Daily funding roundup - March 17, 2016

10x Genomics closed Series C funding; Momo obtained $28; Handshake secured $14M

• Afluenta, a peer-to-peer lending platform based in Argentina, raised an $8 million round of funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Elevar Equity. The Washington, D.C.-based IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, offers investments, advising, and asset management services to private companies in developing countries. Based in Seattle with offices in Bangalore, India and Bogota, Colombia, Elevar has poured money from the three private equity funds it manages into 22 companies at various stages of growth. The IFC and Elevar each contributed $4 million to Afluenta’s new round.
  
  
• Polarsteps, a Netherlands-based travel tracking app, raised €500,000 in funding. Backers included Silver Point Ventures and TMG. The startup plans to use the funds to expand its team, further develop its product and launch an Android app. Co-founded by Niek Bokkers and Koen Droste, Polarsteps provides an app that automatically tracks travelers’ route and places they’ve visited during their trip.
  
  
• Geoblink, a Madrid and Valencia, Spain-based retail location analytics platform, raised $1.1 million in seed funding. The round was led by Nauta Capital, with participation from early investors such as Iñaki Berenguer. In conjunction with the funding, Jordi Viñas from Nauta joined as a new board member. The company intends to use the funds to launch new product features, hire new people, scale sales & marketing, and accelerate growth.
  
  
• Israeli-based DiACardio raised $1.95 million in a post-seed financing round led by China’s Shengjing Group. Other investors in the round include CE Ventures and AltaIR as well as existing backers Agate-Mac Fund and Capital Point Ltd. DiACardio offers software that automates the process of evaluating ultrasounds of the heart, also known as echocardiograms.
  
  
• Lisk, a decentralized applications and sidechain platform, raised over 4600 BTC in their Initial Coin Offering (ICO) so far. Last month, List announced a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange platform ShapeShift.io to host its ICO. Lisk started ICO on the 22nd of February 2016. In just a little over three weeks, it has already raised over 4600 BTC, or more than 1.9 Million USD. The ICO will end on the 21st March, 2016.
  
  
• Los Angeles-based FloQast, a provider of month-end closing software for accountants, raised $6.5 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Polaris Partners and Toba Capital. Amplify.LA, Wavemaker Partners, and Danmar Capital also participated in the round. In conjunction with the funding, Gary Swart, a partner at Polaris, joined the FloQast board.
  
  
• Handshake, a New York-based startup aiming to ease the ordering process between manufactures and distributors, closed a $14 million investment led by Sozo Ventures. The funds from the investment will be used to expand Handshake’s technology to an omni-channel service that allows customers to place orders using a mobile device, the company said. The money will also go toward international expansion efforts.
  
  
• Gecko Biomedical (“Gecko”), a medical device company developing innovative polymers to support tissue healing, closed a €22.5 million financing round. This series A2 round was led by Sofinnova Partners, which becomes the largest investor in Gecko, with support from Bpifranceand existing series A investors Omnes Capital, CM-CIC Innovation and CapDecisif Management, who invested in the company in December 2013. In conjunction with the financing, Antoine Papiernik at Sofinnova Partners and Chahra Louafi at Bpifrance have joined Gecko’s Board of Directors.
  
  
• Vietnam-based fintech startup Momo obtained $28 million in series B funding from Standard Chartered Private Equity and global investment bank Goldman Sachs, which is an existing backer. Launched in 2014, Momo is an ewallet and payments app that allows users to pay online and transfer money to each other digitally. At selected stores, the app can be used for cashless payments.
  
  
• M-Files Corporation, a Dallas, TX- and Tampere, Finland-based provider of enterprise information management (EIM) solutions, raised $36 million round of Series B funding. The round was led by Partech Ventures, with participation from Finnish Industry Investment and Draper Esprit. The company intends to use the funds to further accelerate existing sales and marketing activities, strengthen its global partner network, which currently consists of over 450 partners operating in more than 100 countries, as well as expand into new markets in North America, EMEA and APAC.
  
  
• 10x Genomics, a company focused on improving and broadening the application of genomic information, closed of a $55 million Series C financing. The financing round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and included additional new investors Softbank and JS Capital Management LLC, alongside founding investors Venrock, Foresite Capital, and Paladin Capital. The Series C financing will accelerate 10x marketing and sales efforts in support of its GemCode™ and Chromium™ products revolutionizing genome sequencing, while fueling innovative future product development.
  

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: coindesk.com