M&A roundup - week ending 3/19/16

Steven Loeb · March 19, 2016 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/440f

Kickstarter acquired Drip; App Annie bought AppScotch; Square purchased Framed Data

Kickstarter acquired online music community Drip. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.  

Drip co-founder Miguel Senquiz will be joining Kickstarter, and, while there does not seems to be any crossover between the two services right now, Kickstarter is already laying out the possibility of incorporating some part of Drip's technology somewhere down the line.

Drip had previously announced that it would be shutting down on March 18th, but was saved by Kickstarter's acquisition, the first for the company. 

Founded in 2012, the New York-based Drip had raised a $1.5 million seed funding round from John Maloney.

App Annie, a data resource for developers, acquired app marketing data company AppScotch. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

App Annie will be incorporating AppScotch's technology, using the purchase to develop its next product, called Marketing Intelligence, its solution aimed to inform developers of all aspects of their mobile advertising, marketing and monetization strategy.

The company will communicate at a later date with existing customers about the transition of the current experience to the next phase of the product. However, additional development efforts will be focused on creating a more advanced product which will become available only on App Annie’s platform.

AppScotch had raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Almaz Capital, IMI.VC and ImpulseVC.

Square acquired business data analytics company Framed Data. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The purchase was an acqui-hire, meaning that the company acquired the team, but will not be incorporating any of its technology. In all, five people from Framed's team will join Square this month, coming to work in Square Capital.

This is Square's first acquisition since it acquired food delivery company Fastbite in April of last year, which is then integrated into Caviar, and its first as a public company. 

iFood, an online food delivery platform for Brazil, acquired the technology behind SpoonRocket. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The company is specifically acquiring the technology only, leaving SpoonRocket’s approximately 50 employees without a job. SpoonRocket's CTO will stay on to help integrate SpoonRocket's technology into the iFood platform.

Earlier this week SpoonRocket shut down after it was unable to raise new funding. 

SpoonRocket had raised $13.5 million in venture capital from FundersClub, Y Combinator, Garry Tan, Alexis Ohanian, Foundation Capital and General Catalyst.

InVision, a design collaboration platform, acquired Silver Flows, a tool that allows designers to create high-fidelity prototypes directly in Sketch, along with its desktop companion, Craft, No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The Silver Flows team is joining InVision.

InVision had already been working with the Silver Flows team to bring prototyping into the upcoming release of Craft 2.0, which will have desktop to InVision cloud continuity via Craft. All prototypes, animations, and design changes will automatically sync with shareable InVision prototypes, and vice-versa.

Payoneer, a cross-border payment platform, acquired Armor Payments, as Escrow as a Service for marketplaces. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The acquisition will enable buyers and sellers, whether transacting directly or through B2B marketplaces, to reduce the uncertainty and risk associated with high-value B2B purchases by making secure, online escrow payments anywhere in the world.

Armor Payments will be joining Payoneer's office in California and maintaining its development center in North Carolina.

Founded in 2004, the company had raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding.

Verizon Digital Media Services acquired video capture, archival, compliance monitoring and clip creation workflow provider Volicon. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Volicon's technology, combined with Verizon Digital Media Services' Video Lifecycle Solution, will provide customers with a seamless option to take existing broadcast feeds and channels directly to  OTT cloud-based delivery models. 

Founded in 2005, Volicon had raised $1.1 million in venture funding from Brookline Venture Partners, Globespan Capital Partners and Naftali Investments.

Fullscreen, a  youth media company that develops online creators and produces multi- platform entertainment, acquired StageBloc, a premiere direct-to-fan technology platform. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The acquisition is part of an effort that will empower creators with more tools to reach fans and monetize content. To support the new offering, the StageBloc technology product will be renamed Fullscreen Direct, and will enable users to control everything in a data-driven environment across content, commerce and community management.

Launched in 2013, StageBloc had raised $500,000 in debt financing.

Yellow Pages Limited acquired premium advertising technology company JUICE Mobile. The total purchase price was $35 million

By leveraging JUICE Mobile's technologies, platforms and audiences, Yellow Pages will equip Canadian SMEs with mobile programmatic solution

Founded in 2010, JUICE currently services over 300 Fortune 500 customers across North America , while operating a mobile media publisher network garnering 11 billion impressions annually. Revenues at JUICE exceeded $25 million in 2015.

The acquisition was closed and took effect on March 17, 2016 and is subject to ordinary closing conditions.

DNA Capital acted as exclusive financial advisors to the Company on the acquisition of JUICE Mobile. Telos Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisors to JUICE Mobile on its sale to Yellow Pages.

FEXCO, an Irish multinational financial services provider, acquired specialist foreign exchange company Currency Exchange Corporation. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The acquisition will see CEC’s 36 London branches become part of FEXCO’s Retail Foreign Exchange.

Since the acquisition of Edinburgh-headquartered, No.1 Currency by FEXCO in 2012, a further 39 locations have been added to the UK network through a combination of acquisition and organic growth. An additional 20 new branch openings are planned this year. The acquisition of CEC will see the network grow to 110 branches by the end 2016 with staff numbers set to increase to 400.

iWin, a cross platform publisher and distributor of casual games, acquired Gamezeboan online website that enables its users to play casual games on the internet across various platforms. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Going forward, Gamezebo will continue operating independently of iWin.

Gamezebo attracts and informs over 1.2m monthly unique users and releases well over 150 articles each month.

Ackroo, a gift card, loyalty and rewards technology and services provider, acquired the assets of D1 Mobile which pertain to mobile payment and loyalty. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Under the terms of the acquisition, Ackroo will acquire D1 Mobile’s Appetite Mobile Pay and Loyalty platform and D1 Mobile’s customer base of 281 locations. 

In consideration for these assets, Ackroo will issue 500,000 common shares and will pay a performance-based cash bonus to D1 Mobile during the first 24 months following the acquisition.

Thales, an e-security company, closed its acquisition of Vormetric, a provider of data protection solutions in physical, virtual and cloud infrastructures, after approval by the regulatory authorities. The transaction price is approximately 375 million euros.

Vormetric will be progressively integrated into Thales’s cybersecurity business in order to create a global leader in data protection.

The combination of Vormetric and Thales e-Security’s activities enables organisations to protect and control their data from the data centre to the cloud, while strengthening their security posture and meeting data privacy compliance.

Founded in 2001, Vormetric had raised $45 million in venture funding. 

LANDESK, an  integrated management company, signed a definitive agreement to acquire AppSensea provider of secure user environment management solutions. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

This acquisition advances LANDESK’s seventh in five years, advances its lead in Unified Endpoint Management by extending capabilities to include both physical and virtual devices and eliminating the need for separate tools and processes. AppSense also brings advanced endpoint protection capabilities to the LANDESK portfolio.

AppSense was founded in 1999 and it counts eight of the top ten healthcare companies as customers, as well as 16 of the top 20 global banks.

Trainline, a British online train ticket retailer, acquired Captain Train, a French platform for buying train tickets. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Captain Train will remain in operation. The new group will now have two offices, one in London and one in Paris. Both of these offices will continue to grow and develop.

Founded in 2009, the company had raised $11.9 million in venture funding from Alven Capital, CM-CIC Capital Prive, Index Ventures, Pierre Bonelli and Xavier Niel.

FinTech Studios, a developr of cloud-based platform of FinTech apps and big-data financial analytic products, acquired iUbble, a FinTech software startup. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

iUbble and FinTech Studios co-developed Apollo, a cloud-based “big-data” investment news, research and analytics platform designed for investors, portfolio managers, research analysts, hedge funds, banks, brokerage firms, RIA’s, financial advisory firms, private equity firms, venture capital firms, family offices, media companies and corporations.

iUbble was created two years ago by students and faculty at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

The Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire Honest Dollar, a Web and mobile-based retirement savings platform. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The acquisition is part of an effort to serve the approximately 45 million Americans who do not have access to employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Honest Dollar will remain based in Austin upon completion of the transaction, which is subject to certain conditions and expected to close in the second quarter of 2016. Terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 2014, Honest Dollar had raised $3 million in venture funding.

CVC Capital Partners, a private equity and investment advisory firm, acquired generic pharmaceutical company DOC Generici from Charterhouse Capital Partners. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Founded in 1996, DOC had been acquired by Charterhouse in a primary buyout in May 2013. 

It is the largest independent generic pharmaceutical company in Italy, with a market share of over 15% and a portfolio of around 180 generic drug molecules.

The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approvals and is expected to close during the summer of 2016. 

WeWork, a provider of shared workspaces for startups, acquired Welkio, a software system for registering office visitors. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Welkio will remain an independent company. In the coming weeks, WeWork will officially kick off implementation of Welkio’s product, creating a better sign-in experience for WeWork guests and visitors in our 85 plus locations across the globe. 

Founded in 2014, Welkio had raised $400,000 in venture funding from Hathway.

Foodpanda acquired the Hong Kong assets of Delivery.com. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Both Delivery.com and Foodpanda launched in Hong Kong in 2014. Foodpanda’s other acquisitions there so far include Koziness and Dial a Dinner.

Foodpanda has been scaling back operations. It operated in 40 markets a year ago, but has since reduced that number to 24.

IBM acquired Microsoft Dynamics CRM reseller and integrator Optevia. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The acquisition will help strengthen IBM as a SaaS provider and Global Software Integrator. Optevia will join IBM Global Business Services and help meet the increasing client demand for CRM SaaS solutions within the public sector.

Founded in 2001, Optevia’s client base includes ministries, councils, regulators, licensing and grant management organizations, transport authorities and social housing organizations.

(Image source: mediacurrent.com)

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Related Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs

Kickstarter

Angel group/VC

Joined Vator on

Name of the company

SpoonRocket Inc

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

SpoonRocket is revolutionizing the food delivery space.  We deliver fresh delicious meals for $8 (no delivery fee) in 10 minutes. We are changing the way people eat and live by providing them with the most convenient meal ever.

Payoneer

Service provider

Joined Vator on

What is Payoneer?

Payoneer is an international company with headquarters in New York and further R&D offices in Tel Aviv, Israel. It aims to provide customers with an efficient and secure online payment tool that operates all over the globe.

Yuval Tal, Founder

Payoneer was founded in 2005 by businessman Yuval Tal. Now Tal is the president of Payoneer and oversees all areas of the organization. Tal has well over 20 years’ experience in the technology industry, working with a range of start-ups. He also has a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to currency exchange, pre-paid cards and security organizations.

Yuval Tal is also the co-founder of E4X, an international payment provider that played a big part in global e-commerce. Before that he worked as vice president for business development at RADWARE.

Payoneer and its services

Payoneer provides its customers with prepaid MasterCard® cards in order for them to be able to transfer money to people all over the globe in a secure and direct way. Traditional international payment methods rely on checks or bank transfers, which take a long time, usually require credit history details and add hefty charges. This is why Payoneer’s method makes payments to different countries accessible and easy for various companies and individuals.

Payoneers clients include a range of different companies, from large affiliate organisations to freelancer websites, including iStockphoto, Elance and MediaWhiz.

Payoneer offers prepaid Mastercard® cards to people all over the globe for the organizations it works with, who are then able to go on to credit these cards when specific payments are required. These cards are then enabled and are ready to be used to make withdrawals or purchases in the same way as you would use any other MasterCard®. The cardholder, or anyone else with their email address, is able to add between $20 to $1000 a day to the MasterCard® card.

Payoneer also offers further services, such as the opportunity for organizations to co-brand the MasterCard® cards they send to payees, which big companies use to make payments internationally, such as Freelancer and oDesk.

Payoneer offers companies or individuals the Travelcard that can be used to handle money when working or travelling away from home. This provides the card owner with a way of transferring and using funds whilst they are away as the card is accepted in most places, from bars and restaurants to shops and hotels.

The Payoneer team consists of top finance professionals and technology experts as well as a dedicated customer support team who can respond to questions or queries by live chat, phone or email.

Security is paramount to Payoneer, so it always strives to use the most advanced technologies and adheres to all payment regulations.

Links:

Payoneer Tumblr Profile

Payoneer on DSAM convention

Payoneer on Businesscard2

Payoneer Article on TechCrunch