Fundings & Exits
Auto Added by WPeMatico
AR/VR startups raised $3 billion last year led by a few industry juggernauts
Tech companies working with augmented reality and virtual reality technologies raised more than $3 billion in venture funding in 2017. This data comes from analytics firm Digi-Capital and suggests that while the buzz surrounding the AR/VR space has tapered off, the sheer amount of cash getting pumped into the industry is continuing to surge. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
Dinghy picks up backing from Balderton for its flexible freelancer insurance
Insurtech was one of the big VC bets of 2017, and that looks set to continue into the new year as startups spot gaps in the insurance market.
Continuing this trend is Dinghy, a new startup that offers “flexible” insurance for freelance professionals, all delivered and managed through a mobile app. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
Chinese game streaming platform Chushou raises Series D, adds Google as investor
Google has added Chinese mobile game livestreaming platform Chushou to its list of investments in Asia. The Beijing-based startup announced today that it has closed a Series D round, which Google joined as a new investor, that brings its total funding so far to over $120 million. Chushou’s previous investors Qiming Venture, Shunwei Capital and Alpha X Capital, also returned for this round. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
Mapbox makes another acquisition to bolster its navigation toolkits
Mapbox, the SoftBank-backed developer of mapping applications that competes with Google Maps, TomTom and Here, has acquired the intellectual property and developers behind Mapzen’s Valhalla project in a bid to strengthen its navigation toolkits. Lea’s live event assistant for Messenger makes buying tickets easier
Buying event tickets online isn’t a great experience. Sites like Ticketmaster are the default, but are difficult to use and expensive. A startup called Lea wants to offer a more modern experience by combining event search, discovery, seat selection and payment all in a single application that works right in Facebook Messenger. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
WP Engine, a managed WordPress platform, raises $250M from Silver Lake
While apps continue to grow in popularity as a primary route for people to interface with the digital world, there remains a very significant role for the web, and today, a startup that helps businesses build and run websites, specifically on WordPress, has raised a very large round of money. WP Engine, which claims to be one of the world’s largest WordPress hosts, has raised $250 million… Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
Spider silk startup Bolt Threads closes on $123 million in Series D funding
Bolt Threads, the startup making spider silk from microbugs, has raised a giant $123 million Series D round of funding. As we reported in November, an SEC filing showed the company had raised $106 million from Foundation Capital and Formation 8. Bolt now tells TechCrunch it has added to that amount, bringing up its total to $147 million raised so far. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
Rubikloud scores $37 million investment to bring intelligence to retail industry
The retail industry is one that’s rife for disruption by technology. Under intense pressure from giants like Amazon and Walmart, retailers are often stuck using legacy systems and are ill-equipped to compete using the latest tools. Rubikloud announced a $37 million investment today to help retailers attack the modernization problem with cloud tools built with artificial intelligence… Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
Microsoft acquires Avere Systems to further hybrid computing mission
In a world shifting to the cloud, Microsoft has carved out a place trying to help companies caught between two worlds — on-prem legacy solutions and the public and private cloud. To help further that hybrid mission, the company announced it was acquiring Avere Systems today for an undisclosed amount. Microsoft describes Avere as “a leading provider of high-performance NFS and… Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
Scaleworks announces pre-holiday surprise with Keen IO acquisition
Scaleworks, a private equity firm based in San Antonio, Texas, apparently couldn’t wait until after the holidays to share the news of its latest purchase. The firm announced it was acquiring Keen IO in a Medium blog post yesterday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and neither company was available for comment beyond the blog post, but Keen has raised close to $30 million since it… Read More
Powered by WPeMatico