Alternative lending under fintech, and intelligent devices under consumer formed niche upcoming sectors that attracted heavy funding in the artificial intelligence landscape.

As applications witnessed a 49% funding leap with a 16% increase in funding rounds, total funding dollars dipped for infrastructure from the previous year.

By stage, round count soared across the board for infrastructure-late (71%), early (34%) and seed (18%).

Whereas for applications, the round count trend was not uniform-for late and early it rose by 28% and 43% respectively as it fell marginally for seed.

The average ticket size trend for infrastructure was not uniform-for Series A investments, it declined by 10% and rose marginally for Series B and by 55% for seed investments.

In the infrastructure space, top investments in the past year include Mobvoi’s Series D round of $180M and SenseTime’s Series C round of  $120M whereas in applications, Modernizing Machine’s PE round of $231M and Zoox’s Series A round of $200M constituted top investments. Tech Stars emerged one among the top investors for both applications and infrastructure along with Intel Capital for infrastructure and Y Combinator for applications.

The infrastructure and applications space saw one and three companies respectively go public in the last three years as 16 acquisitions dotted the infrastructure and applications space each.

Enabling technologies under Infrastructure and natural language processing platforms have historically been the most investment friendly business models amassing $1.2B and $1B respectively till date in this landscape.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – AgriTech

• Plenty, a company producing leafy vegetables and fruits using indoor soil-less farms, raised $200M in series B round of funding led by Softbank Vision Fund with a participation from affiliates of Louis M. Bacon, the founder of Moore Capital Management and existing investors including Innovation Endeavors, Bezos Expeditions, DCM, Data Collective and Finistere Ventures. Link
• Swift Navigation, a provider of real time kinematics GPS receivers, raised $34M in series B round of funding led by Forest Baskett and Greg Papadopoulus of NEA, with a participation from First Round Capital and Eclipse VC. Link
• DFS168 (Shenzhen City Grain Network Technology Co. Ltd.), a marketplace for farming supplies raised $29M in series B round of funding from Orchid Asia Group, China Growth Capital and Matrix Partners China. Link
• NewLeaf Symbiotics, a developer of Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophs (PPFM) for faster plant growth raised $24M in series C round of funding led by Monsanto Growth Ventures and Otter Capital with a participation from Lewis & Clark Ventures, Rockport Capital, Pangaea Ventures, Open Prairie Ventures, and other investors. Link
• Conservis, a software developer for solo and multi owner operated farms, raised $9.5M of the planned $12M debt financing. Link
• Agricool, a developer of containerized vertical growing system for urban farming raised $9.1M in series B round of funding from Jacques-Antoine Granjon, Thibault Elziere as well as existing investors Henri Seydoux and Daphni. Link
• Jumbotail, a B2B marketplace for fresh produce raised $8.5M in series A round of funding from Kalaari and Nexus Venture Partners. Link
• BHSL, a poultry litter waste management machine manufacturer raised $7.9M in series B round of funding. Link
• Phytelligence, an agri biotech company for low cost culture technology and sequencing services raised $7M in series B round of funding from Washington Research Foundation and Cowles Company. Link
• Bowery Farming, developer of autonomous aeroponic cultivation systems raised $6.3M in series B round of funding led by First Round Capital with a participation from BoxGroup, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Tom Colicchio. Link
• Pine Biotech, a tech platform for biotech companies to integrate the omics data types and data analysis to provide insights raised $1M in seed round of funding. Link
• Growers, a provider of farm data collection and analysis services raised $1M in seed round of funding. Link
• Hargol FoodTech, a commercial farmer of edible insects raised $600k in seed round of funding from Sirius Venture Capital. Link
• Stellapps, a farm optimization and monitoring support solution provider raised undisclosed amount in series A round of funding from Blume Ventures, Venture Highway and Binny Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart. Link
• ArborGen, a breeding technology provider for forest crops was acquired by New Zealand based Rubicon for $29M. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Pheronym (2017, SF): Develops nematode pheromones for increasing their effectiveness against crop-attacking insects.
Boost Biomes (2017, Emeryville): Develops naturally occurring multi-microbe products for crop protection.

LEADER BOARD – AgriTech

Precision Ag
Farm Data and Analytics – Integrated Platforms
The Climate Corporation (2006, SF, $109M, Acq.) – Hardware and software solutions provider for hyper-local weather and farm data with predictive analysis for insurance products. Sold off its insurance business to AmTrust North America in July 2015. Acquired by Monsanto in 2013.
Farmers Edge (2005, Winnipeg, $44M) – Hardware and software solution provider for continuous monitoring of farm fields and predictive analysis for management decision support.

Farm Data and Analytics – Software Platforms
Farmers Business Network (2014, Davenport, $88M) – Precision agriculture solutions through big data analysis of data gathered from farmers and agriculture machinery. Backed by Kleiner Perkins, DBL Partners, and GV.

Field Operations
AutoAgronom (1988, Yokneam Illit, $180M) – Sensor based measurement of physical and chemical changes in root zone supplemented with computerized analysis and fuzzy control algorithms to automatically activate irrigation and fertilization.
Novariant (1994, Fremont, $60.5M) – Sensor based auto steering hardware solutions for GPS-based navigation through tablets. Backed by Sierra Ventures, Ridgewood Capital, Clearstone.
Blue River Tech (2011, Sunnyvale, $30M) – Develops automated technology solutions which use computer vision for identification and selective killing of unwanted weed. Backed by Khosla Ventures, DCVC, Innovation Endeavors, Pontifax Agtech.
Harvest Automation (2007, Billerica, $28M) – Developer of robotic machinery for farming operations. Backed by Founder Collective, Entree Capital, Cultivian, MassVentures.
Feedlogic (2002, Wilmar, $2M) – Automated feeding machines along with data recording platform for livestock farmers in the USA. Backed by unknown private investors.

BioTech
Farm Inputs – Seeds
Monsanto (1901, St. Louis, IPO) – Developer of genetically modified (GM) seedlings to mitigate risks associated with biotic and abiotic stresses in crops. Went public in 2000. Acquired by Bayer in 2016.
Syngenta (2000, Basel) – Developer of genetically modified crops and biological agrochemicals apart from engaging in genomic research.
DuPont Pioneer (1926, Des Moines) – Developer of hybrid (non-GM) and GM seeds to mitigate risks against insects, pests and other diseases.

Farm Inputs – Biologicals
Indigo (2013, Cambridge, $163.5M) – Earlier known as Symbiota, it is building technology for delivery of selective plant microbes through seed coatings.
AgBiome (2012, Raleigh, $52M) – Developer of biological agrochemicals for crop protection against soil-borne diseases. Backed by Gates Foundation, Monsanto Growth Ventures, Syngenta Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, UTIMCO, Polaris Partners, Pontifax Agtech, Harris+Harris Group.
Agrivida (2002, Medford, $61M) – Specially engineered enzymes for the nutrition of livestock animals. Backed by KPCB, Middleland Capital, ARCH Venture Partners, Cultivian, DAG Ventures, Bright Capital, Northgate, Prairie Gold.
Zymergen (2013, Emeryville, $174M) – Combination of synthetic biology and machine learning to engineer industry relevant microbes to manufacture chemicals and new materials. Backed by Softbank, Data Collective Venture Capital, True Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Iconiq Capital, DFJ, Innovation Endeavours, Two Sigma Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Tao Capital.

Infrastructure
Advanced Animal Diagnostics (2001, Morrisville, $36M) – Diagnostic infrastructure provider for real-time animal health monitoring through white blood cell levels in animals. Backed by Middleland Capital, Cultivian, Kansas Bioscience Authority, LabCorp, Intersouth Partners, Novartis Venture Fund.

Tech Platforms
Kaiima (2006, Lower Galilee, $91M) – Tech platform to enhance inherent productivity and resource usage efficiency in food and feed crops. Backed by KPCB, DFJ, Horizons Ventures, Tamir Fishman.

Waste Management
Cool Planet (2009, Camarillo, $143M) – Utilizes patented process to convert non-food biomass to gasoline and organic soil nutrients. Backed by Northbridge, UBS, Google Ventures, Energy Technology Ventures, Concord Energy, Sustainable Conversion Ventures, British Petroleum.
Wiserg (2010, Issaquah, $37M) – Devices to convert grocery waste into a nutrient rich liquid which can be used as fertilizer for agriculture.

Cellular Ag
Impossible Foods (2011, Redwood City, $183M) – Beef-substitute made from a protein called Heme extracted from plants. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures, UBS, Horizon Ventures, Viking Global.

Breeding Tech
Prairie Plant (1988, Saskatoon,$6.4M) – Plant breeding research to produce berry and other fruit plants for orchards. Backed by WestCap.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)
Oxitec (2002, Abingdon, $20M) – Develops genetically modified pests which act as anti-pests to suppress the population of disease-causing pests in crops. Backed by Oxford Capital, East Hill.

Farm Business Management
Field Crops – Field Management
Granular (2014, SF, $23M) – Farm management software for collection and analysis of data related to farm business processes and planning of resources. Backed by A16Z, Google Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Tao Capital, Fall Line Capital, Emory Investment Management.

Agribusiness
Cultivation – Algae
Sapphire Energy (2007, San Diego, $290M) – Cultivation of algae and using it as a biomass source for production of crude oil. Backed by Monsanto Growth Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners.

Infrastructure
Irrigation
Netafim (1965, Tel Aviv) – Manufactures components for drip irrigation and develops smart irrigation systems. Backed by Permira and Tene Investment Fund.

Aquaculture – Full Stack System
GFA Advanced Systems (2008, Kadima, $5M) – Developer of zero discharge intensive aquaculture system. Backed by Linnaeus Capital.

Market Linkages
Supply Chain – Farm Inputs
CloudFarm (2013, Beijing, $26M) – Online retailer of Agri inputs including seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals, farm equipment, etc.

Supply Chain – Farm Produce
Meicai (2014, Beijing, $253M) – B2B mCommerce for fruits and vegetables. Backed by Zhen Fund and Blue Lake Capital.

Finance
ProducePay (2014, Los Angeles, $9.5M) – Digital Platform for real-time tracking of produce movement and arrangement of collateral and loans. Backed by CoVenture, Menlo Ventures, Arena Ventures, Red Bear Angels, Social Leverage, and ELab.

Indoor Agriculture
AgriBusiness – Cultivation
Sundrop Farms (2009, London, $100M) – Hydroponics cultivation of fruits and vegetables while using renewable energy resources in greenhouses. Backed by KKR.
AeroFarms (2004, NYC, $90M) – Cultivation of leafy greens in soil-less growth medium using aeroponics. Backed by Middleland Capital, Wheatsheaf, GSR Ventures, Mission Point Capital, Meraas and GSR Ventures.

Infrastructure – Hydroponics
GrowLife (1987, Seattle, IPO) – Provides urban hydroponic / soil-less farming systems, components and cultivation supply products. Went public in 2011.
Grodan (1969, Milton) – Vegetative and steerable substrates for indoor cultivation of horticultural crops.

Infrastructure – Lighting
Illumitex (2005, Austin, $73M) – Developer of LED lighting solutions for horticulture, industrial and other use. Backed by NEA, Morgan Creek, Apex, WPG, Syngenta Ventures.

Technology Providers – Data Collection and Analysis
Agrilyst (2015, NYC, $1M) – Software platform for farm data and analytics in indoor farms. Backed by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Metamorphic 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 updates visit AgriTech feed.

A weekly newsletter summarizing recent activity in the Chinese startup ecosystem.

DEALS OF THE WEEK

YMCI Leads $73M Round In Chinese Car Rental Platform Wukong Zuche
Wukong Zuche (2014, Beijing), a car rental start-up focused on the tourism sector, raises $73M in funding from Yunnan Metropolitan Construction Investment Group.

INTERESTING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY IN CHINA

CDH Investments Leads $44M Round In Chinese Logistics Firm Yimidida
Yimidida (2015, Shanghai), a logistics services platform focused on small cities and counties in China, raises $44M in Series B round of funding led by CDH Investments with participation from Global Logistic Properties, Source Code Capital, K2VC, and Tuofeng Investment.

Chinese Co-Working Space Firm UrWork Raises $29M From Aikang Group
UrWork (2015, Beijing), a co-working space provider, raises $29M in funding from Beijing Aikang Group.

Tasley Pharma Leads $20M Round In Chinese Innovative Drug Developer PegBio
PegBio (2008, Suzhou), an innovative drug developer to combat diabetes and obesity, raises $20M in Series E round of funding led by Tasley Pharma.

Xiangtang miniKTV  Raises $15M From Matrix, GSR
Xingtang miniKTV(2017), a Chinese operator of mini-sized automated Karaoke boxes, raises $15M in funding from Matrix Partners China, Vertex Ventures China, GSR Ventures and DCM.

Eastern Bell Leads Round In Industrial Parts E-Commerce Vertical Haizol.Com
Haizol (2015, Shanghai), an online B2B platform for industrial goods, raises $6M in Series A round of funding led by Eastern Bell Venture Capital with participation from Woofoo Capital.

Lenovo Capital Leads Series A Round In Medical Imaging Start-Up Imsight Medical
Imsight Medical (2017, Shenzhen), a start-up developing artificial intelligence-assisted medical imaging analysis tools, raises $3M in Series A round of funding led by Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group.

NewMargin Capital Leads Series B Round In Bike Sharing Firm Xiaoming Bike
Xiaoming Bike (2016, Guangzhou), a bike sharing startup, raises an undisclosed amount in Series B round of funding led by NewMargin Capital.

GGV Leads Funding Round In Chinese Manufacturing Data Management Firm Black Lake
Black Lake Technology (2016, Shanghai),  a start-up providing real-time data management services to traditional manufacturers in China, raises an undisclosed amount in Series A round of funding led by GGV Capital with participation from Zhen Fund and China Growth Capital.

Ant Financial Invests In Chinese FinTech Start-Up VFinance
VFinance (2013, Shanghai), a provider of digital financial infrastructure solutions to enterprises in China, raises an undisclosed amount in funding from Ant Financial.

INVESTMENTS BY CHINESE INVESTORS AND COMPANIES

US Motion Tracking Firm Leap Motion Raises $50M To Expand Into China
Leap Motion (2010, San Francisco), a start-up developing motion tracking technology for natural input in virtual and augmented reality, raises $50M in Series C round of funding led by clients advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Gobi Partners Joins $15.5M Round In U.K. AR Firm WaveOptics
WaveOptics (2012, Abingdon), a patented technology based on waveguides for projected display applications, raises $15.5M in Series B round of funding from Gobi Partners, Octopus Ventures, Touchstone Innovations, and Robert Bosch Venture Capital.

Legend Capital Leads $14M Round In Managed Cloud Firm Bespin Global
Bespin Global (2015, South Korea), a  provider of managed cloud services to medium and large enterprises, raises $14M in Series A round of funding led by Legend Capital with participation from Altos Ventures and two unnamed investors.

BRM Group, Shanghai-Israel Fund Lead $9M Round In Rapid Medical
Rapid Medical (2008, Yokneam Illit), a developer of neurovascular interventional devices such as distal access & micro catheters, raises $9M in Series B round of funding led BRM Group and Shanghai-Israel Investment Fund, with participation from Winnovation, and Gefen Capital.

Tencent leads $5M round in California-based AI firm ObEN
ObEN (2014, Pasadena), a platform for celebrities to create their 3D virtual avatar using AI, raises $5M in funding led by Tencent Holdings.

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

CredAble (2017, Mumbai), supply chain financing platform. Founders are ex – HHC Holdings, Antfarm, and Centrum Capital and are alumni of University of Michigan and John Moores University. Local comparable includes Credit Period (2015, Mumbai, Acquired). Global comparables include Kabbage (2009, Atlanta, $241M) and Behalf (2011, Raanana, $156M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Brick2wall (2015, Gurgaon), online marketplace for building & construction related material, raises $200k in Angel round of funding from a clutch of individual investors. Link

IPHawk (2017, Thane), cloud-hosted AI-enabled IP protection platform, raises $38.7k in undisclosed round of funding from Sanjay Mehta and Dewang Narella. Link

MonkeyBox (2015, Bangalore), online platform to book lunch-box delivery to school kids, raises an undisclosed amount in its pre-Series A round of funding from Blume Ventures and others. Link

Monsoon CreditTech (2015, Delhi), alternate credit scoring platform, raises an undisclosed amount in funding from Google India’s Rajan Anandan, senior Microsoft executive Rishi Srivastava, and angel investors Sunil Kalra, and Aditya Singh. Link

Naesys (2014, Delhi), IT solutions provider for government bodies, acquires TechThat Technologies (2016, Delhi), cloud-hosted open source platform for IoT applications, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Yatra (2006, Gurgaon), online travel search engine and bookings platform, acquires Air Travel Bureau (2003, Delhi), travel service provider for corporates, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Ola (2011, Bangalore), app-based asset-light cab operator, pumps in $15.4M into their car leasing subsidiary, Ola Fleet Technologies. Link

Airbus Ventures (2016, Menlo Park), venture capital & private equity firm, plans to set up an Indian investment arm for aerospace and non-aerospace tech startups. Link

ShopClues (2011, Gurgaon), ecommerce retail marketplace, appoints V-Mart Retail executive Deepak Sharma as CFO. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Plenty (2013, SF), soil-less cultivation of leafy green vegetables and salads, raises $200M in Series B round of funding led by the SoftBank Vision Fund with participation from Louis M. Bacon, Innovation Endeavors, Bezos Expeditions, DCM, Data Collective and Finistere. Link

Betterment (2008, NYC), automated investment service, raises $70M in Series E round of funding led by Kinnevik with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, and Francisco Partners. Link

Borrowell (2014, Toronto), alternative lending platform for personal and business loans, raises $57M in Debt and Equity round of funding led by Portag3 Ventures LP, Equitable Bank and White Star Capital, with participation by FirstOntario Credit Union and others. Link

Trevi Therapeutics (2011, Sandy Hook), clinical development company with a focus on pruritus, raises $50M in Series C round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates with participation from new investors Lundbeckfonden Ventures, Omega Funds and Aperture Venture Partners and TPG Biotech. Link

Fox Rent A Car (1989, Kenner), rental car provider, raises $25M in undisclosed round of funding from NewSpring Mezzanine Capital, Kemper Corporation and Star Mountain Capital. Link

SkySafe (2015, San Diego), develops airspace security solutions to detect unwanted drones, raises $11.5M in Series A round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. link

Novacap, Canada-based private equity firm, closes Fifth Private Equity Fund at $840M. Link

Summit Partners, Boston-based global alternative investment firm, closes Second Europe Growth Equity Fund at $809.2M. Link

Pearl Energy Investments, TX-based energy investment firm, closes Second Fund at $600M. Link

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

INTERESTING COMPANIES FOUND

Opentalk (2017, Singapore) – Voice call based personal social network platform. Global comparable include Heilo (2016, Nashville).
Opsis (2017, Singapore) – Artificial Intelligence platform for measuring facial emotions. Global comparable include Affectiva (2009, Waltham, $34M) and Kairos (2011, Miami, $4.3M).

SEA – FUNDING UPDATES

Julo raises funding
Julo (2016, Jakarta), an app based platform for short term personal loans, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round led by Skystar Capital, along with East Ventures, Convergence Ventures.

SEA – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

M&A value doubles to $4B in first half riding on big-ticket deals in Indonesia
Indonesia sees M&A value double to $4B in first half riding on big-ticket deals.

ASX-listed iSentric closes deal to acquire Myanmar’s MyPlay for $4.5M
ASX-listed iSentric closes deal to acquire Myanmar’s MyPlay for $4.5M.

Sleekr to launch mobile app
Sleekr to launch a mobile app, will integrate HR and accounting services in the long run.

Fintech startup Call Levels pivots to enterprise product as co-founder departs
Fintech startup Call Levels pivots to enterprise product as co-founder departs.

ST Engineering buys Aethon
Singapore Technologies Engineering acquires robotics firm Aethon through Vision Technologies Land Systems.

naked Hub merges with Singapore’s JustCo to take on industry leader WeWork
naked Hub merges with Singapore’s JustCo to take on industry leader WeWork.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – FOOD TECH

• Delivery Hero, an online food delivery platform, raises $1.1B in IPO at the offer price of €25.50. The stock gained 8.6% at the end of first day’s trading on Frankfurt stock exchange. Link
• Blue Apron, a meal kit delivery startup, raises $300M in IPO at the offer price of $10. The stock plunged more than 17% after the first week’s trading. Link
• DayTwo, a personalized nutrition app that provides food recommendation based on microbiome analysis, raises $12M in Series A led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Link
• Plum, an automatic wine pouring and preservation appliance, raises $9M in Series A round led by Khosla Ventures. Link
• Koia, a plant-based smoothie brand and manufacturer, raises $7.5M in Seed round led by KarpReilly and AccelFoods. Link
• Saucey, an on-demand alcohol delivery startup, raises $5.4M in Series A round led by Bullpen Capital. Link 
• GrowFood, a Russian health-focused meal delivery startup, raises $5M in Series A round from AddVenture, a Moscow-based fund. Link
• Chefmarket, a Russian meal kit and ready-to-heat meal delivery startup raises $3.5M from Mitsi & Co, Japanese financial and industrial group. Link
• Flashfood, an online marketplace to buy and sell excess food raises $1.5M in Seed round from undisclosed private investors. Link
• Foodout, a Lithuianian food delivery startup merges with EDA.UA, a Ukranian food delivery marketplace and raises $1.1M from Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG). Link
• Monkey Box, an internet first restaurant that delivers school lunches in Bengaluru, raises undisclosed amount in pre-Series A round from Blume Ventures. Link 
• Eatigo, an online platform to make table reservation at restaurants, acquires Ressy, an India-based restaurant deal discovery platform. Link
• English Tea Shop, a brand and processor of tea leaves, acquires the competitor Joe’stea Co. Link
• Amazon, a global consumer e-commerce company, starts meal kit delivery service through Amazon Fresh. Link  
• Deliveroo, an online food delivery marketplace, partners with Tripadvisor, a travel review and metasearch platform, enabling the users to order food from Tripadvisor’s platform in 12 countries. Link 
• VBites, a plant-based food substitute manufacturer partners with Domino’s in Israel to provide its vegan cheese. Link
• Zomato, a global restaurant discovery platform, reports 81% y-o-y increase in revenue and 34% y-o-y decrease in total loss in FY’17 as per the annual report of Info Edge, the company’s largest shareholder. Link

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – APPLICATION TESTING

• Tricentis, a provider of Continuous Testing tool introduced Exploratory Testing Tool for Atlassian JIRA. Link
• Plutora, a provider of release, test environment, and test management solutions for enterprise IT, choosen as a finalist for Red Herring’s Top 100 North America award. Link
  
• Rainforest QA, the creator of the AI-powered crowdtesting platform launched Industry’s Fastest Mobile App Testing Platform. Link
• Qualitia, a provider of script-less test automation, announced the support of test automation for mobile applications. Link
  
• Tricentis adds both Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse Testing to Automated Software Testing Platform. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

BotProbe (2017, Dublin) – Provides automation tool for testing chatbots.

LEADER BOARD – APPLICATION TESTING

FullStack
Soasta (2006, California, $78M, Acq.) – Builds software products for testing, monitoring websites and mobile apps in the cloud. Backed by Tennenbaum Capital Partners, Entrepreneurs Fund, Pelion Venture Partners, Formative Ventures and Canaan Partners. Acquired by Akamai in 2017.
SmarteSoft (2007, Austin, $2M) – Provides quality assurance and automated testing solutions. Backed by CTAN, and Daylight Partners.

Automated Testing Tools
Smartesting (2005, Besancon, $8.5M) – Provides platforms for model based testing and to optimize existing test cases. Backed by Groupe Siparex and iSource Gestion.
Confirmiq (1998, California, $8M) – Provides platforms for model based testing and end-to-end test automation products. Backed by Nexit Ventures and Finnish Industry Investment Ltd.

Performance Testing
Gomez (1997, Lexington, $66M, Acq.) – Provides web performance monitoring solutions to optimize the performance, availability and quality of web & mobile applications. Backed by AdAstra, Dolphin Equity Partners and BancBoston Ventures. Acquired by Compuware in 2009.
Apica (2005, Stockholm, $13.31M) – Provides cloud based web monitoring and load testing solutions. Backed by SEB Venture Capital, Industrifonden, Almi Invest and KTH Chalmers Capital.

Security Testing
Veracode (2006, Burlington, $114M, Acq.) – Cloud based platform to govern and mitigate software security risks across a single application or enterprise portfolio. Backed by Wellington Management. Acquired by CA in 2017.
Checkmarx (2006, Ramat Gan, $98.5M) – Provides static application security, mobile security and open source analysis products for enterprises and developers. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, XT Ventures and Salesforce.

UI Testing
Applitools (2013, Tel Aviv, $15M) – Cloud based testing tool to validate visual aspects of web, mobile and native apps. Backed by Magma Venture Partners.

Usability Testing
User Testing (2007, California, $48.5M) – Platform to get feedback from users for apps and websites. Backed by Accel and Kern Whelan Capital.
UserZoom (2007, California, $36.5M) – Provides tools for online user experience research and remote usability testing. Backed by TC Growth Partners, Trident Capital and StepStone Group.

Emulator Testing
Genymotion (2011, Paris, $10M) – Android emulator that helps developers to test and view apps running on different combinations of large and small devices. Backed by Alven Capital and Bpifrance.

Device Lab
Perfecto Mobile (2006, Massachusetts, $83M) – Provides cloud based testing, automation and monitoring solutions for mobile applications and websites. Backed by Technology Crossover Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners, FTV Capital, Carmel Ventures and Vertex Ventures.
Xamarin (2011, SF, $82M, Acq.) – Provides test cloud platform to run automated UI tests for iOS and Android apps across real devices. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, Floodgate, Charles River Ventures, Lead Edge Capital and Ignition Partners. Acquired by Microsoft in 2016.

Crowd sourced Testing
Applause (2007, Massachusetts, $116M) – Provides crowd sourced testing for functional testing and digital testing along with mobile beta management and mobile sentiment analysis. Backed by Goldman Sachs, QuestMark Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Longworth Venture Partners, Mass Ventures, Egan-Managed Capital and Mesco Ltd.
Bugcrowd (2012, SF, $23M) – Provides a market place to testers for security testing on web and mobile applications. Backed by Industry Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, Palladin Capital Group, Costanoa Venture Capital and Rally Ventures.

Test Management
QASymphony (2011, Atlanta, $47.5M) – Provides quality assurance and testing tools that integrate with workflow management. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, Fulcrum Equity Partners, BIP Capital, Poplar Ventures and KMS Technology.

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 Application Testing feed.

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

UserStory (2017, Bangalore), chrome-based application feedback and bug reporting tool. Founder is an ex-executive from Axilor Ventures and is an alumnus of University of South California. No local comparable. Global comparables include Instabug (2012, Giza, $1.98M) and BugHerd (2011, Yarraville, $1.5M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Noticeboard (2016, Bangalore), cloud-based communication platform for the frontline staff, raises $1.2M in Seed round of funding led by Stellaris Venture Partners with participation from Rajesh Yabaji, Jayant Kadambi and others. Link

Alibaba Group (1999, Hangzhou), China-based conglomerate, and Paytm (2010, Noida), mobile wallet and payments bank, announce joint venture for setting up an online gaming company. Link

Jugnoo (2014, Chandigarh), mobile-based autorickshaw hailing and hyperlocal delivery service, selected for K-Startup Grand Challenge at South Korea. Link

Qbera (2015, Bangalore), personal loans marketplace, launches operations in Mumbai. Link

Uber (2009, SF), mobile app that connects passengers with vehicle drivers for hire, expanded its bike taxi service UberMOTO to Noida and Ghaziabad. Link

Wipro Ventures, corporate venture arm of Wipro (1945, Bangalore), IT services provider, invested an undisclosed amount  in  Work-Bench, NYC- based enterprise technology VC fund. Link

Reliance (1996, Mumbai), Indian conglomerate holding company, acquires 25% Stake in Balaji Telefilms (1994, Mumbai), production of motion pictures and television series, for $64M. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Vets First Choice (2010, Portland), online marketplace for Veterinary products and Veterinarians, raises $223M in PE round of funding led by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Hillhouse Capital Group with participation from Viking Global Investors, Wellington Management Company, Rock Springs Capital, and Sequoia Heritage. Link

eFFECTOR Therapeutics (2012, San Diego), develops selective mRNA translation regulators for the treatment of cancer, raises $38.6M in Series C round of funding led by Pfizer Venture Investments with participation from Alexandria Venture Investments U.S. Venture Partners, Abingworth, Novartis Venture Fund, SR One, The Column Group and others. Link

Power Survey (1948, Montreal), power electronics manufacturers, raises $24M in Series A2 round of funding led by EnerTech Capital and Investissement Québec. Link

Leesa Sleep (2015, England), online mattress store, raises $23M in Series B round of funding led by One Better Ventures, John Replogle, with participation from Blake Mycoskie and founder of TOMS. Link

Nyotron (2008, Herzliya), endpoint security solutions provider, raises $21M in a round of funding led by DGB Investments, Sandra Bergeron with participation from Mitvah Shamir, Gil Agmon and Shmuel Harlap. Link

Expert360 (2013, Sydney), online freelance marketplace, raises $10M in Series B round of funding led by AirTree Ventures with participation from others. Link

Exporo (2014, Hamburg), real estate investment platform, raises $9.3M in a round of funding from e.ventures, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Sunstone Capital and BPO Capital. Link

Mangrove Capital Partners, Luxembourg-based venture capital firm, closed Fifth Venture Capital Fund, at $170M. Link

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ENERGY STORAGE

• Blue Inductive raises an undisclosed round of funding from High-Tech Gründerfonds, Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures, VC Fonds Baden-Wuerttemberg, among others. Link
• Advanced Microgrid Solutions raises $34M Series B from Energy Impact Partners, Southern Company, AGL and GE Ventures. Link
• Voltserver raised $5M in their Series A-3 round that was led by the private-equity firm Marker Hill Capital. Link
• HyCarb, a Graphene based Energy Storage product developer, raised $102k in their Seed Round from Undisclosed Investors based on SEC Filing. Link
• ChargePoint, an electric vehicle charging network, has raised $43M in their Series G round of funding led by Siemens. Link
• Solace Power Receives an undisclosed amount of Strategic Investment from Lockheed Martin to Develop Innovative Wireless Power Technology. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Aladyn System (Valladolid, 2016) – Aladyn System is developing long range wireless charging technology that uses a single transmitter to power up to 256 receivers at a distance of up to 4 meters. Its resonant technology can be used to power various devices and sensors and finds application in Industries, Hospitals, Commercial buildings, homes, mobile devices, etc.

LEADER BOARD – ENERGY STORAGE

Batteries
Energizer (1896, St.Louis, IPO) – Energizer is the oldest battery manufacturer in the world. The company has launched multiple product lines, one of them being the Inductive Charger to the world’s first AA battery made with 4% recycled batteries. The different types of battery manufactured are AAA,AA,D,9V, Photo batteries, Hearing Aid batteries etc. Two major brands are Energizer and Eveready. Went public in June, 2015.
Boston Power (2005, Westborough, $638M) – Boston-Power develops and manufactures batteries which charges faster, lasts longer, performs better and is safer than what’s currently on the market. The technology can be used in electronic devices like  laptops, PDAs and mobile phones. Backed by GSR Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, Foundations Asset Management, Venrock, GGV Capital and Gabriel Venture Partners.

Energy Storage Systems
BYD (1996, Shenzhen, IPO) – BYD is a tech enterprise in China specializing in IT, automobile, and new energy. They are the largest supplier of rechargeable batteries in the globe, and has the largest market share for Nickel-cadmium batteries, handset Li-ion batteries, cell-phone chargers and keypads worldwide. Went public in August, 2002.
Alevo (2009, Martigny-Ville, $1.7B) – Alevo provides energy storage systems for grid scale storage. The “GridBank” is comprised of Lithium Ion cells which have 50000 recharge cycles. These cells are combined together to create large battery banks which can be positioned anywhere across the grid. Backed by SA Framtak.

Fuel Cell
Ballard Power Systems (1979, Burnaby, IPO) – Ballard Power Systems designs, develops and manufactures hydrogen fuel cell products for residential co-generation, back-up power, and heavy duty applications. The company operates in three segments Power Generation, Automotive, and Material Products. Went public in November, 1995.
Bloom Energy (2001, Sunnyvale, $1.2B) – Bloom Energy builds solid oxide fuel cell technology to convert natural gas into electricity. The company offers distributed generation, energy server service (each Bloom Energy server provides 200kW of power) and energy server architecture. Backed by KPCB, NEA, Goldman Sachs among others.

Component Developer
Manz (1987, Reutlingen, IPO) – Manz is a leading provider of production equipment for lithium-ion battery cells, battery systems, super-capacitors and capacitors. The products manufactured by the company are production solutions for lithium-ion batteries and capacitors in e-mobility and stationary energy storage Went public in September, 2006.
Nexeon (2006, Abingdon, $167M) – Nexeon is a battery materials and licensing company with a unique silicon anode technology. Their technology unlocks the potential of silicon to deliver increased capacity without compromising lithium-ion battery cycle life, and  provides lighter batteries with more power and longer lifetime between charges. Backed by Imperial Innovations and Invesco Perpetual.

Charging Solutions
CyberPower Systems (1997, Shakopee, IPO) – CyberPower Systems designs and manufactures uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, power distribution units (PDUs), surge protectors, mobile charging devices, connectivity devices and Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTx) backup power solutions. Went public in January, 2010.
ChargePoint (2007, Campbell, $298M) – Chargepoint is an electric vehicle infrastructure company that offers a network of public charging stations. ChargePoint operates EV charging network and also designs, builds, and supports the technology that powers it.

Battery Management
Younicos (2006, Berlin, $50M) – Younicos offers battery parks which are 3,000 times faster than conventional power plants enabling them to balance fluctuations in the grid much more precisely and efficiently. The company offers hybrid batteries and battery technology which make batteries intelligent and efficient. They provide micro grid system in remote areas with renewable energy supply and storage technology. Backed by First Solar and Grupoecos.

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 Energy Storage feed.

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

InventBlue (2017, Bangalore), end-to-end software suite for the logistics industry. Founders include ex-Co-Founder of 99tests and are alumni of IIT Bombay. Local comparable includes Fresa Technologies (2012, Chennai). Global comparables include G7 (2006, Beijing, $120M) and GlobalTranz (2003, Phoenix, $50M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Byju’s (2008, Bangalore), online courses for competitive test preparation & supplementary courses for K-12 students, raises $40M in Series C round of funding from Tencent. Link

FabHotels (2014, Gurgaon), standardized budget hotels, raises $25M in Series A round of funding from Goldman Sachs and Accel Partners. Link

Gurukul (2017, Delhi), provider of managed co-working space, raises an undisclosed amount in undisclosed round from Yuvraj Singh. Link

Corvi LED Light (2012, Mumbai), LED finished products manufacturer, raises $10M in Series A round of funding from Hero Enterprise for a minority stake. Link

Zoho (1996, Chennai), online business apps suite for SMBs, paves way for software revolution with Zoho One. Link

Paytm (2010, Noida), mobile wallet and payments bank, promotes SVP Kiran Vasireddy to the position of COO. Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), horizontal ecommerce marketplace, will use 3rd-party sellers for private labels under their Smart-Buy brand. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Vicarious (2010, SF), neocortex learning-enabled machine intelligence software provider, raises $50M in Series C round of funding led by Khosla Ventures. Link

Kezar Life Sciences (2015, SF), drug developer targeting protein homeostasis for autoimmune disorders, raises $50M in Series B round of funding led by Cormorant Asset Management and Morningside Venture, with participation from Cowen Healthcare Investments, Pappas Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners and others. Link

Sebacia (2010, Duluth), topical microparticle therapies for treatment of dermatological conditions, raises $36M in Equity and Debt round of funding Versant Ventures, Domain Associates, Accuitive Medical Ventures and Partners Healthcare Innovation Fund and others. Link

Beqom (2009, Fribourg), workforce behavior management solution, raises $35M in undisclosed round of funding led by Goldman Sachs. Link

Iguazio (2014, Herzliya), data analytics platform provider, raises $33M in Series B round of funding led by Pitango Venture Capital, with participation from Verizon Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH, CME Ventures and others. Link

Rimilia (2008, Bromsgrove), robotic process automation based account receivable management, raises $25M in undisclosed round of funding co-led by Kennet Partners and Eight Roads Ventures. Link

Duolingo (2011, Pittsburgh), crowdsourced text translation and language learning application, raises $25M in Series E round of funding led by Drive Capital. Link

Node (2014, SF), contextual web personalization for B2B sales and marketing, raises $16.3M in undisclosed round of funding led by Avalon Ventures with participation from Mark Cuban, NEA, Canaan Partners, GREE, Industry Ventures and Michael Stark. Link

Prospera (2013, Tel Aviv), technology solutions for plant health monitoring, raises $15M in Series B round of funding led by Qualcomm Ventures with participation from Cisco Investments, ICV and Bessemer Venture Partners. Link

Maven Capital Partners, UK-based private equity firm, launches $26M Finance Durham Fund. Link

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – TRANSPORT TECH

• Ofo, China-based online bicycle rental company, raised $700M in Series E round led by Alibaba and others Link
• Ucar, an online platform for cab services, raised $382M in Post-IPO funding from PICC Property Link
• Wkzuche, Beijing-based B2C car rental platform, raised $74M in Series B round led by Yunnan MC Investment Co Ltd. Link
• SpotHero, an app-based solution to reserve parking, raised $30M in Series C led by Global Founders Capital Link
• Xiaoming Bike, Shanghai-based bicycle rental service, raised $15M in Series B funding from NewMargin Ventures Link
• Parkbees, an app for scouting and booking parking spaces, raised $5.8M in Series A funding from Sunrise Capital Partners Link
• Airparking, Guangdong-based parking app, raised Seed funding of $1M from SAIF Partners China Link
• Mute, a rental platform for electric scooters, raised $1.2M through equity crowdfunding on CrowdCube Link
• Swvl, Cairo-based public transport app, raised Seed funding of $500K from Dubai-based taxi hailing app Careem Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

LimeBike (2017, San Mateo) – Smart bike-rental service provider.
Gobee (2017, HongKong) – Station-less bicycle sharing platform.

LEADER BOARD – TRANSPORT TECH

Taxi
Didi Chuxing (2012, Beijing, $13.8B) – Didi Chuxing is a company made up of China’s two largest taxi-hailing firms- Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache as result of a merger in Feb 2015. Backed by Tencent and Alibaba among others.
Uber (2009, SF, $10.71B) – Uber is an on-demand taxi service provider. Backed by First Round Capital, Benchmark, Menlo Ventures, Baidu, Fidelity Investments, Google Ventures and Tata Capital among others.
Lyft (2012, SF, $2.7B) – Lyft facilitates cab hailing and peer-to-peer ridesharing by connecting passengers who need a ride with drivers. Majority ride providers are professional drivers. Backed by A16Z, Alibaba, and Facebook among others.
Ola (2011, Bengaluru, $1.59B) – Ola is an on-demand taxi service in India. Backed by Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, SoftBank, Sequoia, Accel and Didi-Kuaidi among others.
Grab Taxi (2012, Singapore, $1.44B) – GrabTaxi is an automated location-based smartphone booking and dispatch platform for the taxi industry in South East Asia. Backed by Vertex Ventures, Tiger Global, SoftBank, and Qunar among others.

Self Drive Cars
eHi Car Services (2006, Shanghai, IPO) – eHi is a car rental service provider. Backed by CTrip, Enterprise Holdings, and Goldman Sachs among others.
Turo (2009, SF, $101M) – Turo is a P2P car sharing platform. Backed by KPCB, Google ventures, August Capital and GM ventures among others.

Car Pooling
BlaBlacar (2004, Paris, $311.5M) – BlaBlaCar connects drivers who have empty seats with people looking for a ride through their car share service. Focuses on longer trips. Backed by Index ventures, Accel and Insight partners among others.

On-Demand Driver
Edaijia (2011, Beijing, $125M) – Edaijia allows users to find and connect with the nearest available temporary drivers via their app. Backed by LSVP and Matrix Partners among others.

Nontraditional
Hyperloop One (2014, LA, $253M) – Hyperloop is a vacuum tube-based transportation technology. Backed by Sherpa Ventures, 8VC, ZhenFund, Caspian Venture Partners, 137 Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Fast Digital, Western Technology Investment (WTI), SNCF, the French National Rail Company and GE Ventures among others.

Public Transport
Moovit (2011, Ness Ziona, $81.5M) – Moovit gives commuters a complete real-time snapshot of what their trip will be like and suggests the fastest, most comfortable routes. Backed by Sequoia and Gemini investors among others.

Smart Shuttle Service 
Dada bus (2014, Shenzhen, $59M) – Dada Bus is a bus ridesharing app for a shuttle service that leverages big data to smartly match users with routes.

Bi-Cycle
Ofo (2015, Beijing, $1.2B) – Ofo.so is a P2P bicycle rental platform. Backed by Matrix Partners China, Didi Chuxing, and GSR Ventures China.
MoBike (2015, Shanghai, $325M) – MoBike is a bicycle rental platform. Backed by Foxconn, Tencent, Sequoia, CTrip, Joy Capital, and Panda VC Fund.

Employee Transportation
Move In Sync (2009, Bengaluru, $5M) – MoveInSync Technology Solutions is an employee transportation solutions provider. Backed by Inventus Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Saama Capital and others.

Motorized Two Wheeler
Go-Jek (2010, Jakarta, $1.75B) – Go-Jek is a bike taxi aggregator. Backed by Sequoia, KKR, and Warburg Pincus among others.

Traffic Management
Inrix (2004, Kirkland, $133M) – Inrix is a SaaS company which provides applications pertaining to road traffic control. It is a serial acquirer targeting comprehensive traffic data. Backed by August Capital, Venrock, Bain Capital, KPCB, Intel Capital, Porsche

Car Sharing Tech
Vulog (2006, Paris, $9M) – Vulog is a provider of in-car technology and modular software platform for car sharing. Backed by Bpifrance, Conseil Plus Gestion, Paca Investment, ETF Partners

Maps Routing
mapbar (2004, Beijing, $78M) – mapbar is a provider of online and wireless maps. Backed by IDG Capital
Waze (2004, Beijing, $67M, Acq.) – Waze is a provider of social driving and navigation app. Backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield, Byers Digital Growth Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, and iFund among others. Acquired by Google

Parking
Luxe (2013, SF, $75.5M) – Luxe provides on-demand valet parking service. Backed by Hertz Global Holdings, Redpoint Ventures and Venrock among others
SpotHero (2011, Chicago, $57M) – Marketplace to search and book parking spots. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, Excelerate Labs, 500 Startups

Fleet Management
inthinc (1997, Salt Lake City, $24M) – inthinc provides fleet management and driver saftey solutions. Backed by Innoventures Capital Partners, Partners for Growth

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 Transport Tech feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – B2B ECOMMERCE

• Zhaogang, an online B2B steel trading platform, has raised $32M and $73M in two separate equity funding rounds. Link Link
• Baturu, an online B2B trading platform for auto parts, has raised $100M in a Series C round. Link
• zkh360, an online marketplace of MRO products, has raised $52M in a Series B funding round. Link
• Lianshang, a B2B platform for procuring fabrics, has raised $30M in a pre-Series C round of funding from a group of investors. Link
• Dfs168, a marketplace of farming supplies, has raised $29.3M in a Series B funding round. Link
• INTURN, a B2B marketplace to sell excess inventory, has raised a $22.5M funding round led by B Capital Group. Link
• Moglix, an online marketplace for industrial goods, has raised $12M in a Series B funding led by IFC. Link
• Haizol, an online B2B platform for industrial goods, has raised $5.9M in a Series A funding round. Link
• Jumbotail, an online B2B platform for packaged food, fruits & vegetables, has raised $8M in a Series B funding round from Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners. Link
• Chewse, an online marketplace for corporate catering, has raised $7.3M funding round led by Foundry Group. Link
• Qiancaivip, an online B2B platform for trading construction materials, has raised a $4.4M Series A funding round. Link
• WaystoCap, a B2B marketplace catering to Africa, has raised $3M from a group of investors. Link
• MaxWholesale, an online B2B grocery company, has raised $1M from IAN, Maple Capital and others. Link
• Kmeila, a B2B platform for cross border commerce, has raised $735k in an angel round of funding. Link
• SparesHub, an online marketplace for aftermarket automobile parts, has raised $310k in an angel round. Link
• Brick2wall, an online marketplace for building & construction related material, has raised a $200k angel round. Link
• Mercateo, a horizontal e-distributor catering to small and medium businesses, has raised funding from BIP Investment Partners. Link
• Sxbcar, a B2B automobile marketplace, has raised an undisclosed funding round. Link
• Farmlink, an online supplier of groceries and food items to restaurants, has raised an undisclosed Series B funding round. Link

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Threatbar (2017, Mumbai), cloud-based crowd testing and vulnerability management platform. Founder is an ex-executive from Zerto and Trustwave. Local comparable includes 99tests (2010, Bangalore). Global comparables include Applause (2007, Framingham, $116M) and BugCrowd (2012, SF, $23M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

1mg Technologies (2015, Gurgaon), online hyperlocal pharmacy marketplace with doctor listing and tele-consultation, raises $15M in Series C round of funding led by HBM Healthcare Investments, with participation from others. Link

Thinkerbell Labs (2016, Bangalore), assisted learning device developer for the visually impaired, raises $201.5k in Angel round of funding from Indian Angel Network and Anand Mahindra. Link

Dentsu (1995, Tokyo), digital marketing communications company, acquires Sokrati (2008, Pune), display-based data management platform, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Snapdeal (2010, Delhi), online horizontal marketplace, board agrees to sell FreeCharge(2010, Mumbai), prepaid wallet and bill payment app, to Axis Bank (1994, Mumbai), financial services firm, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Faircent (2013, Gurgaon), P2P lending marketplace, launches Auto Invest feature to make P2P lending easier. Link

Grofers (2013, Delhi), on-demand product delivery service from local merchants for customers, gets DIPP approval for online trading of food products. Link

Snapdeal (2010, Delhi), online horizontal marketplace, board accepts Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), horizontal ecommerce marketplace, up to $950M buyout offer. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Liulishuo (2012, Shanghai), english language learning app, raises $100M in Series C round of funding led by China Media Capital and Wu Capital with participation from Trustbridge Partners, IDG Capital, GGV Capital, Cherubic Ventures and Hearst Ventures. Link

WalkMe (2011, Tel Aviv), interactive website guidance system, raises $75M in undisclosed round of funding led by Insight Venture Partners. Link

Complexa (2008, Pittsburgh), developing drugs based on naturally-occurring activated fatty acids for metabolic diseases, raises $62M in Series C round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates and Pfizer Venture Investments, with participation from Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, HBM Healthcare Investments and others. Link

SimilarWeb (2007, Tel Aviv), website traffic and mobile app analytics, raises $47M in Growth Equity round of funding led by Viola Growth, with participation from Saban Ventures, and CE Ventures. Link

August Home (2013, SF), smart lock and access system, raises $25M in Series C round of funding Bessemer Venture Partners, Comcast Ventures, Maveron, Qualcomm Ventures, AGL, Liberty Mutual and SPDG. Link

IonQ (2015, Maryland), developer of quantum computing solutions for commercial applications, raises $20M in Series B round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates and GV, with participation from new strategic investors. Link

Rebagg (2014, NYC), online platform for resale of high end designer handbags, raises $15.5M in Series B round of funding led by General Catalyst and Novator with participation from FJ Labs, Crosslink Capital, Big Sur Ventures-Necotium, Kloof Capital and U-Start . Link

Aquiline Capital Partners, New York-based private equity firm investing in financial services, closed Aquiline Technology Growth Fund, at $190M. Link

BlackFin Capital Partners, Paris- based vc firm, holds first close of its regtech, insurtech and fintech-focused venture capital fund, at $117.7M. Link

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – INSURANCE TECH

• Gravie, a health insurance marketplace, has raised $14.1M in Series C funding round led by GE Ventures. Link
• Wefox, a Germany-based insurance company, has acquired One, a UK-based full stack insurance carrier. Link
• Bright Health, a US-based health insurance provider, has acquired digital-marketing company Spyder Trap. Link
• Impact Health, a health insurance comparison provider using predictive modeling, has raised $13M in Series A funding from Techstars Ventures and Foundry Group. Link
• Ideal Insurance, an India-based insurance broker, launches an online insurance platform 121policy.com, gets funding from Xelpmoc. Link
• Trov, a US-based on-demand insurance platform has raised a funding of undisclosed amount from Baloise Group. Link
• Cover, a US-baed mobile first general insurance platform, has raised $8M in Series A funding from Social Capital. Link
• MoneyMax, a Philippines-based financial product comparison platform, has raised $50M in Series B round from International Finance Corp and other investors. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

InsuredMine (2017, Plano) – a cloud-based digital Insurance platform that helps customers to store all their insurance data & documents and provides information about their current insurance coverage, insurance premiums and upcoming payment due dates.
Kevinsured (2016, Mountain View) – a chatbot that provides microinsurance for P2P transactions on any marketplace like Craigslist or Gumtree or Facebook.

LEADER BOARD – INSURANCE TECH

Internet-first Insurers
Oscar (2012, NYC, $727.5M) – An internet-first health insurer that rewards users with Amazon gift cards on successful completion of pre-defined milestones. Backed by Google Capital, Founders Fund, Wellington Fund, Thrive Capital, Formation 8, General Catalyst Partners, Khosla Venture, Breyer Capital, Redswan Ventures, BoxGroup.
Clover Health (2014, SF, $425M) – A data-driven health insurance provider for senior citizens. Backed by First Round Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Spark Capital, GV, Floodgate, Casdin Capital, Athyrium Capital Management, Greenoaks, Grape Arbor, Refactor Capital, Arena Ventures, Wildcat Venture Partners, CSC Venture Capital, Brainchild.
Zhong-An Insurance (2013, Shanghai, $931M) – China’s first online-only insurer, offering online property and casualty insuranceservices, along with other products. Backed by Morgan Stanley, SAIF Partners China, CDH Investments, ClearVue Partners, CICC, Ant Financial, Keywise Capital Management.

Employer Insurance
Zenefits (2013, SF, $584M) – An employer insurance broker that offers free HR, payroll, and benefits management software to organizations of every size. Backed by Backed by Fidelity Investments, TPG, Institutional Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Maverick Enterprises and Venrock.
Gusto (2011, SF, $176M) – A SaaS-based HR and benefits administration software provider. Backed by Y Combinator, Google Ventures, Salesforce, Sherpalo, General Catalyst Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Google Capital, Emergence Capital Partners, Ribbit Capital.
Collective Health (2013, San Mateo, $119M) – A self-insurance SaaS platform for employers to sponsor their employees’ insurance. Backed by Signature Capital, Citizen.vc, Rock Health, NEA, Redpoint Ventures, and Great Oaks Ventures.

Distribution Platforms
eHealth (1997, Mountain View, IPO) – An online marketplace for health insurance plans for small businesses, individuals, and families. Also provides Medicare quotes and purchasing options. Went public in 2006.
Insplanet (1999, Stockholm, IPO) – Online insurance comparison and shopping platform featuring quotes from providers across Sweden. Went public in 2006.
Trov (2012, Danville, $90M) – An online distribution platform for On-Demand Insurance. Backed by Anthemis Group, Guidewire Software, Munich Re, Suncorp, Suncorp Group, Oak HC/FT, Pivot Investment Partners, Clark Enterprises.
Goji (2007, Boston, $90M) – An online comparison and purchasing platform for property and casualty insurance. Backed by Village Ventures, Five Elms Capital, Thayer Street Partners and Spark Capital.
PolicyBazaar (2008, Gurgaon, $83M) – An online aggregator which offers insurance comparison and purchasing services. Backed by Intel Capital, Info Edge India, Inventus Capital Partners, Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital and Premji Invest.

Enablers
Guidewire (2001, San Mateo, IPO) – A web-based technology solutions provider to the property & casualty and workers’ compensation insurance industry. Went public in 2012.
iPipeline (1995, Exton, $104M, Acq.) – A sales distribution software suite provider. Acquired by Thoma Bravo in August 2015.
Vlocity (2014, San Francisco, $93M) – An omni-Channel cloud software for delivering industry-specific experiences to customers. Backed by Accenture, Salesforce, Sutter Hill Ventures, TDF Ventures, Kennet Partners, New York Life Insurance, Wildcat Venture Partners.
GreenRoad (2006, San Jose, $84M) – A telematics for auto insurance using web apps. Backed by Amadeus Capital Partners, Virgin Green Fund, Benchmark, Balderton Capital, DAG Ventures, Generation Investment Management, Israel Growth Partners and Balderton Capital.

P2P Insurance
Friendsurance (2010, Berlin, $15M) – A P2P insurance platform which rewards small groups of customers with a cashback bonus each year if their group remains claimless.
Bought By Many (2012, London, $9M) – A P2P insurance platform based on the Groupon model. It uses social media to connect people with similar insurance needs in social buying groups. Backed by Octopus Ventures, Munich Re.

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 Insurance Tech feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – SMART GRID

• DERMS provider Advanced Microgrid Solutions raises $34M Series B from Energy Impact Partners, Southern Company, AGL and GE Ventures. Link
• Conjoule, a P2P energy marketplace to connect producers and consumers, raises $5M Series A round from TEPCO and Innogy Innovation Hub. Link
• GreenCom Networks, a residential DERMS provider for energy retailers and energy device OEMs, raises $3.4M funding from SET Ventures and Munich Venture Partners. Link
• Energy management solutions provider Ecolibrium Energy raises $2.6M from Infuse Ventures, real estate consultancy JLL and an angel investor. Link
• Zenneck surface wave technology developer Texzon Technologies raises $1M funding as per SEC filing. Link
• UtilityAPI, a data acquisition software for utilities, received $923k grant from Technology to Market 3 (T2M3) funding program. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Utopus Insights  (2017, Valhalla, Undisclosed) –  Energy analytics software company with main focus on utility and grid analytics. Offers two products HyperCast – wind and solar day-ahead forecasting and GridPulse – to predict the failure probability of individual grid assets.
Conjoule (2017, Essen, $5.13Mi) – P2P energy marketplace to connect producers and consumers powered by blockchain technology. Doing a pilot project with Japan’s largest utility TEPCO.

LEADER BOARD – SMART GRID

Horizontal
Silver Spring Networks (2002, Redwood City, IPO) – End-to-end smart grid solutions provider. Backed by KPCB, Google Ventures, Foundation Capital, Northgate Capital Group and DFJ Growth. Went Public in March 2013.
LandisGyr (1896, Zug, $265M, Acq.) – End-to-end smart grid solutions provider. Acquired by Toshiba in May 2011.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure – Smart Meters
Elster (1994, Ocala, Acq.) – Provide AMI and AMR metering solutions for electricity, gas and water segments. Acquired by Honeywell in December 2015.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure – Communication Systems
Power Plus Communications (2001, Mannheim, $15M) – Broadband powerline communication systems for smart grids,smart metering, and smart homes.Backed by Siemens Venture Capital, British Gas, Climate Change Capital, Siemens Financial Services.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure – Meter Data Management
eMeter (1999, San Mateo, $69M, Acq.) – Offer software solutions and meter data management software. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Northgate Capital Group, Foundation Capital, DBL Investors and Siemens Venture Capital. Acquired by Siemens in December 2011.

Load Management
Ice Energy (2003, Santa Barbara, $92M) – Energy storage system and demand side management for the smart grid. Backed by Energy Capital Partners, Second Avenue Partners, Good Energies and Goldman Sachs.
Green Charge (2009, Santa Clara, $66M) – Load balancing using battery storage devices. Backed by TIP Capital, K Road DG. Acquired by Engie in May, 2016.

Transmission Automation
Smart Wires (2014, SF, $79M) – Smart wires to push power from overloaded line to under utilized lines. Backed by RiverVest Venture Partners, Jane Capital Partners, ARPA-E.

Distribution Automation
Gridco Systems (2010, Woburn, $54.5M) – End-to-End hardware and software platform to solve distribution challenges. Backed by General Catalyst Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Lux Capital, RockPort Capital, Reinhausen.

Utility Services – Network Operations Platform – Suite Solutions
Trilliant Networks (1985, Redwood City, $146M) – Provides single dashboard management of an entire smart grid infrastructure. Backed by MissionPoint Capital Partners, Zouk Capital, VantagePoint Capital Partners, GE, ABB and Capital Growth Investments.

Utility Services – Network Operations Platform – Distributed Energy Resources
GridPoint (2003, Arlington, $294M, Acq.) – Energy management solution(EMS) provider with  real-time data collection, big data analytics and cloud computing to maximize energy savings. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Advantage Capital Partners, Skypoint Capital, Altira Group. Acquired by TFC Utilities in November 2015.

Utility Services – Energy Management Solutions – Suite
Opower (2007, Arlington, $65.5M, Acq.) – Cloud-based software comprising energy reports and demand response programs. Backed by New Cycle Capital, Accel Partners and KPCB. Acquired by Oracle Corporation in May 2015.
Nexant (2000, SF, $65M) – Cloud-based business process management software platform for utilities to analyze the demand response. Backed by Oak Investment, Intel Capital, TeleSoft Partners and Beacon Capital.

Utility Services – Energy Management Solutions – Customer End
Tendril (2004, Boulder, $124M) – Cloud-based software platform which provides the infrastructure, analytics, and personalized energy services for demand response. Backed by VantagePoint Capital,  Vista Ventures, Access Venture Partners, Appian Ventures and Siemens Venture Capital.
FirstFuel (2011, Lexington, $45M) – Building-wide energy analytics that help utilities and government agencies deliver energy efficiency across commercial building portfolios. Backed by Next World Capital, Battery Ventures, Vast Ventures, Nth Power, RockPort Capital, E.on, Electranova Capital, Idinvest Partners.

Utility Services – Energy Management Solutions – Utility End
Space-Time Insight (2008, San Mateo, $54.5M) – Real-time analytics by capturing data from various assets. Backed by  Informatica, Opus Capital, NEC Corporation, EnerTech Capital, Novus Energy Partners, Start Up Farms International, Zouk Capital, E.on.

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 Smart Grid feed.

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Scriptifi (2017, Gurgaon), online recruiter marketplace for employers. Founders are ex-executives from Micromax and Infosys, and are alumni of NMIMS and IMT Ghaziabad. Local comparable includes OnContract (2011, Mumbai, $82K). Global comparables include BountyJobs (2006, NYC, $30M) and Talentory (2009, Zurich, $1.7M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

BigStylist (2015, Mumbai), on-demand beauty services at home, raises $1.2M in Seed round of funding led by Info Edge. Link

Wishbook (2014, Surat), mobile and web based enterprise app for catalog sharing, raises $543k in Seed round of funding from Info Edge. Link

Jhakaas (2016, Mumbai), mobile commerce solutions provider for offline retailers, raises an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A round of funding from Amen Dhyllon. Link

Zomato (2008, Gurgaon), online platform for food discovery, ordering table booking at restaurants, partners with Ola (2011, Bangalore), app-based asset-light cab operator, to allow users to book rides and pay through Ola Money. Link

Awfis (2015, Delhi), co working space marketplace, launches its operations in Pune. Link

Paytm (2010, Noida), mobile wallet and payments bank, plans to bring in-app TV news, live match broadcast and news aggregation partners. Link

Zeta (2015, Bengaluru), employee tax benefits solution provider, launches Zeta Super ID, enabling employee’s existing company ID cards to make payments. Link

SAIF Partners, Bangalore-based venture capital firm, announces close of new $350M fund. Link

Lendingkart Group (2014, Ahmedabad), online platform providing working capital for SMBs, appoints Utsav Mehrotra, as vice president of capital markets, and Abhishek Arora, as vice president of revenue and operations. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

WeWork (2010, NYC), co-working space provider, raises $500M in undisclosed round of funding from SoftBank and Hony Capital. Link

Toast (2011, Boston), PoS software provider for restaurant management, raises $101M in undisclosed round of funding led by Generation Investment Management and Lead Edge Capital with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners. Link

Callsign (2011, London), password manager and biometrics based access to systems and application, raises $35M in Series A round of funding led by Accel and PTB Ventures with participation from Allegis Capital and NightDragon Security. Link

Big Switch Networks (2010, Mountain View), software defined network control fabric, raises $30.7M in undisclosed round of funding from Dell Technologies Capital, Silverlake Waterman, Index Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, MSD Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Intel Capital, and others. Link

PreciThera (2016, Montreal), precision medicine company, raises $29M in Series A round of funding from Sanderling Ventures, Arix Bioscience, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, CTI Life Sciences and Emerillon Capital. Link

Sentient Science (2001, Buffalo), materials science prediction software provider, raises $22.5M in Series B round of funding led by Georgian Partners. Link

SyncHR (2005, Oakland), HRMS Solutions provider, raises $16M in undisclosed round of funding New Enterprise Associates, Boulder Ventures, Grayhawk Capital and EPIC Ventures, Acadia Woods and Peninsula Ventures . Link

6 River Systems (2015, Boston), robot manufacturer for assisted picking at ecommerce fulfillment centers, raises $15M in undisclosed round of funding Norwest Venture Partners and Eclipse Ventures. Link

Canaan Partners (1987, Menlo Park), early stage venture capital firm, closes Latest Venture Capital Fund, at $800M. Link

Site-less CROs under Niche Services and Serialization under Packaging Services formed niche upcoming sectors in the biopharma contract services landscape in 2016 as total funding dollars spiked by 52% from previous year.

Stage wise, fundraising rounds fell for both early and late by 18% and 35% respectively as there was a 33% soar for the seed stage.

While funding dollars registered an increase for seed and early stages by 75% and 249% respectively, late stage was marked by a fall by 57%.

By stage of entry, BioGenerator led the tally of most active investor for seed, Imperial Innovations led for Series A, Creathor Venture for Series B and Signet Healthcare Partners for later.

8 companies have taken the public route in this sector since 2014 with 16 companies getting acquired among which Thermo Fisher Scientific snapping up Patheon for $7.2B is the highest disclosed deal value.

Historically, CDMO has been the most investment-friendly business model ($2.1B) followed by CRO ($1.8B). Investments totaling north of  $604M have been plowed in this sector between 2016-17.

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Trucks under commercial vehicles and aerial under nontraditional formed niche upcoming sectors in the electric vehicles sector in 2016.

By stage, the number of fundraising rounds dipped most for early (76%), followed by seed (61%) and then late (18%).

Average ticket size showed a sharp dip for both Series A and Series B investments- 82% and 44% respectively with only a marginal increase for seed (10%).

Top investments in the last one year include LeSee’s Series A round of $1.1B and WM Motor’s Series A round of $1B.

By stage of entry, Y Combinator emerged as the most active investor for seed with Sequoia leading for Series A, Draper Fisher Juvertson leading for Series B and KPCB for later.

11 acquisitions have marked this space since 2016 among which Gree Electric Appliances picking up YinLong for $2B was the highest disclosed deal value.

Historically, automakers have been the most funded business model ($7.9B) followed by components ($2.9B) with $10.61B being invested in this sector between 2016-17 YTD and 283 companies funded in the last 5 years.

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Top investments in the investment tech sector in 2016 include Addepar’s Series D round of $140M and Robinhood’s Series C round of $110M as sentiment tech under financial data and research and zero fee under securities trading formed niche upcoming sectors that drew the most funding.

Stage-wise, fundraising rounds fell across the board-late by 21%, early by 10% and seed by 29%.

By stage, funding dollars dipped only for early by 20% as they registered a growth for seed and late by 30% and 32% respectively.

By stage of entry, Level39 emerged as the most active investor for seed, with Goldman Sachs leading for Series A and later and Sequoia leading for Series B.

The sector saw four IPOs since 2014. Of the sixteen acquisitions till date, Factset scooping up BI-SAM for $205M was of the highest disclosed deal value.

Historically, Mid & Back Office Solutions have been the most investment friendly ($2.7B) with Securities Trading following a close second ($2.4B) as dollars to the tune of $2.3B has been invested between 2016-17 YTD in this space.

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Campaign analytics under marketing and customer success management formed the most investment friendly niche upcoming sectors in the business intelligence space in 2016 as Domo’s Series D round of $100M and Voyager Labs’ PE round of $100M constituted top investments in the last one year.

Fundraising rounds fell across the board-late by 15%, early by 14% and seed by 28%.

As average ticket size increased considerably for Series B by 16% and remained constant for seed, it fell by 16% for Series A.

By stage of entry, Techstars led as the most active investor for seed, Sequoia for Series A and NEA for Series B and beyond.

Only one company has gone public in this space since 2014 as 15 acquisitions dotted this space with Wolters Kluwer Health picking up Tagetik for $317.9M being the biggest disclosed deal value.

BI/Analytics Verticals has historically been the most funded business model ($6.8B) followed by data discovery and visualization ($2.1B) as 603 companies have been founded in the last 5 years.

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