Daily funding roundup - September 4, 2015

Letgo raised $100M; 500 Startups bagged $85M; PTC Group Holdings Corp received $75M

• Near Field Communication technology, or NFC, is starting to be embraced in commercial products everywhere, from the Apple Watch to customer loyalty keychains. For Seattle startup GoToTags, it’s an adoption wave that’s just too big to pass up. The company, which launched as a one-stop-shop for NFC services back in 2011,announced on Thursday it has raised $300,000 as it looks to expand its sales and marketing teams to match the unprecedented demand. The company said it originally raised closer to $1 million, but it decided to take just $300,000 so it could continue to grow frugally.
  
  
• BioBots, a 3D printing company for living cells, recently closed a $1.25 million funding round. The convertible debt round was from a mix of angel investors, equity crowdfunding investors and seed-stage funds, like DreamIt Ventures and 500 Startups. BioBots used equity crowdfunding platforms Microventures and FundersClub — which allow accredited investors to invest through an online platform.
  
  
• Roost, an innovator in smart home technology, announced its Series A investment round of $5.5 Million. The round was led by RPM Ventures and joined by a subsidiary of financial services provider USAA. Existing investor, DCM Ventures -- as well as specialty Internet of Things (IoT) funds, Center Electric and StartGarden -- also participated in the funding round. Roost added Adam Boyden from RPM Ventures to the company's Board of Directors.
  
  
• PTC Group Holdings Corp., a manufacturer of welded and DOM steel tubing and related products, received $75 million in total financing. JPMorgan Chase provided a secured loan facility while affiliates of Black Diamond Capital Management, L.L.C., the company’s private equity sponsor, made an additional investment of $10 million. The financings only involve PTC’s profitable specialty tubing and chrome bar business, which consists of eight manufacturing facilities in Western Pennsylvania and the Midwest. A separate entity, Kentucky-based PTC Seamless, which filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2015, is not a party to this financing.
  
  
• A company called letgo, which lets users buy and sell items locally, has quietly grown to over 2 million downloads since its launch earlier this year. And today, the company is announcing having raised $100 million in Series A funding from South African media company and tech investor Naspers Limited, which also has stakes in a number of sizable tech companies, including China’s Tencent, India’s Flipkart, Russia’s Mail.ru, and classifieds platform OLX.
  
  
• Baidu, China’s search engine and an investor in Uber, is giving its Zuoyebang ‘after school’ service, which helps school students with their studies, wings of its own after it revealed that the business raised an undisclosed Series A funding round. The new capital was provided by Sequoia China and Legend Capital, and is part of an ongoing Baidu initiative to open some services to external investment opportunities. The company has enabled investment in Baidu Takeout Delivery and 91 Desktop, two companies it span out this summer — with the former raising $70 million.
  
  
• Mountain View, Calif.-based 500 Startups has closed its third global fund, at $85 million, 15% below its original target, after more than a year and a half of bumpy fundraising.The number of limited partners in its funds is approaching 500, Mr. McClure said. They include  Tokyo-based Dentsu Inc., Yahoo Japan and Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad, a venture firm backed by the Malaysian government..
  
  

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Image source: venturebeat.com