Qualtrics is reshaping the world of customer experience the way it reshaped the market research industry. In February, Qualtrics launched the Qualtrics Insight Platform, bringing together customer experience management, employee engagement, and market research into a single platform that doesn’t require coding or third parties to make changes.
With the addition of Statwing’s technology to the Qualtrics platform, any user will be able to dive deep into actionable data without having to spend hours performing cumbersome analysis in systems like R, SPSS, or Microsoft Excel. Even more importantly, organisations that previously weren’t able to discover predictive insights now can.
The deal comes as Qualtrics, a pre-IPO company that is one of the few cashflow positive unicorns, continues to put a new face on the multi-billion dollar customer experience management industry. Up to this point, all Qualtrics growth has been organic. This is the first of many acquisitions for the company.
“We’re thrilled to be joining the Qualtrics team and to see our technology integrated with the amazing platform Qualtrics has already created,” said Greg Laughlin, cofounder and CEO of Statwing.
“Statwing makes it easier than ever to turn data into predictive insights. By joining Qualtrics, we are creating a new world where you don’t need to be a statistician to know who the next three customers are that plan to leave your business or to know what levers you need to pull to keep them.”
Press Release
↧
Customer experience startup Flamingo acquired by ASX-listed Cre8tek for estimated $10.7 million in shares
It was announced yesterday that customer experience focused startup Flamingo (Flamingo Customer Experience Inc), founded by high-profile entrepreneur Dr Catriona Wallace, was acquired by ASX-listed technology and software development company Cre8tek.
The SaaS-model startup announced to current shareholders that 100 percent of the company was being acquired, while it was also announced that Cre8tek will undertake a minimum capital raising of $2 million for further development of the Flamingo platform.
Flamingo is a cloud-based platform that allows big businesses to treat their customers like individuals. In simpler terms, what Flamingo provides for businesses is a digital hub, which it calls a ‘co-creation lab’, that allows customers and employees of the business to co-create the experience that a customer wants. This is all done within the parameters of what the business is able to deliver to its clients.
The result of that is an increase in online sales conversions and lowered customer retention rates. It does this using its patented software, which learns how customers and employees interact and then automates this process.
Flamingo currently has offices in Sydney, where it is based in fintech hub Stone and Chalk, and New York. It boasts bluechip clients such as Nationwide Insurance, New York Daily Gazette, Prime Financial, and Quay Credit Union. It also claims to have a strong pipeline of potential clients across both Australia and the United States that it is currently in conversations with.
This acquisition comes after raising an angel investment round of $2.11 million in December 2014, and during a time where Flamingo was in the process of raising a round of Series A investment.
“We were really pleased to be approached by the Cre8tek board during our recent capital raise activities,” Dr Wallace said in a statement.
“As an Australian-led and developed technology company, we are excited that the Federal Government’s Innovation Agenda has shone a spotlight on the opportunities that high-tech startups like Flamingo can provide for investors. We very much look forward to working with Cre8tek to deliver on these opportunities.”
Dr Wallace and fellow Flamingo directors Cathie Reid and Paul Hunyor will join the Cre8tek board upon completion of the acquisition; at this point it also appears that the full Flamingo management team will remain in place, including Dr Wallace remaining CEO of the company.
According to reports from sources such as Reuters and data scanned by our Startup Daily Insights tool, the initial consideration for the transaction is 272.7 million Cre8tek shares to be issued, holding a value of $10.4 million, based on Createk’s last traded price. Details for the $2 million raise to further develop Flamingo will be outlined in a prospectus that will be available in the near future.
Featured Image: Dr Catriona Wallace | Image: On File.
↧
Sydney-founded Shippingeasy.com acquired by Stamps.com for US$55 million
Although intent for an acquisition was announced last week, in the last 72 hours it was formally announced that Stamps.com (NASDAQ: STMP) will be acquiring Austin, Texas-based shipping software company ShippingEasy for US$55 million in cash.
The company was originally founded in Sydney, Australia by serial entrepreneur Mark Helvadjian in February 2011.
Not long after the end of the 11/12 financial year, and just a a few weeks after she sold her company Kidspot to Newscorp for a reported $45 million, entrepreneur and seasoned corporate leadership expert Katie May was appointed as CEO. This meant moving the company base to Austin, where Katie had relocated.
The platform features integrations with more than 40 leading marketplaces, including Shopify, Bigcommerce, Magento, eBay, PayPal, and Amazon, which allow users to import and export fulfilment and tracking data in real time across all of their selling channels. Perhaps the most unique feature of the platform is its complimentary access to shipping specialists, helping merchants to streamline workflow and save on shipping costs.
When May became the CEO of the company in 2012, the first challenge she faced was the fact that the software did none of the above and was in fact – as the also new CTO, Barry Cox put it at the time – “faulty”. Not only could the platform not do what they said it could do and what paying customers would be expecting, the infrastructure was not robust enough to handle high volumes of customers, meaning scalability was going to be an issue.
There were investors that had just gone in on a $2 million round, she had recruited key talent from her personal network, her reputation was on the line and she was starting to doubt whether or not she was the right person to be running a tech company. Clearly though, her Plan B in rebuilding the software from scratch and managing customers closely worked.
May said in a statement on the acquisition that she was excited to be able to further leverage of the strong relationship ShippingEasy and Stamps.com had built with each other.
“We’re very excited to become a part of Stamps.com,” she said. “The acquisition builds on the strong partnership we have developed and we look forward to continuing to build the ShippingEasy business with the support of the Stamps.com team.”
Echoing those sentiments was Ken McBride, the chairman and CEO of Stamps.com.
“The acquisition of ShippingEasy represents a significant strategic investment in our e-commerce shipping business,” said McBride in a statement to NASDAQ.
“Ecommerce-driven package shipping is our fastest growing segment and this acquisition will allow us to continue to accelerate our growth in this area. ShippingEasy adds an outstanding solution to our portfolio of products which will allow us to serve the needs of more customers, and will allow us to continue to solidify our leadership in e-commerce shipping.”
Aside from the $55 million in cash, the deal also includes equity awards for key members of management directly linked to key performance indicators that could result in them being issued up to 87, 000 shares of Stamps.com common stock.
ShippingEasy will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary for the foreseeable future and all existing members of management will remain in those roles.
Featured Image: CEO, ShippingEasy, Katie May | Source: Forbes.com
↧