Fundings & Exits
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Beyoncé becomes a tech startup investor
Joining celebrity investors like Snoop Dogg, Ashton Kutcher, and Justin Bieber, Queen Bey is bringing her supreme business skills to the tech world. Beyoncé and the management company she started called Parkwood Entertainment have invested $150,000 into Sidestep, an app for buying concert merchandise and skipping the line to pick it up at the show. Sidestep originally started selling… Read More
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CodeSpark raises $4.1 million for games that teach kids how to code
A Los Angeles startup called codeSpark has raised $4.1 million in seed funding for web and mobile games that teach kids how to code, even before they know how to read and write effectively. CodeSpark’s games were developed for kids 4 to 9 years old, and with a goal of not just teaching them STEM concepts, but engaging boys and girls equally well. The games feature characters who are… Read More
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Skymind raises $3M to bring its Java deep-learning library to the masses
Skymind, a company developing an open-source deep-learning library for Java, along with tools for implementation, today closed $3 million in financing from Tencent, SV Angel, GreatPoint Ventures, Mandra Capital and Y Combinator. Skymind was previously part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch and has taken money from Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures and a number of other… Read More
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Tink Labs raises $125M to put its free-to-use smartphone in more hotel rooms worldwide
Tink Labs offers a free-to-use smartphone for hotel guests that lets them enjoy free services, and gives hotels a powerful channel to engage their guests. Color Genomics raises $45 million to provide cheaper genetic tests that detect cancer risk
Othman Laraki and Elad Gil were sitting on Twitter’s roof deck after their previous company Mixer Labs had been acquired. Gil had brought a small hard drive with him — which happened to contain data on his genome being sequenced — and Laraki wanted to take a look at the data. That led to the original hypothesis of Color Genomics: what if you could apply the same principles… Read More
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Zenly raises $22.5 million from Benchmark for its location-sharing app
French startup Zenly has raised $22.5 million over the summer from Benchmark and a few other investors. Business Insider first reported the round and TechCrunch got an official confirmation. Here’s what we know.
Benchmark is leading the round with Peter Fenton joining the board of the company. Fenton has invested in a few social network companies and also is a board member of Twitter. Read More
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If Google buys Twitter, there’s a perfect spot for it in YouTube
If you combined the fastest and slowest types of social media, the result could be both must-see and never-forgotten. YouTube lacks short-form, frequently updated content, but is synonymous with video and that popularity brings in lucrative ads. Twitter is struggling with growth and monetization, but it’s the pulse of the planet, generating tons of real-time content and engagement.… Read More
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Unsexy Flexport scores $65 million as software eats shipping
Freight forwarding is a multi-trillion industry, but most people don’t even know what those words mean. It’s the business of moving boats trucks, and planes full of stuff across the world that’s recently been neglected by technology. Airbnb files $555M round with the SEC led by Google Capital and TCV
Airbnb formally filed a Form D with the Securities and Exchange Commission this afternoon announcing that it had raised $555,462,180 in an equity deal. Last month, TechCrunch independently verified that Airbnb had filed a 28-page document with the State of Delaware indicating that it had intentions to raise additional late-stage capital. At the time, Equidate speculated that the company… Read More
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Signia Venture Partners has $85 million in new funds to invest
Signia Venture Partners has closed its second fund at $85 million to lead early-stage deals in emerging tech startups mostly in and around San Francisco. For the unfamiliar, Signia is typically the first money in and the lead investor in the companies it backs, writing $1-2 million in seed stage deals or $2-8 million in later stage rounds. The firm was started in 2012 by Rick Thompson, the… Read More
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