- TestCloud, a self-service crowdtesting platform for app and Web developers, has a new name and a big new round of funding, the company announced on Wednesday, all to facilitate a big expansion into the United States. Now known as Test IO, it raised a $5 million Series A round of funding from Turn/River Capital, a San Francisco-based firm that invests in growing technology, web and SaaS companies. The company had previously raised a seed round of $1.5 million, so its total venture capital raised is now $6.5 million. Previous investors included Heilemann Ventures, IBB, Richmond View Ventures and a group of serial entrepreneurs.
- Joyable, just announced an $8 million Series A round of financing, to help curtail social anxiety disorder. The round was led by NY-based Thrive Capital and Harrison Metal, who also invested in a $2 million seed round, that was announced earlier this year. That’s $10 million in funding in less than two years, given that Joyable launched in January 2014. Since inception, Joyable has worked with thousands of clients. So far, 39% have seen a reduction in anxiety, based on the tests they take on Joyable. Clients pay $99 a month for a three-month service. And the goal for Joyable is that once they take the 12-month course, they’ve effectively treated their disorder.
- Ola Cabs, the ride-hailing company giving Uber a run for its money in India, announced today that it has closed a $500 million Series F round led by Baillie Gifford with contributions from previous backers Falcon Edge Capital, Tiger Global, SoftBank Group, and DST Global. The new round values the company at $5 billion. Also contributing to the round is Didi Kuaidi, the biggest ride-hailing threat to Uber in China, especially after new rules unveiled by the Chinese government appeared to favor locally-based services. To date, Ola has raised over $1.3 billion in funding.
- Hospitality management services startup Hostmaker has closed a $2 million (Rs 13.2 crore) round of funding, led by a consortium of new and existing investors, including early-stage venture capital firm DN Capital and Deepak Shahdadpuri-led DSG Consumer Partners. Proceeds from the seed round of funding will be used by the 18 month-old startup towards product enhancements and launching the second phase of its expansion plans to other European capitals. Hostmaker currently operates in London, Barcelona and Rome, and claims to to serve about 5,000 guests every month.
- Nuvolo Technologies, a New York, NY-based developer of enterprise applications on the ServiceNow platform, secured $2 million in seed funding. Backers included New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and ServiceNow. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate product development and the buildout of a global sales organization.
- Bengaluru-based Goodbox, a chat-based mobile application for businesses and their consumers, has raised $2.5 million from Nexus Venture Partners. The raised capital shall be used to upgrade tech, expand operations and acquire more merchants. Goodbox, which aims to get every business to create their store on the app and interact with customers, has tied up with over 1,200 merchants in Bengaluru, including supermarkets, restaurants, laundry chains, rental providers, movers and packers, canteens and salons.
- TuringSense, a Campbell, CA-based developer of wearable sports technology, completed $3 million seed funding round. Backers included Angel Plus, ChinaRock Capital, Ideosource, SV Tech Ventures, Zen Water Capital, along with several serial entrepreneurs and angel investors. The company intends to use the funds to expand R&D, marketing and sales in support of the launch of its first product, PIVOT, as well as to further develop solutions for a wide range of other potential markets such as other sport, physical therapy, insurance compliance, rehabilitation, posture correction and virtual reality/augmented reality and gaming.
- Jugnoo, a mobile aggregator for auto-rickshaws in India, today said it has raised $3 million (about Rs 19.8 crore) in funding from Paytm and others. The series B funding, which will be used to spur the Chandigarh-based company’s growth, was led by Paytm, along with other participants, including FreeCharge co-founder and CEO Kunal Shah. The funds raised will also be used to streamline its operations in all new cities, Jugnoo said in a statement.
- Media and news startup ScoopWhoop has raised $4 million (about Rs 26.5 crore) in fresh funding from venture capital firm Kalaari Capital, the digital media company announced on Wednesday. Proceeds from the latest round of funding will be primarily used by the two year-old startup to expand its video production unit, ScoopWhoop Talkies, the company said in a press release. The exact terms of the transaction, however, were not disclosed.
- Malaysia-based startup Kaodim today announced it raised a $4 million series A round of funding led by Venturra Capital. Other participating investors in this round are Beenext, 500 Startups, and East Ventures. The company says it will use this funding to launch in other major cities in Southeast Asia and expand its product offerings to include other services in the home, lifestyle, wellness, education, and business categories, among others.
- Tuition.io, a market leader in student loan management, announced today that it has raised $5 million in Series A financing from MassMutual Ventures LLC, the corporate venture capital arm of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual); Wildcat Venture Partners; and Mohr Davidow Ventures, among others. This brings Tuition.io’s total funding to $8.2 million. The new round of funding will help Tuition.io accelerate its enterprise customer acquisition; grow its sales, customer success and engineering teams; and further strengthen its position as the market-leading vendor for employer student loan contributions.
- APX Labs, makers of the Skylight smart glasses development platform, announced a $13 million investment today. The round was led by NEA, but there were several others parties involved including CNF Investments, GE Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, SineWave Ventures, and other unnamed investors. Today’s round brings the total raised to $29 million.
- Stuart, an on-demand, same-hour delivery startup that is currently pre-launch and operating in stealth, has raised €22 million (approximately $23.53 million) in funding, largely off the back of an idea and based on the track record of its three founders. They are Dominique Leca (who founded Sparrow, the email client acquired by Google), Clement Benoit (who previously founded and until recently was CEO of restaurant delivery service Resto-In), and Benjamin Chemla (co-founder and previously CEO of Citycake.fr, which Resto-In acquired in late 2014). GeoPost, a delivery subsidiary of Le Groupe La Poste, has led the Series A round and that Stuart’s founders remain majority shareholders.
- First Aid Shot Therapy (F.A.S.T.), a Burlingame, CA-based consumer healthcare company focused on over-the-counter (OTC) medicine in liquid shot form (40ml / 1.35oz.), completed a $24 million Series C financing round. The round was led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, with participation from new investors Lumira Capital and existing investors Sofinnova Ventures, Redmile Group and HealthQuest Capital, among others. The company intends to use the funds to expand its product portfolio.
- Mumbai-based ethnic etailer, Craftsvilla, has raised about $34 million in Series C round of funding led by existing investors Sequoia India and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Besides, Nexus Venture Partners, Global Founders Capital and Apoletto also participated in this round, taking the company’s value at $200 million, post investment. The raised funds will be utilised for marketing and international expansion. The company is already operating in Malaysia and is also planning to launch in Indonesia.
- Athos, a startup clothing maker, is taking the trend to a new level by creating smart shirts and pants that measure physical performance. The startup on Wednesday announced $35.5 million in new funding led by Social Capital, with participation from apparel company MAS Holdings, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Felix Capital. Existing investors DMC, early Fitbit backer True Ventures and angel investor Joe Lacob, the managing partner and chairman of the Golden State Warriors, also joined in.
- PlanGrid, a company that digitized the construction industry, announced today that it has landed a $40 million investment. Tenaya Capital led the round. Additional investors include Sequoia, Founders Fund, YC Continuity and Northgate. Today’s investment brings the total to over $58 million. PlanGrid CEO Tracy Young says they took the money, even though most of the Series A remains in the bank, because customers have been demanding they add new functionality to the product. The money should help beef up the development team to do that.
- Aiwujiwu, a Chinese rental and second-home listings portal, has completed a Series E round of funding worth $150 million round led by Temasek Holdings and Hillhouse Capital. Existing investors Morningside Venture Capital, Banyan Capital, Shunwei Capital Partners and GGV Capital also participated. It brings the total raised by Aiwujiwu to $350 million since the company was set up in March of last year.
If you are interested in being included in our funding roundup, submit your press release or blog post about your financing round to mitos@vator.tv.
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