Daily funding roundup - November 24, 2015
Placester secured $27M; Shiftgig raised $22M; Fortscale announced $16M funding
- Lenda, a first platform that allows homeowners to refinance their mortgage completely online, today announced the close of $2 million in seed funding led by Lakestar and existing investors including Rubicon Ventures and 500 Startups. Lenda's software enables homeowners to transparently compare loan options, receive a free credit report, securely upload documentation, and check loan status in real time. This reduces the traditional time to close from 2 months to 2.5 weeks, saving an average of $20,000 in fees per borrower.
- Glovo, a Barcelona-based company, which in some ways can be compared to U.S.- based Postmates, has picked up €2 million (approximately $2.1 million) in funding. Investors in the round include Zaryn Dentzel (Tuenti), Bernardo Hernandez (Idealista, Flickr, ex-Google, Fever), Felix Ruiz (JobandTalent, Tuenti), Antai Venture Builder, and Cube Investments.
- London-based Clarisite, which provides companies with on-demand insight into their customer’s behavior on web and mobile, has raised $5.5 million in Series A funding. Lazarus Israel Opportunities Fund led the round. In addition to the funding. Clarisite has named Yaron Morgenstern as CEO. With a focus on the Financial Services and Insurance sector, Clarisite is working with organisations such as AXA Global Insurance to inform and facilitate action based on real-time insights, both online and on apps. This actionable insight is used to optimize the customer experience, enhance customer service, improve regulatory compliance and reduce risk exposure.
- Fortscale Security Ltd., a leader in the growing field of user behavior analytics for enterprise security, today announced that two new strategic partners, CME Ventures and UST Global, have elected to provide incremental funding. To date, Fortscale has now raised $16 Million in total funding. The financing will be used to implement sales and marketing campaigns that seek to build on the tremendous momentum the company has generated in the market.
- Shiftgig Inc. has raised $22 million in Series B venture funding to expand its mobile marketplace, which connects employers with locally available, and previously vetted, hourly workers. Renren Inc. led the investment, bringing Shiftgig’s total capital raised to date to $35 million. Additional investors included Chicago Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, GGV Capital, Garland Capital Group, KGC Capital, Pritzker Group, Wicklow Capital and individuals.
- Placester, a marketing platform that fuses technology and design to dramatically improve the home buying process for real estate consumers and professionals, today announced it has closed a $27 million funding round, bringing total investment in the company to $50 million. This Series C funding announcement comes just seven months after Placester's Series B round in April 2015. This funding round includes previous investors, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Romulus Capital. To continue serving real estate agents, brokers, and organizations, Placester will use this investment to further build its engineering team and continue to add new features and services to the platform.
- Weight loss company BaroNova said it closed a $36.5 million Series D round of financing for its TransPyloric Shuttle endoscopically delivered and retrievable weight-loss device. The round was led by Delos Capital and Longitude Capital, and joined by existing investors Lumira Capital Partners, Onset ventures and Sante Ventures. Proceeds from the round will be used to fund the U.S. pivotal study of its TPS endoscopic weight-loss device.
- Naaptol, a home shopping company, announced on Tuesday that it had raised Rs 343 crore (approximately $51.7 million) in a new round of equity funding from Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co. This is in addition to Rs 136 crore, which the company raised earlier in April. This latest financing will increase Mitsui & Co's stake in Naaptol from 5% to 20%. "We intend to use the funds for expanding its reach and building an efficient supply chain. We would also upgrade our studio capabilities to churn out more content in multiple languages," said Manu Agarwal, founder and CEO.
- Atom, a Durham, UK-based mobile-only bank, received a £45 million (around $68 million) investment from banking group BBVA. With the investment, which is subject to the corresponding regulatory approvals, BBVA will acquire a 29.5% stake in the company. As a strategic shareholder and partner, BBVA will have two seats on Atom’s board and the opportunity to participate in future funding rounds.
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: pymnts.com
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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500 Startups
Angel group/VC
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