Daily funding roundup - November 13, 2015

White Star Capital closed $70M funding; GetYourGuide bagged $50M; Zola raised $10M

• WriteLab, a browser-based tool that provides feedback on writing, has raised $2 million in a series A round led by Reach Capital with participation from Kapor and Learn Capital. According to CEO Matthew Ramirez, the investment will help the company to expand the audience, especially among high school students.
  
  
• RootsRated.com, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based outdoor media platform, secured $2.5 million in Series A funding. The backers were not disclosed. The company intends to use the funds to continue to develop its proprietary content licensing software and custom content solutions for brand and retail partners.
  
  
• Digg, a viral news site gunning for a comeback, today announced a $4 million raise led by Tokyo startup incubator Digital Garage. On top of that, the site is getting a new CE. In a company statement, Digg said the cash will be used to “power Digg’s accelerating growth in users and revenue, the expansion of community and network features, and new products for international markets.” 
  
  
• Huuuge, Inc., an innovator in mobile free-to-play social casino, announced a Series A investment of $4 million led by Korea Investment Partners (KIP). The financing will be used to fund Huuuge's global expansion and scale the distribution efforts. Sang-Ho Park, Senior Principal at KIP, will join Huuuge's board of directors. 
  
  
• Panjo, a marketplace for auto, sport and hobby enthusiasts, has raised $4.6 million in Series A funding. Spark Capital led the round with participation from The New York Times Company, Fabrice Grinda, Lerer Ventures, BDMI, BEENOS Partners, Mucker Capital and Mesa. The company plans to use this round of funding to expand the team.
  
  
• Watchwith, a startup offering an alternative to the standard pre-roll and mid-roll ads that delay or interrupt online videos, has raised $8 million in Series B funding.  The company has now raised a total of $13 million. The new funding (which was partially revealed earlier this year in a regulatory filing) comes from Rogers Venture Partners and Samsung, as well as a new investor, telecom manufacturer Arris. Watchwith is also announcing that Brendan Moorcroft, former CEO of Interpublic Group’s programmatic unit Cadreon, has joined its board of directors.
  
  
• Zola, an online wedding registry for millennials, closed a $10 million Series B financing round led by Canvas Ventures, with participation by Thrive Capital, BBG Ventures, Female Founders Fund and Forerunner Ventures. The company, led by seasoned executives from Gilt Groupe, J.Crew, Google, and Williams-Sonoma, is taking the wedding industry by storm, having grown its revenue to $40 million in just two short years since launch. With the new financing, Zola is on track to become a dominant player in the $19 billion wedding registry industry.
  
  
• Avedro, Inc. announced today the successful completion of a $32 million equity financing led by new investors InterWest and OrbiMed which also includes several of the company’s existing investors. The additional capital strengthens Avedro’s balance sheet as it continues to expand global distribution of its KXL corneal cross-linking platform and commences commercialization outside of the United States of its Mosaic System. 
  
  
• KKR, a global investment firm, today announced that it is leading a $50 million growth equity investment in Berlin-based GetYourGuide , an independent online marketplace for discovering and booking travel activities worldwide. The company’s existing investors, Spark Capital, Highland Capital Partners and Sunstone Capital as well as new investor Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) will join KKR in its round of financing. Going forward, KKR will support GetYourGuide’s global expansion by providing primary capital, operational resources and access to its global network.
  
  
• White Star Capital, the 'transatlantic' VC firm co-founded by former Google and Facebook executive Christian Hernandez Gallardo, has announced the final close of its first institutional fund. The investment firm was established in 2013, but only recently fully closed its first fund, coming in at $70 million. White Start has already deployed $25 million of its available capital to invest, backing the likes of KeyMe (New York), IoT analytics firm mnubo (Montreal) and exchange Cryex (Stockholm). The $70 million fund was raised from sovereign and institutional funds such as Isomer Capital but also entrepreneur friends from White Star's founders, as well as family offices from over 18 countries. One of the anchor investors is, notably, a subsidiary of the Business Development Bank of Canada.

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. 

Image source: scholastic.com