A weekly newsletter summarizing recent activity and interesting startups in South East Asia.

INTERESTING COMPANIES FOUND

IoTSploit (2017, Singapore) – Coud-based vulnerability assessment platform for IoT solutions. Global comparable include Pwnie Express (2009, Boston, $18M) and Bastille (2014, Atlanta, $11.5M).
NisiMetric (2016, Singapore) – A.I driven analytics platform to assess counterparty risk in contracts. Global comparable include LawGeex (2014, Tel Aviv, $10.25M) and LegalSifter (2013, Pittsburgh, $3M).

SEA – FUNDING UPDATES

BeMyGuest raises funding
BeMyGuest (2012, Singapore), a digital platform to book tours and niche travel experiences, raises $8.35M in Series A led by Raffles Venture Partners, SPRING Singapore, Chan Brothers, and Leland Kwee.

Signature Market raises funding
Signature Market (2016, Malaysia), an online retail platform for organic products, raises $351k through an equity crowd funding campaign on pitchIN.

Cashlez raises funding
Cashlez (2015, Jakarta), a mobile PoS technology provider, raises $2M in Seed round from Mandiri Capital Indonesia and Gankapital.

Zanroo raises funding
Zanroo (2008, Pak Kret), a social media monitoring and analytics solutions for businesses, raises $7.4M in Series A from shift ventures.

SEA – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

East Ventures partners IBM to grow portfolio startups
East Ventures partners with IBM to help start-ups commercialize new solutions.

Symantec acquires Israel’s Fireglass, Singtel Innov8 exits
Symantec acquires Israel’s Fireglass, Singtel Innov8 exits.

Singapore e-commerce startup Y Ventures commences trading on Catalist
Singapore e-commerce startup Y Ventures commences trading on Catalist, raises $5.56M in IPO.

SMU backs launch of student-run fund Protégé Ventures
SMU and Kairos ASEAN back launch of student-run fund Protégé Ventures.

SGInnovate-SC Angels partnership
SGInnovate-Supply Chain Angels partner to groom local start-ups in logistics space.

Grab raising $2B from SoftBank
Grab, a taxi booking app, to raise as much as $2M in funding from Japan’s SoftBank Group and China’s top ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing.

Tencent’s WeChat Pay seeks license for local payment services in Malaysia
Tencent holdings seek license for local payment services to offer WeChat Pay in Malaysia.

Indonesia state-owned lender BRI to acquire VC firm
Indonesia state-owned lender BRI to acquire VC firm by end of the year.

Fintech P2P Modalku to launch app
Fintech P2P Modalku to launch a new app.

ANGIN’s startup-investor site Connector.id to launch full version soon
ANGIN’s startup-investor site Connector.id to launch full version soon.

Singapore cashback startup ShopBack expands to Thailand
Singapore cashback startup ShopBack expands to Thailand.

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – MOM AND BABY CARE

• Epic, a CA-based digital brand for kids, raised $8M in Series C funding led by Reach Capital. Link
• Babyscripts, a virtual care women’s health platform, raised $5.7M in funding led by Ysios Capital. Link
• KidPass, a New York City-based online platform for families to discover and book kids’ activities, secured $5.1M in Series A funding led by Javelin Venture Partners. Link
• Cocoon Cam, a CA-based intelligent baby breathing video monitor, closed a $4M Series A funding led by Happiness Ventures. Link
• Lingokids, previously Monkimun, a CA-based developer of language learning services for early childhood, raised $4M in a post-seed funding round led by Holtzbrinck Ventures and JME Venture Capital. Link
• Outschool, an online marketplace which helps parents to find and book classes for their children, raised $1.4M in a seed round led by Collaborative Fund and Sesame Ventures. Link
• Hugsy, a company developing a smart blanket for neonates, raised around $220k in seed funding. Link
• Parenting startup, MyCity4Kids, raised an undisclosed amount from existing investors. Link
• Los Angeles-based Kangarootime, a cloud-based software for childcare centers, raised a seed funding round. Link
• South Africa-based health wearables startup Vitls secured a six-figure funding from three angel investors. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ONLINE TRAVEL

• Cloud-based guest experience and management platform Keypr raised $19M in Series A funding round led by Karlani Capital. Link
• Hospitality software solution provider CloudBeds raised $9M in Series B funding round led by PeakSpan Capital. Link
• Noida-based V Resorts, an asset-light resort management startup raised $4M in a funding round led by Seedfund and RB International.Link
• Subscription-based travel booking platform raised $4M from Almaz Capital, Sistema VC and others. Link
• Singapore-based tours and activities platform, BeMyGuest raised undisclosed Series A funding round led by Raffles Venture Partners and Singaporean businessman Koh Boon Hwee. Link
• Private equity firm CVC Capital partners acquired Sweden-based online travel agency Etraveli for $568M. Link
• Japanese internet giant Recruit Holdings acquired Munich-based guest feedback management platform TrustYou. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

LuxStay (2016, Hanoi) – Online marketplace for short-term rentals.
Smartbnb (2016, Brussels) – Automated guest communication platform for Airbnb hosts.

LEADER BOARD – ONLINE TRAVEL

Online Travel Agencies
Online Travel Agencies – Booking platforms
Priceline (1998, Norwalk, IPO) – Online travel agency offering booking and bidding for hotels, flights, and car rentals. Subsidiary of The Priceline Group. Went public in 1999.
Expedia (1996, Bellevue, IPO, Acq.) – Online travel agency offering hotels, flights, car rentals, etc. Acquired by IAC in 2003. 11 acquisitions. Went public in 1999.
Ctrip (1999, Shanghai, IPO) – Chinese Online travel agency offering booking for hotels, flights, car rentals etc. Acquired Suanya and Travelfusion in 2015 and ToursForFun in 2014. Went public in 2003.

Online Travel Agencies – Discovery
Kayak (2004, Norwalk, IPO, Acq.) – Travel search engine – helps users find flights, hotels, rental cars and cruise lines. Acquired SideStep in 2007. Went IPO in 2012. Acquired by Priceline Group for $1.8B in 2012.
Skyscanner (2002, Edinburgh, $197M, Acq.) – Travel search engine – helps users find flights, hotels, rental cars and cruise lines. Backed by Sequoia Capital and Scottish Equity Partners. Acquired by Ctrip in 2016.

Online Travel Agencies – Holiday Packages
Qulv (2012, Shenzhen, $60M) – Provides holiday packages to Chinese travelers who are traveling abroad. Backed by Yuantai Changqing Fund.
TravelBird (2010, Amsterdam, $59M) – Enables booking of holiday packages to destinations around the world. Backed by Rocket internet.

Transport
Air travel – Flights
Hopper (2007, Montreal, $95M) – Provides data-driven research and analytics to help travelers determine when to fly. Backed by Brightspark Ventures, Atlas Venture, OMERS Ventures.
Onetwotrip (2011, London, $42.5M) – Online travel agency using a global network of IATA agencies for ticketing. Backed by Phenomen Ventures, Atomico, Goldman Sachs.
Yapta (2007, Seattle, $25M) – Travel website and browser add-on that lets users track flight prices. Concur Technologies, First Round Capital, W Media Ventures, Amadeus and others.
Farecast (1999, Seattle, $21M, Acq.) – Provides users with airfare predictions. Acquired by Microsoft in 2008. Backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, PAR Capital Management, Pinnacle Ventures, Greylock Partners, Madrona Venture Group.

Air Travel – Private Jets
WheelsUp (2013, NYC, $171M) – Online travel company which offers private jet booking to guests based on membership. Backed by Rowe Price, Fidelity Investments, NEA.
JetSmarter (2012, Fort Lauderdale, $157M) – Online marketplace for private jets. Backed by Saudi Royal family and executives from Goldman Sachs and Twitter.

Cruises
Dreamlines (2011, Hamburg, $72M) – Online marketplace for cruises. Backed by Hp-Ventures and Targetglobal VC.

Trains
Trainline (1997, London, Acq.) – Online platform for booking train tickets across Europe. Acquired by KKR in 2015.

Bus
Redbus (2006, Bangalore, $10M, Acq.) – Online platform and mobile app for booking bus tickets in India. Backed by Inventus capital, Seedfund India and Helion VC. Acquired by Ibibo group for $125M.
Busbud (2011, Montreal, $10M) – Online and mobile app based marketplace that connects travelers to bus operators. Backed by Real Ventures, iNovia Capital, White Star Capital and others.
ClickBus (2013, Sao Paulo, $10M) – Online portal and mobile app for booking bus travels. Backed by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Rocket Careers, Tengelmann Ventures.

Car Rentals
BlaBlaCar (2004, Paris, $312M) – Car sharing platform for intercity travel. Backed by Accel partners, insight partners and index ventures.

Accommodation
Hotels – Marketplaces
Booking (1996, Amsterdam, Acq.) – Marketplace for accommodation booking around the world. Acquired by Priceline Group for $135M in 2007.
HotelUrbano (2011, Rio de Janeiro, $135M) – Marketplace for hotels and travel packages focusing on Latin America. Backed by Insight Venture, The Priceline Group and Tiger Global Management.
HotelTonight (2010, SF, $117M) – Mobile-based platform for same day hotel bookings. Backed by Accel, GGV Capital and others.

Hotels – Discovery
Room77 (2010, Mountain View, $44M) – Online hotel search and booking platform. Backed by Felicis, General Catalyst, Expedia and others.

Asset Light Hotels
OYORooms (2013, Gurgaon, $193M) – Asset light Hotel chain for budget accommodations operating across India. Backed by Lightspeed Venture, DSG Consumer Partners, Sequoia and others.
ZoRooms (2014, Delhi, $46M, Acq.) – Chain of asset-light standardized branded budget rooms in India. Acquired by OYO Rooms in February 2016. Backed by Tiger Global, Orios Venture, Sol Primero.

Vacation Rentals – Marketplaces
Airbnb (2008, SF, $3.4B) – Vacation rental marketplace currently valued over $25B. Acquired Lapka, and Vamo in 2015. Backed by TPG Growth, Sequoia, Greylock Partners and others.
HomeAway (2004, Austin, IPO, Acq.) – Vacation rental marketplace. Has 20 acquisitions under its name.Went IPO in 2011. Acquired by Expedia in 2015 for $3.9B.

Vacation Rentals – Discovery
Couchsurfing (2004, SF, $23M) – A global community of 10 million people for vacation rental listings. Backed by Benchmark, General Catalyst, Lumia Capital and others.

Hostels
Hostelworld (1999, Dublin, IPO) – Online marketplace for hotels. Went public in 2015.

Tours & Activities
GetYourGuide (2009, Berlin, $95.5M) – Mobile and online marketplace for tours and activities. 2 acquisitions. Backed by Sunstone Capital, Highland Capital, Spark Capital and others.
Zozi (2007, SF, $51M) – Platform to discover and book activities and experiences around the world with expert guides. Backed by 500 Startups, Forerunner Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank and others.

Travel Planning
Professional – Content
Zvents (2005, San Mateo, $31M, Acq.) – Provides local guides for cities around the world. Acquired by Ebay’s Stubhub in 2011.

Professional – Organizer
TripIt (2006, SF, $13M, Acq.) – Enables users to create a master travel itinerary and provide them with online and mobile access. Acquired by Concur for $120M in 2011.

P2P
TripAdvisor (2000, Massachusetts, IPO, Acq.) – Online travel guide that offers user-generated reviews on hotels, restaurants, attractions and other travel-related businesses. Acquired by IAC in 2004. Went public in 2011. 21 acquisitions.

Enterprise
Amadeus (1987, Madrid, IPO) – Provider of technology for online travel industry. Went public in 2010.
Sabre (1960, Southlake, IPO, Acq.) – Retails travel products and provides distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. Acquired by Silverlake in 2006.Went public in 2014.
Duetto (2012, SF, $63M) – Provides revenue management SaaS solutions to hotels and casinos. Backed by Accel, Battery, Benchmark and others.

Leader board includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest update, visit Online Travel feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally 

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – LOGISTICS TECH

• London based Move Guides, an online relocation platform raised $48M Series C round through Future Fund, NEA and Notion Capital. Link
• Transfix, an online marketplace for freight transportation raised $42M Series C round led by NEA. Link
• Melbourne based GetSwift, a logistics management software startup raised $18M Post IPO round through multiple investors including IFM Investors, Thorney Investment Group, and Regal Funds. Link
• Homer Logistics, a local delivery startup raised $8.5 million in Series A funding, led by Two Sigma Ventures. Link
• Moscow based iCanDeliver, an online marketplace for freight transportation raised a $8M seed round led by Inventure Partners. Link  
• Shanghai based Yunquna, an online platform for freight logistics raised $7.3M Series A round led by DCM Ventures. Link
• Berlin based online courier booking marketplace Packator raised $2M Angel round from existing investors and Horst Julius Pudwill. Link 
• Noida based Portdesk, a software company which develops port cost management solutions for vessels raised a $2M seed funding round Alphard Maritime Group. Link
• Vilnius based food delivery startup Foodout merges with Ukraine based EDA.UA and raised a $1M seed round led by CIG. Link
• San Antonio based Dauber, an online marketplace for dump trucks raised $1M seed round led by RealCo. Link  
• Amsterdam based Mypo, a company which provides electronic locker solution for package delivery raised a $500K seed round led by Berlin Equity. Link
• Singapore based Airfrov, a crowdshipping platform raised a $500K seed round led by East Ventures. Link
• Shenzen based Zhao-chuan, an online freight shipping platform raised an undisclosed seed round  Link
• TrackX acquires Brotech Solutions LLC, a California-based startup of asset management and IIoT solutions for $2.5M. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Bannarr (2017, Chaoyang) – Online relocation platform which provides a video feed of relocation process.
GoBoxGo (2017, Miami) – Online platform for receiving e-com packages through neighbours.

LEADER BOARD – LOGISTICS TECH

Parcel
Hyperlocal – Consumer Focused – Multi-Vertical
Postmates (2011, SF, $280M) – On-demand delivery through Mobile App. Backed by Tiger Global, Matrix partners, Cross Link Capital.
Dmall (2015, Beijing, $100M) – Hyperlocal delivery platform from local supermarkets. Backed by IDG Capital Partners.

Hyperlocal – Consumer Focused – Food
Ele.me (2008, Shanghai, $2.34B) – Online ordering and delivery of food from restaurants with its own logistics network. Backed by CitiCapital, Beijing-Hualian, Sequoia Capital.
Deliveroo (2013, London, $475M) – Online platform to order food for delivery from partnered restaurants. Backed by Accel Partners, Index Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, DST Global, Hummingbird Ventures etc.

Hyperlocal – Consumer Focused – Grocery
Instacart (2012, SF, $675M) – Same-day grocery delivery from local stores. Backed by Sequoia, KhoslaVentures, Canaan, etc.
Huimin (2012, Beijing, $295M) – B2B grocery delivery platform for local stores. Backed by Citi Capital, Fortune Venture.

Hyperlocal – Business Focused – Multi-Vertical
DadaApp (2014, $450M) – B2B hyperlocal delivery in China. Backed by Sequoia Capital, DST Global and Greenwoods Asset Management.
Shansong (2013, $107M) – Intra-city concierge delivery. Backed by CDH Investments, SIG China, Beijing Hualian Group, Matrix Partners China etc.

Hyperlocal – Business Focused – Food
Grab (2012, Mumbai, $4M) – Online hyperlocal delivery service for restaurants. Backed by Zomato, Aramex, Sixth Sense Ventures, Oliphans Capital, etc.
Homerlogistics (2014, NYC, $2M) – Food delivery for restaurants. Backed by Two Sigma Ventures, Maiden Lane, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, etc.

Intercity – Courier Service Aggregators – Booking Platforms
Packlink (2011, Madrid, $24M) – Online aggregator of parcel and courier services. Backed by Accel, Eight Road Partners, Active Venture Partners.
Boxtal (2009, Paris, $11M) – Online marketplace for shipping and delivery services. Backed by CapHorn Invest, Idinvest Partners, Ecomobility Ventures.

Intercity – Courier Service Aggregators – Door to Door
Shyp (2013, SF, $62M) – Parcel Consolidator providing on-demand package shipping. Backed by KPCB, Sherpa Capital, etc.

Intercity – Courier Service Aggregators – P2P Shipping
Roadie (2014, Atlanta, $25M) – P2P network for package delivery. Backed by Tomorrow Ventures, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, and The Mellon Group.

Software Solutions – Delivery Management
Bringg (2013, Tel Aviv, $17.5M) – Mobile workforce tracking software-as-a-service for delivery services. Backed by Pereg Ventures, Aleph Venture Capital, Coca-Cola.
Dispatch (2013, Boston, $15M) – Field service managment applications. Backed by Salesforce, ServiceMaster, LaunchCapital etc.

Freight
Trucking – Long Haul – Listings
Post.Bid.Ship (2011, Scottsdale, $2.5M) – Online loadboardfor posting and finding loads. Backed by Point B Capital, Arizona Tech Investors.

Trucking – Long Haul – Marketplace
Huochebang (2011, Chengdu, $150M) – Mobile app based freight transporters marketplace. Backed by IFC, DCM Ventures, Tencent, Hillhouse Capital etc.
Loji (2014, Beijing, 2014, $124M) – Marketplace connecting truckers and shippers. Backed by IDG Capital Partners, ZhenFund.

Trucking – Long Haul – Asset Heavy
Rivigo (2014, Gurgaon, $115M) – Tech-enabled logistics with a truck fleet of its own. Backed by SAIF Partners, Singapore Post, Warburg Pincus, Trifecta Capital.

Trucking – Short Haul
Yunniao (2014, Beijing, $210M) – O2O B2B intra-city shipping. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Warburg Pincus, Matrix Partners China etc.
Lalamove (2013, Hong Kong, $70M) – Uber for Vans in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Backed by Appworks, Aria Group, Asia Plus etc.

Ocean/Air – Forwarding
Flexport (2013, SF, $94M) – Online freight forwarder and customs brokerage. Backed by Google Ventures, Bloomberg Bets, etc.
Freightos (2012, Jerusalem, $50M) – A SaaS provider providing a marketplace for freight forwarders. Backed by Israel Cleantech Ventures, OurCrowd, Creandum etc.

Ocean/Air – Carrier Booking
Inttra (2000, Parsippany, $39.5M) – International cargo-booking portal. Backed by ABS Capital Partners.
Ilets Cargo (2015,Taipei, $700K) – Online platform for finding quotes from air and sea transporters.

Software Solutions – Fleet Management
Telogis (2001, Aliso Viejo, $141M) – Cloud-based location intelligence platform for companies requiring fleet management solutions. Backed by GM Ventures, KPCB, etc.
Fleetmatics (2004, Waltham, IPO) – Provides SaaS-based GPS tracking systems for small and medium-sized businesses. Went public in 2012.

Software Solutions – TMS
oTMS (2012, Beijing, $41M) – Cloud-based transport management solution. Backed by Baidu, Chengwei Capital, Capital Partners, Matrix Partners China, Buttonwood Capital.
3GTMS (2013, Shelton, $15M) – Transportation Management System Solutions. Backed by Trimble Navigation.

Software Solutions – Analytics
Xeneta (2012, Oslo, $20.5M) – Crowdsourced price comparison platform for containerized freight. Backed by Creandum, Point Nine Capital, Alliance Venture.
GlobalTranz (2003, Phoenix, $50M) – TMS provider for shippers. Backed by Susquehanna Growth Equity, Providence Equity Partners, Volition Capital.

Warehousing
Service – WaaS
E-Shang (2011, Shanghai, $850M) – Tech-enabled warehousing and logistics services provider for e-commerce. Backed by Warburg Pincus and APG.

Service – Marketplace
Flexe (2013, Seattle, $20.5M) – An online marketplace that connects businesses in need of flexible warehouse space to warehouse operators. Backed by Second Avenue Partners and SV Angel.

Tech Solutions – WMS
Accellos (2006, Colorado Springs, $51M) – Provides warehouse management systems, transportation management systems, retail management systems, and various supply-chain solutions. Backed by Centennial Ventures and Monitor Clipper Funds.

Tech Solutions – Robotics and Automation
Geek+ (2015, Chaoyang, $82M) – Provides artificial intelligence based warehouse automation robots. Backed by Warburg Pincus, Volcanics Venture and others.

E-commerce
Delivery Services – End to End
Delhivery (2011, Gurgaon, $263M) – End to end logistics service provider for e-commerce. Backed by Times Internet, Nexus VP, etc.
Ecom Express (2013, Delhi, $149.5M) – E-Commerce logistics solutions provider. Backed by Peepul capital, Wargbug Pincus.

Delivery Services – Fulfillment
4PX Express (2004, Shenzen, $36M) – E-commerce cross-border solutions. Backed by Singapore Post.
Shipbob (2014, Chicago,$24M) – Online platform for shipping and fulfilment. Backed by Y Combinator, SV Angel, Western Technology Investment etc.

Delivery Services – Last Mile Solutions
NinjaVan (2014, Singapore, $33M) – Last mile logistics service which specializes in next-day deliveries for e-commerce companies. Backed by Monk’s HIll Ventures.
XpressBees (2015, Pune, $20M) – Offers e-commerce focused logistics services including same day delivery, first-mile pickup, reverse logistics etc. Backed by IDG Ventures, SAIF Partners, etc.

Delivery Services – Reverse Logistics
Blubirch (2014, Bangalore, $2M) – Complete reverse logistics solutions for businesses. Backed by Chicago Venture Partners.
Happy Returns (2015, LA, $2M) – Network of physical stores for in-person returns of online purchases. Backed by Upfront Ventures, Maveron, Lowercase Capital.

Shipping Solutions
Temando (2006, Brisbane, $56M) – Shipping and fulfillment software platform for online retailers. Backed by Neopost Group.

Access Points – Locker
Kiala (2000, Brussels, $60M, Acq.) – Offers delivery service through a network of delivery points as an alternative to home delivery. Backed by Scottish Equity Partners, HarbourVest Partners. Acquired by UPS in February 2012.
QikPod (2015, Bangalore, $9M) – Locker network provider for e-commerce deliveries in India. Backed by Flipkart, Delhivery, Accel Partners, Foxconn Electronics.

Relocation
Booking Platform
Bellhops (2011, Chattanooga, $21M) – Micro-moving services by students. Backed by Canaan Partners, Lowercase Capital, Techstars, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Lamp Post Group, Nas, Binary Capital, QueensBridge Venture Partners.

Concierge
Updater (2010, NYC, $43M) – End to end relocation services provider. Backed by IA Ventures, SoftBank, Commerce Ventures, Second Century Ventures, Fidelity International.

Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest updates, visit LogisticsTech feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – SOCIAL PLATFORMS

• Pinterest, the social bookmarking platform, raises $150M at a $12.3B valuation from its existing investors. Link
• Dajie, the professional networking platform, raises $14.5M in series D round led by Northern Light Venture Capital and Winshare PE. Link
• Shapr, an interest based professional networking platform, raises $9.5M in series B round from Franck Riboud and the Bouygues and Afflelou families. Link
• Audioburst, an audio content platform, raises $7M in series A round led by Advanced Media. Link
• MyHealthTeams, a networking platform for patients with chronic ailments, raises $7M in series C round led by Qiming U.S. Healthcare fund. Link
• Jodel, a social platform for students, raises $7M in series A round led by Adam D’Angelo and the Floodgate fund. Link
• Hosco, a professional networking platform for the hospitality industry, raises $4M in series A round. Link
• MeWe, a social networking platform, raises $3M in series A round. Link
• Xitu, a community platform for developers, raises $3M in series A round led by Prima venture capital, Shangdian capital and Ming potential discover fund. Link
• ClipApp, a social video sharing platform, raises $1M in seed funding from India Quotient and Shunwei Capital. Link
• VoxWeb, an Indian social networking platform, raises $1M seed round. Link
• Mugo, a social music app, raises $1M seed round. Link
• Zenly, a social mapping app was acquired by Snapchat, the photo messaging platform. Link
• Pulse, a social platform for students, was acquired by Hike, the mobile messaging platform. Link
• InterNations, an online network for expats was acquired by Xing, the European equivalent of Linkedin. Link
• Twitch, the social gaming platform, rolls out its premium membership in 200+ countries. Link
• Instagram, the photo sharing platform, launches a new feature enabling replies to Instagram stories by photos and videos. Link
• Facebook, the social networking platform, launches Ads for messengers globally. Link
• Wattpad, the storytelling platform, launches innovation lab to develop breakthroughs in storytelling. Link
• Meitu, the photo editing and facial recognition platform, launches AR feature on its MakeupPlus app. Link
• Twitter, the microblogging platform, partners with BBC for live video streaming service. Link
• Nextdoor, the social network for neighborhoods, launches real estate listing service on the platform. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally 

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

• lSegment, a San Francisco based firm providing data integration software raised $64M in a Series C round led by Y Combinator Continuity with GV, and participation of Accel, Thrive, NEA, and Ron Conway’s SV Angel. Link
• lDatatron, a San Francisco based big data enabled decision making predictive platform, raised $2.7M in Seed round, through Start X, Credence Partners, Authentic Ventures, Enspire Partners, Plug and Play and 500 Startups. Link
• lDenodo, a Palo Alto based data virtualization platform for enterprise applications and BI tools raised undisclosed amount through a PE round by HGGC. Link
• lAstronomer, a Cincinnati based cloud data integration firm, raised $3.5M in Seed round led by Wireframe Ventures in San Francisco and CincyTech in Cincinnati with participation from Frontline Ventures (UK), Grand Ventures, Drummond Road, Core Network, M25 Group, and debt financing participation from Silicon Valley Bank. Link
• lFormcept, a Bangalore based unified big data analytics platform raised an undisclosed amount in Series A round through GVFL. Link
• lQuantta, a California based firm providing location analytics solutions raised an undisclosed amount in angel round by Anmol Nayyar. Link
• lAlgorithmia, a Seattle based firm providing a marketplace for algorithms raised $10.5M in Series A round led by Google AI fund, with participation from Work-Bench, Madrona Venture Group, Rakuten Ventures and Osage University Partners. Link
• lNeoway, a Florianopolis based firm providing big data platform to create market intelligence solution, raised $45M in a Series C round led by QMS capital with participation from PointBreak, Pollux, Accel, Monashees, and Endeavor Catalyst. Link
• lFusionops, a San Francisco based firm providing cloud platform for supply chain, raised $50M in a Series D round from New Enterprise Associates.  Link
• lAlight, a San Francisco based firm providing an application for real time financial optimization, raised $11M in a Series A round by Caterpillar Venture Capital and consortium of people led by Steven Berger. Link
• lSyncsort, a Woodcliff Lake based big data integration firm was acquired by Centerbridge Partners for $1.2B.  Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Dataspine (2017, Durham) provides a platform to develop machine learning models at scale. It also has automatic parameter tuning features and provides infrastructure for training a model on CPUs or GPUs.

LEADER BOARD – BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

BI Suites
BI Suites – End to End BI Software
Sisense (2004, Tel Aviv, $95.5M) – Provides data preparation, integration and visualization. Backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Opus Capital, Genesis Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Battery Ventures, RTP Ventures.

BI Suites – Platform
GoodData (2007, San Francisco, $101.2M) – Provides SaaS based BI analytics solutions. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, OReilly AlphaTech Ventures, Next World Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Intel Capital, Tenaya Capital, Windcrest Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners Europe, Almaz Capital, TOTVS, Pharus Capital Management, Danhua Capital, Eight Roads Ventures and F-Prime Capital Partners.

Data Preparation
Data Preparation – Suite
Tamr (2012, Cambridge, $41.2M) – Provides data preparation platform that combines human insight with machine learning algorithms to unify and prepare data across data sources for analytics. Backed by NEA, Thomson Reuters, GV, Work-Bench, MassMutual Ventures, Hewlett Packard Ventures and SineWave Ventures.

Data Preparation – Integration
Data Preparation – Integration – Self-Serve
Snaplogic (2006, San Mateo, $136.3M) – Provides PaaS integration platform to integrate applications, data, APIs with each other. Backed by Microsoft, Andreessen Horowitz, Ignition Partners, Western Technology Investment, Silver Lake, Triangle Peak Partners, Cervin Ventures, H. Barton Asset Management, Dhillon Capital, Costella Kirsch, Maples Investments and Pharus Capital Management.

Data Preparation – Cataloging and Metadata management
Attivio (2007, Newton, $102M) – Provides ETL, data transforming, indexing and cleaning to visualization tools like Tableau to understand relationships between data sources. Backed by Oak Investment Partners.

Data Discovery & Visualization
Data Discovery & Visualization – Discovery
Alteryx (2010, Irvine, $163M) – Offers advanced BI solutions including predictive forecasting along with ETL and visualization. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, Thomson Reuters, Meritech Capital, Toba Capital, Iconiq Capital and Sapphire Ventures.
MicroStrategy (1989, Vienna, IPO) – Provides self-service analytics solutions focused on multi-source analysis, by combining and blending data from multiple structured and unstructured sources. Went public in June 1998.

Data Discovery & Visualization – Visualization with Analytics
Domo (2010, American Fork, $621M) – Provides self-service data exploration with pre built role based Domo apps. Has over 300+ connectors and data fusion platform to clean, transform and load data automatically. Backed by Greylock Partners, Fidelity Investments, Andreessen Horowitz, Salesforce, Morgan Stanley, WPP, Benchmark Capital, Credit Suisse, Founders Fund, Institutional Venture Partners, GGV Capital, Glynn Capital, BlackRock, T. Rowe Price, Transmedia Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Mercato Partners, TPG, Capital Group, Viking Global Investors, BYU Cougar Capital, Zetta Venture and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners.
Tableau (2003, Seattle, IPO) – Provides interactive data exploration through heat maps, pivot tables and geographical maps. It also offers data connectors and integrated in-memory ETL architecture. Went public in 2013.
Looker (2011, Santa Cruz, $177.5M) – Provides LookML, a query language that enables data modeling faster and easier than SQL. It also offers visualization and embedded analytics. Backed by First Round Capital, Redpoint Ventures, KPCB, Meritech Capital, PivotNorth Capital, Sapphire Ventures, CapitalG, Geodesic Capital and Goldman Sachs.

Data Discovery & Visualization – Reporting & Dashboarding
Data Discovery & Visualization – Reporting & Dashboarding – NLP based query
ThoughtSpot (2012, Palo Alto, $90.7M) – Provides an NLP engine to query relational databases to enable self-service BI for business users. Backed by Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, and Lightspeed China Partners.

Data Discovery & Visualization – Reporting & Dashboarding – GUI-based query
Roambi (2008, Solana Beach, $50M, Acq.) – Provides mobile first ad-hoc analysis, visualization and dashboards that can be instantly accessed via the iPhone or iPad. Acquired by SAP in February 2016.

Data Discovery & Visualization – Charting Software
ZoomCharts (2014, Riga, $1.32M) – Provides interactive data visualization charts. Backed by Imprimatur Capital.

Unstructured Data Analysis – Text Analytics
Coveo (2005, Quebec City, $69.7M) – Provides knowledge base data management through analytics and enterprise search. Backed by BDC Capital, Telesystem, Fonds de solidarite FTQ, Access Capital, Tandem Expansion Fund and iqventureadvisors. com.

Unstructured Data Analysis – Image and Video Analytics
ClarifAi (2013, New York City, $41.3M) – Deep learning based image and video recognition API provider. Backed by Union Square Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, nyu. edu, NVIDIA, GV, Menlo Ventures, Lux Capital, Osage University Partners, Osage University Partners, LDV Group, LDV Capital and Corazon Capital.

BI Verticals
BI Verticals – Multifunction – Multiindustry
Anaplan (2006, San Francisco, $232M) – Provides cloud-based modelling and planning software for companies’ sales, operations, and finance teams. Backed by Salesforce, Shasta Ventures, Meritech Capital, DFJ Growth, Coatue, Harmony Partners, Granite Ventures, Workday, Baillie Gifford, Sands Capital, Founders Circle, Founders Circle and Brookside Capital.

BI Verticals – Multifunction – Industrial
Uptake (2014, Palo Alto, $85M) – Provides machine learning enabled predictive platform for multiple industries. Backed by NEA, Trinity Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Revolution, Lightbank, Caterpillar, Peterson Partners, GreatPoint Ventures.

BI Verticals – Multifunction – Retail – Suite
ManthanRetail (2004, Bangalore, $101M) – Provides a retail and CPG analytics solution. Backed by Norwest Venture Partners, IDG Ventures India, Temasek, SIDBI Venture Capital, ePlanet Capital, InnoVen Capital, Eight Roads Ventures.

BI Verticals – Multifunction – Retail – In-store
RetailNext (2007, San Jose, $189.8M) – Provides real-time analytics solution that enables retailers, shopping centers and manufacturers to collect, analyse and visualise in-store data. Backed by Metamorphic Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, StarVest Partners, August Capital, Commerce Ventures, Tyco, Pereg Ventures, EDB, Siguler Guff, Activant Capital and American Express Ventures.

BI Verticals – Finance & Accounting
AdaptiveInsights (2003, Palo Alto, $176.3M) – Provides financial analytics solutions for planning, budgeting and forecasting enabling finance and management teams to plan, monitor, report on, and analyse financial and operational performance. Backed by Salesforce, Bessemer Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, ONSET Ventures, Relay Ventures, JMI Equity Fund, Cardinal Venture Capital, Monitor Ventures, RBC and Information Ventures.

BI Verticals – HR
Visier (2010, Vancouver, $94.5M) – Provides a workforce analytics and planning solution to reduce workforce costs, improve productivity, attract and retain top talent. Backed by Adams Street Partners, Foundation Capital and Summit Partners.

BI Verticals – Customer Life Cycle Management – Sales
Insidesales (2004, Provo, $251.2M) – Provides a sales forecasting and visualisation solution based on Neuralytics, a predictive and prescriptive analytics self-learning engine for lead prioritisation and hiring. Backed by Microsoft, Salesforce, KPCB, US Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, EPIC Ventures, Zetta Venture and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners.

BI Verticals – Customer Life Cycle Management – Marketing
Addthis (2004, Vienna, $77.4 M) – Provides a behavioral audience data and marketing platform. Backed by NEA, QED Investors, Institutional Venture Partners, Plug and Play Tech Center, Amidzad Partners, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, Revolution, Rho Ventures.

BI Verticals – Customer Life Cycle Management – Marketing – Web Analytics
Clicktale (2006, Ramat Gan, $52.6M) – Provides a patented Customer Experience Visualisation platform for e-businesses to see their customers’ online experience at all levels of detail, from aggregated views to playable videos of users’ browsing sessions. Backed by Viola Group, KKR, Amadeus Capital, YL Ventures, Goldrock Capital and Talis Capital.
ClickFox (2000, Atlanta, $40.9M) – Provides Customer Experience Analytics (CEA) solutions for businesses to engage customers through a variety of service channels from visiting a website, voice calling and online chat applications to kiosks, retail stores etc. Backed by Morgan Stanley, Ascent Venture Partners, Delta Ventures, Cedar Fund, HTGC and Veritas Venture Partners.

BI Verticals – IT
Nexthink (2004, Prilly, $65M) – Provides end-user IT analytics for security, ITSM and transformation. Backed by Auriga Partners, VI Partners, Mannai, VI Partners, galeo-ventures. com, Waypoint, Highland Europe.

Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest updates, visit Business Intelligence feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting startups in the energy storage sector globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – WIND ENERGY

• Kite Power Systems Secures $2.6M Investment From Scottish Investment Bank Link
• Building Energy, a Renewable energy based Independent Power Producer, raises $81M from ZZ Capital International, Zhongzhi Capital, Synergo and Three Hill Capital Partners Link
• Access Power secures USTDA Grant funding for Zambia wind power project Link
• Ideol, Offshore wind developer, raises $9M from Siem Offshore Contractors, Hitachi Zosen and Amundi Private Equity Funds Link
• Seawind Systems, developer of two blade wind turbine, has secured funding from Enzen Global Link
• Pikar Energy raises $2M of Debt and Convertibles from Undisclosed investors according to SEC filing Link
• SkySpecs raised $575k of Debt funding from Undisclosed investors according to SEC filing Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

GoWindPower (Livermore, 2015) – GoWindPower is a developer of a new variety of wind turbine called the V8 Wind Turbine. It has a different design as compared to existing Horizontal Axis Turbines and does not have any propellers. The company claims that the turbine shall be able to generate power at 5 cents per kWh with an installation cost of $1000 per kW. The turbine has a frame-based construction, which foregoes wind towers and uses a permanent magnet generator thus removing the need for a gearbox. Currently under development.

LEADER BOARD – WIND ENERGY

Independent Power Producer
DONG Energy (2006, Fredericia, IPO) – DONG Energy is among the largest offshore wind installers in the world with interests in Wind Power, Bioenergy & Thermal Power, Distribution & Customer Solutions, and Oil & Gas. Went public in June 2016.
ReNew Power Ventures (2011, Gurgaon, $855M) -Indian renewable energy company with a 460 MW installed capacity across Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Backed by GEF, Goldman Sachs, ADB among others.

Hardware Developer
Vestas (1898, Randers, IPO) – Vestas manufactures wind turbines with a capacity ranging in MW scale. The company has installed more than 38,000 wind turbines in 63 countries on five continents. Went public in June, 2002.
Clipper Wind (2001, Carpinteria, $242M, Acq.) – Clipper Windpower manufactures wind turbine and is engaged in wind asset development. The company has a turbine manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Acquired by Platinum Equity in August 2012.

Service Providers
PNE Wind (1995, Cux Haven, IPO) – PNE Wind is among the largest wind power developers in Germany.  The services offered are initial site exploration and the approval procedure, financing and turnkey construction, operation and repowering at the end of the system’s useful life. Went public in January, 2002.
SITAC Renewable Energy (2006, Delhi, $176M) – SITAC RE has set up wind farms in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Has projects with combined capacity of 830 MW under different stages of development. Backed by GVFL and France-based EDF Energy Nouvelles.

Technology Enabler
Pentalum Technologies (2009, Rehovot, $23M) – Offers wind remote monitoring system. Backed by  DFJ, Cedar Fund, Evergreen Venture Partners, ABB, General Electric, and Bright Capital.
3Tier (1999, Seattle, $19M, Acq.) – 3TIER provides project feasibility, asset management and forecasting services to companies operating in the renewable energy market globally. Backed by Good Energies. Acquired by Vaisala in 2013.

Financing
Abundance (2009, London, $5M) – Abundance is an alternative lending platform that offers retail investors to invest in debentures of a clean energy project that is in need of funding.

Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest updates, visit Wind Energy feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

UnderstandBetter (2016, Chennai), AI enabled employee communication and engagement platform for organizations. Founder also founded The 4Cast and alumnus of Panimalar engineering College. Local comparables include InFeedo (2013, Gurgaon, $200k) and Pep.ai (2016, Gurgaon). Global comparable includes Zeal Technology (2016, Burlington).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Paras Healthcare (2006, Gurgaon), super speciality hospital chain, raises $42M in Private Equity round of funding from Creador. Link

Hypernova Interactive (2015, Bangalore), mobile game development studio, raises an undisclosed amount in funding from Kae Capital. Link

MobiQuest (2008, Noida), customer engagement and loyalty management solutions, raises an undisclosed amount in funding from PayTM (2010, Noida), mobile wallet and payments bank. Link

Ideal Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd (2005, Kolkata), direct insurance broker, launches its online platform 121Policy, and raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Xelpmoc. Link

KKR (1976, NYC), global alternative asset manager, acquires 49% stake in Radiant Life Care Pvt. Ltd (2000, Mumbai), a hospital and health care company, for $200M. Link

IIFL AMC, a Mumbai based asset and wealth management company, raises $216M for its IPO-focused fund IIFL Special Opportunities Fund-Series 2. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Desktop Metal (2015, Cambridge), developer of 3D printers for printing metal parts, raises $115M in Series D round of funding from New Enterprise Associates, GV, GE Ventures, Future Fund, Techtronic Industries, Lowe’s, Lux Capital, Vertex Ventures and others. Link

Leap Motion (2010, SF), developer of motion control software and hardware, raises $50M in Series C round of funding led by JPMorgan Asset Management. Link

Venus Concept (2009, Barcelona), developer of specialized equipment for Cosmetologists, raises $38M in funding led by EW Healthcare Partners with participation from HealthQuest Capital and Madryn Asset Management. Link

Awake Security (2014, Mountain View), provider of security analytics solutions, raises $30M in undisclosed round of funding from Greylock Partners and Bain Capital Ventures. Link

Impartner (1997, South Jordan), partner relationship management and marketing automation platform, raises $15M in undisclosed round of funding from Emergence Capital. Link

Enterin (2016, Philadelphia), developing a drug that repairs the gut-brain axis to treat neurodegenerative diseases, raises $12.7M in Series A round of funding from New Ventures III, as well existing investors. Link

WaveOptics (2014, Abingdon), developer of waveguides based technology for projected display applications, raises $16M in Series B round of funding Octopus Ventures, Touchstone Innovations, Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH and Gobi Ventures. Link

Commerce Signals (2012, Charlotte), data collaboration company, raises $12M in Series B round of funding led by Stage 1 Ventures with participation from institutional investors. Link

Plum (2014, Dania Beach), developer of wine pouring and preservation solution, raises $9M in Series A round of funding led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Las Olas Venture Capital and other angel investors. Link

Bright.md (2014, Portland), web & mobile-based virtual physician assistant for hospitals and patients, raises $8M in Series B round of funding led by B Capital Group, with participation from Seven Peaks Ventures. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally 

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ONLINE RETAIL

• Souq, an online marketplace for multi-category products, has been acquired by Amazon for $580M. Link
  
• Farfetch, a marketplace for fashion luxury boutiques and brands, has raised $397M in Series G round from JD.com. Link
• Brandless, an Internet-first brand of organic everyday essential products, has raised $35M in Series B funding from New Enterprise Associates, Redpoint Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, and Slow Ventures. Link
• Zaozuo, an online marketplace for furniture designers and vendors, has raised $20M in Series B funding from BAI, Morningside China, Tigerclub Digital, IDG Capital Partners, Yuan Jing Capital, and ZhenFund. Link
• Framebridge, an online custom framing platform, has raised $16.7M in Series B funding from Gordon Segal, Beth Kaplan, New Enterprise Associates, Revolution, SWaN & Legend Venture Partners. Link
• M.Gemi, an Internet-first brand of handcrafted Italian shoes, has raised $16M in Series C round from Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Forerunner Ventures,  Burda Principal Investments, Hubert Burda Media, and Etsy. Link
• Yamibuy, an online marketplace for Asian products, has raised $10M from GGVC Capital, New Oriental, and Xianfeng Evergreen. Link
• UrbanStems, an online flower delivery platform, has raised $6M Series A funding from Haas Portman, GSW Investments, SWaN & Legend, NextGen Venture Partners, and Grotech Ventures. Link
• Motiv, an Internet-first brand of smart wearables, has raised $4.1M from undisclosed investors. Link
• Fynd, an O2O fashion commerce company, has raised $3.4M in extended Series A round from IIFL Seed Ventures, Kae Capital, FJ Labs, Singularity Ventures, GrowX, Tracxn Labs, and Axis Capital. Link
• AUrate, an Internet-first brand of jewelry, has raised $2.6M in seed capital from ArabAngels and Victress Capital. Link
• Oars + Alps, an Internet-first brand of men’s grooming products, has raised $1.3M in seed funding. Link
• Summersalt, an Internet-first brand of designer swimwear for women, has raised $1.2M in seed funding. Link
• Aeryne, an Internet-first brand of fashion apparel for women, has raised $1.1M from Angel Investor Gert Nordin. Link
• Kioson, an O2O e-commerce company, has raised $450K seed funding. Link
• Brands of Puerto Rico, an online marketplace for Puerto Rican brands, has raised a funding of $75K from accelerator Parrallel18. Link
• Seestory, an O2O private label eyewear brand, has raised an undisclosed Series B funding from JointVenture Capital. Link
• Flower Plus, a subscription based flower delivery platform, has raised an undisclosed Series B funding from ZhenFund, Guanghe VC, NewMargin Ventures, and Telescope Investment. Link
• Butikgez, an online marketplace for designer ethnic fashion products, has raised an undisclosed funding. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Proven (2017, SF) – Internet-first brand of skin care products using AI for personalized recommendations.
Tushy (2016, NYC, $500K) – Internet-first brand of bidet attachment for toilets.  Bidet attaches to existing water closet toilets. Experienced founder who previously co-founded THINX (2013, NYC, $1.4M).

LEADER BOARD – ONLINE RETAIL

Horizontal – Retailer
JD.com (1998, Beijing, IPO) – Online retailer selling all categories of consumer goods. They have also built their own nationwide fulfillment network and last-mile delivery network. IPO listed in 2014.
Jumia (2012, Lagos, $537M) – Online retailer selling all categories of consumer goods across Africa. Backed by Rocket Internet, Millicom, MTN Group, Summit Partners and J.P. Morgan.
Ozon (1998, Moscow, $268M) – Online retailer selling all categories of consumer goods and Russian language based products. Backed by Index Ventures, Sistema, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Infinity Ventures, Baring Vostok Capital Partners and others.

Horizontal – Marketplace
Amazon (1994, Seattle, IPO) – Online marketplace for all categories of consumer goods including Electronics, Fashion, Home Decor, Baby & Kids, Books, Digital Goods etc. IPO listed in 1997.
Ebay (1995, San Jose, IPO) – Online marketplace for all categories of consumer goods including Electronics, Fashion, Home Decor, Baby & Kids, Books, Digital Goods etc. IPO listed in 1998.
Flipkart (2007, Bangalore, $4.6B) – Online marketplace for all categories of consumer goods and operator of its own payment gateway and logistics service provider. Backed by Accel Partners, Tiger Global Management, Naspers, and others.

Fashion
Zalando (2008, Berlin, IPO) – An online retailer for fashion products offering branded fashion products for women, men, and children with free shipping. IPO listed in 2014.
YOOX Group (2000, Milan, IPO) – A global internet retailing partner for leading fashion & designer brands. IPO listed in 2009.
Farfetch (2008, London, $709M) – Online marketplace for boutiques and designers. Backed by JD, Temasek, Vitruvian Partners and others.
Vancl (2007, Beijing, $580M) – Online retailer of fashion products. Backed by Saif Partners, IDG Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management and others.
Mogujie (2011, Hangzhou, $420M) – Social shopping marketplace platform focused on women’s fashion. Backed by IDG Ventures, Tiantu Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and others.
Moonbasa (2006, Guangzhou, $340.5M) – An online cross-border e-commerce platform to buy US fashion brands in China. Backed by Tiger Global Management, GSR Ventures, DT Capital Partners and China Renaissance Capital Investment.
Justfab (2010, El Segundo, $300M) – An online fashion retailer with a monthly membership program for women’s clothing, women’s shoes and handbags. Backed by Passport Capital, Shining Capital, Rho Capital Partners and others.
Dafiti (2010, Sao Paulo, $245M) – Online retailer of footwear and fashion products. Backed by Rocket Internet, Quadrant Capital Advisors, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and others.
Warby Parker (2010, NYC, $215M) – Private label brand of designer eyewear. Backed by Tiger Global Management, General Catalyst Partners, and others.

Electronics
Kogan (2006, Melbourne, IPO) – Online retailer of multi-category Electronic products including smartphones, laptops, etc. IPO listed in 2016.
Xiaomi (2010, Beijing, $1.45B) – Designer and manufacturer of Electronics products including Mobile phones, Tablets, TVs etc. Backed by Morningside Ventures, Temasek, IDG Capital Partners and others.
Meizu (2003, Zhuhai, $914M) – Designer and manufacturer of Smartphones. Backed by Alibaba Group.

Home Decor & Furniture
Wayfair (2002, Boston, IPO) – Online retailer of home decor products & furnishings. IPO listed in 2014.
Houzz (2009, Palo Alto, $613.6M) – Content, Community & Commerce Platform in Home Design. Backed by Sequoia Capital, NEA, KPCB, GGV Capital, DST Global, T. Rowe Price, Comcast Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital and Canvas Ventures.
Casper (2014, NYC, $240M) – Online direct-to-consumer mattress brand. Backed by Target, NEA, SV Angel, Norwest Venture Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, Correlation Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Pritzker Group, A-Grade Investments, Silas Capital, Vaizra Investments, Irving Place Capital, Slow Venture and others.
WestWing (2011, Munich, $212M) – An online flash sales platform that provides products and services related to interior designing. Backed by Summit Partners, Rocket Internet, Tengelmann Ventures and others.
Home24 (2009, Berlin, $173M) – Online furniture marketplace. Backed by Baillie Gifford.
Pepperfry (2011, Mumbai, $160M) – Online marketplace for furniture & home decor products. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Norwest Venture Partners and others.
Urban Ladder (2012, Bangalore, $92M) – Online private label furniture & home decor brand. Backed by TR Capital and Steadview Capital.

Baby & Kids
Windeln (2010, Munich, IPO) – Retailer of baby and toddler products in Germany, Austria, China, and Switzerland. IPO listed in May 2015.
Zulily (2009, Seattle, IPO, Acq.) – Daily deal sites for mom and kids offering discounts on apparel, toys, and gears. Went IPO in 2013 and then acquired by Liberty Interactive in 2015.
Wzhouhui (2013, Shenzhen, $278M) – An online retailer of imported baby and maternal products. Backed by Globalegrow.
Mia.com (2011, Beijing, $232M) – Online retailer for imported infant care products. Backed by Baidu, Zhenfund, Sequoia Capital and others.
Honest (2011, Santa Monica, $228M) – Monthly subscription service of customized eco-friendly family product bundles. Backed by Glade Brook Capital Partners, Wellington Management, Institutional Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners and others.

Beauty & Personal Care
Jumei (2010, Beijing, IPO) – An online retailer focused on beauty and personal care products. IPO listed in 2014.
Harry’s (2012, NYC, $285M) – A private label personal grooming brand supplying shaving products on a subscription basis. Backed by Tiger Global Management, SV Angel, and others.
Dollar Shave Club (2011, LA, $165M, Acq.) – Private label brand supplying shaving essentials on a subscription basis. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, KPCB and others. Acquired by Unilever in 2016.

Sporting & Outdoor Goods
Sportsamore (2009, Solna, IPO) – An online retailer of multi-category sports goods including Footwear, Sportswear, etc. IPO listed in 2012.
Netshoes (2000, Sao Paulo, $427M) – Online retailer of Sports goods. Backed by Tiger Global Management, Temasek and others.

Art
Hihey (2011, Beijing, $100M) – Online art marketplace selling all categories of artworks. Backed by China Minsheng Bank, Shenzhen Capital Group and others.
Catawiki (2008, Assen, $95M) – Online catalogue and auction house for art and collectables. Backed by Accel Partners, Peak Capital, and others.

Gifting Products
Roseonly (2013, Guangzhou, $49M) – Online retailer of premium flower bouquets. Backed by Accel Partners, Tencent and others.
The Bouqs Company (2012, Marina Del Rey, $44.5M) – Online retailer of flowers and plants. Backed by OurCrowd, Plug and Play Tech Center, Partech Ventures etc.

Niche Products
Shapeways (2008, NYC, $78M) – Marketplace where one can make, buy and sell 3D Printed products. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Union Square and others.
Zazzle (1999, Redwood City, $46M, Acq.) – An online retailer for user customized/designed products. Backed by  KPCB, Sherpalo Ventures, Northgate Capital and others.

Pets
Boqii (2008, Beijing, $137M) – An online retailer of pet products as well as a pet community. Backed by JAFCO Asia, Goldman Sachs, and others.
Pet360 (1997, Plymouth Meeting, $28M, Acq.) – An online retailer of pet supplies including pet food, toys, medicines, apparel etc. Acquired by PetSmart in 2014.

Handicrafts
Etsy (2005, Brooklyn, IPO) – Online marketplace for handmade and vintage items. IPO listed in 2015.
Redbubble (2006, SF, IPO) – Online marketplace for independent artists artworks including wall art, work on T-shirts, iPhone cases etc. IPO listed in 2016.

Books, Stationery & Digital Goods
Paperless Post (2008, NYC, $32M) – Mobile and web-based platform to design and send custom cards and invitations. Backed by SV Angel, RRE Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and others.

Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest update visit Online Retail feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally 

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Cybereason, a Boston-based company providing artificial intelligence enabled cyber security solutions, raised $100M in Series D round of funding from SoftBank corporation. Link
• Darktrace, a Cambridge-based startup providing machine learning enabled cyber security solutions, raised $75M in Series D round of funding led by Insight Venture Partners with participation from Summit Partners, KKR and TenEleven Ventures. Link
• Trax, a Singapore-based provider of computer vision solutions for retail, raised $64M in funding led by Warburg Pincus with participation from existing investors. Link
• Drive.ai, a CA-based self-driving vehicle technology company, raised $50M in Series B round funding led by New Enterprise Associates with participation from GGV Capital and Northern Light Venture Capital. Link
• Riskified, a Tel-Aviv based company providing machine learning based payment fraud prevention solutions, raised $33M in Series C round of funding led by Qumra Capital with participation from The Phoenix Insurance Company, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, and existing investors, Genesis Partners and Entrée Capital. Link
• SparkCognition, an Austin-based provider of artificial intelligence powered enterprise security solutions, raised $32.5M in series B round of funding led by Verizon Ventures with participation from The Boeing Company. Link
• Deep Instinct, a CA-based company providing deep learning based threat detection solutions, raised $32M in Series B round of funding led by CNTP, with participation from Nvidia, Coatue Management, etc. Link
• Diffblue, a University of Oxford spin-out which develops AI based solutions for software development, raised $22M in Series A round of funding led by Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments, Oxford Sciences Innovations(OSI) and Oxford Technology and Innovations Fund(OTIF). Link
• Textio, a developer an augmented writing platform for candidate hiring, raised $20M in Series B round of funding led by Scale Venture Partners. Link
• Augury, an NYC-based provider of AI and IoT based predictive machine maintenance solutions, raised $17M in Series B round of funding co-led by Eclipse Ventures and Munich Re / HSB Ventures with participation from Sound Ventures, First Round Capital, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Link
• Unbxd, a CA and Bengaluru based provider of AI enabled product discovery platform for e-commerce, raised $12.5M in Series C round of funding from Eight Roads Ventures, and from existing investors IDG Ventures, Inventus Capital Partners, Nirvana Ventures, and Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys Co-Founder. Link
• Jask, an SF-based company providing AI powered predictive analytics platform for cyber security, emerged from stealth with a $12M Series A round of funding led by Dell Technologies Capital and TenEleven Ventures with participation from Battery Ventures and Vertical Venture Partners. Link
• Josh.ai, a Denver based provider of AI powered smart home automation system, raised $11M in funding. Link
• Your.MD, a London-based AI powered personalised health information service provider, raised $10M in funding led by Orkla Ventures with participation from Smedvig Capital AS and other existing shareholders. Link
• Sentiance, an Antwerp-based provider of mobile analytics platform to build user profiles for contextual targeting, raised $9.2M in Series C round of funding led by led by Volta Ventures and KPN Ventures. Link
• Talla, a Boston-based provider of intelligent conversational service desks, raised $8.3M in Series A round of funding led by Glasswing Ventures with participation from PJC, Avalon, Pillar and Launch. Link
• GreatHorn, a Belmont-based company which provides predictive security platform for anti-phishing, raised $6.3M in Series A round of funding from Techstars Venture Capital Fund, .406 Ventures, ff Venture Capital, SoftTech Ventures and RRE Ventures. Link
• Stratifyd, a Charlotte-based provider of AI powered data analysis and visualization platform, raised $5.9M in equity funding. Link
• Mindbridge, an Ottawa based provider of enterprise fraud detection solutions, raised $4.3M in Seed round of funding led by 8VC, Montreal’s Real Ventures, and Mars IAF. Link
• Baidu, a Chinese tech giant acquired Kitt.ai, a Seattle based provider of conversational AI technologies. Link
• Google acquired Halli Labs, Bengaluru based stealth mode company developing speech and vision based products. Link
• Google launched new venture fund called Gradient Ventures, which aims to fund, mentor and develop early-stage startups focused on artificial intelligence. Link
• H2O.ai, a market leader in machine learning and deep learning development platform launched Driverless AI, an H2O platform tool which helps the nontechnical users with automated data analytics. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Element AI (2016, Montreal) – Provides custom AI as a Services solutions.
DiffBlue (2016, Oxford) – Develops AI based solutions for software development.
DeepInformatics (2017, Hangzhou) – Develops AI-based medical imaging analysis solution.

LEADER BOARD – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Infrastructure – Machine Intelligence Systems
MIS – Machine Learning Platform
Sentient (2007, SF, $144M) – Provides distributed AI on large scale systems for finance and medical sectors. Backed by Tata Group, Access Industries, and Horizon Ventures.
H2O.ai (2012, Mountain View, $31M) – Provides an open source machine learning platform for pattern detection and prediction. Backed by Nexus Venture Partners, Transamerica Ventures, Paxion Capital Partners and others.

MIS – Data Science Platform
Data Robot (2012, Boston, $111M) – Provides a machine learning platform that helps enterprises build predictive models at speed. Backed by IA Ventures, NEA, Atlas Venture, Intel Capital, TechStars, Recruit Strategic Partners, Right Side Capital Management, New York Life Insurance, Accomplice.
Skytree (2012, San Jose, $19M) – Provides an advanced enterprise-grade Machine Learning platform. Backed by Javelin Venture Partners, United Parcel Service, U.S Venture Partners, Plug and Play Tech Center, Osage University Partners and In-Q-Tel.

MIS – Artificial General Intelligence
Vicarious (2010, SF, $72M) – Provides machine learning software based on neocortex learning. Backed by Samsung, Khosla Ventures, ABB Group, AME Cloud Ventures, Founders Fund, Felicis Ventures, Data Collective and others.
DeepMind (2011, London, $50M, Acq.) – Develops deep reinforcement learning based artificial general intelligence solutions. Backed by Founders Fund, Horizons Ventures, and others. Acquired by Google for $500M in 2014.

Infrastructure – Natural Language Processing
NLP – Speech Solutions
SoundHound (2005, Santa Clara, $115M) – Developer of speech recognition technology and mobile apps. Backed by Samsung, KPCB, Felicis Ventures, NVIDIA, Plug and Play Tech Center, Walden Venture Capital, Amidzad Partners, Western Technology Investment, TransLink Capital, Global Catalyst Partners, Nomura Holdings, Recruit Holdings, SharesPost, Pejman Mar Ventures, Naver, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance.
Unisound (2012, Beijing, $68M) – Provides Voice recognition and language processing technology. Backed by  Qualcomm Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners.

NLP – Text Solutions
Cortical (2011, Vienna, $5M) – Provides text analytics solutions. Backed by Open Field Capital and Reventon.
Indico Data Solutions (2013, Boston, $4M) – Provides deep learning based text analytics solutions. Backed by406 Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Rough Draft Ventures, Techstars, Boston Seed Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, Right Side Capital Management.

NLP – NLP Platforms
Nuance Communications (1992, Burlington, IPO) – Provides various linguistic solutions including speech recognition, OCR, dictation, speech analytics, virtual assistant, etc. Backed by  Intel, Mayfield, Rembrandt Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs, Morgenthaler, U.S Venture Partners, Motorola, Asset Management Ventures, Alloy Ventures, Attractor Ventures, Canvas Ventures, F-Prime Capital Partners. IPO in 2000.
Expert System (2000, Modena, IPO) – Provides semantic business intelligence solutions. Backed by IMI Fondi Chiusi SGR. IPO in 2014.

Infrastructure – Computer Vision
Computer Vision – Computer Vision Platform
SenseTime (2014, Hong Kong, $600M) – Provides face recognition APIs which developers can apply to their own websites or mobile Apps. Backed by IDG Capital Partners, CDH Investments and Dalian Wanda Group.
eyeSight (2005, Herzliya, $33M) – Provides gesture and motion tracking technology. Backed by Ceva, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, InterCapital, BIRD Foundation, Kuang-Chi Group and MAC Fund.

Computer Vision – Face Recognition
Megvii (2011, Beijing, $145M) – Provides deep learning based APIs for face recognition, image recognition, image classification, etc. Backed by Sinovation Ventures, Qiming Ventures, Foxconn Electronics, Legend Star, Ant Group, Comet Labs.
Affectiva (2009, Waltham, $34M) – Provides deep learning based emotion detection technology. Backed by WPP, KPCB, Horizons Ventures, Fenox Venture Capital, National Science Foundation, Myrian Capital and Kantar.

Computer Vision – Object Recognition
Clarifai (2013, NYC, $41M) – Deep learning based image & video recognition API provider. Backed by Union Square Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, New York University, NVIDIA, GV, Menlo Ventures, Lux Capital, Osage University Partners, Osage Partners, LDV Group, LDV Capital, Corazon Capital.
Cortica (2007, Ramat Gan, $38M) – Provides visual search and in-image analysing technology. Backed by Horizons Ventures, Mail.Ru Group.

Infrastructure – Autonomous Systems
Drive.ai (2015, Santa Clara, $62M) – Developing artificial intelligence technology required for self-driving cars. Backed by NEA, GGV Capital, InnoSpring, Northern Light Venture Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital, and, Oriza Ventures.
CloudMinds  (2015, Shenzhen, $130M) – Provides autonomous robot enablers. Backed by Walden International, Shenzhen Capital Group, SBCVC, Foxconn Electronics, Venustech, Keytone Ventures, Bojang Capital Management, Kaixuan Capital.
Neurala (2006, Cambridge, $16M) – Develops software for drone and robot autonomy. Backed by Motorola Solutions, Techstars, Orkos Capital, Pelion Venture Partners, SK Ventures, 360 Capital Partners, Right Side Capital Management, Idinvest Partners, Robolution Capital, Sherpa Capital, Draper Associates, Haiyin Capital.

Infrastructure – Enabling Technologies
Enabling Technologies – Hardware
Mobileye (1999, Jerusalem, IPO, Acq.) – Develops computer vision-based processor for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Backed by Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, Motorola Solutions, BlackRock, Enterprise, Colmobil Corp., The Delek Group, Eldan Car Rental, First International Bank of Israel, Wellington Management, Sailing Capital. Acquired by Intel for $15.3B in 2017.
KnuEdge (2005, San Diego, $100M) – Provides voice biometric and neural computing technology solutions. Backed by Hasso Plattner Ventures.

Enabling Technologies – Software
Trifacta (2012, SF, $76M) – Provides data preparation solutions. Backed by Accel Partners, Greylock Partners, Infosys, XSeed Capital, Data Collective, Ignition Partners, Cathay Capital, Milliways Ventures, Cathay Innovation.
Mighty AI (2014, Seattle, $27M) – Provides Training Data as a Service for AI algorithms. Backed by  Accenture, NEA, Foundry Group, Intel Capital, GV, Madrona Venture Group.

Applications – Enterprise
Enterprise – BI & Analytics – Business Intelligence
Palantir (2004, Palo Alto, $2.3B) – Intelligence products to augment human-driven analysis for critical government, commercial and non-profit institutions. Backed by Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, 137 Ventures, ARTIS Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, Reed Elsevier Ventures, Ulu Ventures, Mithril Capital Management, Benjamin Ling, Keith Rabois, Jeremy Stoppelman.
Ayasdi (2008, Palo Alto, $98M) – Machine Intelligence platform for insight discovery from large data sets. Backed by Floodgate, Citibank, General Electric, Institutional Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Draper Nexus, Centerview Capital Technology.

Enterprise – BI & Analytics – Social Media Intelligence
Dataminr (2009, NYC, $175M) – Products for real-time extraction of insights from social media data aimed at Media, Finance, and Government sectors. Backed by Carissa St Clair, Box Group, Venrock, Institutional Venture Partners, GSV Capital, Deep Fork Capital, Fidelity Investments.
NetBase (2004, Mountain View, $87M) – Provides AI-based social media monitoring platform. Backed by SAIF Partners, SAIF Partners China, Western Technology Investment, WestSummit Capital, Thomvest Ventures, MMV Financial, In-Q-Tel, ORIX Ventures, Spring Lake Equity Partners, Altos Ventures.

Enterprise – Security & Surveillance
Darktrace (2013, Cambridge, $181M) – Enterprise immune systems solutions powered by Bayesian mathematics and machine learning. Backed by Summit Partners, SoftBank, KKR, Hoxton Ventures, Talis Capital, Invoke Capital, Ten Eleven Ventures, Isomer Capital.
Cylance (2012, Irvine, $177M) – Next generation antivirus, Cylance Protect which combines pre-detection, machine learning, and secure design lifecycle solutions. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Fairhaven Capital Partners, Blackstone Group, Dell Ventures, Capital One Financial Corp, DFJ Growth.

Enterprise – Marketing
Bloomreach (2009, Mountain View, $97M) – Customer Analytics and site optimisation Intelligence Platform based on machine learning. Backed by Bain Capital Ventures, Chris P.C., New Enterprise Associates, Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Persado (2012, NYC, $66M) – Provides machine learning based Marketing Optimization platform. Backed by American Express, Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital Ventures, Citi, Eastward Capital Partners, StarVest Partners, TLcom Capital.

Enterprise – Sales
InsideSales (2004, Provo, $251M) – Predictive and Prescriptive self-learning cloud-based platform for sales lead management. Backed by Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, US Venture Partners, Zetta Venture Partners, EPIC Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Polaris Partners, Salesforce, Microsoft.
EverString (2012, San Mateo, $79M) – Predictive analytics platform which helps B2B companies to identify and engage sales leads and new clients. Backed by Danhua Capital, IDG Capital Partners, and others.

Applications – Industry
Industry – Healthcare & Pharma
Modernizing Medicine (2010, Boca Raton, $329M) – Provides machine learning enabled electronic health records (EHR) system. Backed by IBM, Summit Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, Warburg Pincus, Pentland, Sands Capital, Sands Capital Ventures.
iCarbonX (2015, Shenzhen, $215M) – Platform to analyze omic data. Backed by Tencent, China Bridge Capital, Zhongyuan Union Stem Cell Bioengineering.

Industry – Fintech
Kreditech (2012, Hamburg, $281M) –  Provides machine learning enabled alternative lending solutions. Backed by IFC, Kreos Capital, Rakuten, Point Nine Capital, Amadeus Capital, Blumberg Capital, Victory Park Capital, Global Founders Capital, J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC, Global Founders Capital, Varde Partners, HPE Growth Capital, PayUbiz, Digital Pioneers.
PayEgis (2011, Suzhou, $165M) – Provides AI enabled fraud and risk management solutions. Backed by China Equity Group.

Industry – Transport
Zoox (2013, Menlo Park, $290M) – Stealth mode robo taxi startup. Backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Lux Capital, Blackbird Ventures, AID Partners.
Cruise Automation (2013, SF, $18M, Acq.) – Developing advanced driver assistance systems(ADAS). Backed by Y Combinator, Qualcomm Ventures, Spark Capital, Felicis Ventures, Signia Venture Partners, Draper Associates, Homebrew, Maven Ventures, Draper Associates. Acquired by General Motors for $1B in 2016.

Industry – Retail & eCommerce
Trax Retail (2010, Tel Aviv, $148M) – Provides image recognition application for retail analytics. Backed by Investec.
Blippar (2011, London, $99M) – Provide image recognition and augmented reality technology for retail industry. Backed by Qualcomm Ventures, Lansdowne Partners, Khazanah Nasional.

Industry – Advertising
RocketFuel (2008, Redwood City, IPO) – Programmatic media-buying platform that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to predict the right time for placement of an ad.  Backed by Mohr Davidow Ventures, Labrador Ventures, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, DLA Piper, MF Capital, Nokia Growth Partners, Northgate Capital, Summit Partners, Cross Creek Capital, Comerica Bank. IPO in 2013.
QuantCast (2006, SF, $62M) – Provides a data intelligence platform, utilizing big data and machine learning to provide advertising solutions. Backed by Founders Fund, Glynn Capital Management, Polaris Partners, and others.

Industry – Education
Knewton (2008, NYC, $157M) – Adaptive learning technology provider for personalized learning. Backed by Accel Partners, First Round Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, Founders Fund, Pearson, Atomico, GSV Capital, Silicon Valley Bank.
Declara (2012, Palo Alto, $30M) – Social learning platform which connects people to a large amount of content using machine learning algorithms. Backed by Founders Fund, Data Collective, EDB Investments.

Industry – Agriculture
The Climate Corporation (2006, SF, $109M, Acq.) – Integrated platform providing hardware and software for farm and weather data analytics. Backed by Founders Fund, Google Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, CODE Advisors, Allen & Company, Anthemis Group, Felicis Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Joshua Schachter, Howard Morgan, Index Ventures. Acquired by Monsanto for $930M in 2013.
BlueRiverTechnologies (2011, Sunnyvale, $30M) – Provides hardware which uses computer vision and robotics in fields for yield optimization, elimination of weeds and unwanted plants. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Data Collective, Stanford A&E, Ulu Ventures.

Industry – Legal
FiscalNote (2013, Washington D.C., $28M) – Real-time government regulations analysis platform. Backed by NEA, AME Cloud Ventures, University of Maryland, Dorm Room Fund, Plug, and Play Tech Center, Middleland Capital, Winklevoss Capital, Renren, Conversion Capital, GIC, Green Visor Capital, Visionnaire Ventures, 645 Ventures, SF Capital, Fresh, QueensBridge Venture Partners, Perle Ventures, Enspire Capital.
Casetext (2013, Palo Alto, $21M) – Provides AI enabled legal research platform. Backed by Y Combinator, SV Angel, Union Square Ventures, Crosslink Capital, A-Grade Investments, Formation 8, Susa Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Red Sea Ventures, BoxGroup, 8VC.

Applications – Consumer
Consumer – Virtual Assistant
Viv Labs (2012, San Jose, $30M, Acq.) – Developing advanced conversational interfaces and assistants. Backed by Horizons Ventures, Pritzker Group, Iconiq Capital, the OS Fund. Acquired by Samsung in 2013.
Siri (2007, San Jose, $24M, Acq.) – Intelligent virtual assistant that has a natural language interface to answer questions, make recommendations and perform actions by delegating requests to web services. Backed by Morgenthaler Ventures, Menlo Ventures, SRI International, Horizons Ventures. Acquired by Apple in 2010.

Consumer – Intelligent Devices
Roobo (2014, Beijing, $100M) – Develops intelligent robots, VR and UAVs. Backed by iFLYTEK.
Jibo (2012, Boston, $68M) – Develops intelligent social robot. Backed by Charles River Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, RRE Ventures, Fenox Venture Capital, Fairhaven Capital, Formation 8, Osage Partners, Acer, KDDI Corporation, LG U Plus, Samsung Venture Investment, Global Brain, Netposa Technologies, Dentsu Ventures.

Consumer –  Recommender Systems
SwiftKey (2008, London, $21M, Acq.) – Provides predictive keyboard application for mobile. Backed by Accel Partners, Index Ventures, Octopus Ventures, Cambridge Capital Group, Octopus Investments. Acquired by Microsoft in 2016 in $250M.
Notion (2014, Ann Arbor, $10M) – Mobile application for eMail Inbox optimization for iOS and Android. Backed by Accel Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Drive Capital.

Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest updates visit Artificial Intelligence feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Helpkey (2017, Delhi), AI-based customer support automation platform. Founders are ex – The Van and Man, BCG, Opera Solutions, and alumni IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi and University of Oxford. Local comparables include RaceTrack (2015, Bangalore, $600k) and Vernacular.ai (2016, Bangalore, undisclosed). Global comparable includes Nextit (2002, Spokane, $8.75M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

MindoLife (2014, Haifa), a secured device connectivity IOT platform, raises $20M in undisclosed round of funding from India’s SAR Group. Link

RentoMojo (2014, Bangalore), online rental platform, raises $10M in Series B round of funding from Bain Capital Ventures, Renaud Laplanche with participation from Accel Partners and IDG Ventures. Link

Ambee (2016, Hyderabad), aggregator of ambulance, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Uber, anAmaya Capital and others. Link

Artivatic.ai (2016, Bangalore), developer of AI enabled platforms and OS for business intelligence, raises an undisclosed amount in Angel round of funding from Spark10 Accelerator. Link

Grabonrent (2015, Bangalore), online horizontal rental marketplace, raises an undisclosed amount in Series A round of funding from IvyCap Ventures and Unicorn India Ventures. Link

CureFit (2016, Bangalore), integrated health and fitness platform, acquires a1000yoga (2011, Bangalore), a chain of yoga studios, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Nasscom (1988, Delhi), industry association for the IT-BPO sector, BlockSmiths (2014, Dublin), blockchain & DLT  professional services and consulting provider, & Quatrro (2006, Gurgaon), F&A , HR, content, data management, mortgage services provider, partner to form Blockchain SIG. Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), online horizontal marketplace, is running a pilot project for grocery delivery in Bangalore. Link

Nubia (2012, Shenzhen), private label smartphone brand, has earmarked $100M for manufacturing in India. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

NewStore (2015, Boston), omni-channel platform provider with fulfillment and customer engagement services, raises $50M in Series B round of funding led by Activant Capital, with participation from General Catalyst and Stephan Schambach. Link

Artsy (2009, NYC), curated art marketplace, raises $50M in Series D round of funding led by Avenir Growth Capital with participation from L Catterton, Thrive Capital, Shumway Capital and leaders in art and others. Link

Menlo Therapeutics (2014, Menlo Park), clinical stage company focused on the developing serlopitant drugs, raises $50M in Series C round of funding led by venBio with participation from Novo Holdings A/S, Rock Springs Capital, Aisling Capital, and Bay City Capital and others. Link

Silk Road Medical (2007, Sunnyvale), developer of neuro protection devices and stents for transcarotid artery revascularization procedure for carotid artery disease, raises $47M in undisclosed round of funding led by Norwest Venture Partners, Janus Capital Management LLC, with participation from Warburg Pincus, The Vertical Group, and CRG. Link

FreshBooks (2003, Toronto), SaaS based accounting applications for SMBs, raises $43M in Series B round of funding led by Georgian Partners with participation from Accomplice and Oak Investment Partners. Link

SpotHero (2011, Chicago), mobile app for parking reservations, raises $30M in Series C round of funding led by Insight Venture Partners and Global Founders Capital with participation from Autotech Ventures, OCA Ventures, Chicago Ventures, Levy Family Partners, Bullpen Capital and others. Link

Alation (2012, California), a provider of an enterprise collaborative data platform, raises $23M in Series B round of funding led by Icon Ventures with participation from Harmony Partners, Costanoa Ventures and Data Collective. Link

Privitar (2015, London), data privacy engineering solution provider, raises $16M in Series A round of funding led by Partech Ventures with participation from CME Ventures and Salesforce Ventures and IQ Capital, 24Haymarket and Illuminate Financial. Link

Workato (2013, Cupertino), cloud-based business workflow integration platform, raises $10M in Series A round of funding led by Storm Ventures with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Workday Ventures. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – INVESTMENT TECH

• Futu5, a Hong Kong-based online trading services platform for investments in securities, raises $146M in Series C round from Tencent, Sequoia Capital, and Matrix Partners China. Link
• Addepar, a portfolio tracker for investors and advisors, raises $140M in Series D round from Valor Equity Partners, 8VC, and QuantRes. Link
• Cadre, a real estate investment platform, raises $65M in Series C round from Andreessen Horowitz, Ford Foundation, General Catalyst Partners, Goldman Sachs, Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, and Jim Breyer. Link
• Broadway Technology, a provider of high-performance financial trading solutions, raises $42M in PE round led by Long Ridge Equity Partners. Link
• Additiv, a Zurich-based digital solution provider for FIs and banks, raises $21.3M in Series B round from BZ Bank, and Patinex. Link
• Euronext, a European stock exchange, acquires 90% stake in FastMatch, an electronic communication network for foreign exchange trading providers, for $153M. Link
• SEI, a wealth management solutions for institutional investors, acquires Archway, a provider of portfolio management solution, for an undisclosed amount. Link
• Addepar, a portfolio tracker for investors and advisors, acquires AltX, a data analytics and monitoring platform for hedge fund investments, for an undisclosed amount. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Yedup (Seed, Belfast, 2016) – Yedup offers a social media analytics based platform which analyses social media posts, extracting investor and consumer views about financial services, companies, and industries.
AlgoHybrid (null, Singapore, 2017) – AlgoHybrid is a technology provider as well as an advanced hedge fund that develops neural technologies to recognize patterns in trading conditions, recognize which trading strategies are most profitable in these conditions and self-learn from past experience.

LEADER BOARD – INVESTMENT TECH

Securities Trading – Trading Platforms
Futu5 (2010, HongKong, $215.5M) – Online stock trading platform. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, and Tencent.
Robinhood (2012, Palo Alto, $176M) – Zero commission stock trading app. Backed by  Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, Index Ventures, Thrive Capital, GV, DST Global, Rothenberg Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Greenoaks, Machine Shop, Susa Ventures, Slow Ventures, Draper Associates, QueensBridge Venture Partners, Social Leverage, LocalGlobe, IT Ventures, NeoTribe Ventures.
Oanda (1995, SF, $117M) – Internet-based forex trading and currency information services. Backed by Index Ventures, Next Generation Finance Invest, Cascade Investment Group, Legg Mason Group, New Enterprise Associates, Armada Investment and T. Rowe Price Associates.

Securities Trading – Thematic Investing
Motif Investing (2010, San Mateo, $126M) – Online flat-fee brokerage offering theme-based investing. Backed by Renren, JPMorgan Chase, Foundation Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs, Ignition Partners and Balderton Capital.
Spaceship (2016, Sydney, $19.5M) – Tech-based Super Fund. Backed by Sequoia Capital, NEA, Horizons Ventures and Peter Thiel

Securities Trading – Social Trading
eToro (2007, Tel Aviv, $73M) – Social trading and investment marketplace. Backed by Spark Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Social Leverage, SBT Venture Capital, Venture 51, BRM Capital, Anthemis Group, iAngels, Social Leverage, Ping An Ventures, and Commerz Ventures.
Ayondo (2008, London, $19.8M) – Social trading platform. Backed by Next Generation Finance Invest, German Startups Group, SevenVentures, Luminor Capital.

Mid and Back Office Solutions – Practice Management
InvestCloud (2010, Beverly Hills, $78.7M) – Cloud-based investment management solutions provider. Backed by Altos Ventures, Kern Whelan Capital, FTV Capital, Polaris Capital.
Advisor Engine (2014, New York, $29.3M) – Wealth management platform for financial advisors. Backed by WisdomTree.

Mid and Back Office Solutions – Portfolio Management
Addepar (2009, Mountain View, $205.8M) – Portfolio tracker for investors and advisors. Backed by Thrive Capital, ff Venture Capital, Western Technology Investment, Blumberg Capital, Formation 8, SGVC, Signature Capital, Accelerate IT Advisors, Burch Creative Capital, Exit13, Valor Equity Partners, Pejman Mar Ventures, Accelerate-IT Ventures, Zarco Investment Group, Streamlined Ventures, ASBC, Cota Capital, 8VC, Sway Ventures, and Peter Thiel.
PerTrac (1996, New York, $63M) – Portfolio Analytics and reporting software. Backed by Insight Venture Partners. Acquired by eVestment in Nov 2012.

Mid and Back Office Solutions – Trade Management
Celoxica (1996, London, $67.8M) – Trading and market data analytics solutions provider. Backed by Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Intel Capital, Advent Venture Partners, Beringea, Invesco, Herald Investment Management, Albion Ventures, Oxford Capital, Xilinx, Legal & General, Quest Capital, HU Investments, Cazenove, Spark Venture Management.
Vela Trading Technologies (2007, NYC, $53M) – High-frequency trading technology and market data provider. Backed by Insight Venture Partners.

Mid and Back Office Solutions – Risk and Compliance
MetricStream (1999, Palo Alto, $150M) – Business governance and compliance software provider. Backed by Goldman Sachs, KPCB, Integral Capital Partners, Gold Hill Capital, Sageview Capital, Saints Capital, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Blade Ventures, Montage Capital and The Camelot Group.
OpenGamma (2009, London, $40.3M) – SaaS-based solutions for derivatives risk analytics. Backed by Accel Partners, FirstMark Capital, Euclid Opportunities, ICAP, Japan Exchange Group, Illuminate Financial.

Private Market Investing – Investment Platforms
Cadre (2014, NYC, $133.3M) – Real estate investment platform. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, General Catalyst Partners, Khosla Ventures, Ford Foundation, S L Realty, Goldman Sachs and Thrive Capital.
OurCrowd (2012, Jerusalem, $112.5M) – Equity crowdfunding platform for Israeli startups. Backed by United Overseas Bank.
Fantex (2012, SF, $110M) – Platform to buy and sell investments tied to the cash flows of professional athletes. Backed by Benchmark Capital and Kita Capital.

Financial Data & Research – Securities & Trading Data
Bloomberg (1981, NYC) – Privately held financial software, data and media company. Offers a terminal to its clients to perform various analytical queries.
FactSet (1978, Norwalk, Public) – Financial information and analytical applications provider to global buy-side and sell-side professionals. Aggregates content from various third-party content providers. Went public in 2014.
Thomson Reuters (1851, NYC, Public) – A multinational media, information (financial, legal etc.) and analytical solutions provider. Went Public in 2008.

Financial Data & Research – Research Platforms
Dataminr (2009, NYC, $175.4M) – Financial research platform, employing AI to analyze social media. Backed by Fidelity Investments, WorldQuant, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Institutional Venture Partners, Venrock, GSV Capital, Glynn Capital, Expansion Venture Capital, Deep Fork Capital, Adorable Foxie, Conversion Capital, Wellington Management, Wharton Equity, BoxGroup.
Kensho (2010, Cambridge, $108M) – An AI-based news analysis and market research platform which combines cloud computing with graphical user interfaces and natural language querying capabilities. Backed by Accel Partners, NEA, Goldman Sachs, General Catalyst Partners, Google Ventures, Promus Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Breyer Capital, Work-Bench, Xfund, Social Leverage, F-Prime Capital Partners.

Financial Data & Research – Private Companies Data
CrunchBase (2007, San Francisco, $20M) – Startups database service. Backed by Salesforce, SV Angel, Mayfield, Emergence Capital, Felicis Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Austin Ventures, 8VC 
Pitchbook (2008, Seattle, $14M) – M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions database. Acquired by Morningstar for $225M in Dec, 2016.
CB Insights (2009, NYC, $10M) – Data-as-a-service firm offering market intelligence on private companies. Backed by National Science Foundation, Rosemont Seneca Partners, FinTech Innovation Lab.
Tracxn (2013, Bangalore, $3.7M) – Market intelligence platform for Private Market Investing. Backed by Accel Partners, SAIF Partners, Beenext, Venture Highway and various Angel Investors.

Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Wudi (2017, Kozhikode), AI based data mining and reporting solution. Founders are ex – SunTech, Favalley, and alumni of NIT Calicut, IIM Kozhikode and University of Cambridge. Local comparables include vPhrase (2015, Mumbai, Undisclosed) and Cuddle (2016, Mumbai). Global comparables include Inforay (2011, Leusden, $30M) and Klipfolio (2001, Ottawa, $19.4M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Trupay (2015, Gurgaon), UPI-based money transfer and payments service provider, raises $700k in undisclosed round of funding from Kae Capital and others. Link

PlayAblo (2015, Bangalore), gamified learning app for K-12 Maths & English, raises $600k in undisclosed round of funding from ABI-Showatech. Link

RainCan (2014, Pune), online subscription for daily need groceries, raises $271k in Angel round of funding led by Prabodh Agarwal and Dr. Aniruddha Malpani. Link

AirCTO (2015, Bangalore), cloud-based recruitment platform, raises an undisclosed amount in Angel round of funding from Francesco Cara. Link

Flytta (2016, Chennai), online marketplace for relocation service providers, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Corvus Ventures. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Nauto (2015, Palo Alto), driver monitoring & collision avoidance system using smartphone, raises $159M in Series B round of funding led by SoftBank Group Corp. and Greylock Partners with participation from BMW iVentures, General Motors Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures, Playground Global and others. Link

Brain Corp (2012, San Diego), a software technology company specializing in the development of intelligent and autonomous systems, raises $114M in Series C round of funding led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures. Link

Shift (2013, SF), online marketplace for buying and selling of used cars, raises $38M in Series C round of funding led by BMW iVentures, with participation from DCM Ventures, G2VP, DFJ, Highland Capital, and Goldman Sachs Investment Partners. Link

Particle (2012, SF), prototype to production connectivity platform for Internet of Things, raises $20M in Series B round of funding led by Spark Capital, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures and others. Link

Karmic (2014, SF), SaaS based platform to manage cash flow and expenses for a business, raises $17.2M in Series B round of funding from Alsop Louie Partners, Arbor Ventures, Greycroft, Marketplace Funds, Startup Capital Ventures and others. Link

Gravie (2013, Minneapolis), health insurance marketplace, raises $14.1M in Series C round of funding led by new investor GE Ventures with participation from FirstMark Capital, Aberdare Ventures and Split Rock Partners. Link

StackRox (2014, Mountain View), adaptive threat protection solution for containers, raises $14M in undisclosed round of funding led by Sequoia Capital. Link

Molekule (2014, SF), developer of molecular air purifier, raises $10.1M in Series A round of funding led by Crosslink Capital with participation from SoftTech VC, Translink Capital and Foxconn. Link

Kahoot! (2012, Oslo), game-based learning platform, raises $10M in Series A round of funding led by new private investors from Norway, with participation from Microsoft Ventures, Creandum and Northzone. Link

WM Partners, a Florida- based private equity firm, raises First Private Equity Fund, at over $307M. Link

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – HR TECH

• TalentMobility, a provider of talent mobility and employee reclocation management platform raises $48M Series C funding from NEA, Notion Capital and Future Fund – Link
• Catalant, an online marketplace of expert consultants for companies raised $41M in a round co-led by Highland Capital Partners & General Catalyst Partners along with participation from Greylock Ventures, GE Ventures and a group of Angels – Link
• Payfit, a cloud-based payroll management system for SMBs raised $16M Series B led by Accel Partners along with participation from Xavier Niel & Otium Ventures – Link
• Gravie, an online health insurance marketplace for employees raised $14.1M Series C led by GE Ventures along with participation from FirstMark Capital, Aberdare Ventures and Split Rock Partners – Link
• Impact Health, an online platform for employees to compare health insurance & get suggestions raised $13M Series A from Techstars and Foundry Group – Link
• Expert360, online marketplace of expert consultants for corporates raised $13M Series B led by Airtree Ventures – Link
• OnboardIQ, a cloud-based talent acquisition platform for contingent workforce raised $9.1M Series A led by Origin Ventures along with participation from SoftTech VC, Crosslink Capital and Y Combinator – Link 
• Perkbox, a cloud-based employee perks management platform raised $8.6M in a round led by Draper Espirit – Link
• Harver, a skill-based candidate shortlisting platform for businesses raised $8.1M Series A led by Insight Venture Partners – Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

CompIQ (2016,NYC) – offers a cloud-based compensation management & analytics platform.

LEADER BOARD – HR TECH

HR Management Systems
Workday (2005, Pleasanton, IPO) – Cloud-based human resources, payroll and financial management suite. Went public in 2012.
Cornerstone OnDemand (1999, Santa Monica, IPO) – SaaS learning and talent management solution. Went public in 2011.
Zenefits (2013, SF, $584M) – Online payroll, benefits, HR and compliance management solutions. Backed by Fidelity, Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator and Khosla Ventures.
Silkroad (2003, Chicago, $192M) – Cloud-based solutions for recruiting, talent management, benefits and analytics. Backed by Azure Capital, Crosslink Capital and Foundation Capital.
Namely (2012, NYC, $158M) – Cloud-based HR, Payroll, and benefits management solution. Backed by Sequoia, Matrix Partners, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and True Ventures.

HRMS – Performance Management
Badgeville (2010, Redwood City, Acq.) – Enterprise gamification solutions for clients and employees. Backed by InterWest Partners, Northwest Venture Partners, El Dorado Ventures and Trinity Ventures.
Betterworks (2013, Palo Alto, $45.5M) – Cloud-based goal setting, tracking and performance management. Backed by KPCB,8VC and FF Venture Capital.

HRMS – Performance Management – Employee Engagement
Guidespark (2008, Menlo Park, $42M) – HR communication tool for employee engagement. Backed by NEA, Storm Ventures and IDG Ventures.
Rewardgateway (2006, London, Acq.) – Cloud-based employee engagement platform. Acquired by International Benefits Holding in 2010.

HRMS – Payroll
Paylocity (1997, Arlington Heights, IPO) – Cloud-based Payroll and Human Capital Management software. Went public in 2014.
Justworks (2012, NY, $53M) –    Cloud-based payroll and benefits management solution. Backed by Redpoint Ventures, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Thrive Capital, Bain Capital, Daring Journey Ventures, LocalGlobe.

HRMS – Benefits Management
CastlightHealth (2008, SF, IPO) – Employee healthcare management solutions. Went public in 2014.
Collective Health (2013, San Mateo, $119M) – Self-insurance SaaS platforms. Backed by Google Ventures, NEA, Founders Fund, Red Point Ventures, Maverick Capital, Formation 8 and RRE ventures.
Plansource (2002, Orlando, Acq.) – Cloud-based benefits management and HR solutions. Backed by Great Hill Partners and Lemhi Ventures. Acquired by CoAdvantage in 2008.

HRMS – Workforce Analytics
Visier (2010, Vancouver, $94.5M) – SaaS workforce analytics and planning. Backed by Adam Street Partners, Foundation Capital and Summit Partners.
Evolv (2007, SF, $42M, Acq.) – SaaS workforce performance analytics. Acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand in 2014.

HRMS – ATS Suite
Greenhouse (2012, NYC, $61M) – ATS for recruitment teams. Backed by Benchmark, Felicis, Lumia, Thrive and Social Capital.
Jobvite (2003, San Mateo, $55.5M) – SaaS platform for social recruiting, sourcing and talent acquisition. Backed by CMEA Capital, ATA Ventures and Trident Capital.
SmartRecruiters (2010, SF, $55M) – Cloud-based ATS and hiring platform. Backed by Insight Partners, Mayfield Fund, Salesforce and Rembrandt Venture Capital.

HRMS- ATS – Assessment
Hirevue (2004, South Jordan, $97M) – Web-based video interviewing platform. Backed by Sequoia, Granite Ventures, Investor Growth Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures.
HackerRank (2009, Bangalore, $20M) – SaaS platform to administer coding challenges. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Battery Ventures, SV Angels, YCombinator and ZenShin Capital.

Sourcing
Monster (1994, NYC, Acq.) – Job board and Online Career centre connecting recruiters with potential candidates. Went public in 1996.
Naukri (1997, Noida, IPO) – Career listing and job search portal. Part of Info Edge. Went public in 2006.
Glassdoor (2007, California, $201.5M) – Anonymous employee reviews and job search portal. Backed by Tiger Global, Google capital, Battery Ventures, Sutter Hill Investments and DAG Ventures.
Snagajob (1999, Glen Allen, $149M) – Job-board of hourly employment jobs. Backed by Rho Capital Partner, New Spring Capital, Invus, August Capital, Adam Street Partners, Baird Venture Partners and Croft & Bender.
Hired (2012, SF, $103M) – Pre-assessed technical hiring platform. Backed by Sherpa Capital, Lumia Capital, Google Ventures, NEA, SoftTech VC, Glenmede Trust, Ontario Pension Board and Sierra Ventures.
Jobandtalent (2009, Madrid, $86M) – Job-board that connects candidates to job opportunities. Backed by Kibo Ventures, Qualitas Equity Partners and FJME Ventures.
ZipRecruiter (2010, Santa Monica, $63M) – Web-based, job-board distribution platform. Backed by IndustryVentures, Institutional Venture Partners and Basepoint Ventures.
HunterOn (2012,Shanghai, $60M) – Platform that connects company recruiters with headhunters. Backed by Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital Partners, UOB Venture Management and China Growth Capital.

Contingent Workforce Management
Peoplematter (2009, Charleston, Acq.) – SaaS workforce management suite. Backed by StarVest Partners, Scale Ventures Partners and Harbert Venture Partners.
WorkForce Software (1999, Livonia, $32.48M)- Cloud-based workforce management solutions. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, Triangle Capital, ORIX, K1 Investment Management.

Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest updates visit HR Tech feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally 

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ENTERPRISE SECURITY

• AI-based endpoint security provider, Cybereason raised $100M in the Series D round led by Softbank. Link
• Cloud-based security & log analytics company, SumoLogic raised $75M in the Series F round led by Sapphire Ventures. Link
• Machine-learning based insider threat detection company, Darktrace raised $75M in the Series D round led by Insight Venture Partners. Link
• Managed cloud security provider, Alert Logic received a syndicated credit facility of $70M from the Square 1 Bank. Link
• Digital risk monitoring company, ZeroFOX raised $40M in the Series C round co-led by Redline Capital and Silver Lake Waterman. Link
• Cloud security company, HyTrust raised $36M in the Series F round led by Advance Venture Partners. Link
• Machine learning-based e-commerce fraud prevention provider, Riskified raised $33M in the Series C round led by Pitango Growth. Link
• SparkCognition, a predictive cyber security & operational anomaly analytics company received $32.5M in the Series B round led by Verizon Ventures. Link
• Deep learning-based endpoint & mobile device security company, DeepInstinct raised $32M in the Series B round led by CNTP. Link
• Security analytics company, Awake Networks came out of stealth mode announcing its total funding of $31.2M from Greylock and Bain Capital Ventures. Link
• Cloud-based IAM solution provider, Auth0 raised $30M in the Series C round led by Meritech Capital Partners. Link
• Traffic analytics & sandboxing based network security provider, Lastline raised $28.5M in the Series C round led by Thomvest Ventures. Link
• FlashPoint, a dark net monitoring based threat intelligence provider raised $28M in the Series C round led by Georgian Partners. Link
• Cybersecurity technology & patent licensing & advisory company, Finjan raised $15.3M in a Series A-1 preferred stock financing led by Soryn HLDR. Link
• Container security startup, Stackrox raised $14M in the Series A round led by Sequoia Capital. Link
• Cyber incident response platform provider, Jask emerged from stealth mode along with Series A funding of $12M round led by Dell Technologies Capital. Link
• Email security provider, Votiro received a funding of $11.2M in the Series B round from Divergent Group and Redfield Asset Management. Link
• Corelight, a network intrusion prevention company raised $9.2M in the Series A round led by Accel Partners. Link
• Online digital authentication provider, Nok Nok Labs raised $8M in the Series D round led by Motorola Solutions Venture Capital. Link
• Anti-phishing intelligence provider, GreatHorn, raised $6.3M in the Series A round co-led by Techstars Venture Capital Fund and .406 Ventures. Link
• Mobile carrier anti-fraud company, Blockfraud raised $5M in the Series A funding round led by Palisades Venture Capital. Link
• RiskLens, a cyber risk & vulnerability assessment company raised $5M in the Series A round led by Osage Venture Partners. Link
• AimBrain, a behavioral biometrics based IAM provider raised $5.1M in the Series A round led by BGF Ventures. Link
• Secura Group acquired 20% stake by investing $4.5M in Custodio Technologies which is the IAI’s R&D center in Singapore. Link
• CloudPost Networks, an IoT security & risk management company raised $4M in the Series A round led by Wing VC. Link
• Security orchestration & analytics platform, Cyber Observer raised $3M in the Series A round led by Talis Capital. Link
• Quantum encryption based data security provider, QuintessenceLabs received a grant of $2.4M from the Australian Department of Defence. Link
• Elevate Security, a phishing awareness platform raised $2M in the Seed round co-led by Costanoa Ventures and Webb Investment Network. Link
• Upstream Security, a provider of cybersecurity platform for the connected car raised $2M in the Seed round led by Glilot Capital Partners. Link
• KiwSec, a mobile app management company raised $1.5M in the Seed funding round led by CBC Capital. Link
• Datiphy, a database security company received $1.5M in the debt financing from an undisclosed entity. Link
• Multi-factor authentication based IAM provider, SecureAuth received  $1M in financing from an undisclosed investor. Link
• Beauceron Security, an anti-phishing solution raised $500k in the Seed round co- led by East Valley Ventures and Mariner Partners. Link
• Website security platform, Chaitin raised an undisclosed funding in the Series A round led by Qiming Venture Capital. Link
• Mobile anti-malware solution provider, Inpedio raised an undisclosed funding from Israel Aerospace Industries. Link
• Sonatype acquired Vor Security for the open-source security vulnerability scanner against its indexed database in an undisclosed deal. Link
• Vision Solutions acquired Enforcive Systems, an IT security & compliance provider for IBM mainframe & iSeries platforms in an undisclosed deal. Link
• Symantec announced a definitive agreement to acquire the threat isolation based endpoint security provider Fireglass in an undisclosed deal. Link
• Symantec announced a definitive agreement to Skycure, a predictive & cloud-based mobile defense solution company in an undisclosed deal. Link
• Cisco announced its intent to acquire network monitoring & forensics company, Observable Net under undisclosed terms of the deal. Link
• Mastercard announced its intent to acquire Brighterion, a machine learning-based cross-channel fraud prevention, and data breach detection company. Link
• Cloud data security, visibility & classification provider, DataGravity acquired by the cloud infrastructure security company, HyTrust. Link
• Rapid7 acquired Komand, a security automation & orchestration provider in an undisclosed deal. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Topo AI (2017, Fort Myers) – Stealth mode AI-based spatial intelligence platform for cyber security.
IoTSploit (2017, Singapore) – Cloud-based vulnerability assessment platform for IoT applications.
BlockFraud (2017, Santa Monica) – Machine learning based anti-carrier billing fraud solution.

LEADER BOARD – ENTERPRISE SECURITY

Suite
Symantec (1982, Mountain View, IPO) – Enterprise security solution suite for enterprise & personal users. Went IPO in 1989.
Kaspersky (1997, Moscow, $200M) – Security solution suite for businesses and consumers, Backed by General Atlantic.
FireEye (2004, Milpitas, IPO) – Enterprise security solution for network, endpoint, mobile devices, email, and threat intelligence. Went IPO in 2013.

Network Security
Palo Alto Networks (2005, Santa Clara, IPO) – Advanced firewalls designed to provide network security, visibility and granular control of network activity. Went IPO in 2012.
Barracuda Networks (2002, Campbell, IPO) – Appliance based network threat detection solutions. Went IPO in 2013.
Zscaler (2008, San Jose, $148M) – Network traffic analysis for application profiling and cloud security. Backed by LSVP, Google Capital, TPG, EMC.

BYOD Security
Blackberry (1984, Waterloo, IPO) – Enterprise Mobility Management suite company. Went IPO in 1999.
Good Technology (1996, Sunnyvale, $522M, Acq.) – Enterprise mobility & security solution. Acquired by Blackberry in 2015.
Lookout (2007, SF, $284M) – Mobile security against zero-day threats. Backed by Accel, A16Z, Greylock.
Airwatch (2003, Atlanta, $225M, Acq.) – Enterprise mobility management & security for BYOD. Acquired by Vmware in 2014.

Endpoint Security
Tanium (2007, Berkeley, $401.5M) – Helps manage and secure enterprise endpoints. Backed by A16Z, TPG, IVP, Franklin Templeton.
Crowdstrike (2011, Irvine, $256M) – Cloud and machine-learning based endpoint security platform. Backed by Accel Partners, Rackspace, Telstra, CaiptalG.
AVG (1991, Amsterdam, Acq.) – Anti-virus solution on endpoint devices for online security. Acquired by Avast in 2016.

Cloud Security
Illumio (2013, Sunnyvale, $267M) – Visibility and control over workloads running in any data center. Backed by Accel, A16Z.
Netskope (2012, Los Altos, $231M) – Cloud access security broker solution for the enterprise. Backed by LSVP, Accel, Social+Capital Partnership, Iconic Capital.
Armor Defense (2009, Richardson, $149M) – Cloud infrastructure security & secure cloud hosting service. Backed by The Stephens Group, Performance Edge Partners, Arizona Tech Investors.

Application Security
Veracode (2006, Burlington, $114.5M, Acq.) – Automated static, dynamic and mobile application security testing service. Acquired by CA Technologies in 2017.
Checkmarx (2006, NYC, $98.5M) – Static code analysis tools to identify security vulnerabilities in uncompiled code. Backed by Insight Partners, Salesforce.
HackerOne (2012, SF, $74M) – Vulnerability Disclosure & internet security bug bounty programs. Backed by NEA, Benchmark Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group.

Identity & Access Management
Okta (2008, SF, IPO) – Secure identity management and single sign on. Went IPO in 2017.
Ping Identity (2002, Denver, $137M, Acq.) – Identity management solution for federated access to applications. Backed by DFJ, KKR. Acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2016.
Centrify (2004, Sunnyvale, $94M) – Unified identity management solutions for both privileged and end-users. Backed by Samsung Ventures, Docomo Capital, Accel, Mayfield.

Security Analytics
Tenable Networks (2002, Columbia, $310M) – Continuous network monitoring & vulnerability management solution. Backed by Accel & Insight Partners.
Sumo Logic (2010, Redwood City, $235.5M) – Cloud-based network log management and analytics. Backed by DFJ Growth, IVP, Sequoia, Accel, Greylock.
Darktrace (2013, Cambridge, $180.5M) – Machine learning based adaptive threat detection. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, Summit Partners, SoftBank, KKR, Hoxton Ventures.

Threat Intelligence
ZeroFox (2013, Baltimore, $88M) – External threat management and intelligence platform. Backed by Backed by NEA, Highland Capital Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, Silver Lake, Redline Capital.
LookingGlass Cyber (2006, Arlington, $77M) – Threat intelligence-based security & dynamic threat defense. Backed by New Spring Capital, Alsop Louie Partners, Vital Financial.
Prevalent (2004, Warren, $72M) – Partner cyber-risk management solution. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, Spring Mountain Capital, Fulcrum Equity Partners.

Data Security
SafeNet (1983, Belcamp, $139M, Acq.) – Encryption & Key Management based data security. Acquired by Gemalto in 2014.
Digital Guardian (2003, Waltham, $125M) – Endpoint data loss prevention solution. Backed by Fairhaven Capital, Mass Mutual, Siemens Finance.
Ionic Security (2011, Atlanta, $122M) – Centralized policy, encryption and control based data security. Backed by KPCB, Google Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Tech Operators, JAFCO, FF VC, Meritech Capital Partners.

Website Security
CloudFlare (2009, SF, $182M) – Security and performance solutions for websites using a collective intelligence of its network community. Backed by USV, NEA, Qualcomm Venture, MS Ventures, GV.
StackPath (2015, Dallas, $180M) – Cloud-based WAF, secure CDN & VPN service. Backed by ABRY Partners.
Shape Security (2011, Mountain View, $131M) – Website security by making subtle transmutation of underlying HTML page code of web pages, deceiving attackers. Backed by KPCB, GV, NVP.

Email Security
MimeCast (2003, London, IPO) – Saas based email security by re-routing and analyzing emails. Went IPO in 2015.
Proofpoint (2002, Sunnyvale, IPO) – Email security based on secure email gateways. Went IPO in 2012.

Anti-Fraud
Lifelock (2005, Tempe, $178M, Acq.) – Identity theft protection & payment fraud prevention. Acquired by Symantec in 2017.
Pindrop Security (2011, Atlanta, $122M) – Machine learning and multi-factor analysis based phone fraud detection and prevention. Backed by Google Capital, A16Z, IVP, Felicis.
Signifyd (2011, Palo Alto, $106M) – Cloud-based digital fraud & chargeback prevention solution. Backed by a16z, American Express, IA Ventures, Menlo Ventures.

Leader board includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest update, visit Enterprise Security feed

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting startups globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – FITNESS AND WELLNESS

• YogaWorks, a company providing offline and online yoga classes, has filed for an IPO in June 2017 to raise $67.5M. Link
• Peloton Cycle,  an online and app based marketplace for streaming of live bike fitness classes or booking of nearby classes, has raised $325M in a funding round led by Fidelity Investments, True Ventures, Wellington Management and Kleiner Perkins. Link
• ClassPass, a company providing membership program for fitness classes across multiple gyms and studios, has raised $70M in a funding round led by Temasek. Link
• Headspace, a mobile application offering guided meditation sessions and mindfulness training, has raised $37M in a funding round led by Spectrum Equity. Link
• Dream, a wearable device for tracking and improving the sleep quality of the user, has raised $9M in a funding round led by MAIF. Link
• Light+, a mobile app that provides fitness assistance, has raised $9M in a round led by Puhua Capital. Link
• Kenzen, a smart patch for health monitoring, has raised $5M in a round participated by Digitalis, Flex, the San Francisco 49ers, Hickory Ventures, Gaingels, and the Women’s Capital Connection. Link
• Motiv, a smart ring for health monitoring, has raised $4M from an undisclosed investor. Link
• Jawbone, a fitness wristband with an algorithm for activity and sleep tracking, has announced on that it is undergoing liquidation proceedings and is shutting down. Link
• Pact, a gamification-based smartphone app for fitness goal adherence, has shut down. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Runtopia (2016, Chengdu) – A GPS run tracker which enables users to track their outdoor fitness activities.
Sana (2016, England) –  A smart sleeping mask, to help people with sleeping and neurological disorders.

LEADER BOARD – FITNESS AND WELLNESS

Physical Fitness – Tracking & Monitoring
Fitbit (SF, 2007, IPO) – Wireless wearable sensors to track person’s activities. Went public in 2015.
Codoon (Chengdu, 2011, $90M) – Smart Wearables and fitness social network for users. Backed by Shenzhen Capital Group, SIG China, SBCVC, CITIC Capital, Focus Media, FountainVest Partners and Shanda Group.

Physical Fitness – Fitness Services
ClassPass  (NYC, 2011, $154M) – Membership programs for fitness classes across multiple gyms. Backed by SV Angel, Mayfield, Charles River Ventures and 18 other investors.
Quancheng Relian (Beijing, 2014, $17M) – O2O mobile app for booking of gyms and fitness centers with subscription passes. Backed by Legend Capital and Matrix Partners China.
KFit (Kuala Lumpur, 2015, $15M) – Membership pass for various gyms and fitness studios. Backed by   Sequoia Capital, 500 Startups, SIG, Mavcap, Asia Venture Group, SXE Ventures, InnoVen Capital, SEGNEL Ventures, Intres Capital, and Venturra Capital.

Physical Fitness – Training & Planning
Keep (Beijing, 2014, $37.5M) – Video-based workout guide and progress monitoring tool. Backed by GGV Capital, Morningside Group, Ventech China, and Bertelsmann Asia Investment Fund.
Hotbody (Beijing, 2014, $27M) – Fitness community and an app to remotely consult professional coaches. Backed by Hupu, Meridian Capital China, Greenwoods Investments and The Arena Capital.
Grokker (San Jose, 2012, $22.5M) – On-demand fitness, yoga, meditation, and healthy cooking videos. Backed by First Round Capital, SV Angel, Khosla Ventures, Correlation Ventures, InterWest Partners, Comcast Venture and Aspect Ventures.

Physical Fitness – Exercising Solutions
Peloton Cycle (NYC, 2012, $444M) – Fitness bike with access to live and on-demand classes. Backed by Tugboat Ventures, Tiger Global Management, True Ventures, Grace Beauty, Brand Foundry Ventures, and Catterton.
Zwift (London, 2014, $45M) – Indoor cycling workouts with gamification. Backed by Shasta Ventures, COLOPL, Samchuly, Waypoint, and Novator Partners.
Interactive Fitness (Sunnyvale, 2009, $41M) – Bikes for indoor cycling with gamification. Backed by Silicon Valley Bank, Sierra Ventures, Physic Ventures and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital.

Physical Fitness – Social Platform
Strava (SF, 2009, $35M) – Strava is the social network for athletes. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Sigma Partners, Jackson Square Ventures and Go4It.
Joyrun (Guangzhou, 2014, $18M) – Social networking application for jogging. Backed by Innovation Works, Qihoo 360 and The Arena Capital.

Content Platforms
Healthination (NYC, 2005, $14M) – Health and wellness video provider. Backed by Intel Capital and MK Capital.
Greatist (NYC, 2011, $8M) – Digital media company publishing health & fitness content. Backed by  StartUp Health, Floodgate, Vayner RSE, and Riverpark Funds.

Tools for Fitness Professionals
Mindbody (San Luis Obispo, 2001, IPO) – Marketplace booking and business management SaaS for wellness centers. Went public in 2015.
Netpulse (SF, 2009, $52M) – Member engagement SaaS platform for fitness clubs. Backed by Javelin Venture Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, August Capital, Frontier Venture Capital, Bally Fitness, DOCOMO Innovations, Javelin Venture Partners, and DFJ Frontier.

Commerce
Nu3  (Berlin, 2011, $7M) – An online retail platform for health & fitness related products. Backed by Lakestar, Project A Ventures, Alternative Strategic Investments and Black River Ventures.

Mind & Body Wellness- Sleep Management
Sleep Number (Minneapolis, 1987, IPO) – Smart bed to track sleeping pattern. Went public in 1987.

Mind & Body Wellness – Stress Management
Happify (NYC, 2011, $14M) – Platform for improved mental & emotional health through gamification. Backed by Founder Collective, b-to-v Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, TA Ventures, and Bridge Builders Collaborative.

Mind & Body Wellness – Mindfulness & Meditation
Headspace (LA, 2010, $74M) – Guided meditation sessions and mindfulness training. Backed by Allen & Company, WME Entertainment, Advancit Capital, Broadway Video, Deerfield, Breyer Capital, and Refactor Capital.
Interaxon (Toronto, 2009, $18M) – Brain Sensing headband ‘Muse’ to help in meditation. Backed by Felicis Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Horizons Ventures, A-Grade Investments, OMERS Ventures, Build Ventures, Mindfull Investors, TownsgateMedia, and Flextronics Lab IX.

Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.

For latest updates, visit Fitness and Wellness feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

HealthOS (2017, Indore), provider of APIs for healthcare data. Founders also founded TrueMD and Greendeck, ex – Sprinklr, Credit Suisse,Qualcon, and alumni of BITS, Pilani.

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Reliance Jio (2012, Mumbai), telecom operator offering 4G services and mobile handsets, to raise $3.1B via rights issue. Link

Reliance Industries (1996, Mumbai), an Oil and Energy company, to invest $25M in Israeli startup incubator JII. Link

FableStreet (2015, Delhi), private lable premium work-wear brand for women, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Kanwaljit Singh, Harmeet Bajaj, Pameela P, Fusiontech Ventures and others. Link

Freshworks (2010, Chennai), cloud-based business management applications provider, acquires Joe Hukum (2015, Gurgaon), enterprise chatbot solutions for customer engagement, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Elanic (2014, Bangalore), mobile based P2P marketplace to buy and sell goods, acquires Secondcry (2016, Bangalore), second-hand kidswear listing platform, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Tata Group sells Advinus Therapeutics (2005, Bangalore), provider of integrated drug discovery, pharmaceutical & agro development services, to Eurofins Scientific (1987, Luxembourg), international group of laboratories providing analytical testing services, for an undisclosed amount. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Receipt Bank (2011, London), invoice data extraction software, raises $50M in Series B round of funding from Insight Venture Partners. Link

PebblePost (2014, NYC), online to offline marketing management and analytics platform, raises $47M in Series B round of funding led by RRE. Link

Amphora Medical (2011, Minneapolis), developer of radiofrequency ablation device for overactive bladder treatment, raises $35.5M in Series B round of funding led by Longitude Capital and Boston Scientific Corporation with participation from HBM Healthcare Investments, F-Prime Capital Partners and Baird Capital. Link

Graphcore (2016, Bristol), developer of IPU for enterprise AI applications, raises $30M in Series B round of funding led by Atomico with participation from Amadeus Capital, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, C4 Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital, Pitango and Samsung Catalyst Fund and others. Link

Lever (2012, SF), web-based recruitment platform, raises $30M in Series C round of funding led by Adams Street Partners, with participation from Matrix Partners and Scale Partners. Link

Cinq Music (2012, Santa Monica), independent record label, raises $20M in Series B round of funding from GoDigital Media Group. Link

Qumra Capital, Tel Aviv- based late stage capital provider, announces first closing of Second Growth Fund, at $115M. Link

In the enterprise collaboration space in 2016, stage wise round count soared from the previous year by 26% for early with seed rounds dipping by 33% as funding dollars surged for seed (23%) and late (34%) and for early fell by 15%.

The funding dollars trend across the stages, however, was not uniform-while funds increased by 34% in late and 23% in seed, it fell by 15% in early.

Average ticket size fell for both Series A and Series B investments by 63% and 17% respectively and rose by 11% for seed.

Top investments in this space till date include Fuze’s Series E round of $104M and Zoom’s Series D round of $100M. Y Combinator, Intel Capital, and 500 Startups emerged most active investors in this space as three companies have gone public till date since 2015.

16 acquisitions have marked this space with Aurea snapping up Jive Software for $462M being the biggest disclosed deal value.

Historically, enterprise communication has been the most funded business model ($3.6B) followed by file synchronization and sharing ($2B) with investments totaling $1.8B being invested in this space between 2016-17.

Note: You can download the full-version of this report here.

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Enterprise Collaboration

Drug delivery platforms and therapeutics under gastroenterology constituted large upcoming sectors in the medical devices landscape with restrictive treatments under obesity and hypertension under therapeutics forming niche upcoming sectors.

Total funding dollars rose by 44% in 2016 from previous year as stage wise, round count fell across the board-late by 12%, early by 17% and seed by a marginal 7%.

Funding dollars, however, showed a mixed trend across stages-for late and seed it soared by 10% and 104% respectively whereas for early, it fell marginally.

Verily’s PE round of $800M and Intarcia’s Series J round of $215M constituted top investments till date in this space as Western Technology Investment and NEA emerged most active investors in this sector.

By stage of entry, High-Tech Grunderfonds emerged top investor for seed, NEA for both Series A and B and JJDC for later stage.

16 companies have gone public since 2015 with 16 companies getting acquired among which Becton Dickinson snapping up C R Bard for $24B was the biggest disclosed value.

Companies offering cardiovascular solutions have historically been the most funded business model ($11B) followed by Orthopedics ($6.1B) with $7.5B being invested in the medical devices sector between 2016-17 YTD.

Note: You can download the part view of the report here. The full version of this report is available for our paid subscribers. Should you want to access the complete report and explore the Tracxn platform, drop us a note on bd@tracxn.com

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Medical Devices

Total funding dollars surged by a whopping 54% from the previous year in 2016 in the transport tech sector while round count dipped for seed and late stages by 20% and 25% respectively.

Stage wise, funding dollars surged by a huge 74% for late and 14% for seed as they fell for early stage by 29%.

Additionally, average ticket size fell by 17% for Series B and 64% for Series A investments as it increased by 44% for seed investments.

Didi Chuxing’s Series G round of $5.5B led by SoftBank in Apr-2017 and its Series F round of $4.5B in Jun-2016 constituted the top investments in this sector as 500 Startups, Fontinalis Partners and Sequoia Capital emerged most active investors. Three companies have gone public in this space till date with 16 acquisitions taking place among which Gett buying Juno for $200M was the biggest disclosed deal value.

Companies offering taxi solutions like Uber and Didi Chuxing has historically been the most funded business model ($37B) followed by motorized two wheelers ($1.7B). Dollars to the tune of $28B have been invested in this sector between 2016-17 YTD.

Note: You can download the part view of the report here. The full version of this report is available for our paid subscribers. Should you want to access the complete report and explore the Tracxn platform, drop us a note on bd@tracxn.com

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Transport Tech