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

DEALS OF THE WEEK

CMC Capital Co-Leads $100M Round In Chinese Online Education Firm Liulishuo
Liulishuo (2012, Shanghai), an english language learning platform, raises $100M in Series C round of funding led by CMC Capital Partners and Wu Capital with participation from Trustbridge Partners, IDG Capital, GGV Capital, Cherubic Ventures and Hearst Ventures.

INTERESTING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY IN CHINA

China Based Person-To-Business Funding Firm Iqianbang.com Raises $80M Round
Iqianbang.com (2013, Beijing), a person-to-business fundraising platform, raises $80M in Series B round of funding led by ShenZhen Grand Electronics.

NIO Capital Leads $46M Round In Autonomous Driving Technology Firm Momenta
Momenta (2016, Beijing), an unmanned vehicle driving technology developer, raises $46M in Series B round of funding led by NIO Capital, Sequoia Capital China and Hillhouse Capital with participation from Daimler AG, Shunwei Capital, Sinovation Ventures and Unity Ventures.

Matrix, Fosun RZ Lead New Round In Chinese Smartphone Data Firm Teddy Mobile
Teddy Mobile (2014, Beijing), a smartphone data management startup, raises $29M in funding led by Matrix Partners China and Fosun RZ Capital.

SDIC Joins $24M Round In Chinese Internet Security Firm SkyGuard
SkyGuard (2015, Beijing), an internet security technology company, raises $24M in Series A round of funding from 360 Enterprise Security Group, China Growth Capital and Guotou Chuangye.

Aplus Capital Leads $18.5M Round In Chinese Cashier-Free Convenience Store Xiaomai
Xiaomai (2015, Beijing), an automated convenience store operator, raises $18.5M in Series A round of funding from Aplus Capital with participation from Chenshan Capital.

Kaitai Capital Leads $17M Round In Chinese New Car E-Commerce Platform Niuniuqiche
Niuniuqiche (2015, Shanghai), a business-to-business new car transaction platform, raises $17M in Series A round of funding led by Kaitai Capital with participation from existing investor Zhongjun Fund.

Huayi Joins $17M Round In Chinese Surgical Navigation Device Firm Symbow Medical
Symbow Medical (2011, Beijing), a surgical navigation device developer, raises $17M in Series A round of funding led by Huayi Capital with participation from National Emerging Industry Guidance Fund, Shandong Buchang Pharmaceuticals and Sangel Capital.

IDG Co-Leads $14M Round In Chinese Smart Security Software Developer HanSight
HanSight (2014, Beijing), a smart security software startup, raises $14M in Series B round of funding led by CASH Capital Investment Management and IDG Capital.

Cowin Capital Joins New Funding Round In Chinese Genetic Sequencing Firm Geneseeq
Geneseeq (2008, Nanjing), a startup focusing on genetic sequencing, raises an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by Industrial Innovation Capital Management with participation from Cowin Capital, Huatai Ruihe Healthcare Industrial Fund, and Boyuanhongsheng.

INVESTMENTS BY CHINESE INVESTORS AND COMPANIES

Principle Capital To Buy Israeli Firm Camtek’s Printed Circuit Board Unit For $35M
Principle Capital, a Shanghai-based private equity fund, signs a definitive agreement with Camtek (1987, Migdal Haemek), a semiconductor component manufacturer, to buy its printed circuit board business for $35M.

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

INTERESTING COMPANIES FOUND

Hoteliers.Guru (2013, Phuket) – Channel manager and booking engine for hotels. Global comparable include SiteMinder (2006, Sydney, $35M) and RezNext (2012, Bangalore, $5M).
VIPdiskon (2016, Jakarta) – Digital platform for cash back based deals from e-commerce websites. Global comparable include Ibotta (2011, Denver, $69.6M) and Refunder (2013, Stockholm, $4.02M).

SEA – FUNDING UPDATES

Everex raises funding
Everex (2016, Bangkok), a blockchain-based micro finance and remittance platform, raises $500k in Seed round from Holley Worldwide Holdings.

Kumparan raises funding
Kumparan (2016, Jakarta), a horizontal online media portal, raises an undisclosed amount in Series A from GDP Venture.

Traveloka raises funding
Traveloka (2012, Jakarta), a travel search engine, raises $500M in Series C from Expedia, East Ventures, JD, others.

SEA – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

ST Engineering launches $150M corporate venture capital unit
ST Engineering launches $150M corporate venture capital unit.

Temasek-backed K1 Ventures exits Guggenheim Capital
Temasek-backed K1 Ventures exits Guggenheim Capital in $221M sale.

Malaysia legalizes e-hailing services
Malaysia legalizes e-hailing services as Grab, Uber compete to expand regional presence.

Telkom to boost collaboration with startups in digital space
Telkom to boost collaboration with startups in digital space.

Tencent-backed Meituan-Dianping eyes Indonesia’s e-commerce market
Tencent-backed Meituan-Dianping eyes Indonesia’s e-commerce market.

NUS Enterprise, Salim Group officially launch BLOCK71 in Jakarta
NUS Enterprise, Salim Group officially launch startup hub BLOCK71 in Jakarta.

Pos Malaysia inks deal with Anchanto for its warehouse management technology
Pos Malaysia inks deal with Anchanto for its warehouse management technology to expand it e-commerce fulfillment service.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE

• OneKloud, a cloud infrastructure spend managment provider raises $1M in seed from leb by Birchmere Ventures, and participated by Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV) and Wharton Alumni Angels of Silicon Valley. Link
• Improbable, a cloud computing platform, raises $502M in Series B round led by SoftBank and follow on investments from Andreessen Horowitz and Horizons Ventures. Link
• Huayun, a cloud services company, raises $220M led by Beijing Road Fund, Haitong Securities, Wanxiang Group, Orient Securities, Union Securities, Wudaokou Fund, Hongdou Group, Far East Group, Shanshan Investmen.Link
• Cloud security company, Illumio raises $125M in a Series D round led by  J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Link
• DT Dream, a cloud security platform, raises $111M in Series A from Alibaba, Everbright Industrial Capital. Link
• Cloud security company, HyTrust raises $36M in the Series F round led by Advance Venture Partners. Link
• Spotinst, SaaS based cloud monitoring platform, raised $15M in Series A led by Intel Capital and partcipated by Vertex Venture Capital. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

LimitsizCloud (2017, Istanbul) – Offers  VPS server solutions.
Cloudureka (2017, Bangalore) – Offers Cloud solution comparison and recommendation platform.

LEADER BOARD – CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE

Compute Fabric Platforms
Mirantis (1999, Mountain View, $220M) – Provides enterprise-grade OpenStack distributions. Backed by Dell Ventures, Intel Capital and WestSummit Capital, Red Hat, Ericsson, and SAP Ventures. IVP, Telefonaktiebolaget L.M. Ericsson and Goldman Sachs.
Eucalyptus (2009, Goleta, $55.5M, Acq.) – Provides free and open-source computer software for building Amazon Web Services (AWS)-compatible private and hybrid cloud. Acquired by HP in September 2014.

IaaS
AWS (2006, Seattle, IPO) -Provides remote computing as web services. It is part of Amazon. Amazon went public in May 1997.
Azure (2010, Redmond, IPO) – Provides an open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform. It is part of Microsoft. Microsoft went public in March 1986.
Google Cloud Platform (2011, Mountain View, IPO) –  Provides a cloud computing platform that offers hosting on the same supporting infrastructure that Google uses. It is part of Google. Google went public in August 2004.

Cloud Governance Platform
Surgient (2003, Austin, $87M) – Provides cloud management platform. Acquired by Quest in 2010. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Stern Hill Partners, Austin Ventures, Cisco Ventures, Rocky Mountain VC, Agave Capital, Cross Link Capital.
ScienceLogic (2003, Reston, $84M) – Provides IT monitoring platform for hybrid cloud infrastructure. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Intel Capital, NEA.
RightScale (2007, Santa Barbara, $58M) – Provides multi-cloud management platform for hybrid cloud environments. Backed by DAG Ventures, Benchmark, Index Ventures, Presidio Ventures, Tenaya Capital.

Cloud Service Brokerage Enablers
Gravitant (2004, Austin, $39, Acq.) – Cloud services brokerage and management. Acquired by IBM in 2015.
Jamcracker (1999, Santa Clara, $28M) – Products to manage and deliver customized cloud services. Backed by Telus Ventures.

Cloud Migration
RiverMeadow (2009, San Jose, $35M) – SaaS solution to automatically migrate serves among clouds.Backed by Cisco Ventures and Violin memory.
CloudVelox (2010, Santa Clara, $33M) – Developed automated cloud migration solution. Backed by Third Point Ventures, Mayfield, Pelion Ventures.

Cloud Integration
Aviatrix (2014, Santa Clara, $10M) – Provides solutions to build hybrid clouds. Backed by Formation 8, Ignition Partners, Monta VC.
RackWare (2009, Santa Clara, $15M) – Provides cloud automation solutions. Backed by Osage Partners, KickStart Seed Fund, Signal Peak.

Cloud Analytics
Cloud Healthtech (2012, Boston, $40M) – Provides analytics solutions for the cloud. Backed by CRV and a16z. Backed by Sapphire Ventures, Scale VP, 406 Ventures, Sigma Prime.

Cloud Security
Illumio (2013. Sunnyvale, $267M) – Provides cloud infrastructure security solutions. Backed by Blackrock, Accel, Formation 8, a16z, General Catalyst.
Bracket Computing (2011, Sunnyvale, $130M) – Provides cloud infrastructure for hybrid cloud environments. Backed by Goldman Sachs, a16z, Artis Ventures, NVP, Allegis Capital, SVP.

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 Cloud Infrastructure feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – PAYMENTS

• WorlPay, a leading merchant Acquirer Processor, has been acquired by cross-border rival Vantiv for £7.7B ($9.9B). Link
• Bambora, a leading Australian PoS solutions provider, has been acquired by rival Ingenico for €1.5B ($1.7B). Link
• First Data, the leading merchant acquirer processor, has completed the acquisition of CardConnect. Link
• PayPal has completed the acquisition of bill payment management company TIO Networks. Link
• Brighterion, an AI-based fraud detection, AML and KYC solution provider, has been acquired by MasterCard. Link
• Buckaroo, a billing and payment service provider for SMEs, has been acquired by private equity firm BlackFin Capital Partners. Link
• Marqeta, a white label prepaid card issuer and processor
  , has raised a $25M funding in a Series D round led by Visa, with participation from Commerce Ventures, 83 North, Granite Ventures, IA Capital, CommerzVentures and CreditEase. Link
• Innoviti, a PoS payment processing solutions provider, has raised INR120cr ($18M) funding in a Series B round led by SBI Ven Capital, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Catamaran Ventures. Link
• Curve, a many-in-one meta card provider, has raised $10M funding in a Series A round from Santander InnoVentures, Connect Ventures, Investec, Speedinvest, Oxford Capital, Breega Capital, Samos Investments, Henry Ritchotte, Gael de Boissard, Paul Townsend, Emilian Popa, Alessandro Hatami. Link
• Easy Payment Gateway, an online payment gateway and fraud protection engine, has raised £5.5M ($7M) funding in an Angel round from Andreas Mihalovits and Alejandro Betancourt. Link
• Upserve, a restaurant PoS solutions provider, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Vista Equity Partners, First Round Capital, and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Link
• Echo Payment Systems, a turnkey prepaid card management solutions provider, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Rebel Venture Fund. Link
• PayStand, a B2B payments startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from LEAP Global Partners. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

BlockFraud (2017, Santa Monica, Undisclosed) – An anti-fraud solution focused on mobile device to prevent payment & carrier-billing fraud and affiliate fraud. Backed by Palisades Growth.

LEADER BOARD – PAYMENTS

Payment Gateway
Safecharge (2006, British Virgin Islands, IPO) – A customized payment acceptance portal for merchants. Went public in 2014.
Stripe (2010, SF, $466M) – A merchant acquirer and a payment gateway API provider for web and mobile payments. Backed by Y Combinator, American Express, VISA, Redpoint Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Salesforce, Morgan Stanley, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, Khosla Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Founders Fund, KPCB, General Catalyst Partners, Thrive Capital, Lowercase Capital, Allen & Company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Alven Capital, TrueBridge Capital Partners, Entree Capital, Square Peg Capital, Golden Gate Ventures, Playfair Capital, Barclays, Designer Fund, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Darwin Ventures, BoxGroup, Google Capital.
Billdesk (2000, Mumbai, $157.5M) – Electronic payment services provider to banks, businesses and other institutions. Backed by SBI, General Atlantic, TA Associates Management, Bank of Baroda, Temasek, Clearstone Venture Partners, SIDBI Venture Capital, March Capital Partners.

Acquirer Processor
First Data Corporation (1971, Atlanta, Acq, IPO) – A global payments service provider specializing in merchant transaction processing, private label cards and e-check acceptance services. Was acquired by KKR in 2007 for $27.5B. Went public in October 2015.
Vantiv (1971, Cincinnati, IPO) – An electronic payment processor, payment gateway API and PoSsolutions provider. Went public in 2012.
WorldPay (1993, London, Acq.) – A London-based payment processing company offering gateway and PoS services. Went public in October 2015. Was acquired by Vantiv in July 2017 for $10B.
Total System Services (1982, Columbus (Georgia), IPO) – A merchant acquirer and white label prepaid card solutions provider. Went public in 1983.
Adyen (2006, Amsterdam, $266M) – An internet-first merchant acquirer and omnichannel payment solutions provider. Backed by General Atlantic, Index Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Temasek, Iconiq Capital.

Payment Network
VISA (1958, Foster City, IPO) – An association of banks and other financial institutions, which facilitates card payment transactions. Went public in 2008.
MasterCard (1966, Purchase, IPO) – An interbank association facilitating card payments. Went public in 2006.
Vocalink (2007, Rickmansworth, $114M, Acq.) – A UK-based ATM switching platform and interbanknetwork. Aquired by MasterCard for £700M ($926M) in July 2016.
Ripple (2012, SF, $90.5M) – An open source, decentralized protocol to provide real time cross border payments and settlements. Backed by Standard Chartered, AME Cloud Ventures, Seagate, CME Group, IDG Capital Partners, RRE Ventures, Venture 51, Core VC, ChinaRock Capital Management, SBI Holdings, Route 66 Ventures, Camp One Ventures, Blockchain Capital, Santander InnoVentures, Digital Currency Group, SCB Digital Ventures.

PoS Suite
VeriFone (1981, San Jose, IPO) – Provides all kinds of PoS devices, along with a payment gateway. Went public in 2005.
Ingenico Group (1980, Paris, IPO) – A payment processing service provider specializing in NFC enabled PoS terminals, gateways and cross-border e-commerce solutions. Went public in 1985.

Wallet
PayPal (1998, San Jose, Acq., IPO) – An online payment and money transfer service, offeringpayment gateway, merchant accounts and wallet solutions. Acquired by eBay in July 2002 for $1.5B. Went public in July 2015.
Mozido (2008, Austin, $288.5M) – A white label web and mobile wallet solutions provider. Backed by MasterCard, TomorrowVentures, Atlanticus, Brentwood Associates, Wellington Management, Quabbin Capital.
Dashlane (2009, NYC, $52.5M) – A fully-featured password manager and secure digital wallet app. Backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, Rho Ventures, TransUnion, FinTech Innovation Lab.
Xapo (2012, Palo Alto, $40M) – A bitcoin wallet provider with cold storage facility. Backed by Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, Benchmark, Fortress Investment Group, Ribbit Capital.

Alternate Payment Methods
PayNearMe (2009, Sunnyvale (CA), $90M) – Provides offline payment services for online solutions. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Maveron, True Ventures, GSV Capital, Kapor Capital, Bullpen Capital, Floodgate, August Capital, Fenwick & West, Endeavour Partners.
TrialPay (2006, Mountain View, $56M, Acq.) – Enables merchants to offer free action based rewards to their customers. Acquired by VISA in February 2015 for an undisclosed amount.

Security
Signifyd (2011, Palo Alto, $106M) – An AI-based transaction monitoring solutions provider with chargeback guarantee. Backed by American Express, Andreessen Horowitz, IA Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, QED Investors, TriplePoint Capital, Menlo Ventures, Data Collective, Tekton Ventures, Resolute Ventures, Allegis Capital, Lucas Venture Group, BYU Cougar Capital, Streamlined Ventures, Thinkplus, Allegis Capital.
Kount (2007, Boise, $80M) – A SAAS based fraud prevention service provider for card-not-present transactions. Backed by CVC Capital Partners.
ThreatMetrix (2005, San Jose, $84M) – A payment fraud prevention service and context-based authentication solution provider. Backed by U.S Venture Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, Adams Street Partners, Tenaya Capital, August Capital, Technology Venture Partners, In-Q-Tel, Talu Ventures.
Ethoca (2005, Toronto, $45M) – A secure network for card issuers and merchants to connect and work outside the payment network. Backed by Spectrum Equity.

Enablers
Fidelity Information Services (1968, Jacksnville, IPO) – PCI Compliance, technology outsourcing and other payment security and back-end solutions for businesses and Financial Institutions. Went public in June 2001.
Trustwave (1995, Chicago, $60M, Acq.) – Provides cloud-based enterprise security solutions for threat detection, prevention & risk mitigation, including PCI compliance. Acquired by Singtel in September 2015 for $770M.
Clear2Pay (2001, Brussels, $125M, Acq.) – Provider of payment solutions to financial institutions. Also provides white label remittance services. Acquired by Fidelity Information Services in September 2014 for $493M.

B2B Payments
GlobalCollect (1994, Netherlands, Acq.) – An international B2B money transfer and payment gateway service provider. Acquired by Ingenico in September 2014 for $1.1B.
Viewpost (2012, Maitland, $79M) – e-Invoice exchange and electronic payment solutions provider. Backed by Western Technology Investment.

Payment Cards
Green Dot Corporation (1999, Monrovia (CA), IPO) – Reloadable prepaid card provider. Went public in 2010.
BlackHawk Network (2001, Pleasanton (CA), IPO) – Provider of white-label solutions for merchants and corporates. Also provides a marketplace for branded retail gift cards and reloading services for third-party prepaid cards. Went public in 2013.
Nubank Brasil (2013, Sao Paulo, $178M) – A MasterCard flagged credit card with mobile app. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Goldman Sachs, Founders Fund, QED Investors, Tiger Global Management, DST Global, Kaszek Ventures.

Leader board 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

Mitra (2016, Bangalore), developer of humanoid robots for customer interaction. Founders are ex- Be Limitless, Zingfin, Agni Innovation Labs and are alumni of IIT Madras and Franklin W. Olin School. Local comparable is Sayabot (2015, Kochi). Global comparables are Krund (2015, Beijing, $8.7M) and Savioke (2013, Sunnyvale, $17.6M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Aye (2013, Delhi), MSME lending company, raises $1.5M in Debt round of funding from M&M financial Services. Link

Play Ablo (2015, Bangalore), gamified app for learning K-12 Maths & English, raises $600k in Seed round of funding led by ABI-Showatech. Link

Gympik (2012, Bangalore), online platform connecting personal health trainers and prospective clients, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Round Glass Partners. Link

Finomena (2015, Bangalore), EMI based purchase loan provider, shuts down due to lack of funds. Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), horizontal ecommerce marketplace, plans to co-create products in partnership with domestic manufacturers. Link

PayU (2011, Gurgaon), payment gateway solutions to merchants and SMBs, launches UPI feature. Link

i2iFunding (2014, Noida), P2P lending platform, claims to break even by the 2nd Quarter of 2019-20. Link

Capillary (2008, Bangalore), omnichannel engagement and commerce platform for businesses, hires Ganesh Lakshminarayanan as COO. Link

CG Corp, Nepal-based venture capital firm, launches $100M to invest in start-ups in India. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Traveloka (2012, Jakarta), travel search engine, raises $350M in Series C round of funding from Expedia. Link

DotC United (2014, Beijing), developer of mobile apps related to system management, raises $350M in Series B round of funding led by Zeus Entertainment. Link

Valiant Midstream (2017, Oklahoma), provider of end-to-end midstream services, raises $150M in Equity Investment funding from Tailwater Capital. Link

Hyperoptic (2011, London), internet broadband service provider, raises $130M in Debt round of funding from BNP Paribas, ING, RBS and Dutch investment bank NIBC. Link

DataRobot (2012, Boston), automated machine learning platform for data science applications, raises $67.18M in undisclosed round of funding from undisclosed investors. Link

Push Doctor (2013, Birmingham), online doctor consultation via video, raises $26.1M in Series B round of funding led by Accelerated Digital Ventures and Draper Esprit with participation from Oxford Capital, Partech Ventures and Seventure Partners. Link

Marqeta (2010, Emeryville), O2O payments and commerce platform, raises $25M in Series D round of funding led by Visa with participation from Commerce Ventures, 83 North, Granite Ventures, IA Capital, and CommerzVentures GmbH, as well as new investor CreditEase. Link

PerimeterX (2014, Tel Aviv), botnet and non-human attack prevention for website, raises $23M in Series B round of funding led by Canaan Partners with participation from Vertex Ventures and Data Collective. Link

Fulcrum Equity Partners, Atlanta-based growth equity firm investing in healthcare, software and technology-enabled service companies, raises Third Venture Capital Fund, at $203M. Link

Harry Potter and his magical adventures have shaped our childhood and adolescent memories. World related with Harry because like them, Harry’s life was not without its share of problems. It’s Harry’s 37th birthday today, and we wondered how today’s “muggle technologies” would come to his rescue had magic lost its charm. We’ve accio-ed ten muggle startups that’d help Harry live a better life. Take note, Harry, and a very happy birthday!

Download this Infographic

Check out our Star Wars Day Special: 13 Startups To Help The Resistance Defeat The Empire. The Force Is Strong With Them

Check out our Game of Thrones Special: Winter is here. Fantasy portfolio of Westerosi hotshots

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – MATCHMAKING

• Tantan, a Beijing-based Tinder-like mobile dating platform, has raised $70M in a Series D round of funding led by Genesis Capital, ZhongWei Capital, SAIF Partners China and Huanju. Link
• Happn, a Paris-based mobile dating platform based on crossed paths, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series C round of funding led by Lahari Music and Nimish Arora. Link
• Setipe, a Jakarta-based mobile dating portal offering one match per day, was acquired by Lunch Actually Group. Link
• Matrimony.com, a Chennai-based online matrimonial platform has received the final observation letter from the SEBI for its proposed IPO. Link
• Spark Networks and Affinitas, the operator of several online dating platforms have announced a stock-for-stock merger forming Spark Networks SE. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Mel&Jer (2016, Paris), a personality-based matchmaking Facebook messenger bot. Gathers the basic information through FB messenger chat and uses AI to match the users.

LEADER BOARD – MATCHMAKING

Matrimony- Listing
Matrimony (1997, Chennai, $20M) – Online matrimonial matchmaking platform. Backed by Yahoo, Canaan Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Mayfield.
Shaadi (1997, Mumbai, $8M) – Online matrimonial matchmaking platform for South Asians. Backed by Westbridge Capital and InnoVen Capital. Part of People Group.

Matrimony- Algo-based
Baihe (2004, Beijing, $256M) – Online algorithmic matrimonial matchmaking portal. Backed by NEA, Mayfield, Tenaya Capital, GSR Ventures, Zero2IPO Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital and Investor Growth Capital.
Zhenai (2005, Shenzhen, $13M) – An online matrimonial platform with algorithmic matching. Backed by Match, SEAVI Advent, Bridger Capital, and MC Capital Asia Group.

Dating – Open Listings
Momo (2011, Beijing, $290M, IPO) – A Chinese dating and chat platform. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, DST Global, Alibaba Group, YF Capital, Matrix Partners China, and others. Went public in 2014.
Hi5 (2003, SF, $34M, Acq) – Online dating platform. Backed by Mohr Davidow Ventures, Crosslink Capital and Vencore Capital. Acquired by Tagged.
Badoo (2006, London, $30M) – Online dating and social networking platform. Backed by FINAM Global.

Dating – Mutual Likes
Tinder (2010, West Hollywood) – Mobile dating app based on mutual likes. Backed by Benchmark and a part of Match Group owned by IAC.
Tantan (2014, Beijing, $120M) – Mobile dating application based on mutual likes. Backed by SAIF Partners China, KPCB, DST Global, DCM Ventures, LB Investment, SS&C Technologies, Bertelsmann Asia Investment Fund, GX Capital, Yuan Jing Capital, among others.
Paktor (2013, Singapore, $57.5M) – A Tinder-like mobile dating application based on mutual likes. Backed by PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk, YJ Capital, Majuven, SXE Ventures, Golden Equator Capital, Vertex Ventures, Convergence Ventures, K2 Global and Sebrina Holdings.

Dating – Profile Matching
eHarmony (2000, Santa Monica, $113M) – Online dating platform with questionnaire-driven personality-based matchmaking. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Technology Crossover Ventures, Fayez Sarofim, Tuputele Ventures, and others.
Zoosk (2007, SF, $43.5M) – Online dating platform that employs behavioural matchmaking. Backed by Canaan Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Plug and Play Tech Center, Crosslink Capital, Keating Capital, Amidzad Partners, among others.

Dating – Specialized
Grindr (2008, LA, $93M) – Mobile dating app for gay and bisexual people. Backed by Kunlun.
Blued (2012, Beijing, $32M) – Mobile dating app for gay individuals. Backed by DCM Ventures, China Mobile Games and Entertainment, CrystalStream, New World Development, Ventech, and Vision Knight Capital.

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 Matchmaking feed.

It’s the 726th anniversary of Swiss National Day and we’ve compiled for you a list of 20 Swiss VCs who are betting on some of the most innovative technologies and companies in Switzerland and across the world. Find out about top 20 startups from Switzerland that are making their mark in the startup space here.

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Neil Rimer @narimer: Neil co-founded Index Ventures with Giuseppe Zocco and David Rimer in 1996. Previously he spent 4 years with Montgomery Securities in San Francisco. Neil has invested in market-defining companies from across the spectrum including Betfair (LSE: BET), Genmab, FundingCircle, Climate Corp. (MON), HouseTrip, Kaggle, Last.fm (CBS), Stack Exchange and Supercell. He has served on the board of U.C. Sampdoria, and currently serves on the board of Human Rights Watch. Neil’s current investment interests include Internet media, e-commerce, entertainment and education businesses as well as capital-efficient, information-oriented cleantech companies. He currently serves on a number of Boards including FundingCircle, doubleTwist, HouseTrip, Lehigh Technologies, MOO Print, Netvibes, Photobox, Redwood Systems, Stack Exchange, and Weatherbill.

Bernard Dallé @bdalle: Bernard joined Index Ventures in 1997 and currently oversees the firm’s operations. Historically, he led many of the firm’s software investments and his current board roles include Mimecast and Base CRM. Prior to Index, he worked as a consultant with McKinsey and held roles in IT and finance with Procter & Gamble.

Sven Lingjaerde @svenling: Sven is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Endeavour Vision. In 1996, he co-founded Vision Capital, a Trans-Atlantic technology venture capital firm with offices in Silicon Valley and Geneva. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director of Genevest, a Swiss venture capital firm that he joined in 1987. Through his leadership, Genevest developed an excellent track record of early to late stage investments in High Tech and Biotech ventures on both sides of the Atlantic. Sven – a veteran European venture capitalist – was recognized for his contribution in shaping the European technology ecosystem through a number of awards and was featured in many international publications. A keen skier and golfer, Sven is married and has three children. He is a former Norwegian citizen, became Swiss in 1972 and completed his time in the army as a first lieutenant in the armored forces.

Daniel Gutenberg @Topgun111: Daniel joined VI Partners in July 2003 as a Venture Partner focusing on IT. He started his career as CEO of Gutenberg Communication Systems AG, a company he founded in 1991. Subsequent to selling Gutenberg Communication Systems AG to the Telindus Group in 2000, he became an active Business Angel investing globally in Unicorns. Daniel holds several board seats in public and private companies. Daniel carries the prime responsibility for the following portfolio companies: Advanon, Equippo, SonicEmotion and SumUp.

Dr. Anja König: Dr. Anja König is Global Head at Novartis Venture Fund. She is active in the UK, Switzerland and the rest of Europe. Prior to joining NVF, she was an Associate Partner at McKinsey and Company in New York, a global consultancy, where she worked with healthcare companies in the US, Europe and Emerging Markets. Anja holds a PhD in physics from Cornell University. She serves on the boards of Bicycle Therapeutics, F2G and Forendo Pharma.

Florent Gros: Florent Gros is Managing Director at Novartis Venture Fund (NVF) and is based out of Basel, Switzerland. Prior to joining NVF, he worked in various global leadership positions in intellectual property and transaction matters at Nestlé, Pasteur Merieux Connaught (Sanofi Pasteur) and Novartis, in Europe and North America. Florent is a Kaufmann Fellow (2012) and holds a Biotechnology Engineering Masters Degree from France, and did his diploma thesis on vaccines at GSK in Belgium. He also holds European and French patent lawyer degrees and a Masters in Private Law. Florent serves on the boards of Adicet, Anokion SA, Atlas Genetics, Inflazome, Kanyos, MyoPower Medical Technologies, Opsona, and Vivet.

Peter Niederhauser: Peter is co-founder of Redalpine Venture Partners. He has been a serial entrepreneur since 1986, and is also the co-founder of Miracle software 1986.

Arnd Kaltofen: Arnd joined VI Partners in August 2001 as a partner focusing on early-stage life science investments. Before that, he built a team dedicated to venture capital transactions in the life science and health care industry for KPMG Corporate Finance (98-01). He gained his entrepreneurial experience in several medical device and e-health start-ups where he held various management positions (91-98). As an MD he started his professional career in a university hospital and in medical research (87-91). Arnd carries the prime responsibility for the following portfolio companies: Altoida, Cell Medica, Inositec, JenaValve, Kuros and Ventaleon.

Bernard Vogel @BEVogel: Bernard is co-founder and Managing Partner of Endeavour Vision. He currently serves on the board of Spartoo.com, and was previously on several boards including Retailo (sold to Blackhawk), PolySpace Technologies (sold to The Mathworks) and Mobile News Channel (sold to Alcatel). He was the President of the Cleantech Summit 2009, an international event gathering over 200 investors and market makers around the most innovative European cleantech start-ups. Prior to Endeavour Vision, Bernard worked with McKinsey & Co, where he gained strong experience in corporate and business strategy, sales and marketing strategy as well as in restructuring projects. Bernard has worked in a number of industries including banking, transportation-logistics, biotech, electronics, power generation and automotive in Switzerland, France, Germany, the UK and Taiwan.

Daniel Bertholet: Daniel is an Investment Director in the Life Sciences practice at Endeavour Vision, with a focus on medtech investments. Daniel has invested in PneumRx, Symetis, CeQur, Nfocus (sold to Covidien), Endoart (sold to Allergan), Thommen Medical (exited), Neocutis (sold to Merz Pharma), Novalar Pharmaceuticals (exited) and Kuros Biosurgery. He also participated in investments and/or follow-on investments in Native Networks (sold to Alcatel), eProject/Daptiv (exited), Paion (IPO), Nexx Systems (sold to Tokyo Electron) and Novimmune. Prior to his venture capital career, Daniel was the co-founder and CFO of a technology start-up and has invested as a business angel/private investor in private companies for over 15 years in Europe and the US. Daniel started his career as a consultant in country risk assessment for Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI) in the US and Switzerland.

Martin Münchbach: Dr. Münchbach is senior investment advisor for BB BIOTECH VENTURES. He has invested in life science companies across all stages and types. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Dr. Münchbach gained experience in strategic marketing at Sanofi-Synthélabo. Dr. Münchbach holds a PhD in Protein Chemistry, an MSc in Biochemistry and a Master in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich. Dr. Münchbach’s past and current board assignments include 4-Antibodies AG, Atlas Genetics Ltd, Axovan (acquired by Actelion), Glycart Biotechnologies AG (acquired by Roche), Molecular Partners AG, Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc (now publicly listed), Opsona Therapeutics Ltd, Radius Health Inc, Sonetik AG, and Tioga Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Alexander Schmitz: Alexander Schmitz is an Investment Director at Endeavour Vision, a Geneva-based venture capital firm investing in growth-stage medical device and digital health companies. Alex has nearly two decades of business and strategy experience in both medical device and high-technology companies. From 2005 to 2014, he helped Biosensors International Group develop its interventional cardiology business, from less than $5 million in annual revenues to more than $300 million. He played a key role in establishing and building the company’s presence across Europe and Asia, most recently serving as vice president of business development, based in Switzerland. Prior to Biosensors, Alex spent three years with LogiSpring, the corporate venture fund of the TNT Post Group.

Dominique Pitteloud @dpitteloud: Dominique is a Partner at Endeavour Vision and has been working in venture capital since 2001. Dominique focuses on investments in the internet, communication and cloud computing sectors, specializing in wireless technologies. He has led or co-led investments in Kobojo, Amplidata, CommProve, where he is a Director, as well as Staccato Communications, Media Lario Technologies, Sphera, eProject, Native Networks (sold to Alcatel) and M7 (sold to BEA). Dominique is also an independent Director with Sequans Communications (NYSE: SQNS), a prior investment of Vision Capital, and an Advisor with ASSIA, a leader in DSL management solutions. Prior to venture capital, Dominique was Vice President of Marketing at 8×8, a Silicon Valley telecommunication company. Dominique joined 8×8 in 1999 as part of the acquisition of Odisei, a telecommunication start-up from Sophia Antipolis, France. Prior to Odisei, Dominique held various engineering and management positions at Logitech, a market leader in computer peripherals, including Vice President of the scanner and video camera business units.

Harald Nieder @HaraldNieder: Harald is a partner at Redalpine Ventures and holds a PhD in Physics and MSc in Financial Economics. He specializes in angel investments and has worked previously in Corporate Risk Advisory at BNP Paribas and FX Structuring at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Daniel Aegerter @aegerter: Daniel is Chairman of Armada Investment Group. He started his first business at age 18 importing Macintosh peripherals into Switzerland. At age 20 he moved to the US to start a computer trading business there, which grew to 30 million in revenues within four years. This morphed into an early Internet commerce company that was the first to offer solutions for digital marketplaces. TRADEX Technologies raised venture capital, built a first tier customer base and subsequently was sold to Ariba in March of 2000 for $5.6 billion (the venture investors made over 100x). Today, Daniel runs his own family office which he established after selling his Internet Software company in 2000 to help invest his capital in exciting and profitable ventures.

Dr. Markus Hosang: Hosang is General Partner at Biomed Partners. Dr. Hosang has a strong pharmaceutical and VC background and joined BioMedPartners in 2004. He was Venture Partner at MPM Capital, where he was co-responsible for their European deal flow, managed the European office in Munich, and served on the board of several portfolio companies. Prior to joining MPM in 2002, he was at Roche, where he served for nearly 20 years in several senior management positions in the Pharma R&D organization, including VP and Director of the International Pharma Research Strategy Unit and Chief of Staff to the President of Roche Global R&D. He organized and served on the Global Board of R&D Directors and the Pharma Portfolio Board. Most recently he was VP and CSO of Genetics and Integrated Medicine and a member of the Roche Genetics Executive Committee.

Markus Goebel: Dr. Markus Goebel is a Managing Director at Novartis Venture Fund. Prior to joining NVF, he worked as Head Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporate M&A and Head Nervous System Business Development & Licensing. A physician by training and certified, amongst others, in hematology/oncology, Markus worked for Farmitalia Germany and later held several positions in R&D, Marketing and Strategy at Roche headquarters before joining Novartis. Markus received an MD and a PhD from the Ludwig Maximilian’s University in Munich and an MBA from Henley. Markus serves on the boards of AlloCyte Pharmaceuticals, and eFFECTOR.

Diego Braguglia: Diego joined VI Partners in January 2003 as a partner focusing on life-science and biotech investments.
He brings over 20 years of experience in life science, medical devices and pharmaceuticals in Europe and the US. Prior to his entry into the VC industry Diego has held various managerial positions in the pharmaceuticals and medical devices sectors, as well as in biotech start ups in Europe and the US. Diego carries the prime responsibility for the following portfolio companies: Amal, Covalys, Edimer, Genkyotex, Merlion, Sequana and Xeltis.

Michael Sidler@michael_sidler: Sidler is a General Partner at Redalpine Ventures. He is a passionate investor, coach and supporter of startups and the whole ecosystem around them.

Alain Nicod @anicod: Alain Nicod is the managing partner of VI Partners. He is mostly active in the information technology sector but also contributes through his entrepreneurial background to critical decisions within other portfolio companies. Alain joined VI Partners in the summer of 2002. Between 1989 and 2002 he has been investing in various companies in the medical instrumentation (compex) and in the information technology sectors (smart-telecom.ch, sourcingparts.com, mnc.ch, leshop.ch, securicard, etc.). In most cases he was a founder of the company or a very early seed investor, and also held executive positions in some. Alain is a board member of two banks and financial institutions in Switzerland. During his pre-entrepreneurial period he consulted leading telecommunication operators on issues related to cable television, interactive services and M&A transactions.

Check out our list of top 20 Canadian VCs

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Pando (2016, Bangalore), cloud-hosted transport management solution. Founder is ex-iDelivery, LO/RE Solutions, Vaikund Estates and is an alumnus of Singapore Management University. Local comparable is Telematics4U (2009, Bangalore, undisclosed). Global comparables are EFreightSolutions (2005, Kennesaw, $20M) and OTMS (2012, Beijing, $41M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Docwise (2016, Bangalore), online telemedicine and doctor consultation platform, raises an undisclosed amount in an undisclosed round of funding from Mekin Maheshwari, Gaurav Bhalotia and others. Link

Fork Media (2013, Mumbai), native advertising agency, acquires majority stake in Rappio (2015, Mumbai), mobile app for audio advertising through mobile ringtones. Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), horizontal ecommerce marketplace, is now valued at $13.7B and Ola (2011, Bangalore), app-based asset-light cab operator, at $3.4B by Vanguard. Link

Jugnoo (2014, Chandigarh), mobile-based autorickshaw hailing and hyperlocal delivery service, launches FUGU, a B2B SaaS based product for small & medium enterprises. Link

Ashish Bagga steps down as Group CEO of India Today (1975, Delhi), mass media company with interests in print, digital and broadcast. Link

InnoVen Capital, Mumbai-based first and largest venture debt and specialty lending business company, appoints Chin Chao as interim CEO for India operations. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Carwow (2010, London), online marketplace to buy new cars, raises $39M in undisclosed round of funding led by Vitruvian Partners, with participation from Accel Partners and Balderton Capital. Link

Flutterwave (2016, SF), payment gateway API provider, raises $10M in Series A round of funding led by Greycroft Partners and Green Visor Capital with participation from Y Combinator and Glynn Capital. Link

Atlas Dynamics (2015, Dublin), professional drone solutions for data collection, raises $8M in undisclosed round of funding from private and institutional investors. Link

ACloudGuru (2015, London), AWS certification courses and training provider, raises $7M in Series A round of funding from Elephant Venture Capital. Link

KitforKids (2009, Sevenoaks), provider of development and growth of the child is paramount, raises $4.4M in an undisclosed round of funding from private investors of Connection Capital. Link

Peer5 (2011, Tel Aviv), serverless P2P CDN for live video streaming, raises $2.5M in Seed round of funding from FundersClub, Oriza Ventures, Tank Hill Ventures and Leorsa Group. Link

INVECAS (2014, Santa Clara), enabling Silicon Realization, acquires Lattice (1983, Portland), low power programmable logic products and related software, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Revel Partners, NYC-based early-stage venture capital firm, raises $20.64M in First Close of Second Venture Capital Fund. Link

NextBlock Global, Toronto-based new digital asset investment company, raises $20M undisclosed round of funding from undisclosed investors. Link

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – VIRTUAL REALITY

• Leap Motion, a hand-tracking company, raises $50M in Series C funding led by JP Morgan Asset Management. Link
• Within, a virtual reality content startup, raises $40M in Series B funding from investors including Temasek, Emerson Collective, Andreessen Horowitz, 21st Century Fox and others. Link
• Here Be Dragons, a VR production studio, raises $9M in funding. Link
• ObEN, a startup providing AI tools for character creation, raises $5M in funding from Tencent. Link
• Force Field VR, a developer of location-based VR experiences and VR games, raises $1.15M in Series A funding. Link
• Jiu VR, a developer of VR peripheral equipment as well as content, raises undisclosed amount in Series A funding from Horgus Jiu Bang Information Technology. Link
• HTC announces standalone Vive headset for China with its content platform Viveport as official app store. Link
• Second Life creator Linden Lab launches open beta for social VR platform Sansar. Link
• 6 VR experiences nominated for 2017 Emmy Awards Link
• Oculus announces native mixed reality capture support for Rift. Link
• uSens reveals improved 6DOF inside-out positional tracking for mobile VR. Link
• Microsoft’s first-party studios working on content for Windows 10 VR headsets. Link
• Samsung reveals its standalone reference design ExynosVR III with 4K resolution and eye-tracking. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

King City (2016, Pak Shek Kok) – Radar-based gesture recognition systems.
Force Field VR (2016, Amsterdam) – Developer of location-based VR experiences and VR games.
IVREAL (2016, Chongqing) – Provides mixed reality solutions based on its patented image algorithm.

LEADER BOARD – VIRTUAL REALITY

Studios
Within (2014, Venice, $57M) – Develops cinematic VR content. Backed by Temasek, Emerson Collective, Andreessen Horowitz, 21st Century Fox, Raine Ventures and others.
Wevr (2010, LA, $40M) – Develops open VR technology platform that enables storytellers to create, present, and publish projects on all VR headsets. Backed by Digital Garage, HTC, Samsung Venture Investment, Evolution Media Capital, AME Cloud Ventures and others.
Baobab Studios (2015, SF, $31M) – VR animation studio. Backed by Horizons Ventures, 20th Century Fox, Shanghai Media Group, and others.
The Virtual Reality Company (2014, LA, $25M) – VR content studio. Backed by Rothenberg Ventures, Jiangsu Hengxin Technology, Elementum Ventures.

Live Streaming
NextVR (2009, Laguna Beach, $115.5M) – Develops technology to stream live VR content. Backed by Formation8, Comcast Ventures, RSE Ventures and others.
SLIVER.tv (2015, Cupertino, $22M) – VR platform for viewing eSports competitions. Backed by Danhua Capital, DCM Ventures, Sierra Ventures, The VR Fund, Hollywood Media Investors, and others.

Content Creation Tools – End to end solutions
JauntVR (2013, Palo Alto, $100M) – Develops hardware, software, tools, and applications to enable content developers to make cinematic VR experiences. Backed by Walt Disney Company, Redpoint, SV Angel & Highland Capital Partners.
The Future Group (2013, Oslo, $42M) – Providers of tools for broadcast and entertainment applications in virtual reality. Backed by Ferd, Aker & others.

Content Creation Tools – Reality Capture
Lytro (2006, Mountain View, $200M) – Develops light field camera technology for cinematic VR imaging. Backed by NEA, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners and others.
360fly (1998, Pittsburgh, $60M) – Develops panoramic camera that can capture 360-degree views. Backed by Qualcomm Ventures, Voxx International, and others.
8i (2014, Wellington, $41.5M) – Holographic Virtual Reality. Backed by RRE Ventures, Boost VC, Samsung Ventures and others.

Content Creation Tools – Processing
Dirac Research (2001, Uppsala, $4.9M) – Provides a 3D audio rendering platform for VR. Backed by AAC Technologies.
VideoStitch (2012, Paris, $2.8M) – Provider of 360 video stitching software. Backed by Kima Ventures, Alven Capital.

Content Creation Tools – Modeling
ObEN (2014, Pasadena, $13M) – Creates 3D avatar from images which can be used in VR. Backed by Tencent, SoftBank Ventures Korea, CrestValue Capital, Cybernaut Westlake Partners, and others.
Mindshow (2014, LA, $6M) – Platform to create narrative experiences through virtual reality. Backed by DFJ, Venture Reality Fund, BDM, Greycroft, and others.
WakingApp (2013, Rosh HaAyin, $5M) – Cloud platform for AR/VR content creation. Backed by Globis Capital Partners, Inimiti, and others.

Content Creation Tools – Dev Tools
Improbable (2012, London, $524M) – Develops OS for large scale simulations including VR and AR, for applications in gaming, defense, energy, city efficiency, health, and finance. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz.
Pixvana (2015, Seattle, $6M) – Cloud platform for AR/VR video processing. Backed by Madrona Venture Group and Vulcan Capital.
Visbit (2015, Sunnyvale, $3.2M) – Cloud streaming service for 360º virtual reality videos. Backed by Presence Capital, ZhenFund, Colopl Next, Amino Capital, and Eversunny.

Delivery
87870 (2010, Beijing, $30M) – Portal on VR-related content developments and app store to download games.
EveryScape (2002, Newton, $17.5M) – Platform to build 3D environments from 2D photography. Backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Dace Ventures & others.
Littlstar (2014, NYC, $5M) – Provides a multi-platform, device agnostic solution for content owners and brands to distribute 360 and VR content. Backed by Disney Accelerator, Sterling Equities, and others.

Display Devices
Oculus (2012, Irvine, $91M, Acq.) – Manufactures Virtual Reality Headsets. Acquired by Facebook for $2B in March 2014.
AntVR (2014, Beijing, $56M) – Provides open source VR hardware. Backed by Sequoia and Gosuncn Technology Group.
Baofeng Mojing (2014, Beijing, $45M) – Develops virtual reality display devices. Backed by CITIC Capital, Huayi Brothers, Green Pine Capital Partners and others.

Interactivity Enablers
Leap Motion (2010, SF, $94M) – Develops 3D motion control hardware and software using motion-sensing technology. Backed by JP Morgan Asset Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, SOSVentures and Highland Capital Partners.
eyeSight (2005, Herzliya, $33M) – Provider of gesture recognition technologies. Backed by CEVA, Mitsui Global, Kuang-Chi Group and others.
uSens (2013, San Jose, $30M) – Provides inside-out 3D hand tracking as well as head position tracking. Backed by IDG Capital, Morningside Ventures, Stone Point Capital & others.
Crunchfish (2010, Stockholm, IPO) – Provider of software for touchless gesture interaction. Filed IPO in 2016.

Chips & Sensors
InvenSense (2003, San Jose, IPO, Acq.) – Develops motion sensing solutions for mobile applications. Filed IPO in 2011. Acquired by TDK for $1.3B in December 2016.
Movidius (2005, San Mateo, $86.5M, Acq.) – Develops mobile vision processor chips. Acquired by Intel in September 2016.

Advertising/Marketing
Vertebrae (2015, Santa Monica, $10M) – Ad network for Native VR advertising.
MediaSpike (2011, Mountain View, $5M) – Product Placement Ads in Games. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, 500 Startups, and others.

Applications – Healthcare & Fitness
MindMaze (2012, Lausanne, $108.5M) – Develops interfaces for neuro-rehabilitation using VR/AR and neurophysiological recording technologies. Backed by Hinduja Group.
Surgical Theater (2010, Ohio, $11M) – Develops VR medical applications, for intra-operative navigation & surgical guidance. Backed by HTC.

Applications – Real Estate & Architecture
Matterport (2011, Mountain View, $56M) – Develops iPad controlled camera to create 3D models of physical objects and interior spaces. Backed by YC, Qualcomm Ventures & Felicis Ventures.
IrisVR (2014, NYC, $10M) – Developer of tools to view 3D files in virtual reality. Backed by Emergence Capital, Indicator Ventures, and others.

Applications – Retail
InContext Solutions (2009, Chicago, $36M) – VR solutions for in-store simulation. Backed by Intel Capital, Beringea, Plymouth Ventures.
Marxent Labs (2011, Dayton, $14M) – Develops AR and VR applications for sales and marketing. Backed by Detroit Venture Partners and Stage 1 Ventures.

Applications – Entertainment
THE VOID (2014, Lindon, $50M) – VR Theme park. Backed by Shanda Group.
UCVR (2015, Shenzhen, $30M) – Virtual reality modules offering military combat VR experiences. Backed by China Baoan Group.

Applications – Social
High Fidelity (2013, SF, $39.5M) – Builds Open Source software for building deployable virtual worlds. Backed by Google Ventures, Kapor Capital, Linden Lab, True Ventures and Vulcan Capital.
Pluto VR (2015, Seattle, $14M) – Developing a virtual reality communication platform. Backed by Maveron, Madrona Venture Group, Trilogy Equity Partners 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 Virtual Reality feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – OIL & GAS

• Korea Gas Corporation raises $800M through the sale of bonds. Link
• Valiant Midstream receives $150M equity investment from Tailwater Capital. Link
• Brazos Midstream announces expansion of credit facility to $150M from a syndicate of banks. Link
• BiSN, a developer of metal-to-metal downhole sealing systems, signs a $6.5M investment agreement with BP Ventures, Schlumberger Ventures, and GE Ventures. Link
• Highlands Natural Resources raises £2M in capital to fund the first well at the East Denver project. Link
• NU-Oil & Gas raises £1.1M through share placing. Link
• Deep Imaging, a provider of electromagnetic fluid monitoring solutions for the oil and gas industry, raises growth equity investment. Link
• Offshore engineering solution provider Aquaterra Energy receives investment from EV Private Equity. Link
• SemGroup acquires Houston Fuel Oil Terminal for around $2.1B. Link
• Manitok Energy acquires Questfire Energy in a $55M deal. Link
• Pilot Chemical Company acquires ATRP Solutions. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Reveal Energy Services (2016, Houston, Undisclosed) – Developer of technology solutions for hydraulic fracture mapping and monitoring.

LEADER BOARD – OIL & GAS

Horizontal
ExxonMobil (1999, Irving, IPO) – Multinational oil and gas company and one of the world’s supermajors. The company is involved in upstream, downstream and chemical business. Went public in November 1999.
Seven Energy (2004, Lagos, $688M) – Nigerian integrated oil and gas company which explores for, develops, produces and distributes oil and natural gas. Backed by Capital Group, Temasek, IFC, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), IFC Asset Management Company, Plant Asset Management (Petrofac), FBNQuest, Standard Chartered, and FCMB.

Exploration & Production
Devon Energy (1971, Oklahoma City, IPO) – Engages primarily in exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in North America. Went public in March 1988.
Venari (2012, Dallas, $2.8B) – Explores and produces oil and natural gas with focus on subsalt plays. Backed by Kelso and Company, Warburg Pincus, The Jordan Company, Temasek.
Seven Generations Energy (2008, Calgary, $2.2B) – Natural gas exploration and production company focused in the Kalwa River Basin in Canada. Backed by Triangle Peak Partners, Azimuth Capital Management, CPP Investment Board.

Midstream
Spectra Energy (2006, Houston, IPO) – Integrated Midstream company in US and Canada. Provides transmission and storage, distribution, and gathering and processing. Went public in July 2007.
Caiman Energy II (2009, Dallas, $800M) – Provides Gas Gathering, Compression, Treating, Processing & Transportation, Condensate Handling, NGL, Fractionation, storage and Marketing. Backed by Highstar Capital, EnCap Flatrock Midstream, Williams Companies.
MODA Midstream (2015, Houston, $750M) – Provides terminal, storage, and distribution solutions to refiners and petrochemical manufacturers. Backed by EnCap Flatrock Midstream.

Downstream
GreatPoint Energy (2004, Chicago, $562M) – Developed technology of catalytic process, hydromethanation, by which coal, petroleum coke and biomass are converted directly into natural gas. Backed by yet2Ventures, The Dow Chemical Company, Suncor, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, SevenMile Capital Partners, Presidio Ventures, ATV, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, AES Corporation, DFJ.

Equipment & Services
Schlumberger (1926, Paris, IPO) – Integrated oilfield services company providing technology, project management, survey and monitoring, information solutions to the international petroleum industry. Went public in January 1978.
Sidewinder Drilling (2011, Houston, $125M) – Provides contract drilling services to exploration and production companies targeting unconventional resource plays in North America. Backed by Avista Capital Partners.
Welltec (1994, Alleroed, $116M) – Provider of robotic, well intervention solutions and completion products for the oil and gas industry. Backed by Summit Partners, EXOR SPA.

Data Analytics
Drillinginfo (1999, Austin, $205M) – Data analytics company which provides data, analytical tools, and advisory services to oil and gas exploration decision support applications. Backed by Eastern Advisors, Delta-V Capital, Battery, Cross Creek Advisors, Insight Partners.

Technology Developer
Glori Energy (2005, Houston, $39M) – Technology developer of a biotechnology process for increasing oil recovery from existing reservoirs. Backed by OMZEST, Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund, Energy Technology Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Advantage Capital Partners, Gentry Venture Partners, Oxford Partners, GTI Capital Group, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Oxford Bioscience Partners.
Foro Energy (2009, Boulder, $21M) – Developed long-distance laser technology to break ultrahard rocks for faster drilling and completion. Backed by Presidio Partners, Formation, North Bridge, Chevron.

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 Oil & Gas feed.

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Maroon (2016, Delhi), predictive analytics-based marketing intelligence platform. Founders are ex-STA Global, TCS, Nomura, Accenture, Auroville, Premier Logic, InfoTrie Financial and are alumni of IIT – Delhi and Pondicherry University. Local comparable is WebEngage (2011, Mumbai, $500k). Global comparables are Radius (2009, SF, $133M )and EverString (2012, San Mateo, $79M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Touchkin (2015, Bangalore), mobile-first predictive healthcare app, raises $1.3M in Seed round of funding from Kae Capital and others. Link

Leverage Edu (2017, Bangalore), college admission platform, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from undisclosed investors. Link

Vulcan Express (2013, Gurgaon), end to end eCommerce logistics solution provider, received $5.7M in from Jasper Infotech in Jun’17 as per reports. Link

Nirmal (1975, Mumbai), real estate development company, raises $88.8M in Debt round of funding from L&T Finance. Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), horizontal ecommerce marketplace, completes merger with eBay India (2005, Mumbai), online marketplace, trading and auctioning platform. Link

Click2Clinic (2015, Hyderabad), aggregator of healthcare services, acquires Home Health Care Service Agency, nursing healthcare service providers at home, for $623k. Link

BookMyShow (1999, Mumbai), online ticketing portal for movies, concerts and entertainment events, acquires Nfusion (2008, Austin), marketing and advertising agency, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Paytm (2010, Noida), mobile wallet and payments bank, to launch chat feature in mobile app. Link

Snapdeal’s (2010, Delhi), online horizontal marketplace, product & engineering head – Pradeep Desai quits from the company. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Impossible Foods (2011, Redwood City), developer of substitute for animal meat based food, raises $75M in undisclosed round of funding led by Temasek with participation from Open Philanthropy Project, Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures and Horizon Ventures. Link

Milestone Pharmaceuticals (2005, Montreal), cardiovascular small molecule drug development company, raises $55M in Series C round of funding led by Novo Holdings A/S, with participation from Forbion Capital Partners, Tekla Capital Management, Domain Associates, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, BDC Capital, Pappas Capital, and GO Capital. Link

Juvo (2014, Los Gatos), mobile usage behavior based credit scoring to facilitate financial inclusion, raises $40M in Series B round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates and Wing Venture Capital with participation from SignalFire, CEOs of AT&T Wireless, NYSE, Sprint, Telefonica International and Vodafone Group. Link

Personal Capital (2009, Redwood City), technology-augmented human advice platform, raises $40M in Series E round of funding led by IGM Financial, part of the Power Financial Corporation group of companies and others. Link

Booster (2014, Burlingame), on-site fuel delivery service provider, raises $20M in Series B round of funding led by Conversion Capital with participation from Maveron, Madrona Venture Group, Version One, Perot Jain LP, RRE Ventures, BADR investments and others. Link

UnifyID (2015, SF), implicit authentication & machine learning based IAM, raises $20M in Series A round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates. Link

YellowWood Partners, Boston-based private equity firm focused on investing in consumer brands and companies, raises Latest Private Equity Fund, at $370M. Link

Saif Partners, Gurgaon-based venture capital firm, raises Latest Venture Capital Fund, at $350M. Link

Brightstone Venture Capital, Minneapolis-based venture capital & private equity firm, raises New Fund, at over $25M. Link

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Retainly (2016, Mumbai), drip marketing automation platform. Founder is ex-IBM, Oracle, Infrasoft, Aptech and is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta. Local comparables are Sendx (2016, Bangalore). Global comparables are iContact (2003, Morrisville, $46M) and Iterable (2013, SF, $32M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Pi Datacenters (2014, Hyderabad), cloud hosting & data center solutions, raises $90M in Series B round of funding from undisclosed investors. Link

MobiKwik (2009, Gurgaon), mobile wallet, recharge and bill payments app, raises $35M in undisclosed round of funding from Bajaj Finance. Link

Zepo (2011, Mumbai), e-commerce platform to aid small business owners create online websites, raises $497k in Seed round of funding from LetsVenture, Kunal Shah and others. Link

Speedbox (2015, Mumbai), provider of domestic and international courier services, raises $300k in Seed round of funding from Cismat Cargo Services. Link

Tricentis (2008, Vienna), provides enterprise software testing solutions, raises an undisclosed amount in Series B round of funding from Wipro. Link

Bharti Airtel (1995, Delhi), telecommunication service provider, plans to sell 3% stake in Infratel (2006, Gurgaon), telecom tower infrastructure provider. Link

Zoomcar (2013, Bangalore), online self-drive car rental service provider, launches one-way self-drive car service. Link

Amazon India, Indian arm of horizontal e-commerce marketplace, plans to set up three more ‘Fulfillment Centres’. Link

Walmart India (2009, Gurgaon), multinational retail corporation, appoints Devendra Chawla as chief operating officer. Link

PayPal (1998, San Jose), internet payment services provider, sets up innovation labs in India to ride fin-tech. Link

Alteria Capital, Mumbai-based in­vest­ment com­pany, to launch $156.6M venture debt fund. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Reddit (2005, SF), social news website, raises $200M in Series C round of funding Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management, and others. Link

Bread (2014, NYC), online lending platform for purchase financing, raises $126M in Equity and Debt rounds of funding led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, RRE Ventures, and others. Link

Amplyx Pharmaceuticals (2006, San Diego), developer of small molecules drugs to treat fungal infections, raises $67M in Series C round of funding led by Sofinnova Venture Partners with participation from Lundbeckfonden Ventures, Arix Bioscience and Pappas Capital and others. Link

TrackR (2009, Santa Barbara), developer of tracking devices which can be attached to items, raises $50M in Series B round of funding led by Steve Murray at Revolution Growth, with participation from Foundry Group, Amazon Alexa Fund, NTT DOCOMO Ventures and others. Link

Primary Data (2013, Los Altos), software for data center evolution, raises $40M in Series C round of funding and Debt round of funding from Pelion Venture Partners, Accel, Battery Ventures and others. Link

Gimlet Media (2014, Brooklyn), podcast network operator, raises $15M in Series B round of funding led by Stripes Group with participation from Refinery29, Blue Apron, Craftsy, Emerson Collective, Cross Culture Ventures and others. Link

Viome (2014, California City), machine learning based bioinformatics solutions, raises $15M in Series A round of funding led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Bold Capital Partners. Link

Bow River Capital Partners, Denver-based private alternative asset management firm, raises fourth Buyout Fund, at $262M. Link

NextView Ventures, Boston-based venture capital firm, raises its third venture capital fund, at $50M. Link

Elevate Innovation Partners, NYC-based early to mid-stage venture capital firm, raises $15M in Global Venture Capital Fund. Link

Aurea, a Business Process Management and CRM firm focusing on customer experience acquired Jive, a California based social collaboration software company for $462M ($5.25 per share). Jive is a leader in enterprise social software industry.(link)

Social collaboration is a part of the larger enterprise collaboration market which includes platforms for individuals to engage in team activities and connect with internal and external stakeholders. The enterprise collaboration market is expected to grow at 13% CAGR to reach $49.5B by 2021, with social network being the largest segment. (note by Global Market Insights)

Jive had been under investor pressure for sale of business as growth declined

• Jive was continuously under investor pressure to sell the business since 2014 as annual revenue growth dipped to 4.2% YoY in 2016 compared to 20%+ in 2013, and the company reported net losses ranging from $75M to $13.9M over 2013-2016. (quote by B. Riley analyst, K. Liu)
• Though Jive invested about $200M cumulatively on R&D spend over 2013-2016 to enhance its offerings (customer community solutions) and build partnerships (for instance, Egnyte), it struggled against competition from Microsoft (Yammer),  Salesforce.com (Chatter), and Atlassian (Hipchat). (quote by Rachel Happe, Principal at Community Roundtable)

Jive was able to attract favorable interest from potential buyers

• In Jan 2016, an unnamed firm offered $4.0 per share ($350M), which it subsequently increased to $4.5 per share ($400M) by Sep 2016 (company filings)
• During Feb 2017, another bidder had proposed $4.50 ($400M), which it later increased to $5.35 ($470M) per share by Apr 2017. Jive rejected the proposal as it believed that the firm would not be able to complete the transaction (company filings)

Aurea has repeatedly acquired companies to increase the breadth of its offerings

• Aurea has acquired 10 software businesses (including Jive) since 2012
• Acquired Hipcricket in 2015 to add mobile marketing and advertising solutions
• Acquired MessageOne and AlertFind in 2015 to add email management and crisis communication capabilities
• Acquired Update Software in 2014 , a large horizontal CRM provider in Europe

Jive’s acquisition will expand Aurea’s collaboration capabilities to become an end-to-end ISV

• Jive will add social engagement solutions to Aurea which has CRM and Business Process Management solutions (quote by Scott Brighton, CEO Aurea)
• Aurea will also benefit from Jive’s marquee clients including T Mobile, Schneider Electric, Tableau, Thomson Reuters, Swiss Re, McAfee, EMC2, Alcatel Lucent, Hitachi Data Systems, and Pearson

Social collaboration software will cease to exist as independent entities

• Technology giants such as Microsoft and Facebook increased presence in this space and have built integrated enterprise collaboration offerings
• Slack partnered with Google in late 2016 to build more integrations with Google services (Google Drive, Document previews, etc.) for its collaboration platform to compete with larger firms such as Microsoft

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – REAL ESTATE TECH

• WeWork, a provider of managed co-working spaces, raised $760M at a valuation of $20B. Link
• WeWork, a provider of managed co-working spaces, launched WeWork China with $500M funding from Hony and SoftBank. Link
• Cjia, a provider of branded residential accommodation, secured a $50M in pre-Series A funding from Huazhu and IDG Capital. Link
• UrWork, a managed co-working space provider for small businesses and freelancers, raised $29M from Aikang Group. Link
• Open Listings, an online P2P residential rental platform, raised $6.5M in a round led by Matrix Partners. Link
• Site1001, a provider of cloud-based software for facility managers, raised $6M in Series A funding. Link
• OneDome, a data and analytics solution for residential properties in the UK, raised $4M in Series A. Link
• LoftSmart, a student rental marketplace, secured $2.7M from an undisclosed investor. Link
• Urbanbase, a provider of 3D visual staging solutions, raised $1.8M in Series A. Link
• JetClosing, an online real estate closing company, raised $1.4M from Trilogy Equity Partners and existing investors. Link
• Lavanda, a UK-based prop-tech startup for residential lettings and property management, raised $1.2M in angel funding. Link
• Redfin, an online real estate brokerage firm, had a successful IPO on Nasdaq with its stock soaring 45% on opening day. Link
• RealtyShares, a crowdfunding platform for real estate, acquired its competitor Acquire Real Estate. Link
• NakedHub, a provider of managed co-working spaces, merged with Just Co to create one of the largest coworking space operator in Asia. Link
• NextSpace, a managed co-working community, was acquired by Pacific Workspaces. Link
• Real Geeks, a provider of SaaS-based CRM and marketing solutions for real estate agents, was acquired by Fidelity National Financial Inc. Link
• BuyRentKenya, an online listing platform for real estate, was acquired by Ringier One Africa Media. Link

For latest update visit RealEstate Tech feed.

QoE Monitoring Solution under Video Distribution and Campaign Management under Advertising drew the most funding among niche upcoming sectors in the online video landscape.

By stage, number of rounds took a hit across the board-late plunged by 75%, early by 70% and  seed by 74%.

Average ticket size spiked across the board- for Series B investments, it soared by 21%, for Series A by 46% and for seed by 80%.

Top investments till date include iQIYI’s $1.5B convertible debt round and Kuai Shou’s Series D round of $350M.

By stage of entry, 500 Startups led the tally of most active investor for seed, with Sequoia leading for Series A, Draper Fisher Juvertson for Series B and General Catalyst Partners for later stage.

Three companies have gone public in this sector since 2014 with 16 companies getting acquired till date among which Adobe buying TubeMogul for $540M was the largest disclosed deal value.

Historically, companies offering video distribution ($8.7B) with social platforms following a close second ($2.7B) have been the most funded business model as dollars to the tune of $5.94B have been invested in this sector between 2016-17 YTD.

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

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Online Video

51Zhangdan’s Series C round of $310M and Jubaohui’s Series A round of $200M constituted top investments in the last one year in the consumer finance landscape as Horizontal and Insurance under Financial Product Aggregators constituted large, upcoming sectors in this space.

In 2016, by stage, funding rounds plunged across the board-late by 79%, early by 61% and seed by 78%.

Average ticket size took a hit across all stages-with Series B dipping the most by 97%, followed by Series A (78%) and seed (7%).

By stage of entry, 500 Startups emerged as the most active investor for seed, Sequoia for Series A and B and Accel Partners for later stage.

The sector saw medium activity with two companies taking the IPO route since 2015 and 14 companies being acquired in 2016 among which Helvetia buying MoneyPark for $104M being the highest disclosed deal value.

Companies offering horizontal solutions like Ant Financial have historically been the most investment friendly business model ($7.4B) followed by financial product aggregators ($3B) with investments totalling $8.7B invested between 2016-17 YTD.

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

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Consumer Finance

In the smart cars landscape in 2016, number of rounds by stage soared across the board-while for late it remained flat, for early and seed it soared by 77% and 50% respectively. Large, upcoming sectors in this landscape included autonomous vehicle technologies and autonomous driving enablers.

By stage, funding dollars registered a growth across all stages: late dollars grew by 50%, early rose by 185% and seed dollars spiked by a whopping 420%.

Average ticket size too soared across the board-for Series B investments, it grew by 96%, for Series A by 65% and for seed by 142%.

Top investments in this sector include Zoox’s Series A round of $200M and Metromile’s Series D round of $153M.

By stage of entry, Techstars led the tally of most active investors for seed with Intel Capital leading for Series A and beyond.

Three companies went public in this space since 2014 with 15 companies having been acquired among which Samsung scooping up Harman International for $8B being the highest disclosed deal value.

Historically, autonomous vehicle technologies like Intel and Mobileye have been the most funded business model ($2.2B) with connected car technologies following a close second ($926M). Investments totalling $7.1B have been invested in this space between 2016-17 YTD.

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

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Smart Cars

Top investments in the marketing tech sector include Zeta’s Series F round of $115M in 2017 and Sprinklr’s Series F round of $105M in 2016 as total funding plunged by 58% from the previous year in 2016.

Moreover, average ticket size of Series B investments ballooned by 33%, as it fell for Series A by 13% and marginally increased for seed by 54%.

500 Startups emerged as the most active investor for seed, with Sequoia leading the tally for Series A and B, and Salesforce leading for later stage.Eight companies got

Eight companies went public as 16 acquisitions dotted the space among which Snap snapping up Seattle-based Placed for $200M was the only disclosed deal value.

Companies offering Omni-Channel Marketing Automation like Marketo and Hubspot have historically drawn the most investments ($5.5B) followed by Social($4B) with dollars totaling $4.3B being invested in this sector between 2016-17 YTD.

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

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Marketing Tech