Startups
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An unsurprising wave of video-focused startups is trying to make video calls better
As Zoom and Microsoft and Google hammer it out for video-chat hegemony, startups are developing apps and services that either add on or compete with the major players.
There hasn’t been enough activity — yet — to call it a boom, but there’s enough going on to warrant our attention. Call it a boomlet, if you will, of startups looking to ride the wave of demand that video-conferencing has seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The big players are not sitting still. Zoom has spent lots of 2020 on platform security after a surge in popularity exposed some frayed ends. Google has been working to make Meet, its own video-chat service, better and easier to find. And Microsoft has been hammering Teams’s abilities into stronger form as it uses the same product to fend off both Slack and Zoom, which is a tall order.
Other giants are getting into the mix. Reliance Jio, the Indian telecom subsidiary of megacorp Reliance, recently launched JioMeet, which has turned heads for looking rather similar to Zoom. It also quickly raced to millions of downloads. (That Google just put billions into JioMeet’s parent is an odd twist in the video-chatting wars; Google has effectively helped fund a competitor in the country, it appears.)
TechCrunch’s parent company, Verizon, recently bought BlueJeans, giving the American telecom company its own video chatting service. (It’s also eyeing the Indian market.)
But that’s only part of the action. More recently we’ve seen interesting rounds for video-chat software startups Macro and Mmhmm. And we’ve seen money go into companies like Daily.co, which want to let any company bake video-chatting capabilities into their service. And Y Combinator-backed Sidekick has been in the press lately, after building a hardware solution in mind for today’s remote workers who need video comms.
An upstart boomlet, then, amid a war of the majors. But should we have expected anything less from the huge wave of demand that COVID-19 kicked off? Zoom was growing quickly before the pandemic. Now the public company and a host of rivals, big and small, all want a larger slice of an expanding pie.
Video-conferencing startups
The two most interesting recent venture rounds for video-conferencing startups are those belonging to Mmhmm and Macro.
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Give us your seed round and we will send back double
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
This week was full of news of all sorts, but as we recorded, both Danny and Natasha “not Tash” Mascarenhas were still locked out of their Twitter accounts after a proletariat revolution on the social platform saw the ruling Blue Checkmark Class forced into silence. That’s not really what happened, but it sounds better than what actually went down at Big Social.
Anyway, Twitter accounts or not, the three of us gathered to parse through a wave of news:
- The new TechCrunch List that Danny spent a very long time compiling has arrived! It’s live! You can find it here. It is good.
- And, if you want to know which VCs were even more fêted by founders, head here. (If you are irked that you did not make either list, please email Danny, not the show!)
- Moving on, Google is putting billions into Reliance Jio after every other company in the world did the same. Google is buying a bit less of the Indian telecom than the search giant, but between the two of them it’s been more than $10 billion in dealmaking. Perhaps Reliance Jio is done raising money? At last?
- Udemy is hunting up more capital at a higher valuation, reports say, providing Natasha with the perfect moment to let us know what is going with edtech.
- Turning to funding rounds, I was hyped about the Macro round that TechCrunch covered this week, Danny wanted to chat about The Browser Company’s similarly sized $5 million round and Natasha talked us through LiteBoxer’s combined $6 million in new capital.
- Closing, we talked about IPOs for a hot second. The IPO window is open, and now that nCino and GoHealth have gone public, we want to know who is next.
It was a lovely time and there is a bit of show news. Namely that Equity is coming back to YouTube either this week or the next. So if you want to see us talk, soon you will be able to! Again!
Oh, and follow the show on Twitter. If you can, that is.
Equity drops every Monday at 7:00 a.m. PT and Friday at 6:00 a.m. PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.
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Sign up for next week’s Pitchers & Pitches competition on 7/23
Can one minute really make a difference in your startup success? If we’re talking about your 60-second pitch (and we are), then heck yeah! A crisp, concise and compelling pitch opens doors to opportunity, and we’re here to help you pump up your pitch.
Join us online for the next Pitchers & Pitches competition on July 23 at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT, where you’ll hear rapid-fire pitches from five Digital Startup Alley exhibitors who will be participating at Disrupt this year. The five early-stage startups will take the virtual stage and present their best pitch to a panel of highly qualified judges — TechCrunch editors who coach Startup Battlefield competitors and leading VCs. Seriously, who wouldn’t want feedback from pros like that?
After each pitch, the judges provide the founders with an invaluable critique, tips and advice. Even if you don’t pitch, you can apply what you’ve learned to take your elevator pitch to the next level. Plus, the viewing audience gets to choose the best pitch of the session. The winning startup gets a consulting session with cela, a company that connects early-stage startups to accelerators and incubators that can help scale their businesses.
This is also an opportunity for the TechCrunch community to try out our new virtual Disrupt platform before we go live in September.
You’ll have an opportunity to check out some of our new features, like:
- Watch and interact with the pitch-off event on the virtual main stage.
- Meet and video network with other attendees.
- Connect with the five pitchers in their virtual booth in the startup expo.
Note: Anyone can attend Pitchers & Pitches, but only companies exhibiting in Digital Startup Alley during Disrupt 2020 are eligible to pitch. There’s still time to be considered for the July 23 pitch-off — if you act quickly and purchase a Disrupt Digital Startup Alley Package. We randomly select the startups that get to participate, and we’ll announce them — and the judges — on July 22.
Register here to attend for free. Help your 60-second pitch open more doors to more opportunity.
Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at Disrupt 2020? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.
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8 edtech investors talk re-skilling, digital universities, ISAs and other post-pandemic trends
We know that the coronavirus has brought unprecedented attention to the edtech market, but now what? What happens when schools are no longer clambering toward an overnight solution? When the surges slow? When our world reopens and there doesn’t need to be a full-suite of at-home solutions for kids and parents?
As the next wave of edtech companies are being built to address these novel use cases, investors are looking for solutions that aren’t simply pandemic-era important. To some, that means skipping the latest videoconferencing platform play and maybe cutting a check to a digital-only university. To others, it means looking for the platform that will educate a diverse range of users, especially the unemployed.
A spree of recent consolidation within the market shows that there is a need for a better plumbing system in the fragmented world of edtech.
We turned to eight investors in the space to understand which subcategories are shaping up to be the future, following up on our first survey last fall when the world was very different, and another in early April when less was understood about the pandemic. Our goal here was to find nonobvious ways innovation is living within the noisier-than-ever sector. The result? Intel on nascent trends, deal-makers and what adaption looks like amid a time of uncertainty.
Today you’ll get a deep dive on the nerdy stuff from the following investors:
- Reach Capital’s Jennifer Carolan, Shauntel Garvey and Chian Gong
- Ian Chiu, Owl Ventures
- Jan Lynn-Matern, Emerge Education
- David Eichler, TCV
- Rebecca Kaden, Union Square Ventures
- Jomayra Herrera, Cowboy Ventures
Investors differed on which subcategories benefitted the most, but it’s clear that the pandemic didn’t lift up the entirety of the edtech space. One investor noted that the pandemic made them even less interested in ISAs, while other venture capitalists noted how valuable the financing instrument is now, more than ever before.
We got into some of the big themes that have risen in the past few months: online learning, re-skilling, ISAs, virtual universities and where each investor draws their line around these categories.
A common theme throughout the commentary now is that the opportunity presented by coronavirus is not being met with complacency, but instead a push to grow better. Investors talked about innovation needs to account for childcare, cost, digital infrastructure, and the addressable population, pandemic or not.
I think that’s enough teasing. Now, onto the answers.
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Startup launches innovative new product that pays Amazon marketplace sellers daily
Third-party sellers are the dominant driver of sales on Amazon’s marketplace, accounting for 58% of its total (and growing). We know that the pandemic, ironically, has been good for Amazon, which has reported net sales in Q1 up by 26% year-over-year, given that much of the world has reverted to ordering online. However, the payment terms offered are far from convenient. Amazon pays sellers approximately every two weeks and reserves a significant amount for possible refunds. Unfortunately, this hinders the ability of small companies to invest in growth and purchase more inventory. But of course, Amazon holds the keys to this particular car.
Payability is one such startup that provides financing to suppliers in Amazon’s marketplace, although its fees are computed on gross sales, not net receivables from Amazon.
InstaPay is a startup that has launched a new product that pays Amazon sellers on a daily basis. The new offering comes at a time when Amazon sellers are experiencing an enormous load due to the pandemic, but the Amazon marketplace terms have not sped up to allow them to meet demand.
The current two-week lag time creates a gap in cash-flow — because sellers usually have to pay their vendors in advance. InstaPay’s new product potentially solves this problem, allowing sellers to be able to earn more, even with the added InstaPay fees.
The service funds 50% to 80% of sales and charges 1% to 2% of sales volume per funding. When Amazon pays the vendor, InstaPay automatically deducts the outstanding balance. This means small companies can invest in growth and purchase more inventory.
Sam Bokher, COO, said in a statement: “Due to the global lockdown, people have ramped up online purchases and more companies have flocked to Amazon and other eCommerce platforms to sell online. We launched this new service to provide businesses with an opportunity to grow simultaneously with the marketplace, rather than with a two-week delay.”
The product was inspired by an unlikely industry. Prior to this, InstaPay had been providing transportation and trucking companies with working capital, with flat-rate accounts receivable financing and same-day payment.
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Revel lands permit to bring hundreds of electric mopeds to San Francisco
Shared electric moped startup Revel received a permit that will allow it to operate in San Francisco, beginning in August.
The startup will start with a fleet of 432 mopeds featuring a new paint scheme and a more powerful engine to help riders get up and over the city’s infamously steep hills. For now, the service area will cover certain neighborhoods of San Francisco, including Cow Hollow, Dogpatch, the Financial District, Golden Gate Heights, Haight-Ashbury, the Mission District, Outer Mission, Pacific Heights, the Richmond District, the Tenderloin and the Castro. The service area will expand in the “near future,” Revel said.
Only licensed drivers with the Revel app can rent the mopeds. Each Revel can carry up to two riders, is limited to local streets and is capped at a speed of 30 miles per hour. Revel rides will cost $1 per person to start, followed by $0.39 per minute to ride.
Each Revel moped is equipped with two U.S. DOT-certified helmets that must be worn at all times. The company also provides third-party liability insurance automatically to all riders.
Revel, founded in March 2018 by Frank Reig and Paul Suhey, started with a pilot program in Brooklyn and later expanded to Queens. Revel has been on a fast-paced growth track, expanding to Austin, Miami and Washington, D.C in its first 18 months of operation. In January, the company launched in Oakland. The company also operates in sections of Manhattan, as well as south and central Bronx.
Revel is a bit different than some of the shared mobility startups out there. The company doesn’t rely on gig economy workers to charge its mopeds — a method used by e-scooter companies like Bird. Instead, Revel has full-time workers that maintain the mopeds and swap out the batteries as needed.
The company said it will begin hiring workers in San Francisco once it launches in August. Revel said it is participating in the First Source Hiring Program to find local employees.
The startup raised $27.6 million in capital last October in a Series A round led by Ibex Investors — funds required to fuel its expansion plans. The equity round included newcomer Toyota AI Ventures and further investments from Blue Collective, Launch Capital and Maniv Mobility.
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As VCs favor B2B startups, B2C upstarts’ venture activity falls
The Q2 2020 venture capital market did not bring a catastrophic slowdown to either the global private investment scene or the U.S.’s own VC scene. But inside the rosier-than-anticipated private capital results of the second quarter, there were pockets of weakness, and strength, that we should understand as we look to the rest of 2020 and the continuance of the pandemic-driven economy.
The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. You can read it every morning on Extra Crunch, and you can now receive it in your inbox. Sign up for The Exchange newsletter, which will drop Saturdays starting July 25.
This morning we’re exploring trends detailed in the PitchBook-NVCA Q2 venture report, adding to our coverage of similar data sets produced by competing venture and private business information sources CB Insights and Crunchbase.
The NVCA data provides a useful cross section of venture activity beyond the usual quarterly totals, allowing us to better understand the diverging fortunes of domestic venture investment into business-serving startups (which appear strong), and investments into consumer-serving startups (which appear weak).
It also provides a peek into AI/ML-focused investing, a topic that TechCrunch has covered extensively this year. And, finally, we have a lens into recent U.S. VC results for startups that have at least one female founder, or were founded by all-women teams.
Some of the news is positive, and some of it is less so. But we owe it to ourselves to understand all of it. So to wrap up our week’s dive into Q2 VC activity, let’s get into our final look at the data, focusing today on the nuances of the United States’s own venture results.
B2B’s rise continues
As 2019 came to a close, TechCrunch wrote about a notable trend: Seed investors shifted their attention from consumer-focused startups to business-focused startups. Seed deals had moved from majority-B2C to majority-B2B, in other words.
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Activ Surgical raises $15 million to advance autonomous and collaborative robotic surgery
Boston-based startup Activ Surgical has raised a $15 million round of venture funding led by ARTIS Ventures, and including participation from LRVHealth, DNS Capital, GreatPoint Ventures, Tao Capital Partners and Rising Tide VC. The round will help Activ continue to develop and expand availability of its software platform, which it launched to market in May.
Activ Surgical’s ActivEdge platform uses data collected from surgical implements outfitted with sensors created by the company to collect real-time data during the actual surgical process. That data is then used to inform the development of machine learning and AI-based visualizations that can provide guidance to surgeons and surgical systems to help them reduce the occurrence of potential errors, and ultimately improve outcomes for patients.
The company’s primary aim is to bring technological innovation to the sphere of surgical vision, which still relies primarily on methods like using fluorescent dyes that date back more than 70 years. Activ wants to use computer vision to provide real-time visual insight into things that surgeons wouldn’t be able to see on their own — and ultimately to use those insights to power the next generation of both collaborative surgical robots and eventually even fully autonomous robotic surgical procedures.
ActivSight is the company’s first product in its ActivEdge platform offering, and is a small, connected imaging coddle that can be attached to existing laparoscopic and arthroscopic surgical instruments. The company is currently tracking toward getting their hardware cleared by the FDA for use by Q4 this year, and are working with eight hospital partners for pilot projects in the U.S.
The company has raised a total of $32 million in funding to date.
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Uber acquires Routematch as it drives deeper into public transit in hunt for SaaS revenue
Uber said Thursday it has acquired Routematch, an Atlanta-based company that provides software to transit agencies as the ride-hailing company looks to offer more SaaS-related services to cities.
Uber did not share terms of the deal. However, it doesn’t appear to be a minor “acqui-hire,” in which a company is purchased to land a few talented employees. Instead, Uber is making a strategic acquisition for a company that has developed software used by more than 500 transit agencies.
The operations of the 170-person company will continue and CEO Pepper Harward will remain.
The acquisition marks Uber’s push to become a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider to public transit agencies. Routematch’s software provides trip planning, vehicle tracking, payment and tools for fixed route transit like buses as well as paratransit services. The 20-year-old company has a wide range of customers, including rural and suburban enclaves.
Last month, Uber locked in a deal to manage with a SaaS product an on-demand service for Marin County in the San Francisco Bay area. It was Uber’s first software partnership with a public transit agency.
Uber’s foray into SaaS has been years in the making, David Reich, head of Uber Transit, said in a recent interview.
“Uber knows that for cities to thrive, public transit has to thrive,” Reich said.
Uber has been developing services related to public transit since 2015, first with a planning feature and then ticketing, Reich noted. The public transit feature called Journey Planning is available in more than 15 cities around the world, including the Marin area since 2019. The company has also worked with Denver and Las Vegas. In 2018, Uber partnered with mobile ticketing platform Masabi to let people book and use transit tickets from within the Uber app.
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Openpath’s security system for physical access gets a $36 million boost
Openpath, the developer of software-based security systems for office access, has raised $36 million in new financing as businesses try to find ways to make employees feel more comfortable about coming back to work.
The round was led by Greycroft, which had been following the company’s progress for years, and included participation from strategic investors like Okta Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Lincoln Property Companies, Allegion Ventures and Sentre, and included follow-on from existing investors.
For the greater Los Angeles-based Openpath, the new funding offers a chance to boost its sales and marketing efforts and develop new security-focused products for companies and property managers trying to woo tenants back to the shared office space during a global pandemic.
“Openpath is clearly one of the most innovative companies in PropTech. Their solution has been rapidly accepted by the market and it’s clear to me they will be the leading access security platform for the built world, ” said Mark Terbeek, a partner at Greycroft, in a statement. “We have followed this team closely since their launch and preempted their fundraise plans, along with a host of important strategic investors, to lead this new round of capital. We are thrilled to be an investor as they execute on their ambitious road map and bring critical new solutions to a marketplace suddenly impacted by COVID-19.”
According to Openpath, Greycroft made it clear that they wanted to pre-empt any fundraising process the company would have attempted later in the year, so the firm and the company began to work on a round over the past quarter — even as the COVID-19 epidemic was spreading in the U.S.
Openpath also noted that the strategic partners involved in the round had worked with the company for at least a year, leading to a relatively smooth investment process.
What’s attractive to the investors — and to potential customers — is likely the company’s deep integration with Okta for digital identification and the use of the mobile-based credential and permission-based software that gets rid of the need for key cards or physical identifiers. Both Hines and Lincoln Property Company use the service to give landlords and tenants control over who can access properties.
The new funding offers Openpath a chance to boost its sales and marketing efforts and develop new security-focused products for companies and property managers trying to woo tenants back to the shared office space during a global pandemic.
The argument from Openpath’s chief executive Alex Kazerani is that as more workers push for flexible work schedules that incorporate an office and remote work, companies will need more controls over access.
“Our technology offers instant mobile credentials, virtual guest passes, remote unlock capabilities, and accommodate [sic] schedule management to comply with social distancing,” he wrote in an email. “Being able to manage the security of your building and employees while you are remote is crucial.”
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