Daily funding roundup - July 31, 2015

Mitos Suson · July 31, 2015 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/3f45

Light landed $25M; Iwoca secured $20M; Fuisz Media closed $10M

  • CarSpring, a London, UK-based online marketplace for pre-owned cars, raised $3.3 million in Series B fundingThe company intends to use the funds for expansion throughout Europe, starting in Germany.Led by Peter Baumgart and Maximilian Vollenbroich, CarSpring provides a peer-to-peer innovative platform for people to buy and sell pre-owned cars, matching potential customers with vendors. Users can choose to buy a car from a hand-picked selection or to sell their used car in two steps. All cars are checked, test-driven by CarSpring inspectors, valued, and delivered to customers for free, and paperwork is handled by the company. The startup, backed by Rocket Internet, launched in May 2015.

  • Noodle Play, which is a Chinese food delivery startup, has raised US$160,000 from a group of angel investors that includes Elliot Stechman (managing director of EK Wireless), Gautam Sinha (co-founder of MyFirstCheque), and Ambarish Ray (director and COO of Metal Communications). With this funding, the startup aims to open up 50 new delivery outposts in Mumbai. The startup was founded in 2012 by Hitesh Bhatia.

  • Bangalore-based hyperlocal mobile commerce startup LazyLad has raised US$500,000 from Jai Choi (founder and managing partner of Tekton Ventures), Kiyohiro Sugashita (Japan-based Sugashita Partners), and Japanese venture capitalist Hirokazu, who have each invested in their individual capacities. LazyLad was founded by IIT Guwahati graduates Paresh Goel, Ajay Sethi, and Saurabh Singla in April of this year.

  • Bangalore-based TripFactory landed an undisclosed amount in series A funding from Aarin Capital Partners. TripFactory is a web portal that offers curated travel packages. It was founded in 2013 by Via.com founders Amit Aggarwal and Vinay Gupta.

  • Big data and Mobile Telematics Company Driveway Software, Inc. has closed a $10 million funding round led by Ervington Investments, representing prominent Russian businessman Roman Abramovich.  The funds will be used to further strengthen Driveway's position as the best in class telematics solution, create new markets for telematics solutions and grow the company's team by attracting the smartest minds in the industry.

  • Interactive-video startup Fuisz Mediaclosed a $10 million in Series A financing, led by Evolution Media Partners, the joint venture of CAA-backed Evolution Media Capital, TPG Growth and Participant Media. The company will use the funding to expand the capabilities of its platform and expand partnerships with social networks, with plans to hire staff on both product and sales teams.

  • Olio Devices, a company that develops luxury lifestyle products and wearables for modern professionals, nabbed $10 million in Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). This new funding round will allow Olio Devices to explore new partnerships, develop their product pipeline, expand their team, and support the manufacturing and delivery of their flagship product, the Olio Model One.

  • Oxford BioTherapeuticssecured a $10 million capital term loan from Silicon Valley Bank to accelerate the expansion of its research and development efforts. OBT is an international clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing innovative antibody based therapeutics, including antibody-drug conjugates, to treat cancer and other diseases.

  • Iwoca, a SME lending platforms in Europe, secured a $20 million Series B equity financing round. The round was led by Acton Capital Partners, the specialist German venture capital firm, and CommerzVentures, the corporate venture capital subsidiary of Commerzbank. Redline Capital and other existing investors also participated. The Series B investment will be used to support the rapid expansion of iwoca’s UK operations, further enlarge its footprint across Europe and accelerate the ongoing development of its tech­driven business lending platform.

  • Light, a startup developing multi-lens cameras for smartphones, took in $25 million in funding to bring DSLR camera qualities to our phones. The round was led by prior investor Formation 8, and the firm’s advisor Pierre Lamond will be welcomed to Light’s board. The series B round will allow the company to start seeing some revenue by next year, when it expects to have its products on the market.

  • Durham-based beverage entrepreneur Tatiana Birgisson has raised nearly $1.1 million in equity fundraising for her energy tea startup, Mati Energy. The cash, which includes a $100,000 contribution from AOL co-founder Steve Case, will go toward expanding production and distribution as well as hiring sales and marketing employees.

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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Mitos Suson

I produce Vator Events and enjoy the challenge. I am learning and growing a lot, being involved with Vator and loving every moment of it!

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