Daily funding roundup - February 19, 2016

Indigo secured $56M; Athentek raised $7M; BUX closed $6.9M funding

• AlmaConnect, a social network based on private alumni networks focused on helping an alum/student get help from his/her alumni network, raised a Pre-Series A round of funding. The round was led by Mohandas Pai (Chairman, Manipal Global Education & ex-CFO Infosys) & Varun Aggarwal (Co-Founder, Aspiring Minds). The company is also supported by CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad & 91Springboard.
  
  
• Vietnam-based travel platform startup Triip raised $500,000 in seed funding in a round led by Gobi Partners. It plans to use funds to increase hiring, ramp up marketing efforts to attract new users and expand into new markets. This investment marks Gobi Partner’s fourth investment in a traveltech startup.
   
• Immfly, a Barcelona, Spain-based provider of an in-flight sales and communication platform for the travel industry, closed a €2.4 million (approximately $2.67 million) in funding. la Caixa made the investment through Caixa Capital Risc. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations in Europe. Co-founded by Pablo Linz and Jimmy M. Von Korff, Immfly provides a platform based around four open Wi-Fi points on board that gives passengers access to entertainment and e-commerce services during their flight in their destination.
  
  
• Chicago startup Opternative Inc. raised $6 million in Series A venture funding for an app that lets people take an eye exam using their smartphones and a personal computer at home. Chicago-based Jump Capital led the investment in Opternative, joined by Tribeca Venture Partners, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Chicago Ventures, Corazon Capital, NextGen Venture Partners and individual angels.
  
  
• BUX, a trading app that makes trading and investing in the financial markets accessible to everybody, closed a third financing round of $6.9 million to further accelerate its rapid growth across Europe. Lead investor of this round was the German VC Holtzbrinck Ventures, one of the leading VC funds targeting European startups. Holtzbrinck Ventures’ participation endorses BUX’s mission to disrupt and re-invent traditional brokerage for a new generation.
  
  
• Athentek, a company focuses on the security applications of our smart location technologies,received $7 million in Series A financing. Foxconn led the round, joined by Testrite Group, CSVi Capital, MediaTek Inc., and other well-respected industry leaders. Athentek will use the capital to expand its design and research teams in the U.S. and Taiwan, while continuing to grow its business development capabilities internationally.
  
  
• Pune-based ecommerce logistics firm, Xpressbees, raised about $12.38 million (INR 85 Cr.) in funding from its existing investors, including SAIF Partners, IDG Ventures India, NEA, Vertex Ventures and Valiant Capital. Owned by Busybees Logistics Solutions, Xpressbees claims to have scaled to over 1,00,000 deliveries per day on just $5 Mn in funding.
  
  
• Singapore-based Marvelstone Tech, a part of Asian private investment group Marvelstone, raised a US$12.5 million in seed funding. The funding comes from angel investors. Marvelstone Tech is a financial technology (fintech) platform that will provide financial products and solutions to businesses. The platform will launch in March 2016 targeting South Korea-based SMEs.
  
  
• Indigo, a company that analyzes the microbiomes of plants to produce seed coatings that impart various attributes, raised $56 million in financing over the course of its life. One of the company’s first goals is helping plants use water more efficiently, which is a big issue in drought-stricken areas. 
  
  
• Beijing mobile app developer Mobi Magic raised a $100 million round co-led by China Internet security company Qihoo 360 Technology Co. and the tech-focussed VC firm Frees Fund. In early 2015 Mobi Magic raised a US$80 million funding from Qihoo 360 as well as Wang Liwei, Vice President of publically listed online game developer Beijing Kunlun Technologies.

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: naviganancial.com