Fundings & Exits
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Blue Apron is having another awful day and its shares are crashing
Since going public last month, things have not gone particularly well for Blue Apron, thanks to the specter of Amazon and its $13.7 billion acquisition bid for Whole Foods. The bad news, again, continues to roll in as what may have been a competitor in theory now seems more and more like an existential threat. Read More
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Party City invests $4 million in Punchbowl, which now powers its digital invites platform
Party City, the party goods supplier and retail chain, has taken a minority stake in digital invitations platform Punchbowl, the companies announced today. The deal will see Punchbowl’s technology used to power an online invitation platform on Party City’s e-commerce site, opening up Punchbowl to an influx of new customers. While the official announcement didn’t disclose the… Read More
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It’s 2017, and women still aren’t being funded equally
Broadly, the venture capital industry is thriving. But still, too often, women seeking funding are left out of the boom because of hidden biases, sexism and a general unawareness. Because of this — and recent reports of incredibly low-brow behavior among high-profile investors — it is more important than ever to understand where women founders stand when fundraising. Read More
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AdQuick raises $1.1M to bring online tools to outdoor advertising
AdQuick is looking to make billboard advertising easier and more transparent. AdQuick founder Matthew O’Connor said he ran into the billboard ad world repeatedly while working at startups, including Instacart. Each time, he found himself “perplexed at why it’s so hard to find and buy outdoor advertising.” Read More
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Uber acqui-hires social app studio Swipe Labs
Why would Uber buy a team that builds Snapchat competitors? To make its driver app feel more human. Uber has acqui-hired Swipe Labs, the social product studio run by Marwan Roushdy. He and a selection of engineers from the dozen-person startup will join Uber to work on the driver experience within the driver earnings team. A source from the venture capital industry described the deal to… Read More
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Canada’s Assent Compliance raises $31.4M Series B round to help businesses stay in compliance
Assent Compliance isn’t in a sexy space. The company focuses on helping enterprises collect the necessary data to keep their global supply chains in compliance with local and international regulations. But while that may not sound like the most exciting space to be in, the company today announced that it has raised a $40 million CAD Series B round. Read More
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Here are the winners of the Google Cloud machine learning pitch-off
Back in March at Google’s Cloud Next conference, the company announced plans to run its own machine learning startup competition side-by-side with Data Collective and Emergence Capital. Four months later, 10 startups, pulled from a pool of 350+ applicants, presented onstage at Google’s Launchpad Space in San Francisco. The startups vied for three prizes; here are the winners. Read More
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Pendo closes $25M Series C from Meritech to scale its customer understanding platform
Just seven months after announcing a $20 million Series B, Pendo, a platform to help businesses better understand their customers, has closed a new $25 million Series C led by Meritech Capital Partners. The North Carolina-based startup has been growing at a rapid clip — ballooning to 106 employees across offices in San Francisco, New York and Raleigh. Read More
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BloomAPI locks down $2.4M to fix medical record releases
Seattle-based BloomAPI is announcing a $2.4 million seed round this morning for its solution to the broken medical records release process. It’s no secret that the entire U.S. healthcare system is held back by antiquated technology — but unlike many competitors, BloomAPI offers a solution that works with, and not against, the old-school technologies. Read More
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SoundCloud sinks as leaks say layoffs buy little time
A tense scene unfolded yesterday as user-generated music streaming service SoundCloud held an all-hands meeting to explain to employees why it suddenly had to lay off 40 percent of its staff last week. Exiting team members wanted to know why they weren’t warned, while those who survived the cuts wanted assurance that the cost reductions would keep the company afloat for the long-run. Read More
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