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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Artelus (2017, Bangalore), deep learning based platform for medical diagnosis. Founders are ex-Target, Capgemini, Alcatel-Lucent and alumni of IIT Kanpur. Local comparables are SigTuple (2015, Bangalore, $6.5M) and Predible Health (2015, Bangalore). Global comparable is Enlitic (2014, SF, $15M)

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Digit (2016, Bangalore), internet-first platform for general insurance, raises $53.8M in funding from Fairfax. Link

PremjiInvest, the family investment arm of Azim Premji, acquires 45% stake in Shubham Housing (2010, Gurgaon), home loans and home improvement loans provider, for $35M. Link 

Synup (2013, Bangalore), software provider for local and social media marketing, raises $6M in provider for local and social media marketing, raises $6M in Series A round of funding led by Vertex Ventures with participation from Prime Venture Partners. Link

Ditto (2011, SF), technology provider for virtual try-ons to eyewear retailers, raises $1M in funding from Lenskart (2010, Delhi), online and offline eyewear brand. Link

Ace Turtle Services (2013, Bangalore), integrated ecommerce platform provider for offline retailers, raises an undisclosed amount in venture debt round of funding from Innoven Capital India. Link

Lightspeed Ventures, CA-based early stage venture capital firm, sets up second India office in Bengaluru. Link

GreyOrange (2011, Gurgaon), warehouse automation robots developer, marks its entry into Indonesia. Link

Abof.com (2014, Bangalore), online retail store for fashion and lifestyle products, plans to shut down its operations. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

DispatchHealth (2013, Denver), on-demand physician visit service provider, raises $30.8M in Series A round of funding led by Alta Partners and Questa Capital with participation from strategic partner US Acute Care Solutions and existing investors. Link

Manifold (2016, SF), platform to discover, purchase,and manage curated developer tools, raises $15M in Series A round of funding from Omers Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, Version One Ventures, Amplify Partners and Leaders Fund. Link

Clearcover (2016, Chicago), car-insurance company, raises $11.5M in Series A round of funding led by Lightbank, with participation from Greycroft Partners, 500 Startups, Silicon Valley Bank, and others. Link

ClearMetal (2015, SF), analytics platform for container shipping industry, raises $9M in Series A round of funding co-led by Prelude Ventures and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, with additional investment from New Enterprise Associates, SAP, PSA unboXed, DCLI and the founder of GT Nexus. Link

Cogitativo (2014, Berkeley), data science-as-a-service platform for healthcare companies, raises $5M in Series A round of funding from HCSC Ventures. Link

Lightstone Ventures, Menlo Park-based venture capital firm raises $250M for third fund. Link

S2G Ventures, Chicago-based investment firm focused on the food and agriculture industry, raises $180M for second fund. Link

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

DEALS OF THE WEEK

Google Inks $1.1B Deal Investing In Taiwan’s Smartphone Maker HTC
Alphabet subsidiary Google announced today that it has signed a $1.1B agreement with HTC Corporation, a Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corporation. HTC will receive the full amount in cash from Google as a part of the transaction and Google will receive a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property.

INTERESTING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY IN CHINA

SDIC Fund Co-Leads $500M Round In Chinese Medical Equipment Firm
United Imaging Healthcare (2011, Shanghai), a medical imaging equipment developer, raises $500M in Series A round of funding from SDIC Fund Management, China Life Insurance with participation from Capital Venture Investment Fund, China International Capital, Zhongjin Zhide, CITIC Securities, and a private equity investment vehicle under CMB International.

Tiger Global Co-Leads $230M Series C+ In Chinese Fresh Produce E-commerce Platform MissFresh
MissFresh (2014, Beijing), a Chinese fresh produce e-commerce platform, raises $230M in Series C+ round of funding led by Tiger Global Management and Genesis Capital.

Banyan Capital Leads $152M Round In Chinese O2O Shopping Payment Platform QianBaoCard.com
QianBaoCard.com (2016, Shanghai), an online to offline platform for local shopping, raises $152M in Series B round of funding led by Banyan Capital.

Chinese Bike Rental Firm Youon’s Subsidiary Raises $123M From Ant Financial And Others
Jiangsu Yonganxing, a subsidiary of Youon Bike (2010, Changzhou), a bike rental company, raises $123M in funding from eight investors including a unit of Ant Financial.

Fosun RZ Leads $23M Round In Chinese Mobile Security Firm Zhizhangyi
Zhizhangyi (2014, Beijing), a start-up developing Internet security products for smartphones, raises $23M in Series A+ round led by Fosun RZ Capital with participation from China Growth Capital and APU Investment.

Qiming Leads $18M Round In Chinese Medical Imaging Firm Infervision
Infervision (2016, Beijing), an artificial intelligence start-up developing medical imaging technology, raises $18M in Series B round of funding led by Qiming Venture Partners with participation from Sequoia Capital China and Genesis Capital.

Online Restaurant Procurement Platform Fenfenzhong Raises $16.7M
Fenfenzhong (2009, Beijing), an online procurement platform for restaurants, raises $16.7M in Series A round of funding from China’s National Small and Medium-size Enterprises Development Fund and THG Ventures.

Hillhouse Leads $14M Round In Chinese Finance And Tax Management System Developer Yunzhangfang
Yunzhangfang (2015, Nanjing), a corporate finance and tax management software-as-a-service provider, raises $14M in Series B round of funding led by Hillhouse Capital Group.

INVESTMENTS BY CHINESE INVESTORS AND COMPANIES

Temasek Joins $300M Round In Taiwanese Electric Scooter Maker Gogoro
Gogoro (2011,California), an electric scooter maker, raises $300M in Series C round of funding from Temasek Holdings, Generation Investment Management, Sumitomo Corp and Engie.

China’s Wuxi Healthcare Ventures leads $55M Series A in US-based LifeMine Therapeutics
LifeMine Therapeutics (2016, Cambridge), a biotech company, raises $55M in Series A round of funding from WuXi Healthcare Ventures, Foresite Capital, GV, ARCH Venture Partners, Boyu Capital, Blue Pool Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments and Merck Ventures.

Autonomous Driving Firm Founded By Baidu Veteran Raises $30M Angel Round
JingChi (2017, SF), an autonomous driving start-up founded by Wang Jing, former head of Baidu Inc’s Autonomous Driving Unit, raises $30M in angel round of funding from undisclosed investors.

Ping An Global Voyager Fund Invests In European Fintech Firm 10X Future Technologies
10x Future Technologies (2016, London), a European Fintech company, raises an undisclosed amount in funding from Ping An Global Voyager Fund.

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

INTERESTING COMPANIES FOUND

Dropfoods (2016, Ho Chi Minh City) – A connected vending machine for dispensing snacks. Global comparable include Byte (2015, San Rafael, $5.5M).
Waaw (2017, Bangkok) – Influencer marketplace for brands and influencers. Global comparable include TapInfluence (2009, Boulder, $22.8M) and Tribe (2013, South Melbourne, $7.75M).

SEA – FUNDING UPDATES

Great Room closes Series A
Great Room (2016, Singapore), a co-working space, raises an undisclosed amount in Series A led by C31 Ventures with participation from iGlobe Partners and the family office of Goldbell Group.

MyDoc raises $5.2M
MyDoc (2012, Singapore), a digital health record and communication platform for patients and doctors, raises $5.2M in Series A from UST Global and Wavemaker Partners.

BetterTradeOff raises $1.48M
BetterTradeOff (Singapore), a solution to facilitate advisers in personal finance management, raises $1.48M in Seed round from undisclosed investors.

CapitalBay raises funding
CapitalBay (2015, Petaling Jaya), an invoice discounting platform, raises $477k in Seed round from KK Fund.

Hellogold closes Series A
Hellogold (2015, Kuala Lumpur), a mobile application to buy, store, mortgage gold, raises an undisclosed amount in Series A from undisclosed investors.

Finnomena raises funding
Finnomena (2015, Bangkok), a platform to get expert advice on investments, raises $3.2M in Series A from Benchachinda and 500 Startups.

SEA – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

FundedHere enables $375k fundraise for two startups
FundedHere enables $375k fundraise through crowdfunding for two startups BEAM and NephTech.

East Ventures launches Indonesia-focussed $30M early stage fund
East Ventures launches Indonesia-focussed $30M early stage fund.

Lazada expands Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace in SE Asia
Lazada expands Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace in SE Asia.

Singapore Tourism Board teams up with Alipay to better serve Chinese travellers
Singapore Tourism Board teams up with Alipay to better serve Chinese travellers.

MRC Allied buys stake in solar power firm Sepalco for $5M
MRC Allied buys stake in solar power firm Sepalco for $5M.

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Cambricon, a China-based company developing a processor for deep learning specific use cases, raised $100M funding in Series A round of funding led by SDIC Chuangye Investment Management, a subsidiary of China’s State Development and Investment Corporation. Link
• HighRadius Corporation, a Houston-based provider of an AI-enabled cloud integrated receivables software, raised $50M in equity funding from Susquehanna Growth Equity. Link
• Roobo, a Beijing-based developer of intelligent consumer robots, raised $41.2M in a Series B round of funding from Seven Seas Partners. Link
• Appier, a Taipei-based provider of AI-enabled reporting and analytics for cross-screen targeted advertising, raised $33.0M in a Series C round of funding from SoftBank Group, LINE, NAVER Corp, EDBI and AMTD Group. Link
• Descartes Labs, a Los Alamos-based provider of a deep learning-enabled platform for satellite imagery analysis, raised $30.0M in a Series B round of funding led by March Capital with participation from existing investors Crosslink Capital and Cultivian Sandbox and customer Cargill. Link
• Securonix, a LA-based provider of AI-enabled security analytics platform, raised $29.0M in a Series A round of funding led by Volition Capital with participation from Eight Roads Ventures. Link
• FiveAI, a Bristol-based provider of a software stack for autonomous vehicles, raised $18.0M in a Series A round of funding led by Lakestar Capital, with participation from existing seed investors Notion Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Kindred. Link
• Amplero, a Seattle-based provider of AI-enabled self-learning personalization platform, raised $17.5M in a Series B round of funding co-led by Greycroft and Ignition Partners with participation from existing investors Wildcat Venture Partners, Seven Peaks Ventures, and Trilogy Equity Partners. Link
• Yi+, a Beijing-based provider of computer vision based intelligent media and marketing solutions, raised $15M in Series B round of funding led by Haitong Securities, with participation from BRJ Group and an investment fund under the Bank of Beijing. Link
• TalkIQ, a San Francisco-based provider voice transcription and analytics platform for enterprises, raised $14.0M in a Series A round of funding led by Scale Venture Partners with participation from Aspect Ventures, Danhua Capital, Felicis Ventures LINE Corp and Salesforce Ventures. Link
• Prowler, a Cambridge-based startup developing an AI-enabled decision-making platform, raised $12.9M in a Series A round of funding led by Cambridge Innovation Capital, with participation from Atlantic Bridge Capital and existing backers Passion Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners and SG Innovate. Link
• Versive, a Seattle-based provider of AI-based cyber analytics platform for threat prioritization, raised $12.7M in a Series C round of funding from Goldman Sachs, Madrona Venture Group, Formation 8 and Vulcan Capital. Link
• Hyper Anna, a Sydney-based provider of machine learning-enabled platform for data analytics and visualization, raised $12.7M in a Series A round of funding from Sequoia China, AirTree Ventures, Westpac and IAG Firemark Ventures. Link
• Emailage, a Chandler-based provider of global fraud prevention and identity verification using email address scoring, raised $10.0M in a Series B round of funding led by Anthos Capital, with participation from Radian Capital, Wipro Ventures, Mucker Capital and Tallwave Capital. Link
• Matroid, a Palo Alto-based provider of deep Learning based computer vision platform, raised $10.0M in a Series A round of funding from New Enterprise Associates and Intel Capital. Link
• Deeplearni.ng, a Toronto-based startup which provides custom AI-enabled business process optimization solutions, raised $9.0M in a Series A round of funding from Fidelity Investments. Link
• Amenity Analytics, a Tikva-based provider of AI-enabled trade recommendations and text analytics platform, raised $7.6M in a Series A round of funding from State of Mind Ventures. Link
• Freenome, a Palo Alto-based provider of deep learning platform for detecting circulating cancer-related markers, raised $7.0M in a Series A round of funding led by Section 32 with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Asset Management Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Data Collective (DCVC), Founders Fund, GV (Google Ventures), Innovation Endeavors, Polaris Partners, Spectrum 28 and Verily. Link
• Aifloo, a Stockholm-based provider of AI-enabled wearable for detecting health deterioration in elder citizens, raised $6.1M in a Series A round of funding from EQT Ventures. Link
• GNS Healthcare(GNS), a Cambridge, MA-based precision medicine company, raised $6M in equity funding round led by Amgen Ventures with participation from existing investor Alexandria Real Estate Equities. Link
• Taiger, a Madrid-based provider of semantic software and NLP platform, raised $5.9M in a Series A round of funding from Tembusu Partners. Link
• CashRun, a Singapore-based provider of a platform for automated fraud protection with chargeback guarantee, raised $5.5M in a Series A round of funding from GGV Capital, Heliconia Capital, Razer and Stream. Link
• Cogitativo, a Berkeley-based provider of Data Science-as-a-Service platform for HCOs, raised $5.0M in a Series A round of funding. Link
• CreditVidya, a Mumbai-based provider of AI-enabled alternate credit scoring platform, raised $5.0M in a Series B round of funding from Matrix Partners India and Kalaari Capital. Link
• Wizer Feedback, a Tel Aviv-based provider of an AI-based market research company, raised $4.0M in a Series A round of funding from State of Mind Ventures and Nielsen Innovate. Link
• Uniphore, a Chennai-based provider of speech recognition, voice biometrics and virtual assistant solutions, raised in a Series B round of funding. Link
• Blue River Technology, a SF-based developer of computer vision and robotics enabled agriculture tools for weed control, got acquired by John Deere in a $305M deal. Link
• Scyfer, an Amsterdam-based startup providing custom deep learning enabled solutions to enterprises, got acquired by Qualcomm. Link
• Koemei, a NYC-based provider of an AI-enabled platform for video content search and analytics, got acquired by Crealogix. Link
• Salesforce Ventures announced a $50M fund to encourage startups to build AI-fueled applications on top of Salesforce. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Cambricon (2016, Beijing) – Developing processor for deep learning specific use cases.
JingChi (2017, SF) – Developing AI-enabled solutions for the mobility industry.
Crime.ai (2017, Aarhus) – Develops an AI-enabled application to provide insights about criminal activity in urban areas.

LEADER BOARD – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

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

MIS – Data Science Platform
Data Robot (2012, Boston, $125M) – Provides a machine learning platform that helps enterprises build predictive models at speed. Backed by IA Ventures, NEA, Atlas Venture, Intel Capital, TechStars, Recruit Strategic Partners, Right Side Capital Management, New York Life Insurance, Accomplice.
Skytree (2012, San Jose, $19M) – Provides an advanced enterprise-grade Machine Learning platform. Backed by Javelin Venture Partners, United Parcel Service, U.S Venture Partners, Plug and Play Tech Center, Osage University Partners and In-Q-Tel.

MIS – Artificial General Intelligence
Vicarious (2010, SF, $138M) – Provides machine learning software based on neocortex learning. Backed by Samsung, Khosla Ventures, ABB Group, AME Cloud Ventures, Founders Fund, Felicis Ventures, Data Collective and others.
DeepMind (2011, London, $50M, Acq.) – Develops deep reinforcement learning based artificial general intelligence solutions. Backed by Founders Fund, Horizons Ventures, and others. Acquired by Google for $500M in 2014.

Infrastructure – Natural Language Processing
NLP – Speech Solutions
SoundHound (2005, Santa Clara, $115M) – Developer of speech recognition technology and mobile apps. Backed by Samsung, KPCB, Felicis Ventures, NVIDIA, Plug and Play Tech Center, Walden Venture Capital, Amidzad Partners, Western Technology Investment, TransLink Capital, Global Catalyst Partners, Nomura Holdings, Recruit Holdings, SharesPost, Pejman Mar Ventures, Naver, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance.
Unisound (2012, Beijing, $112M) – Provides Voice recognition and language processing technology. Backed by Qualcomm Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners.

NLP – Text Solutions
Cortical (2011, Vienna, $5M) – Provides text analytics solutions. Backed by Open Field Capital and Reventon.
Indico Data Solutions (2013, Boston, $4M) – Provides deep learning based text analytics solutions. Backed by 406 Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Rough Draft Ventures, Techstars, Boston Seed Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, Right Side Capital Management.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Industry – Advertising
RocketFuel (2008, Redwood City, IPO, Acq.) – Programmatic media-buying platform that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to predict the right time for placement of an ad. Backed by Mohr Davidow Ventures, Labrador Ventures, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, DLA Piper, MF Capital, Nokia Growth Partners, Northgate Capital, Summit Partners, Cross Creek Capital, Comerica Bank. IPO in 2013. Acquired by Sizmek.
Appier  (2012, Taipei, $83M) – Provides AI-enabled platform for reporting and analytics for cross-screen targeted advertising. Backed by SoftBank Group, LINE, NAVER Corp, EDBI, AMTD Group, Pavilion Capital Partners, WI Harper Group, FirstFloor Capital, Qualgro GP, JAFCO Asia, MediaTek, Sequoia Capital, TransLink Capital, UOB Venture Management, UMC Capital, Fontaine Capital.

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

Industry – Agriculture
The Climate Corporation (2006, SF, $109M, Acq.) – Integrated platform providing hardware and software for farm and weather data analytics. Backed by Founders Fund, Google Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, CODE Advisors, Allen & Company, Anthemis Group, Felicis Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Joshua Schachter, Howard Morgan, Index Ventures. Acquired by Monsanto for $930M in 2013.
Blue River Technology (2011, Sunnyvale, $30M, Acq.) – Provides hardware which uses computer vision and robotics in fields for yield optimization, elimination of weeds and unwanted plants. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Data Collective, Stanford A&E, Ulu Ventures. Acquired by John Deere for $305M in 2017.

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

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

Consumer – Intelligent Devices
Roobo (2014, Beijing, $141M) – Develops intelligent robots, VR and UAVs. Backed by iFLYTEK.
Jibo (2012, Boston, $68M) – Develops intelligent social robot. Backed by Charles River Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, RRE Ventures, Fenox Venture Capital, Fairhaven Capital, Formation 8, Osage Partners, Acer, KDDI Corporation, LG U Plus, Samsung Venture Investment, Global Brain, Netposa Technologies, Dentsu Ventures.

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

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

For latest updates visit Artificial Intelligence feed.

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ENERGY STORAGE

• Gogoro, an Electric Scooter maker has raised $300M in its Series C round from Temasek, Generation Investment Management, Sumitomo and Engie to expand its services. Link
• FreeWire Technologies is currently raising it Series A round being led by Stanley Ventures, to be closed by the end of October. Link
• NuCurrent has raised $4.5M in a recent funding round as per SEC filings. Link
• Tricopian, developer of the FuelRod kiosk-based mobile device charging service, has closed a funding round with Decathlon Capital Partners. Link
• StoreDot, a quick charging technology developer has raised $60M in funding led by carmaker Daimler with participation from Samsung Ventures and Norma Investments. Link
• Solid Power raises funding from A123 Systems to develop its cell manufacturing strategy. Link
• Nikola Labs raised $2M in a new funding round that was led by an early stage investment group in Europe. Link
• Micropower Labs, a technology innovation startup has been awarded $80k grant from Government of Queensland, Australia. Link
• Cymbet, a solid state energy storage solution developer, raised $600k Debt as per SEC filings. Link
• Gridtential raised $11M in its Series B funding round from 1955 Capital, East Penn Manufacturing, Crown Battery Manufacturing, Leoch International and Power-Sonic Inc. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

NuLeaf Tech (Los Altos, 2015) – NuLeaf Tech is an early stage startup that is developing a plant microbial fuel cell (PMFC). The company is in the process of developing a technology for creating artificial wetland and plant microbial fuel cell in a park that treats wastewater and creates electricity. They treat water contaminated by biological waste on site by mimicking ecosystem processes. Their PMFC uses wetland microbes to clean water with simple biological waste and energy is created through the microbe’s digestion of the waste.

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.
Sonnen (2010, Wildpoldsried, $98M) – Sonnen offers energy storage system which are integrated with solar systems. The product is targeted at commercial and domestic power consumers for better demand management which will enable users to harvest solar power at night by storing them in batteries and use the device’s inbuilt energy management system to consume the power in an efficient way. Backed by Envision Energy, GE Ventures, Inven Capital, Munich Venture Partners, ECapital and SET Ventures

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.

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – INSURANCE TECH

• China online insurer ZhongAn goes IPO, raises $1.5B. Link
• Acko, India’s first online insurer, gets final IRDA license; to start operations by December. Link
• The Zebra, a US-based auto insurance comparison marketplace, raises $40M in Series B funding led by Accel Partners. Link
• iPipeline, a US-based software solutions provider for the life insurance industry announces the acquisition of Laser App Software, a provider of forms automation and management software for the securities and insurance industries. Link
• AskArvi, an India-based insurance aggregating platform raises undisclosed amount of funding from Jang Capital, others. Link
• Finaeo, a Canada-based CRM platform raises $2.25M in seed round.The round was led by Impression Ventures with participation from 500 Startups, Robo Ventures, iGan Partners, and Toronto angel investors. Link
• DataCubes, a US-based data science platform for the commercial insurance industry, raises $2.5M in Series A funding round led by Seyen Capital and MK Capital. Link
• Neosurance, an Italy-based machine learning and AI-powered insurtech startup, raises $837K in seed funding. Link
• Clearcover, a US-based car insurance provider, raises $11.5M in its initial funding round led by Lightbank, with participation from Greycroft Partners, 500 Startups, Silicon Valley Bank, and other insurance and fintech investors. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Coya (2016, Berlin) – provides online insurance platform to purchase various insurance to the customers. Coya plans to start its operations from 2018 and claims to make use of AI and machine learning across the value chain of insurance.
InsuredMine (2017, Plano) – InsuredMine is 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.

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.

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 omnichannel 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 interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.

INTERESTING STARTUPS

CRON Systems (2015, Delhi), developer of border and perimeter defence equipments. Founders are ex-Qualcomm, Grey Orange and alumni of IIM Bangalore. Local comparables are ideaForge (2007, Mumbai, $10.1M) and Asteria Aerospace (2011, Bangalore). Global comparables are Sky-Watch (2009, Aalborg) and Prioria (2003, Gainesville)

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Sportobuddy (2015, Mumbai), sports and fitness centre discovery and booking platform, raises $1.5M in Seed round of funding from Mehul Shah. Link

Rapido (2015, Bangalore), mobile bike taxi service provider, raises $422K in funding from Battery Road Digital Holdings and others. Link

CropIn (2010, Bangalore), ERP platform for agri businesses (2010, Bangalore), ERP platform for agri businesses, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Beenext with participation from Ankur Capital and BSP Fund. Link

TinMen (2015, Hyderabad), mobile app based lunch subscription service, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Zomato. Link

Vogo (2016, Bangalore), online platform for scooter rentals, raises an undisclosed amount in seed round of funding led by Murugappa family, Formula 1 racer Karan Chandhok and others. Link

CrediFiable (2016, Bangalore), peer to peer lending platform for personal loans, raises an undisclosed amount in funding led by Kae Capital. Link

ToneTag (2014, Bangalore), sound waves-based contactless payment solutions provider, partners with Infosys Finacle (1981, Bangalore ), IT & IT-enabled services provider. Link

Ecom Express (2012, Delhi), logistics services and eCommerce solutions provider, hires former GE (1878, Boston), a multinational conglomerate corporation, exec Mayank Gupta as CFO. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Deliveroo (2013, London), online platform to order food, raises $385M in Series F round of funding led by T. Rowe Price Associates and Fidelity Management & Research Company with participation from DST Global, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, and Accel Partners.Link

SpringWorks Therapeutics (2017, NYC), mission-driven medicines company, raises $103M in Series A round of funding from Bain Capital Life Sciences, Bain Capital Double Impact, OrbiMed, Pfizer and LifeArc. Link

Tempus (2015, Chicago), oncology platform for sequencing, analytics and informatics, raises $70M in Series C round of funding. Link

Prosper (2005, SF), P2P lending marketplace, raises $50M in Series G round of funding from FinEx Asia and LPG Capital. Link

PatientSafe Solutions (2002, San Diego), smart point-of-care mobile solutions provider for healthcare organizations, raises $25M in funding led by HighBar Partners with participation from Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Camden Partners, Psilos Group, and TPG. Link

IsoPlexis (2012, New Haven), multiplexed single-cell analysis tools for the diagnostics and life science research, raises $13.5M in Series B round of funding led by Spring Mountain Capital, with participation by Connecticut Innovations, North Sound Ventures, and Ironwood Capital. Link

Accelo (2009, SF), cloud based project management software company, raises $9M in Series A round of funding led by Level Equity with participation from Fathom Capital and existing investor Blackbird Ventures. Link

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Hashcash Consultants (2015, Kolkata), blockchain-based payment solutions provider. Founders are ex-Vistamind and are alumni of IIM Indore. Local comparables are Unochain(2015, Tumkur) and KrypC (2016, Bangalore). Global comparables are R3 (2013, NYC, $107M) and IntellectEU (2003, Jersey City, $2.2M) 

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Rupeek (2015, Bangalore), alternate lending platform for gold loans, raises $12M in early stage funding led by Accel India and Lok Capital. Link

myUpchar (2016, Delhi), online health information portal, raises $304.9K in seed round of funding from Mohit Satyanand, Rajan Anandan, Alok Mittal, and other angels. Link

Artivatic.ai (2014, Bangalore), AI-enabled platform and OS for business intelligence, raises $165K in Angel round of funding from Dubai & Singapore based NRIs. Link

GoChoppers (2014, Gurgaon), helicopter tourism services provider, raises an undisclosed amount in funding from Rivergate Capital. Link

Inclov (2014, Mumbai), mobile-based matchmaking app for people with physical disability, raises an undisclosed amount in Angel round of funding from Rajan Anandan, Jamil Khatri and Ravi Iyer and others. Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), online horizontal marketplace, acquires F1Info (2012, Mumbai), electronics repair services and networking solutions provider, for an undisclosed amount. Link

CarDekho (2007, Jaipur), online car research, buying/selling and deals platform, partners with Hero Fincorp (1991, Delhi), NBFC offering automobile loans, for used car loans. Link

UberEATS (2014, Denver), on-demand food delivery platform, plans to introduce ‘Cash on Delivery’ support in Mumbai. Link

Atom (2006, Mumbai), financial technologies group company, launches digital POS payments app – mGalla for merchants. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

vXchange (2013, Tampa), colocation services provider, raises $200M in funding from undisclosed investors. Link

Indigo (2013, Cambridge), developer of seed coatings with selective plant microbes to increase resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, raises $156M in Series D round of funding from Baillie Gifford, Activant Capital, Flagship Pioneering, and the Alaska Permanent Fund. Link

Autolus (2015, London), developer of engineered T-cell immunotherapies for cancer treatment, raises $80M in Series C round of funding from Cormorant Asset Management, Nextech Invest, Syncona, Woodford Investment Management and Arix Bioscience. Link

ProsperWorks (2011, San Mateo), CRM software provider for Google apps, raises $53M in Series C round of funding led by Promod Haque with participation from GV, Industry Ventures, Next World Capital, Storm Ventures and True Ventures. Link

Drift (2014, Cambridge), customer segmentation and engagement platform, raises $32M in Series B round of funding led by General Catalyst, with participation from CRV, HubSpot and Sequoia Capital. Link

DiscGenics (2008, Salt Lake City), tissue engineering company to treat degenerative disc diseases, raises $14M in Series B round of funding from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital. Link

Deep Genomics (2015, Toronto), deep learning based precision medicine, genetic testing, and diagnostics company, raises $13M in Series A round of funding led by Khosla Ventures with participation from True Ventures. Link

Trivest Partners, Miami-based private equity firm, raises its fifth private equity fund, at $415M. Link

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Flux Auto (2017, Bangalore), aftermarket self-driving technology provider for commercial vehicles. Founder is ex-Cocoa Pay, Zingitt. Local comparables are Ati Motors (2017, Bangalore) and AutoNxt (2016, Mumbai). Global comparables are Peloton (2011, Menlo Park, $78.4M) and Cruise Automation (2013, SF, $18M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Transerve (2009, Margao), geo-spatial technology solutions provider, raises $1.6M in Series A round of funding, from IL&FS Investment Managers and Omidyar Network. Link

Multibhashi (2016, Bangalore), mobile and web app-based english learning platform, raises an undisclosed amount in seed round of funding from Aniruddha Malpani and Startup Oasis. Link

HomeShop18 (2008, Delhi), online and on-air retail, marketing and distribution venture, acquires ShopCJ Network (2010, Mumbai), online and on-air horizontal retailer, for $27.45M. Link

NeoStencil (2014, Delhi), online test preparation platform for IAS & other government service examinations, acquires TestCafe (2016, Noida), online test preparation platform for CAT & GMAT, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Zoomcar (2013, Bangalore), online self-drive car rental services provider, partners with AirAsia (2001, Melaka), low-cost airline operator, to provide mobility solutions to its customers to and from airports.  Link

Amazon India (2012, Bangalore), online horizontal marketplace, launches Amazon Business(2015, Bangalore), B2B marketplace for SMEs. Link

Early Salary (2015, Pune), NBFC linked lending platform for consumer loans, launches its operations in Mysore, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. Link

Swiggy (2014, Bangalore), on-demand food delivery platform, appoints Rahul Bothra as its CFO. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

CallRail (2011, Atlanta), call tracking & analytics software company for optimizing marketing campaigns, raises $75M in funding from Sageview Capital and Leaders Fund. Link

Kyriba (2000, San Diego), treasury automation and risk management company, raises $45M in Series D round of funding led by Sumeru Equity Partners with participation from Bpifrance, Iris Capital, Daher Capital and HSBC. Link

Playbuzz (2012, Tel Aviv), publishing tools for interactive storytelling, raises $35M in Series C round of funding led by Viola Growth with participation from Disney, Saban Ventures, 83North, Carmel Ventures, Firstime and Oded Vardi. Link

Analytics4Life (2011, Toronto), developer of AI-based medical imaging technologies, raises $25M in Series B round of funding from undisclosed investors. Link

Chime (2013, SF), mobile banking solutions provider to avoid fees and automate finances, raises $18M in Series B round of funding led by Cathay Innovation with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Omidyar Network, Crosslink Capital, Aspect Ventures, Forerunner Ventures and Homebrew. Link

blow LTD (2013, London), online and mobile-based platform to book on-demand beauty services, raises $10M in Series A round of funding from Debenhams. Link

SpotRight (2009, Boulder), analytics based audience insights and targeting platform for brands, raises $6.75M in Series A round of funding led by TechOperators and Silicon Valley Bank. Link

Transit (2013, Montreal), real-time transit app, raises $5M in Series A round of funding led by Accel with participation from Accomplice, Real Ventures and Business Development Bank of Canada. Link

With $247M funded across 26 startups, Marketplace for BabySitting services emerged as one of the largest upcoming sectors in the Mom & Baby Care Space. Another usual suspect is online platforms offering essential baby and maternity products, with $532 pumped into 16 startups.

Interestingly, within essentials, subscription of private label products emerged as a strong upcoming business model, with $228M invested into just one company, Santa Monica based Honest. After a growth streak from 2013 to 2015, the sector in 2017 YTD saw $180M funded across 68 rounds. Of this, 32 rounds were at seed stage, 30 at early stage, and only five late stage rounds.

As for the average ticket size by round, there was a small spike for Seed (27%) and Series A (13.3%). Series B investments’ ticket size however dropped by 25%.

Recent top investments in the space are Neo Bar (Shanghai, $37M, Series B), and FirstCry (Pune, $34M, Series D). The most active investors by stage are 500 Startups (Seed), Matrix Partners China (Series A), Accel Partners (Series B), and Baird Capital (Later Stages).

Commerce has historically drawn the most investment ($2.5B) with Parenting($1b) following it in the Mom & Baby Care landscape as $1.7B have been invested in the last two years.

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

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Mom & Baby Care

A total of $1.4B have been invested across 195 rounds in 2017 in the AgriTech space. Of these, the biggest share has been claimed by early stage investments, $898M across 96 rounds.

The average ticket size across Seed and Series A stages saw a marginal spike over 2016, while for Series B, the figure was a notch lower ($20.5M) than 2016 ($21.8M).

Recent top investments in the space are Plenty (San Francisco, $200M, Series B) and Zymergen (Emeryville, $130M, Series B). These are amongst the 40 notable investments that 2017 saw. Top AgriTech investors by stage are Y Combinator for Seed (15), Middleland Capital for Series A (6), Khosla Ventures for Series B (6), and Cultivian Sandbox for Later Stage (4 investments).

Ness Ziona (Israel) based Esense-Lab was the latest IPO in the space, in Feb 2017. John Deere’s $305M acquisition of San Francisco based Blue River Technology is the biggest acquisition of the year. 

Of the various Business Models within AgriTech, BioTech has historically amassed the highest cumulative funding ($3.4B), followed by Precision AG ($1.3B) and Agribusiness ($1B)

Note: You can download this report here.

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on AgriTech

Ecommerce Enabler Sector chiefly includes B2B platforms that help retailers, brands or manufacturers operate their businesses online. In 2017 YTD, the sector has seen $1.2B invested across 110 rounds. Of these, $753M were pumped in 20 late stage rounds.

In what is a harbinger or optimism, the average ticket size for early stage deals in 2017 went northwards than its 2016 counterparts. All the three, Seed Stage (50%), Series A (25%), and Series B (75%) enjoyed this spike.

The most active investors overall are 500 Startups (45), Plug and Play Tech Center (31) and Y Combinator (28). Accel Partners emerged as the top investor across Series B and Later Stage investments, with six deals in each.

With in Ecommerce Enablers, business models in Backend (Software solutions that manage backend processes such as order management, shipping and order fulfillment) have historically bagged the highest funding dollars ($1.4B) followed by Tools (Software solutions that enhance the performance and sales of the already existing web stores) at $1.1B.

Note: You can download this report here.

Download the Tracxn Industry Report on Ecommerce Enablers

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

DEALS OF THE WEEK

China’s Meituan Dianping Said To Raise $3B From Tencent, IDG Capital
Meituan Dianping, one of the largest Chinese on-demand local services providers, is said to be raising around $3B from investors including its long-time backer Tencent Holdings, IDG Capital and other investors.

INTERESTING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY IN CHINA

Chinese Rollable Display Firm Royole Raises $800M In Series D Round
Royole (2013, Shenzhen), a rollable display company, raises $800M in Series D Round from Hanfor Capital Management, Warmsun Holding Group, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Zhonghai Shengrong, Tanshi Capital, China CITIC Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China L, Bank of China and Ping An Bank.

Chinese Supply Chain Management Firm YH Global Raises $182M Series A Round
YH Global (1997, Shenzhen), a supply chain management and logistics company, raises $182M in series A round of funding led by Yonghua Capital and Co-Energy Finance with participation from Stone Capital, Tangrong Capital and Shenzhen Grandland Group.

51Job To Buy 60% Stake In Online Recruitment Platform Lagou.com For $120M
51Job, a Chinese human resources service provider, to buy 60% stake in online recruitment platform Lagou.com for $120M.

China Media Capital Co-Leads $83M Round In Chinese K-12 Education Platform Gaosi
Gaosi Education (2009, Beijing), an online-offline K-12 education company listed on China’s New Third Board, raises $83M in funding led by China Media Capital and AlphaX Partners with participation from Sinovation Ventures, China International Capital, Loyal Valley Capital and Hina Group.

Chinese Autonomous Driving Firm Founded By Baidu Veteran Raises $52M Pre-A Round Led By Qiming
JingChi (2017), a Chinese autonomous driving start-up, raises $52M in a pre-A round led by Qiming Venture Partners. China Growth Capital, Nvidia GPU Ventures and other unnamed investors also participated in the round.

Legend Co-Leads $38M Round In Chinese Medical CRO Firm Bellen
Bellen (2016, Beijing), a medical contract research organization, raises $38M in series B round of funding led by Legend Capital and Zhongjinqichen with participation from Gefeiyueren, Dachen Chuanglian and Dianjing Shijie.

Elements Capital, WI Harper Lead $17.5M Series B Round In Chinese Biopharma Firm
XW Laboratories (2014, Wuhan), a biopharmaceutical research and development company focused on neurological disorders, raises $17.5M in series B round of funding led by Elements Capital and WI Harper. New investor KTB Network, and all existing investors KPCB China, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and WuXi Venture, also participated.

Chinese Artificial Intelligence Start-Up Yi+ Raises $15M Series B Round
Yi+ (2014, Beijing), a provider of intelligent media and marketing solutions, raises $15M in series B round of funding led by Haitong Securities, with participation from BRJ Group and an investment fund under the Bank of Beijing.

INVESTMENTS BY CHINESE INVESTORS AND COMPANIES

Chinese medical devices maker to buy US-based Argon for $850m
China’s Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer has agreed to acquire US-based and unlisted Argon Medical Devices Holdings for $850M.

Chinese State-Backed Fund Agrees To Acquire UK Chip Maker Imagination Technologies For $745M
Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, a private-equity firm backed by Chinese state-owned China Reform Fund Management, has agreed to acquire U.K. chip maker Imagination Technologies in a deal that values the British firm at $745M.

Hong Kong X-Tech Co-Leads $9.5M Round In Programmable Products Developer Efinix
Efinix (2012, Milpitas), a programmable logic cores, raises $9.5M in series A round of funding from Xilinx and Samsung Venture Investment.

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Truevision.ai (2017, Bangalore), realistic virtual environment provider for testing self-driving cars. Founder is ex-Instaveritas. Global comparables are Cognata (2016, Rehovot, $5M) and Right Hook (2016, SF)

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Sharechat (2014, Bangalore), mobile-based social platform in vernacular languages, in talks to raise $15M in funding from Xiaomi (2010, Hong Kong), chinese consumer electronics company. Link

Pitstop (2015, Bangalore), mobile app-based marketplace for car servicing, raised $1M in Seed round of funding from Blume Ventures, Singapore-based Goldbell Group, Anurag Srivastava, Shailesh Rao, Amiya Pathak, Rajesh Yohanan and Rahul Garg. Link

Aadyah (2016, Bangalore), manufacturer of aerospace and defence technology products, raises $1M in Seed round of funding from Keiretsu Forum. Link

Fashalot (2014, Gurgaon), cloud-based pre-sales analytics platform for retailers and reward platform for individuals, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Capillary Technologies with participation from Whiteboard Capital, YourNest Angel Fund and Rajul Garg. Link

Creatiosoft (2012, Noida), mobile gaming app studio, raises an undisclosed amount in funding from Vasonomics (2010, Sydney), mobile value added services provider. Link

Square Yards (2013, Delhi), online real estate advisory and brokerage firm, launches exclusive property portal for Dubai. Link

Myntra (2007, Bangalore), online retail store for fashion and lifestyle products, wins rights to manage Esprit stores in India. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

EchoNous (2005, Seattle), smart ultrasound devices manufacturer, raises $35M in funding from KKR. Link

Stockpile (2011, Palo Alto), fractional investment gift card, raises $30M in Series B round of funding led by Eight Roads Ventures, with participation from Mayfield, Arbor Ventures, Hanna Ventures, Wang Ventures, and others. Link

Kinova (2006, Boisbriand), designer and manufacturer of personal robotics for assistive and service purposes, raises $25M in funding led by Fonds Manufacturier Québécois S.E.C., with participation from KTB Network, Foxconn and BDC Capital. Link

BuildingConnected (2012, SF), platform for managing pre-construction bids, raises $22M in Series B round of funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Crosslink Capital, Homebrew, Freestyle, Bee Partners and Brick & Mortar. Link

Drive.ai (2015, Santa Clara), AI based self-driving cars developer, raises $15M in Series B round of funding from Grab and others. Link

Reno Sub-Systems (2013, Nova), semiconductor process control equipment technology provider, raises $11.2M in Series C round of funding led by Samsung Venture Investment Corporation with participation from Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation and SK hynix, Intel Capital, Lam Research and MKS Instruments. Link

Silk Therapeutics (2013, Boston), medical grade silk protein and wellness-based skincare solutions provider, raises $11M in Series A3 round of funding led by Jeff Vinik, the Kraft Group with participation from Roy P. Disney, Lear Corporation, and Altman Health Investments . Link

Legion Technologies (2016, Menlo Park), intelligent workforce engagement platform, raises $10.5M in Series A round of funding led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from seed investors First Round Capital, XYZ Ventures and Webb Investment Network. Link

Jobcase (2009, Cambridge), blue collar networking and recruitment platform, raises $7M in Series A round of funding led by Savano Capital Partners. Link

Cardinal Analytx (2013, Palo Alto), developer of machine learning based solutions for predicting healthcare costs, raises $6.1M in Series A round of funding led by Cardinal Partners with participation from Premera Blue Cross and the Stanford-StartX Fund. Link

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

INTERESTING COMPANIES FOUND

SEA – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Bangladesh bike app Pathao to close Series A
Bangladesh bike app Pathao to close Series A, could include Go-Jek as an investor.

Indosat deploys 80% of SoftBank-backed fund
Indosat, Indonesia’s telco firm, deploys 80% of SoftBank-backed fund.

Thai VC Creative Ventures launches $50M fund focused on deep tech
Thai VC Creative Ventures launches $50M fund focused on deep tech companies in the US.

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – SMART GRID

• CyanConnode Holdings raised $11.4M through a placing of shares post-IPO. Link
• Sympower, a smart energy startup, raised $1.2M from Angel Investors and Investment fund Enfuro Ventures. Link
• Labrador has raised $1.3M in its Seed funding round led by Hambro Perks. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Modularity  (2017, London) –  Modularity is a virtual power plant, that leverages artificial intelligence and blockchain, for autonomous real time control and management of the generation of electricity from prosumers with distributed resources (solar, batteries etc.) for distribution. This enables seamless demand-based sharing of electricity within an ecosystem of consumers, prosumers and producers. iT enables owners of rooftop solar, batteries etc. who are connected to a grid, to sell their surplus electricity directly to their neighbours

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

SpongeAI (2017, Bangalore), natural language processing tool for customer engagement. Founder is ex-Dell, Supertext and is an alumnus of BITS Pilani. Local comparable is Qualyon(2016, Bangalore). Global comparable is Xiaoi (2001, Shanghai, $8.1M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Ola (2011, Bangalore), app-based asset light cab operator, raises $400M funding from Tencent as a part of its $2B investment from Softbank, Tencent and others. Link

YourStory (2008, Bangalore), digital portal providing news content related to startups, raises $6M from UC-RNT fund, Kalaari Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and others. Link

Chqbook (2016, Gurgaon), home loan comparison and refinancing platform, raises undisclosed amount of funding from Startup Buddy and others. Link

HomeCapital (2017, Mumbai), provider of down payment assistance for homebuyers, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Venture Catalysts. Link

Yumist (2014, Gurgaon), on-demand comfort food provider, shuts down its operations due to lack of funds. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

LetGo (2015, NYC), mobile-first used goods listing platform, raises $100M in funding from existing investors. Link

KSQ Therapeutics (2015, Cambridge), drug discovery company with focus on oncology and immuno-oncology, raises $76M in equity financing round from Flagship Pioneering, Polaris Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, and Alexandria Equities. Link

Tinubu Square (2000, Moulineaux), cloud-based SaaS platform provider for credit insurance, raises $62M funding from Long Arc Capital and Bpi France. Link

LogTrust (2011, Madrid), cloud based security analytics solutions provider, raises $35M in Series B round of funding led by Insight Venture Partners with participation from Kibo Ventures. Link

OpsRamp (2014, San Jose), provider of enterprise IT management platform, raises $20M in funding from Sapphire Ventures. Link

Trustpilot (2007, Copenhagen), online review community, secures $20M in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank. Link

Ensurem (2015, Largo), online marketplace for life insurance and health insurance products, secures $12.25M in funding from A-CAP. Link

Kryon Systems (2008, Franklin Lakes), provider of robotic process automation solutions, raises $12M in Series B round of funding from Aquiline Technology Growth and Vertex Ventures. Link

Vestwell (2016, NYC), white label investment management platform provider, raises $8M in Series A round of funding round from F-Prime Capital Partners. Link

Beehive (2013, Dubai), peer to peer lending platform, raises $5M in Series A round of funding led by Riyad TAQNIA Fund with participation from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Fund (MBRF), the financial arm of Dubai SME, and others. Link

Starc Systems (2014, Brunswick), manufacturer of alternative containment wall barriers, secures $3.5M in funding from Blue Heron Capital. Link

Tecovas (2015, Austin), direct-to-consumer brand for cowboy boots, raises $2.6M in funding round led by Yeti Capital with participation from existing investors. Link

Taxfix (2016, Berlin), mobile-first tax assistant application, raises $2.3M in Seed round of funding from Redalpine and Creandum. Link

Corporate Fuel – NYC based investment bank and private equity firm, closes a $35M fund for funding startups in healthcare and consumer product sectors. Link 

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Complinity (2017, Gurgaon), cloud based compliance management system provider. Founder is ex-CEO Usha Martin and Xerox India. Local comparables are ComplyGlobal (2012, Bangalore, $3.8M) and Ricago (2013, Bangalore). Global comparables are MetricStream (1999, Palo Alto, $150M) and Convercent (2013, Denver, $54M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

MedGenome Labs (2012, Bangalore), provider of research and clinical genomics solutions, plans to raise $10M in Series C round of funding led by Sequoia and others as per reports. Link

Elanic (2014, Bangalore), mobile based P2P marketplace to buy and sell pre-owned goods, raises an undisclosed amount in Seed round of funding from Digital Garage. Link

Worldline (1970, Bezons), payments and transactional services provider, plans to buy MRL PosNet (2008, Chennai), PoS technology infrastructure provider, for $105M as per reports. Link

Godrej Agrovet (1992, Mumbai), manufacturer and supplier of agricultural input products, opens IPO today, and raises $51.8M from anchor investors. Link

BSNL (2000, Delhi), telecom operator offering telephone and broadband services, partners with Aeris (1992, Santa Clara), machine to machine connectivity platform provider, to provide IoT solutions in India. Link

MobiKwik (2009, Gurgaon), mobile wallet, recharge and bill payments app, announces its association with IRCTC rail connect app. Link

Karnataka govt to plans to invest $6M in AI, data science hub. Link

Ofo (2015, Beijing), online bicycle rental platform, plans to enter India by H1 2018. Link

InnoVen Capital, Mumbai-based venture debt provider, appoints Ashish Sharma as the new chief executive of its Indian operations. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Cullinan Oncology (2017, Cambridge), developer of high-value oncology therapeutics, raises $150M in Series A round of funding from UBS Oncology Impact Fund managed by MPM Capital and F2 Ventures. Link

Nanotronics (2009, Brooklyn), developer of automated vision based inspection systems, raises $30M in Series D round of funding led by Investment Corporation of Dubai with participation from Founders Fund. Link

AtScale (2013, San Mateo), provider of business intelligence enabling platform, raises $25M in Series C round of funding led by Atlantic Bridge with participation from Wells Fargo Securities, Industry Ventures, Storm Ventures, UMC Capital, Comcast Ventures and XSeed Capital. Link

Envoy Global (2009, Chicago), immigration management platform provider, raises $21M in Series C round of funding led by Catalyst Investors with participation from General Catalyst. Link

Frame.io (2014, NYC), media collaboration platform provider, raises $20M in Series B round of funding led by FirstMark Capital with participation from Accel Partners, SignalFire and Shasta Ventures. Link

Skorpios Technologies (2009, Albuquerque), provider of integrated communication products, acquires Novati Technologies (2012, Austin), technology support provider for semiconductor companies, for an undisclosed amount. Link

Sequoia Capital, Menlo Park based global venture capital firm, raises $50.2M for China focused fund. Link

Salesforce Ventures, SF based corporate investment group of Salesforce, launches $50M impact fund. Link

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – SALES FORCE AUTOMATION

• Datalot, an auction marketplace for advertisers to bid for qualified calls, raised an undisclosed PE round from Lightyear Capital. Link
• Dynamo Software, a provider of CRM software solutions for alternative investment firms, raised an undisclosed PE round from Francisco Partners. Link
• Klue, a sales intelligence platform for enterprises, raised $4M in a Series A round from OMERS Ventures, Vancouver Founder Fund, BDC Capital, SK Ventures, Ryan Holmes, Jonathan Ehrlich, and Daniel Debow. Link
• ProsperWorks CRM, a provider of CRM solution for companies that use Google Apps, raised $53M in a Series C round from Norwest Venture Partners, GV, Industry Ventures, Storm Ventures, Next World Capital, and True Ventures. Link
• Costello, a sales management, training, and administration platform, raised $1M in a Seed round from Dundee Venture Capital, Elevate Ventures, M25 Group, and Service Provider Capital. Link
• Apttus, a provider of CPQ software suite, raised $55M in a Series E round from Salesforce, K1 Investment Management, Iconiq Capital, and Premji Invest. Link 
• LeadMethod, a distributor lead management and sales performance management platform, raised $50k in a Seed round from undisclosed investors. Link
• Journey Sales, a provider of customer engagement solutions for sales professionals, raised $775k in a Series A round from undisclosed investors. Link
• GetAccept, an electronic signature and sales document automation solution for salespeople, raised $1.6M in a Seed round from Amino Capital and Y Combinator. Link 
• TalkIQ, a Telephone-based lead nurturing solution, raised $14M in a Series A round from Scale Venture Partners, Aspect Ventures, Danhua Capital, Felicis Ventures, LINE, and Salesforce. Link
• Field Assist, an enterprise mobile solution for on-field sales tracking and management, raised an undisclosed Debt round from SIDBI. Link
• Metadata, a B2B Lead enrichment and targeting platform, raised $1.4M in a Seed round from undisclosed investors. Link
• NuORDER, a B2B storefront and sales solution for fashion, raised $8M in a Series B round from Argentum Group. Link
• RevBoss, a lead generation software for enterprises, raised $325k in a Seed round from undisclosed investors. Link
• RepIQ, an account based sales solution for sales teams to nurture prospects, raised $1.1M in a Seed round from Pfizer, Hyde Park Angels, and Amicus Capital. Link
• Pattern, a productivity tool for Salesforce, was acquired by Workday, a leading ERP and HRMS solution provider, for an undisclosed amount – Link
• Rain King Software, a provider of contact database platform for lead generation purpose, was acquired by DiscoverOrg, a competitor and a portfolio company of TA Associates. Link
• Unomy, a contact database platform for lead generation, was acquired by WeWork, a co-working workspace community company. Link
• Zoom Information, a business information intelligence platform, was acquired by Great Hill Partners, for $240M. Link
• AlignStar, a sales territory design, mapping, and optimization software, was acquired by Xactly, an incentive management solution for salespeople. Link
• Xactly, a sales compensation and performance management software provider, was acquired by Vista Equity Partners, for $564M. Link
• Velocify, a smart dialer and lead management solution, was acquired by Ellie Mae. Link

INTERESTING STARTUP FOUND

Leadtime (2017, Atlanta) – Artificial Intelligence-based smart prospecting tool.

LEADER BOARD – SALES FORCE AUTOMATION

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Veative (2016, Noida), virtual reality based device and edutainment content provider. Founder is CEO & Founder Piron corporation and ex-Director EKM Infotech. Local comparables are Oobedu (2016, Mumbai) and VR Tree (2017, Mumbai). Global comparables are Unimersiv(2015, San Mateo) and Convercent (2016, Taipei).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Zefo (2015, Bangalore), online marketplace for used furniture, raises $9M in Series B round of funding from Sequoia, Helion Venture Partners and Beenext. Link

Yaantra (2013, Delhi), online platform to buy refurbished and unboxed smartphones, raises $3.1M in Series A round of funding from its Carpediem Capital Partners & Duane Park. Link

Little Black Book (2013, Delhi), online platform providing localized culture & lifestyle content, raises $1M in Series A round of funding led by Blume Ventures with participation from IDG Ventures, Indian Angel Network and others. Link

CollPoll (2013, Bangalore), collaboration platform for educational institutions, raises $306K in Angel round of funding from Sprout Angels and others. Link

Itelligence (2000, Cincinnati), SAP solutions provider, acquires vCentric Technologies (2005 ,Hyderabad), SAP solutions and services provider, for undisclosed amount. Link

Flipkart Payments invests $38.8M in its digital payment arm, PhonePe (2015, Bangalore), UPI based payment app provider. Link

Yatra (2006, Delhi), online travel search and bookings platform, lists OYO (2013, Gurgaon), branded marketplace for budget hotel accommodation, on its platform after two years. Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore), online horizontal marketplace, launches private label MarQ for large appliances category. Link

MobiKwik (2009, Gurgaon), mobile wallet, recharge and bill payments app provider, relaunches payment gateway, and aims transactions worth $5B by March 2018. Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Infinidat (2011, Herzliya), low-cost hybrid storage provider, raises $95M in Series C round of funding led by Goldman Sachs Private Capital Investing with participation from TPG Growth. Link

Immatics (2000, Tubingen), developer of immunotherapies for cancer, raises $58M in Series E round of funding from dievini Hopp Biotech holding, Wellington Partners, AT Impf GmbH and Amgen. Link

Palleon Pharmaceuticals (2015, Cambridge), developer of Glyco Immune checkpoint inhibitors to treat cancer, raises $47.6M in Series A round of funding SR One, Pfizer Ventures, Vertex Ventures HC, Takeda Ventures, and AbbVie Ventures. Link

SalaryFinance (2015, London), online lending platform for employer loans, raises $52.9M in funding from financial services firm Legal & General and Blenheim Chalcot. Link

PremFina (2015, London), white label software provider for insurance brokers, raises $36M in Series B round of funding led by Rakuten Capital and Draper Esprit Plc with participation from Thomvest Ventures, Emery Capital, Rubicon Venture Capital and others. Link

Bluecore (2013, NYC), automated trigger-based email marketing service provider, raises $35M in Series C round of funding led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from Georgian Partners, FirstMark Capital and Felicis Ventures. Link

Roofstock (2015, Oakland), online marketplace for tenant-occupied rental properties, raises $35M in Series C round of funding led by Canvas Ventures with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, Khosla Ventures and others. Link

FogHorn Systems (2014, Mountain View), developer of edge intelligence software for IOT applications, raises $30M in Series B round of funding led by Intel Capital and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures with participation from Honeywell Ventures, March Capital Partners, GE, Dell Technologies Capital and others. Link

Seasoned.co (2017, SF), professional networking platform for Food service industry, raises $20M in Series A round of funding led by TPG Growth. Link

Energage (1999, Ellijay), employee engagement platform provider, raises $15M in funding from Rittenhouse Ventures, NewSpring Capital and Bridge Bank. Link