Daily funding roundup - July 1, 2015

GrabTaxi secured $250M; Zozi nabbed $30M; PubNub raised $20M

• PubNub, a provider of cloud-based infrastructure for real-time applications raised $20 million in a Series C round of funding to help scale it. The round was led by Sapphire Ventures with participation from existing investors, Relay Ventures and Scale Venture Partners. The company has previously raised over $15 million, most recently an $11 million round in 2013. This funding brings its total funding to $35.5 million.
  
  
• Singapore-based startup GrabTaxi, raised a $250 million funding round in December, the company is back with another big round and a big valuation. The ride-hailing company has now raised a $200 million funding round, according to what sources told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The round, which was led by U.S. hedge fund Coatue Management LLC, has valued the company at $1.5 billion. With this latest funding, in which existing investors in the company, including Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. and Tiger Global Management LLC, also participated, GrabTaxi will have raised $530 million in total.
  
  
• ZOZI, a lifestyle platform that connects people with local experiences, getaways, and the gear they need, raised $30 million in a Series C round of funding. The round was led by Pritzker Vlock Ventures, with participation from Sir Richard Branson, Par Capital Ventures, 500 Startups, Dolby Family Ventures and Bridge Bank. ZOZI had previously raised $21.3 million in funding, its last round coming all the way back in 2011, when it raised $7 million. This latest round brings its total funding up to $51.3 million.
  
  
•  Philippine­ startup LoanSolutions has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from a group of international and local investors, led by Singaporean VC KK Fund. Other investors who participated in the round included investment firm Kickstart Ventures and John Dang, co-founder and CEO of online property portal Zipmatch. Founded by JP Bisson in 2014, LoanSolutions is a website that matches borrowers, mainly individuals and SMEs, with financial institutions. It puts borrowers first by using algorithms and hands-on concierge services in the form of loan advisors to ensure that borrowers can secure a competitive loan.
  
  
• Splacer, a Tel Aviv-based marketplace for listing and renting out creative event space, scored $1.4 million in seed funding led by Carmel Ventures. A number of angel investors, including Shlomo Kramer, Sam Ben Avraham, and Eyal Shaked, also participated in the round. Alongside the funding announcement, Splacer is also going live with a beta product in New York City.
  
  
• A New York, NY-based PowerToFly, an online platform that aims to match companies with women in tech, landed a $6.5 million Series A round of funding. This new financing was led by Crosslink Capital and included participation from Hearst Ventures and Lerer Hippeau Ventures. To date, the company has raised $7.5 million in overall funding.
  
  
• Classy, a San Diego company that provides online fundraising tools for non-profits, pulled in $18 million through a funding round led by Mithril Capital Management, which is chaired by serial entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel. The round included participation from existing investors such as Bullpen Capital and Salesforce Ventures, the venture arm of the publicly traded online customer management company.
  
  
• HomeHero, a trusted marketplace advancing the in-home senior care industry announced a $20 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Graham Holdings with participation from Tencent Holdings Limited, The Social+Capital Partnership and Inside Holdings, Inc., bringing its total funding to $23 million. To date, HomeHero has provided 1 million hours of care to seniors in the Greater Los Angeles metro area since launching in January 2014. The funding from the round will support the company’s expansion into new markets, starting with San Diego and San Francisco, as well as help facilitate key new hires.
  
  
• Trendy farm-to-table salad shop sweetgreen nabbed $35 million in additional venture funding to scale its healthy and affordable restaurant chain nationwide. The most recent cash infusion, led by T. Rowe Price with participation from prior investor Revolution Growth, brings sweetgreen’s total venture funding to $95 million.
  
  
• Global Fashion Group, the joint-venture of Rocket Internet and Swedish investment firm Kinnevik that was formed almost a year ago, secured $167 million in an internal financing round. The financing round implies a post-money valuation of €3.1 billion ($3.45 billion). Kinnevik will own at least 25% and Rocket at least 21.9% of the group following the transactions.

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