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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – FIELD FORCE AUTOMATION

• Librestream, a video collaboration solutions provider for field workforce raises $8.2M. Link
• Handshake, an app for field sales reps, raises $14M Series B. Link
• Salesforce launches field service lightening on its service cloud. Link
• FieldNation unveils new IoT uptime architechture solution to service connected IoT devices. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Build on the Go (2015, NYC) – Uses patent pending visual confirmation technology to track construction projects and milestones. Winner of 2015 Zahn prize.
CompanyCam (2015, Lincoln) – An app for photo documentation along with notes and markups which organises the photos automatically.

LEADER BOARD – FIELD FORCE AUTOMATION

Services – Suites
PTC (1982, Needham, IPO) – Offers software products for manufacturing companies for 2D & 3D Computer Aided Design, Product Lifecycle Management, Engineering Calculations, Application Lifecycle Management, Technical Documentation and Service Lifecycle Management. Went public in 1989. Acquired Coldlight in May, 2015. 
ClickSoftware Technologies (1996, Burlington, IPO, Acq.) – Provides service optimization suite of solutions with features for service scheduling and routing by balancing resources and organizational preferences, performance measurements etc. Went public in 2000. Acquired by Francisco Partners in 2015.
TOA Technologies (2003, Beachwood, $96M, Acq.) – Provides workforce management solution with time-based predictive analytics platform which learns field work according to each employee and tracks progress on real time. Backed by Intel Capital, TCV, SHV, Fort Washington. Acquired by Oracle in 2014.
Servicemax (2007, Pleasanton, $202M) – Provides field service managment solution with equipment and inventory tracking, scheduling, workforce optimization, dispatching features. Backed by KPCB, GE Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Premji Invest, CrossLink Capital, Mayfield Fund, Adam Street Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, Emergence Capital Partners.

Services – Suites – Home Services
ServiceTitan (2012, Glendale, $18M) – A SaaS based field service solution for home services with features such as CRM, intelligent dispatch, comprehensive reporting, marketing management tools, mobile connectivity for field techs etc. Backed by BVP, Mucker Capital, I2BF Digital, and AMENALAV Group.
 
Services – Data Collection
ProntoForms (2001, Ottawa, IPO) – Platform for field personnels to help in data collection, surveys, inspections with features for customization, work orders etc. Went public on Canadian Venture Exchange in 2005.

Sales & Marketing – Suites
Spring Mobile Solutions (2001, Seattle, $78M) – Provides SaaS based solution for field sales marketing and distribution teams with features to plan routes for sales and delivery, messaging and collaboration, sales materials, territory management etc. Backed by Goldman Sachs, NEA, Sapphire Ventures.
Clari (2012, Mountain View, $26M) – Mobile app for sales personnel which enables sales managers and sales ops teams to view deal progress in real-time along with predictive analytics. Backed by Sequoia, Bain Capital, North Gate Capital.
 
Sales & Marketing – Data Collection
Gigwalk (2010, SF, $18M) – Provides crowdsourced field data collection as well as app for field workforce management and data collection for enterprises. Backed by Nokia Growth Partners, Greylock, August Capital, Soft Tech Ventures and Harrison Metal .

Construction – Suites
Vela Systems (2005, Burlington, $22M, Acq.) – App for Jobsite worker to access documents and to complete QA/QC inspections, worklists, punchlists, field reports etc. Backed by Launchpad Venture, Common Angels, Coomonwealth Capital Ventures. Acquired by Autodesk in 2012.
Procore Technologies (2003, Carpinteria, $101M) – SaaS based tool for construction project management, provides mobile app for bidding, document management, budgeting, creating RFIs and managing contracts. Backed by Iconic Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Construction – Collaboration
Plangrid (2011, SF, $59M) – Plangrid is an application to store and publish construction document and plans in the cloud and publish changes so that all the users can get updated instantly. A Y-Combinator (W12) company backed by GV, Founders Fund, Sequoia, Navitas Capital and 500 startups.

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

For latest updates, visit Field Force Automation feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – CONSUMER ROBOTICS

• Bionic Laboratories enters into a merger agreement to acquire Interactive Motion Technologies in an all stock transaction. Link
• Indego – an exoskeleton for paraplegics, by Parker Hannifin, gets FDA clearance. Link
• VEX Robotics, an educational robotics kits makers, receives grant From Ke Alahele Fund. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Etron (2015, Chennai) – A therapy robot which intends to help disabled people to walk.Product was slated for launch in Feb 2016.
Nobot (2015, Troy) – Develops robots that are controlled remotely. Nobot operators can earn money by helping out in domestic tasks by controlling the robots.

LEADER BOARD – CONSUMER ROBOTICS

Domestic Tasks
4Moms (2005, Pittsburgh, $60M) – Robotic baby care products such as baby stroller, rocker etc. Backed by Bain Capital, Castanea, and Innovation Works.
Neato Robotics (2005, Newark, $44M) – Robotic household appliances such as vacuum cleaner. Backed by Noventi Ventures, Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures.
Zimplistic (2008, Singapore, $16M) – Develops Rotimatic which is a robotic roti and wraps maker. Backed by Robert Bosch Venture Capital, NSI Ventures, SPRING Singapore, Distinguished Gentlemen Group.
Evolution Robotics (2001, Pasadena, $14M, Acq.) – Develops robotic vacuum cleaning devices. Backed by CMEA Capital, Vodafone and Idealab. Acquired by iRobot for $74M in 2012.
iRobot (1990, New Bedford, IPO) – Robotic household appliances such as vacuum cleaner, floor scrubbing robots and gutter cleaning robots. Went public in 2005.
Petnet (2012, Pasadena, $7M) – Smart pet feeder that enables custom feeding of pets. Backed by Grishin Robotics, Kima Ventures, SparkLabs Global Ventures, Launch Capital and iRobot.

Personal
Jibo (2012, Boston, $55M) – Personal social robot that can recognize speech and interact. Backed by Charles River Ventures, Fairhaven Capital Partners, Osage Ventures, RRE Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Formation 8 Partners, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, KDDI Corporation, Netposa Technologies, Dentsu Ventures and  Fenox Venture Capital.
Artificial Life Source Holding (2007, Berlin, $54M) – Develops teddy bear shaped personal robot and glove shaped remote interface device. Backed by DB Capital Partners.
A.I.Nemo (2014, Beijing, $30M) – Develops a smart robotic companion with telepresence capabilities. Backed by Innovation Works, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Foxconn.
Aldebaran Robotics (2005, Paris, $20M, Acq.) – Develops humanoid robots for personal use. Backed by Intel Capital, CDC Innovation, isource, Credit Agricole Private Equity, I-Source Gestion. Acquired by Softbank Group for $100M in 2012.

Entertainment
Anki (2010, SF, $105M) – AI based robotic cars used in racing games. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures and JP Morgan.
Sphero (2010, Boulder, $77M) – Smartphone controlled robotic gaming ball. Backed by Foundry Group, Highway12 Ventures, Mercato partners, Grishin Robotics, and Walt Disney Interactive.
Parrot (1994, Paris, IPO) – Smartphone controlled consumer drones and indoor robots. Backed by Bpifrance. Went Public in 2006.

Healthcare
Ekso Bionics (2005, Richmond, IPO) – Develops bionic exoskeletons for people with paralysis. Went public in 2014.
InTouch Technologies (2002, Santa Barbara, $24M) – Communications and mobile robotic platform used in healthcare. Backed by Acacia Venture Partners, Beringea Private Equity and iRobot.
AlterG (2005, Fremont, $23M) – Develops anti-gravity treadmill and wearable bionic leg for rehabilitation purposes. Backed by Oxford Finance, Versant Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Astrolabe Ventures and Funk Ventures.
Rewalk Robotics (2001, Marlborough, IPO) – Exoskeleton that helps in regaining the ability to walk. Went public in 2014.
VGo (2007, Nashua, $13M, Acq.) – Telepresence robot used in healthcare field. Acquired by Vecna in 2015.
Bionik Laboratories (2009, Toronto, IPO) – Develops lower body exoskeleton that enables wheelchair ridden people to regain ability to walking. Went public in 2015.

Educational
Wonder Workshop (2012, San Mateo, $17M) – Develops robots named Dash and Dot which help in learning robotics. Backed by Charles River Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, GV, WI Harper Group and Maven Ventures.
Modular Robotics (2008, Boulder, $8M) – Develops robot construction kit. Backed by Foundry Group.
Roboterra (2014, Sunnyvale, $4.5M) – Educational robotic kit that aids STEM education.

Surveillance
Knightscope (2013, Sunnyvale, $11M) – Autonomous robots for surveillance, patrolling and crime prevention. Backed by NTT Docomo Ventures, Konica Minolta and Flextronics International.

Hospitality Services
Savioke (2013, Sunnyvale, $18M) – Develops unmanned vehicle systems for research and development. Backed by Intel Capital, EDBI, Northern Light Venture Capital, Morado Ventures, GV and AME Cloud Ventures.
Briggo (2011, Austin, $9M) – Robotic technology employed to make the perfect cup of coffee. Backed by 7-Ventures.

Tech Enablers
Makeblock (2011, Shenzhen, $6M) – Open source aluminium extrusion based robot construction kit. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital, Cloud Angel Fund and Haxlr8r.
Robart (2009, Linz, $4.14M) – Develops autonomous technology used in household robots. Backed by Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Innovacom and Groupe SEB.
RoboCV (2012, Moscow, $3.5M) – Develops a universal navigation system called ‘Autopilot’, for mobile robots. Backed by VTB Capital Investment Management, LETA Capital, I2BF Global Ventures, Columbus Nova Technology Partners and Almaz Capital.

Retail Sales Service
Bossa Nova Robotics (2005, Pittsburgh, $9M) – Develops autonomous information dispensing robots for retail stores. Backed by Riverwood Capital and Innovation Works.

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

For latest updates, visit Consumer Robotics feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – SALES FORCE AUTOMATION

• Handshake, a sales rep order & catalog app for iPad & iPhone raises $14M Series B round led by Sozo Ventures along with the participation of existing investors Emergence Capital, SoftTech VC, BOLDstart Ventures, MHS Capital, Point Nine and Primary Ventures Link
• IKO System, a lead generation and scoring platform raised $2.78M Series A from Naxicap Partners, 3T Capital and Bpifrance Link
• ROI Innovation, a sales & marketing analytics provider raised $1M in order to support the acquisition of competitor Boulder Logic Link
• Replyapp, a email prospecting and sales automation tool raised $400k in a round led by Digital Future along with participation from Wannabiz Link
• SalesForce launched a field service product as part of its Field Service Lightning offering Link
• Salesforce announced Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, a service to let financial advisors build deeper relationships with clients and become more productive by automating more of the relevant client information from disparate IT systems Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Rambl (2015, Atlanta) – Speech analytics for InsideSales teams.
ZenSight (2014, Boston) – Provides sales intelligence by analyzing CRM & email data.

LEADER BOARD – SALES FORCE AUTOMATION

CRM
SalesForce (1999, SF, IPO) – Comprehensive CRM and Sales enablement solutions provider. Revolutionized the cloud based enterprise software market. Backed by CS First Boston, WR Hambrecht and angels from Oracle, KLA Tencor and CNET. Went Public in 2004.
SAP (1972, Walldorf, IPO) – Provides end to end business management application software for enterprises. Went Public in 1998.​
Oracle (1977, Redwood City, IPO) – Provides business management applications for enterprises. Entered the CRM market following its acquisition of Siebel Systems in September 2005. Went Public in 1986.​

CRM – Small Businesses
InfusionSoft (2001, Chandler, $128M) – Provides sales and marketing automation software for small businesses that combines CRM, email marketing and e-commerce. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital, Arthur Ventures and Allure Ventures.

Lead Generation
Relationship Science (2010, NYC, $121M) – A business development tool that provides information on decision makers along with analytical tools and reporting dashboards. Backed by TABLE Holdings, MacAndrews, Hearst and RIT Capital Partners.
InsideView (2005, SF, $89M) – Provides market intelligence for sales and marketing teams. Backed by Emergence Capital, Rembrandt Ventures, SplitRock, Foundation Capital and Spring Lake Equity partners.

Lead Scoring
InsideSales (2004, Provo, $199M) – Provides a predictive lead scoring and management platform along with sales acceleration tools. Backed by Polaris, SalesForce Ventures, USVP, KPCB, HWVP and Microsoft.
Radius (2009, SF, $133M) – Predictive Sales and Marketing platform powered by a data science engine that fuses and analyses customer data with business signals. Backed by Formation8, BlueRun Ventures, American Express, Glynn Capital and Founders Fund.
Everstring (2012, San Mateo, $79M) – Offers a platform for sales and marketing teams to leverage public and in-house data for predictive lead scoring. Backed by Lightspeed, IDG, Sequoia, Lakestar, China Capital and Microsoft.

Productivity Tools
Clearslide (2009, SF, $89M) – Provides sales communication tools to increase effectiveness in customer facing communication. Backed by BVP, Comcast, Greylock, Felicis, Social Capital and SVB.
Clari (2012, Mountain View, $26M) – Offers a Predictive analytics platform for forecast management and mobile based tools for increasing rep productivity. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and Northgate Capital.

​Performance Management
XactlyCorp (2005, San Jose, IPO) – Provides cloud based incentive compensation and performance management solutions for enterprises. Backed by Alloy Ventures, Illuminate Ventures, Rembrandt Ventures and Bay Partners. Went Public in 2015.
​Badgeville​ (2010, Redwood City, $40M) – Sales Gamification and Social Engagement platform for enterprises. Backed by Interwest, Trinity, Norvest VP, Webb Investment Network and El Dorado Ventures.

Content Management Systems
Savo Group (1999, Chicago, $79M) – Provides collaborative sales enablement and content management solutions. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Sapphire Ventures, NXT Capital and Sterling Partners.​
Seismic (2011, California, $25M) – Offers mobile first enterprise content management and sales enablement solutions. Backed by JMI Equity and SigmaWest.

Field Sales Tools
Spring Mobile Solutions (2001, Seattle, $78M) – Provides mobile apps for field workforce management. Backed by Goldman Sachs, NEA and Sapphire Ventures.​

CPQ
Selectica (1996, San Mateo, IPO) – Provides enterprise contract management and CPQ solutions. Went Public in 2000.​
Apttus (2006, San Mateo, $186M) – Provides Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ), Contract Management, Renewals and Revenue Management solutions. Backed by Kuwait Investment Authority, SalesForce Ventures, Iconiq Capital and K1 Investment Management.

Inside Sales Tools
inContact (1997, Midvale, IPO) – Provides cloud based contact center solutions with call routing and agent optimization tools. Went Public in 2007.
​Five9 (2001, San Ramon, IPO) – Helps enterprises manage inbound, outbound, blended, or multi-channel contact centers for sales and marketing. Backed by Sapphire, HWVP, Adam Street Partners, Fifth Street Technology Partners, Partech Ventures and Mosaic Capital. Went Public in 2014.
8×8 (1987, San Jose, IPO) – Provides cloud based Unified communication solutions. Went Public in 1997.

Analytics
FirstRain (1997, San Mateo, $85M) – Business intelligence for structured and unstructured data. Backed by Diamondhead Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, Ampersand Capital Partners, Allegra Partners, Myriad Investments and St.Paul Venture Capital.
InsightSquared (2010, Cambridge, $27M) – Sales and Marketing Analytics for SMBs. Backed by Two Sigma Ventures, Bessemer VP, DFJ Venture, Atlas Ventures, Salesforce, GrandBanks Capital, NextView Ventures.

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

For latest updates, visit Sales Force Automation  feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – BITCOIN

• Elliptic, a bitcoin intelligence & risk management company, raised $5M in Series A funding from Santander Innoventures, Digital Currency Group, Octopus Ventures, Paladin Capital Group, KRW-Schindler. Link
• BitPesa, a bitcoin based remittance service provider, raised an undisclosed amount from Bitfury. Link
• Ribbit, a royalty network based on Bitcoin, raised $1.5M in seed funding from Hayaat Group. Link
• Keza, a bitcoin investment app, raised $357K from Digital Currency Group. Link
• Central Bank of England plans to have a digital currency of its own, in the form of a cryptocurrency, RScoin. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Infipay (2016, Mumbai) – Upcoming bitcoin wallet service in India.
Bitbayar (2015, Jakarta) – Online payment system for e-commerce in bitcoins.

LEADER BOARD – BITCOIN

Trading and Investments – Exchange
Coinbase (2012, SF, $106M) – Digital wallet and payment gateway solution provider for Bitcoins. Backed by DFJ Growth, Reinventure, NYSE, BBVA Ventures.
itBit (2012, Tower (Minnesota), $28M) – Provider of Blockchain & Bitcoin trading and transaction services. Backed by RRE Ventures, Canaan Partners, Liberty City Ventures.
Bitstamp (2011, London, $10M) – Bitcoin Exchange for European Union. Backed by Pantera Capital. 

Trading and Investments – Enablers
TradeBlock (2013, NYC, $2.8M) – Online platform for Cryptocurrency data and research. Backed by FinTech Collective, Andreessen Horowitz.

Mining
21 Inc. (2013, SF, $121M) – Provider of Bitcoin mining hardware. Backed by Pantera Capital, RRE, Khosla Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, .
Bitfury (2012, SF, $65M) – Provides mining hardware for Bitcoins. Backed by DRW, Georgian Co-Investment fund, QueensBridge Venture Partners.
KnCMiner (2013, Stockholm, $29M) – Provider of ASIC chips software & services for Bitcoin mining. Backed by Accel Partners, Creandum.

Payments – Payment Gateway
Bitpay (2011, Atlanta, $32.5M) – Bitcoin payment processor. Backed by Index Ventures, Founders Fund, RRE Venutres, TTV Capital.
Bitnet (2014, SF, $14.5M) – Digital commerce platform. Backed by Highland Capital Partners, DCG, Commerce Ventures, Buchanan Capital.

Payments – Wallet
Circle (2013, Boston, $76M) – Digital currency wallet with offline storage. Backed by Breyer Capital, Accel Partners, Pantera Capital, General Catalyst Partners.
Xapo (2012, Palo Alto, $40M) – Cold storage vault and Bitcoin wallet. Backed by Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, Emergent partners, Greylock Partners.
Blockchain (2011, SF, $30M) – Bitcoin wallet and block explorer. Backed by Lightspeed Venture partners, Future perfect Ventures.

Payments – ATM
Bitaccess (2013, Ottawa, $10M) – Bitcoin ATM provider. Backed by Pantera Capital, Y Combinator.

Alternate Financing
BTCjam (2013, SF, $7M) – P2P Bitcoin lending. Backed by Ribbit Capital, Pantera Capital, Funders Club, Foundation Capital.
Bitbond (2013, Berlin, $938K) – A Bitcoin based P2P lending platform. Backed by Point Nine Capital.

Alternate Cryptocurrency
Neucoin (2014, Paris, $2.25M) – Alternate cryptocurrency for micro transactions. Backed by Angel Investors.
Digibyte (2013, Idaho Falls (US), $250K) – Altcoin based decentralized payment network.

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

For latest updates, visit Bitcoin feed.

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

INTERESTING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY

Alibaba hits a GMV of $463B on its eCommerce marketplaces

Disclaimer: Reports tell that funding numbers announced by some companies in China are inflated. So read these with a pinch of salt.

2015 has been a prime year for the sector, with startups in the space raising $3.1B funding through 220+ rounds

According to Tracxn’s report on the AdTech space, the sector has witnessed a total funding of $17.5B across ~1700 companies, with First Round Capital, Accel Partners and DFJ being among the sectors most active investors.

The sector has been showing incredibly positive signs and with the increasing internet, tablet  and smartphone penetration now taking place in emerging markets, we can expect the momentum to continue. Also, with spending on digital advertising tech expected to increase on a Y-o-Y basis, investors have shown positive interest towards the sector, as indicated by the upward trend in funding activity witnessed over the last few years.

2015, in particular, has been a prime year for the sector, with startups in the space raising $3.1B funding through 220+ rounds. The increase in funding could be attributed to industry-shift towards programmatic advertising, Native Advertising and analytics. Moreover, the year witnessed higher average ticket sizes with less number of rounds, with larger players now raising a majority of the funding.

The investor sentiment is warranted considering that M&A Activity in the space has been quite strong, with 375 companies being acquired till date. According to Ernst & Young, the  AdTech space has been the third highest targeted sector for acquisitions behind only the cloud/SaaS and mobility sectors. 2016 has continued this trend, with the year till date witnessing notable acquisitions in the form of Appscotch being acquired by App Annie, and Interactive acquired by RNTS Media.

On the other side, the trend of the number of companies founded in the space decreasing continued in 2015, with the year seeing the lowest number of new companies since the 2005-2006 time frame.

The 2011-2012 timeframe, conversely, witnessed the highest number of companies founded in the sector, driven by mobile, digital video, cross-screen advertising and programmatic buying targeting specific sectors or audience groups. 2011 also marks the emergence of  Business models such as Location-based advertising, native advertising, Data Management Platforms ,cross-device technology and demand side platforms which have since been gaining traction.

Due to this trend, the years post 2011, notably 2012 and 2013 have witnessed a large number of early stage deals, accounting for 62% of the sectors early-stage round investment post-2012.

2011 and 2014 witnessed the sector’s largest number of late stage rounds with 39 a piece.

Business Models in AdTech

In terms of the Business Models within AdTech, Ad Network companies have seen a mammoth share of the investment in the advertising landscape with a cumulative investment of around $4.3B. Ad networks have been around since 1997 and Networks act as connectors between advertisers and publishers by matching the ad inventories from publishers to match it with the advertising demand. Ad Networks, generally, work with multiple supply partners and have their own monetization models. The segment witnessed its highest funding in 2015, raising $713M of the total funding, and drawing parallels to its success in 2011. Panshi lead the funding in 2015 with $200M.

Campaign management and Demand Side Platforms are the next highest funded space, receiving $2.1B cumulative funding with AdKnowledge and AppNexus as major players respectively.

Native Advertising is a fast upcoming sector, receiving a cumulative funding of $1.1B, and is soaring as marketers and digital media publishers realize the benefits.

The Tracxn AdTech Report covers companies providing platforms and technology solutions for brands, advertisers and publishers. Companies that enable the entire advertising ecosystem such as the Data Management Platforms (DMP), Ad Analytics, Retargeting and proximity based advertising platforms are also in the purview of this report. Media Agencies and advertising giants such as Google, Facebook and Twitter are excluded from the scope of the report. However, the advertising products of those companies that have large market shares are included in the report.

Check out the Tracxn AdTech Report here.

over $1.27B has been invested in the sector since 2010, with 2015 witnessing a peak, with a total ~ $494M raised

With governments across the world paying close attention to the smart cities sector, VC funding into the space has seen a significant increase. Besides VC firms such as KPCB and True Ventures, the sector has also attracted interest from tech corporates, with investment arms such as Cisco Investments and Siemens Venture Capital.

According to our latest Tracxn Report on the smart cities industry, over $1.27B has been invested in the sector since 2010, with 2015 witnessing a peak, with a total ~ $494M raised.

This marks an upward trend in funding for the sector since 2013, with the number of dollars invested almost quadrupling in 2015 from 2013. The renewed focus towards the smart cities sector can be attributed to the various smart cities program adopted by different countries, such as the US Department of Transport’s challenge, India’s Smart Cities Mission. Nordic countries, in particular, have shown considerable focus on clean energy and smart cities and have emerged as leaders in this field.

On the other hand, 2015 witnessed a sharp drop in the number of funding rounds, indicating an increase in the average funding per round, due to the trend of more established companies attracting a majority of the funding. Along these lines, the notable rounds during 2015 include Gogoro’s $130M Series B round which saw participation from Panasonic Corporation, and Sigfox raised $115M from Telefonica, SK Telecom, DoCoMo, GDF SUEZ, Air Liquide Group, Eutelsat, Elliott Management and Bpifrance. Connecthings also raised $10M in its Series B round from Xerys, Groupe Siparex and Calao Finance.

2016 seems to have continued the funding trend, with the last two months seeing some notable rounds such as Veniam’s $22M, Series B from Verizon Ventures, Cisco Investments, Orange Digital Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, True Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Cane Investments. Parkifi and Understory both raised $7.5M in their individual Series A Rounds.

2014 saw the most number of companies founded

Apart from 2013 and 2015, the Smart Cities sector has witnessed an upward trend in the number of companies being founded, with the figure peaking during 2014 where the number of startups in smart cities increased, particularly in the fields of monitoring, analytics and navigation.

With the number of companies founded reaching 35 in 2014, the number of companies funded has also increased to 30 in 2014 marking the year as one which witnessed the most number of companies being funded.

Network Providers received the most funding

With interest in smart cities still being in its initial stages, the focus has been more towards the infrastructure side, making the Network Provider Business Model the most funded. The segment is also comparatively the most mature one, with a small number of players in the space being established and attracting most of the funding.

As the smart cities segment moves more towards its next phase, the Monitoring & Management segment, which involves gathering data, deriving insights and taking timely actions, has begun to attract the next round of funding. The number of startups in this field is also increasing and is almost half of the total number of startups, with the funding interest also catching up.

Within the segment, Traffic and parking are the two most funded sub-sectors. Companies in Traffic monitoring and management space, such as INRIX, Streetline, Miovision have raised more than half the funding in this sector. Even in the first two months of 2016, there are a few companies formed in this sector.

The Smart Cities Report covers companies providing technology solutions for better connectivity and management of urban areas.

Check out the Smart Cities here.

Peter Thiel lead Founders Fund have just closed their sixth fund, bringing their total amount raised to more than $3B. Along the way, the fund has invested in some of the biggest and the most successful startups, a number of which have now entered the $1B Unicorn Club. Here is a list of Unicorns & Exits (last 15 months) in Founders Fund portfolio.

The Alcohol Startup Ecosystem is buzzing with news on smart wine dispenser Kuvee’s $6M funding round led by General Catalyst and Founder Collective. In fact, the alcohol space, as a whole, has witnessed a good amount of investments, especially towards startups catering to Online Retail.

Here are 10 Alcohol Startups that have received the most funding.

Companies included in the ’10 Alcohol Startups High on Funding’ Infographic are Jiuxian, Yi jiu pi, Jiubianli, Wine9, Lot18, Yesmywine, Coravin, Vivino, Drizly and Vinfolio

According to our Tracxn Report, funding in Electric Vehicles increased by 123% in 2015, with startups in the space raising ~$1.03B during the year, marking the sector’s highest funding volume since 2011. The funding during 2015, was predominantly focussed towards the Chinese players witnessing big ticket rounds across the year. NextEV, Gogoro, Ninebot and Niu raised $500M, $130M, $80M and $50M in their individual rounds, thus highlighting the beginning of a Chinese Domination in the space.

Our electric vehicles report covers companies focussed towards providing technology solutions for sustainable transportation and include developers and manufacturers of electric vehicles, developers of charging infrastructure and technology developers focusing on improving the components of electric vehicles. According to the report, the companies have raised more than $3.6B in cumulative funding since 2011.

Funding in Electric Vehicles Bounces back in 2015

The sector has also seen a greater number of deals in 2015, increasing to 67 from the 57 deals in 2014. Among the deals in 2015, NextEV’s funding round contributed close to 50% of the total investments, raising $500M from Sequoia Capital and Joy Capital.

With the increase in funding, there are signs of an industry bounce-back from the challenges it faced in 2012 and 2013, which witnessed the collapse of industry giants Fisker Automotive, A123 Systems, Better Place and ECOtality. Fisker Automotive and Better Place, in particular, contributed largely to the large funding volumes of 2011 and 2012, with the startups raising $548M and $300M during the period. While their collapse has reflected in the funding for 2013 and 2014, the industry has since shown resilience.

With a high amount of interest coming in from various governments, we can expect funding interest in the space to now increase. A number of countries have come up with policies and subsidies to promote electric vehicles adoption, and significant investments from the Government agencies has come in from the US Department of Energy awarding grants to a number of startups.

Stability in the Number of Companies Founded

While the number of companies founded in the space peaked in 2013 and has since been dropping, the figures have been relatively stable during the last five years.

63 companies were founded in 2013, with the number of startups focussed on the development and manufacturing of electric vehicles, especially electric cars and electric personal transport equipment increasing during the period. The attention, however, has shifted during recent times. With the focus now being towards addressing the need of charging stations and points for electric vehicle charging, it has been observed that a large number of companies which develop charging infrastructure have also been founded in recent years.

Automaker is the most funded Business Model

Currently, in terms of funding, the Electric Vehicles space has been dominated by Automakers, which manufacture electric vehicles. This can be attributed to the fact that technology development and manufacturing are highly capital-intensive segments, and hence has attracted most of the funding.

With the acceptance of Electric Vehicles increasing, the focus will now shift towards charging infrastructures which may witness the next wave of funding in the coming years. Vehicle-as-a-Service is another segment which is fast upcoming which activities in terms of companies founded, and funding beginning to take shape.

DFJ, KPCB and Sequoia are the Most Active Investors

American venture capital firm DFJ was the most active investor in electric vehicles, having invested in 5 companies, including the likes of Tesla and Mahindra Reva. Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers with investments in Proterra, Segway, ChargePoint and SINOEV Technologies. Sequoia Capital also features in the list with NextEV, Ninebot, ChargeDot in its portfolio.

Note: The report excludes traditional automakers such as Toyota, Renault-Nissan, General Motors, BMW, Mitsubishi, Ford, etc. which also develop electric vehicles. The conglomerates like Panasonic, LG Chem and Samsung which are leading battery manufacturers are also excluded from the scope.

Check out the Electric Vehicles Report here:

Tiger Global, one of New York’s prominent Venture Capital firms showed an immense amount of activity during 2015, investing in the most number of companies it ever has till date. 2016 has also started well for the VC with 2 of the total 9 Unicorns of the year coming out of Tiger’s portfolio, namely Souq and Shopclues, in the Middle East and India respectively.

Notably, Tiger Global holds a large number of billion dollar valued companies in its portfolio, with a total of 24 unicorns.  Taking a closer look, out of the 24 unicorns in its portfolio, over 75% of the companies fall into the consumer space.

Souq joins the billion dollar club

In the last 15 months, Tiger Global has invested in a total of 57 investment rounds. Below are some of largest investments rounds Tiger Global has participated in the last 15 months. Notable Investments: SOUQ, the e-commerce marketplace in UAE was valued at $1B and entered the Unicorn Club with funds raised from Tiger Global and Naspers. Interestingly Tiger Global was also the first investor in the company.

Is FinTech the new focus for Tiger Global?

The Consumer sector has been an all-time favourite hunting ground for Tiger Global, accounting for a total of 36 out of the 57 overall deals, with notable names including the likes of Flipkart, Airbnb, GrabTaxi and more.

Prior to the year 2015, the largest chunk of investments was focussed on the consumer sector, the similar trend continues to post 2015 as well, apart from the fact that FinTech also seems to have attracted some of the funds’ interest with 9 unique investment rounds taking place in the last 15 months.

The fund with a global focus

Prior to 2015, the US seemed to be the hotbed for investments for Tiger Global with a total of 23 investments, followed by seven rounds of investments in India. This focus seems to have changed course during 2015, with the fund making 31 investments in India and 12 in the US in the last 15 months.

Accel Partners is Tiger Global’s favourite co-investor

Tiger Global most often looks to Accel Partners investments for the follow-on rounds. It has invested in 9 companies post Accel’s initial investment. Among other top investors that have led the rounds before Tiger’s investments are Sequoia and Blume with 4 companies each.

Accel and Sequoia are both on top in terms of preceding rounds and co-investments. Tiger has co-invested in a total of 37 deals with Accel and 25 with Sequoia, followed by co-investments with Matrix, Greylock, and Blume.

Midas Touch 

Partners who made it to the Forbes Midas List 2016

Lee Fixel: Lee Fixel has featured on the Midas list multiple times. For the year 2016, his most notable deal has been Flipkart, known to be the most valued Indian Startup.

Scott Shleifer: Scott Shleifer is a two-time Midas lister. His most notable deal has been JD.com, which is now worth $40B in market cap.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – IT OPERATIONS

• Soasta, an end-user performance analytics solution provider raises $30M debt funding from Tennenbaum Capital, Canaan VP, Pelion VP and Formative Ventures. Link
• Shoppimon, a business performance monitoring solution for eCommerce stores running on Magento, rasies $2.3M seed funding from AOL, Stage One Ventures, Explore and 2B-Angels. Link
• Circonus, a real-time monitoring and event analytics solution, raises an undisclosed Series A funding from NewSpring Capital. Link
• Mobingi, a cloud automation platform, secures seed funding from Archetype Ventures and Draper Nexus Ventures. Link
• ThousandEyes, SaaS based network monitoring, raises $35M Series C funding led by Tenaya Capital. Link
• LiveAction, an application aware network management software, secures $36M Series B funding from Insight VP, Accelerate-IT Ventures and Cisco. Link
• Ownbackup, a cloud-to-cloud backup provider, seals $3.5M Series A funding from Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors and Oryzn Capital. Link
• Telemark Asset Management buys additional 100000 shares of New Relic. Link
• AccelOps partners with Palo Alto Networks to release a threat monitoring and management solution. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Unigma (2016, Boston) – Unified cloud monitoring for IT service providers.
Skipjaq (2014, London) – Automated engine that optimises applications for any environment.

LEADER BOARD – IT OPERATIONS

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – TUTORING

• flipClass, a web-based marketplace for offline home tutoring, has raised  $1 million in funding from S. Chand and Blume Ventures. Link
• HashLearn, an on-demand mobile tutoring platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Ola cofounder Bhavish Aggarwal, Google India head Rajan Anandan and People Group founder Anupam Mittal and more. Link 

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Betadare (2016, Bangalore) – Provides an online platform for brands to get crowd sourced videos and the users get paid if the video is published by the brand.
White Signal (2015, Toronto) – Provides real time programmatic native advertising platform and allows advertisers to target based on location, language and category.

LEADER BOARD – TUTORING

Online Delivery
TutorGroup (2004, Taiwan, $315M) – Online tutoring platform for learning English. Backed by Alibaba, Qiming Ventures, Temasek, Goldman Sachs, GIC, Russia-China Investment Fund, Silverlink Capital and Softbank Finance Group
Chegg (2005, California, $197M) – Online tutoring and textbook rental company. Backed by Floodgate, Primera Capital, Insight Partners, KPCB, Foundation Capital, Lucasvg, Acegroup, Gabrielvp and GSV cap.
Open English (2006, Florida, $120M) – Online tutoring in English. Backed by Flybridge, KaszeK Ventures, Redpoint and Technology Crossover Ventures.

Offline Delivery
Qingtajiao (Xiamen, $25M) – Marketplace for offline tutors.
5Teacher (2014, Beijing, $10M) – O2O tutor search platform.

Hybrid Delivery
51Talk (2011, Beijing, $67M) – Online English learning platform with offline experience centres. Backed by Sequoia Capital and Shunwei Fund.
Varsity Tutors (2007, St.Louis, $57M) – Online platform connecting students with tutors for in-person and online sessions. Backed by Technology Crossover Ventures.
WyzAnt (2005, Chicago, $21.5M) – Marketplace for offline and online tutoring classes. Backed by Accel Partners.
TakeLessons (2006, San Diego, $19M) –  Marketplace for offline and online tutoring classes in academic subjects, music, language, wellness, culinary, performing arts and more subjects. Backed by Crosslink Capital, Lightbank, Moore Ventures Partners, Softtech VC, Triangle Peak Partners, Wavemaker Partners and Webb Investment Network.

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

For latest updates, visit Tutoring feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – EVENT MANAGEMENT

• Huixiaoer, a meeting venue booking platform in China, raised undisclosed Series B round from DCM Ventures and IDG Capital Partners. Link
• Lumi, provider of technology solutions and mobile apps for live events, meetings and corporate communication, raised $2.8M from Clydesdale Bank. Link
• Shouut, a social discovery platform to discover places and experiences, raised $500k in an Angel round. Link
• ACTIVE Network, cloud-based activity and participation management solution provider for sports & outdoor events, sold its faith division offering solutions to churches, to Ministry Brands. Link
• ACTIVE Network will relaunch Virtual Event Bags platform, which it acquired in November 2015, as ACTIVE Engagement Platform in the third quarter of 2016. Link
• Bandintown, concert and live music discovery platform, partnered With Ticketmaster for in-app ticketing service. Link
• Ticketfly, concert focussed cloud-based social ticketing platform, launched concert discovery app for iOS. Link
• DoubleDutch, provider of mobile apps for attendee engagement, won Best Event Technology and Best Event Mobile App at the 6th Annual Global Event Awards. Link
  

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Cardstak (2015, San Francisco) – Creates business cards by pulling in Linkedin information for networking at events.

LEADER BOARD – EVENT MANAGEMENT

Suite
Cvent (1999, Washington, IPO) – Event management platform for planning, marketing, online registration and mobile event app solutions. Backed by New Enterprise Associates, Insight Venture Partners and Greenspring Associates. Went public in 2013 and has a $1.5B market cap.
Etouches (2008, Norwalk, $36M) – Web-based event management software suite. Backed by Greycroft Partners, Cava Capital, CT Innovations, Argentum Group, Level Equity.
Certain (1994, SF, $29M) – Event management software providing online event registration, speaker & session management, event mobile apps and event check-in.

Suite – Sports
ACTIVE Network (1999, Dallas, IPO, Acq.) – Cloud-based activity and participation management solution provider for sports & outdoor events. Went public in 2011. Acquired by Vista Equity Partners in $1.05B buyout in 2013.

Planning – Project Management
Honeybook (2013, SF, $32M) – Invite-only collaborative event planning platform that connects event professionals with vendors and clients. Backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Aleph, Carthona Capital, Ooga Labs, Khosla Ventures.

Planning – Venue
HotelGG (2012, Shanghai, $25M) – Platform for discovering and booking conference rooms. Backed by Matrix Partners China, Chengwei Capital and SIG China.
SocialTables (2011, Washington, $10M) – Event planning platform offering seating chart and event management software to hotels and other venues. Backed by Fortify Ventures, Militello Capital, Middleland Capital, Thayer Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners.

Planning – Vendor
Eved (2010, Chicago, $29M) – Online marketplace connecting event planners with DMCs, agencies, production companies, and local suppliers. Backed by MK Capital, Pritzker Group, Merrick Ventures.

Promotion
SplashThat (2011, NY, $7.5M) – Experiential marketing platform to control user experience during the life cycle of events. Backed by Spark Capital, Maveron, Red Sea Ventures.
SpinGo (2012, Draper, $2M) – Platform for finding and promoting events through local media sites, web pages and social sites such as Facebook. Backed by Mercato Partners.

Ticketing – Booking Engine
Digonex (2000, Indianapolis, $28M) – Develops automated pricing platforms for e-commerce, digital media, event ticketing, physical products, and manufacturing industries. Backed by Emmis Communications.
Events.com (2013, San Diego, $17M) – Suite of cloud-based applications for the endurance market. Backed by Arctaris Capital Partners, La Jolla Holding, Moore Venture Partners.
Peatix (2011, Tokyo, $13M) – Event ticket registration platform that provides event organizers with tools to create, promote and manage events. Backed by Fidelity Ventures, Draper Nexus Ventures, DG Incubation, Sunbridge Partners.

Ticketing – Marketplace
Eventbrite (2006, SF, $200M) – Online ticketing platform for events like book signings, networking gatherings, concerts, festivals and conventions. Backed by T. Rowe Price, Sequoia, DAG Ventures, Tiger Global.
TicketFly (2008, SF, $87M, Acq.) – Concert focussed cloud-based social ticketing platform. Backed by Mohr Davidow Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Riverwood Capital, Northgate Capital. Acquired by Pandora for $450M in 2015.
Viagogo (2005, Geneva, $65M) – Secondary ticket aggregation and selling platform. Backed by Siemer
Ventures, Index Ventures, SV Angel.

Ticketing – Metasearch
SeatGeek (2009, NY, $100M) – Secondary ticket search and comparison engine. Backed by Founder Collective, Technology Crossover Ventures, Causeway Media Partners, Accel.
Songkick (2007, London, $45M) – Concert listing platform that helps fans track artists for live events. Backed by Sequoia, Access Industries, Index Ventures, Y Combinator.

Attendee Engagement
DoubleDutch (2011, SF, $81M) – Provides mobile application for attendees at corporate events, associations, trade shows and near real-time event performance analytics for event organizers. Backed by KKR, Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Enspire Capital, Lightbank, Floodgate, Bullpen Capital.

Event Analytics
Attend (2013, Boston, $6M) – Event management and engagement platform that enables planners to gain access to event analytics and data from different sources. Backed by 406 Ventures and Comerica Bank.

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

For latest updates, visit the Event Management feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ENTERPRISE SECURITY

• Bromium, an endpoint security company raised $40M funding at a down round. Link
• Skyport Systems, a hypersecured infrastructure provider raised $30M in series C round led by GV. Link
• Stealth mode network security startup ICEBRG riased $10M in Series A round led by Pelion Venture Partners. Link
• Endgame, a threat detection provider raised $6.4M in an equity venture capital investment. Link
• Identity verification startup Jumio files for bankruptcy, received $3.7M in debt financing to support its ongoing operations. Link
• Predictive security platform for anti-phishing, GreatHorn rasied $2.25M in seed funding led by ff Venture Capital and SoftTech VC. Link
• Cloud based security awareness service provider, Secure Mentem rasied $100k funding from TEDCO. Link
• myKi, a mobile device based identity management solution received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from BECO Capital. Link
• Email risk assessment provider, Emailage received startegic investment from Wipro Ventures.Link
• Cloud Security provider CensorNet acquired an MFA provider Sms Passcode. Link
• Thycotic acquired security company Arellia, a threat detection and remediation solution provider for windows endpoints. Link
• LogicNow acquired BYOD vulnerability assement provider, iScan Online. Link
• SuperCom acquired Safend from Bankrupt Wave Systems to boost its cybersecurity offerings.Link
• BlackBerry acquired cybersecurity consultancy Encription. Link
• IBM announced plans to purchase cyber security firm Resilient Systems. Link
• Optus, a subsidiary of Singapore Telecom and Cisco to co-invest $9M in cyber security, cloud & IoT in Australia. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

BigID (2015, NYC) – Stealth mode startup developing privacy management platform for customer identity data
Stone-ID (2015, Munich) – Stealth mode startup developing a unequivocal method to authenticate human user
BigSec (2015, Shanghai) – BI based business fraud & risk detection and management

LEADER BOARD – ENTERPRISE SECURITY

Suite
FireEye (2004, Milpitas, IPO) – Enterprise security solution for network, endpoint, mobile devices, email and threat intelligence. Went IPO in 2013.
Symantec (1982, Mountain View, IPO) – Enterprise security solution suite for enterprise & personal users. Went IPO in 1989.
Imperva (2002, Redwood City, IPO) – Enterprise data, web application and cloud security. Went IPO in 2011.
Trustwave (1995, Chicago, $10M, Acq.) – Cloud based managed enterprise security solution suite. Acquired by Singtel in 2015.

Network Security
Palo Alto Networks (2005, Santa Clara, IPO) – Advanced firewalls designed to provide network security, visibility and granular control of network activity. Went IPO in 2012.
Barracuda Networks (2002, Campbell, IPO) – Appliance based network threat detection solutions. Went IPO in 2013.
Sumo Logic (2010, Redwood City, $160.5M) – Cloud-based network log management and analytics. Backed by DFJ Growth, IVP, Sequoia, Accel, Greylock.

BYOD Security
Good Technology (1996, Sunnyvale, $512M, Acq.) – Enterprise mobility & security solution. Acquired by Blackberry in 2015. 
Lookout (2007, SF, $282M) – Mobile security against zero day threats. Backed by Accel, A16Z, Greylock.
Airwatch (2003, Atlanta, $225M, Acq.) – Enterprise mobility management & security for BYOD. Acquired by Vmware in 2014.
OpenPeak (2002, Boca Raton, $175M) – Container based secure enterprise mobility management solution. Backed by Intel Capital, Castletop Capital, ATT, MTVLP.
 
Endpoint Security
Tanium (2007, Berkeley, $301.5M) – Helps manage and secure enterprise endpoints. Backed by A16Z, TPG, IVP, Franklin Templeton.
AVG (1991, Amsterdam, IPO) – Anti-virus solution on endpoint devices for online security. Went IPO in 2012. 
Bit9 (2002, Waltham, $176M) – Real time visibility and protection for endpoints and servers. Backed by Sequoia, KPCB.
CrowdStrike (2011, Irvine, $156M) – Security technology and intelligence focused on identifying advanced threats and targeted attacks. Backed by Accel, Google Capital.

Cloud Security
Illumio (2013, Sunnyvale, $142M) – Visibility and control over workloads running in any data center. Backed by Accel, A16Z.
Netskope (2012, Los Altos, $131M) – Cloud access security broker solution for enterprise. Backed by LSVP, Accel, Social+Capital Partnership, Iconic Capital.
Bracket Computing (2011, Sunnyvale, $130M) – Virtual infrastructure software for hybrid computing environment security. Backed by A16Z, NVP, SHV, Fidelity.
 
Application Security
Veracode (2006, Burlington, $114M) – Automated static, dynamic and mobile application security testing service. Backed by Atlas Ventures, Symantec.
Checkmarx (2006, NYC, $92M) – Static code analysis tools to identify security vulnerabilities in uncompiled code. Backed by Insight Partners, Salesforce.
Sonatype (2008, Fulton, $68M) – Open source & 3rd party software component lifecycle and security management solution. Backed by Accel, Goldman Sachs, NEA, Bay Partners.

Identity & Access Management
Okta (2008, SF, $228.5M) – Secure identity management and single sign on. Backed by A16Z, Sequoia.
Ping Identity (2002, Denver, $115M) – Identity management solution for federated access to applications. Backed by DFJ, KKR.
Centrify (2004, Sunnyvale, $94M) – Unified identity management solutions for both privileged and end-users. Backed by Samsung Ventures, Docomo Capital, Accel, Mayfield.
 
Security Analytics
Tenable (2002, Columbia, $310M) – Continuous network monitoring & vulnerability management solution. Backed by Accel & Insight Partners.
Skybox Security (2002, San Jose, $144M) – Risk analytics & remediation recommendation of enterprise threats. Backed by SGEP, Providence Equity, LSVP, Benchmark.
AlienVault (2007, San Mateo, $118M) – Analytics, vulnerability assessment & SIEM based enterprise security. Backed by IVP, Trident Capital, KPCB, Intel Capital, Adara Ventures.
Rapid7 (2000, Boston, IPO) – Data analytics based threat detection and vulnerability assessment. Went IPO in 2015.

Threat Intelligence
LookingGlass Cyber (2006, Arlington, $77M) – Threat intelligence based security & dynamic threat defense. Backed by New Spring Capital, Alsop Louie Partners, Vital Financial.
RiskIQ (2009, SF, $37.5M) – Threat Intelligence based on collection and analysis of internet-scale data. Backed by Battery Ventures, Summit Partners.
iSIGHT Partners (2006, Dallas, $33M, Acq.) – Threat intelligence solution for the enterprises. Acquired by FireEye in 2016.

Data Security
SafeNet (1983, Belcamp, $139M, Acq.) – Encryption & key management based data security. Acquired by Gemalto in 2014.
Code42 (2001, Minneapolis, $137.5M) – Cloud based endpoint data protection, backup & security solution. Backed by Accel, NEA, Split Rock Partners.
Digital Guardian (2003, Waltham, $125M) – Endpoint data loss prevention solution. Backed by Fairhaven Capital, Mass Mutual, Siemens Finance.

Website Security
CloudFlare (2009, SF, $182M) – Security and performance solutions for websites using collective intelligence of it’s network community. Backed by USV, NEA, Qualcomm Venture, MS Ventures, GV.
Shape Security (2011, Mountain View, $91M) – Website security by making subtle transmutation of underlying HTML page code of web pages, deceiving attackers. Backed by KPCB, GV, NVP.
Prolexic (2003, Hollywood, $52M, Acq.) – Cloud based DDoS attack mitigation solution. Acquired by Akamai in 2014.

Email Security
Return Path (1999. NYC, $97M) – DMARC Validation based enterprise email security & fraud prevention. Backed by BVP, USV, SHV, Foundry Group, Vista Equity Partners.
MimeCast (2003, London, IPO) – Saas based email security by re-routing and analyzing mails. Went IPO in 2015.
Proofpoint (2002, Sunnyvale, IPO) – Email security based on secure email gateways. Went IPO in 2012.

Anti Fraud
Lifelock (2005, Tempe, IPO) – Identity theft protection & payment fraud prevention. Went IPO in 2012.
Pindrop Security (2011, Atlanta, $122M) – Machine learning and multi factor analysis based phone fraud detection and prevention. Backed by Google Capital, A16Z, IVP, Felicis.
Kount (2007, Boise, $80M) – Fraud prevention for online CNP transaction. Backed by CVC Capital Partners.
Verafin (2003, St. Johns, $65.5M) – Fraud detection, compliance & anti-money laundering solutions. Backed by Spectrum Equity.

For latest update, visit Enterprise Security feed

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

DEALS OF THE WEEK

Le Sports Raises $1.2B Series B Round
Le Sports (2014, Beijing) China’s leading Internet-based eco-sports company raises $1.2B in a Series B funding round. After the recent round, the total investment in the company aggregates to $1.35B. The company is now valued at $3.3B.

INTERESTING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY IN CHINA

Overseas Products Shopping Platform Raises $100M in a Round Led By Tencent
Xiaohongshu (2013, Shanghai) Overseas products shopping and tips platform raises $100M in a Series C round led by Tencent. Other investors in the round include Genesis Capital and Tiantu Capital. Post this round, the company is valued at more than $1B.

Ameba Capital Leads $46M In Rural E-Commerce Firm Taoshihui
Taoshihui (2013, Shenzhen) An e-commerce platform targeting China’s rural population raises $46M in a round of Series A financing. The round was led by Alibaba-backed Ameba Capital followed by CITIC Capital, QF Capital and Alibaba’s ex-COO Li Qi.

Online Portal For Commercial Spaces Raises $39M
Haozu (2009, Shanghai) Online portal for leasing commercial spaces raises $39M from Northern Light Venture Capital, Blackhole Investments and Joy Capital. The company was earlier part of 58Ganji and now spun off as a separate entity.

Capital Today Leads $30M Series B In Urfresh
Urfresh (2015, Jiaxing) On demand fruits delivery service raises $30M Series B round from Capital today.

Womai Invests In Organic Farm Operator Okliang
Okliang (2011, Shenzhen) Asset heavy farm to home retailer raises funding from Womai which is backed by state-owned food conglomerate COFCO. The funding has come as a strategic investment from Womai.

Alibaba Invests $35M In Medical Imaging Firm
Wlycloud (2009, Beijing) Cloud-based medical imaging storage and telemedicine service raises $35M from Alibaba’s health care unit Alihealth.

Alibaba’s Yuebao managed $96B in 2015
Yuebao (2014, Hangzhou) An online wealth management platform managed over $96B in 2015. The fund is one of the largest mutual funds in the world with more than 260 million users.

Xiaopeng Motors Raises 42M In Series A Financing
Xiaopeng (2015, Guangzhou) Electric car company raises $42M in Series A financing. The company also mentioned that the investors also loaned the company $60M without interest to support development for the next two years.

Disclaimer: Reports tell that funding numbers announced by some companies in China are inflated. So read these with a pinch of salt.

2015 was a very exciting year for the sector, with the year witnessing not only the most amount of dollars invested but also the highest number of acquisitions yet.

According to our Tracxn Report on Online Video, funding into the space increased by ~29% in 2015, with the sector seeing a total $1.5B invested, contributing significantly to the overall funding of $6.3B invested since 2010. The funding for the year was mostly driven by MiaoPai receiving $200M raise in a single round, which is the sector’s largest deal in the last 5 years. The year also witnessed other high ticket sizes in the form of Azubu receiving $60M and Tastemade raising $40M.

These high volume deals have indeed contributed significantly, considering that the number of rounds has been decreasing, indicating that the sector is now in a phase where large companies such as the above-mentioned ones, are now grabbing a majority of the investments.

2013 witnessed the highest number of deals, with startups such as Videology and Ooyala raising $60M and $43M respectively during the period.

As the above graph indicates, a large portion of 2013’s deals was dominated by early stage rounds, with startups in the Video marketing and syndication, Live streaming apps, and Interactive Videos space seeing a majority of the funding. This was because there was a sudden increase in the number of startups founded after 2011. The year also saw good contribution from late stage deals, which has continued in the years 2014-2015, where Social Video sharing, Supply Side Platforms for Video advertising, and companies providing technology for video distribution have received a majority of the funding. Average round size of the funding gradually increased from 2013.

Acquisitions Increase over the Last 3 Years

A telling sign of the market seeing consolidation is the fact that M&A activity has been increasing steadily over the last 3 years, with the maximum number of acquisitions happening in the Video Distribution – Technology sector. The number of acquisitions peaked in 2015, with Alibaba’s acquisition of Youku Tudou for $4.4B being one of the biggest acquisitions of the year.  

2016 has continues the trend, seeing a total of 5 acquisitions already, with the most important being IBM acquisition of Ustream.

2014 Witnessed the Highest Number of New Startups

The number of companies being founded in the Online Video space has been seeing relatively high volumes ever since 2011, post which over 60% of the total companies have been formed. Out of these, 60 percent of the companies in Social Videos space were formed in last three years.  

2014, in particular, saw the maximum number of companies in the space, riding on the high number of deals, specifically early stage deals, the sector had seen during the last year.

Video Advertising Stands Out as the Most Funded Business Model

With a funding of over $8B in the last 10 years, the advertising Business Model stands out as the most funded segment within the Online Video space, accounting for 25% of the total funding. 2013 saw the most number of funding rounds (41) with majority of rounds (18) happening in companies creating Interactive Videos for advertising. Late stage deals have consistently gone up since 2013 with increasing ticket size.

Notable funding rounds have also been observed in the On-demand Video distribution sector, with companies raising a large amount of funding in 2014 and 2015.

Signs are really bright for the companies operating in Live Streaming space, considering its reliance on the upward trend of mobile smartphone penetration which is expected to reach 70% of the world’s total population by 2020. Around 65% of the companies operating in this space were formed in last three years. 2015 saw a total of 23 rounds of investments in this sector, out of which 17 were early stage deals. In 2016, Live streaming will be less about direct competition and more about who can convince the huge mainstream population who’ve never tried it to jump in front of the camera.

500 Startups, Sequoia, and General Catalyst Partners are the Most Active Investors

Early Stage VC firm 500 Startups was the most active investor in the space with Vungle, Wideo, Viki, Zencoder, Virool, Vidcaster, and Zeemi.tv as part of its portfolio. Sequoia Capital and General Catalyst Partners follow with 4 companies a piece. Sequoia investments include YouTube, Joost, Imba TV, Interlude, while General Catalyst Partners has invested in Brightroll, Elemental Technologies, KIN Community and Visible Measures

Note: The Tracxn Report on Online Video covers  companies that provide software and platforms for the companies in Online Video sector. It includes online tools used by the video creators and companies which provide platforms for the publishing and management of video content. This report covers companies providing On-demand and OTT videos, encoding/transcoding and bitrate streaming solutions for video distribution. The report also encompasses companies providing platforms for social sharing of videos, live streaming of videos and multi-channel networks. We have also covered companies providing solutions and technology for Video advertisement, Video marketing and monetization and video analytics. 

Check out the Online Video Report here:

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Citizengage (2015, Bangalore) Data driven waste management company that collects, segregates and disposes municipal waste. Founders are ex-LinkCycle and Great Eastern Shipping Company and one founder is UC Berkeley alumnus. Local competitors include Let’s Recycle (2006, Ahmedabad, $4.5M), dry waste management services provider and Banyan Nation (2013, Hyderabad, $800K), on-demand recyclable waste pickup services and plastic recycling company. Global companies include Rubicon Global (2008, Atlanta, $80M) and  Winter Bros Waste Systems (1950, Danbury, $28M)

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

SwitchMe (2012, Mumbai) Online loan comparison engine and service provider switching platform bags undisclosed amount of funding from Mohandas Pai, Hiro Mashita and Singapore Angel Network Link

Ressy (2015, Pune) Real time location based deals from restaurants ties up with Paytm (2011, Noida) Mobile wallet, e-commerce platform and payment bank and Mobikwik (2009, Gurgaon) Mobile recharge, wallet, bill payments Link

VistaRooms (2015, Mumbai) Branded marketplace for budget hotel accommodation to enter five new countries by 2016-end Link

Portea (2013, Bangalore) Marketplace for at-home healthcare services acquires Health Mantra(2012, Bangalore) Provider of health technology products along with patient and hospital services in an undisclosed cash and stock deal Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

PanTheryx (2007, Boulder) Medical nutrition company raised $53M in financing from Pegasus Capital Advisors Link

Asana (2009, San Francisco) Platform for teams to track their work raised $50M in series C funding round led by Sam Altman with participation from 8VC, Founders Fund, Tony Hsieh, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, Andrew Mason, Eric Ries and others Link

Zavante Therapeutics (2014, San Diego) Late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company closed a $45M series A financing from Frazier Healthcare Partners, Longitude Capital and Aisling CapitalLink

Invoca (2007, Santa Barbara) Call intelligence company secured $30M in series D financing led by Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners Link

Cyara Solutions (2006, Redwood City) Provider of a customer experience testing and monitoring platform secured $25M in series A funding round led by PeakSpan Capital and Greenspring Associate Link

Cockroach Labs (2015, NYC) Company behind CockroachDB which is an open source, scalable SQL database raised $20M in series A1 round of funding round led by Index Ventures Link

Parlio (2014, Palo Alto) Community to discuss issues of social justice got acquired by Quora(2009, Mountain View) Question and answer website for an undisclosed amount Link

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

FellaHomes (Gurgaon, 2015) Online marketplace for furnished rental apartments and managed properties. Founders are IIT Roorkee alumni. Local competitors include NestAway (2014, Bangalore, $13M) and Homigo (2015, Bangalore, $200K). Global companies are Mogoroom(2014, Shanghai, $55M), Qingke Gongyu (2012, Shanghai, $29M)

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Transcell Biologics (2015, Hyderabad) Healthcare startup focusing on anti-cancer treatments, neurological ailments, and autoimmune disorders raises undisclosed amount of funding from Indian Angel Network (IAN) Link

Droom (2014, Gurgaon) Online marketplace to buy and sell automobiles launched auto inspection app ECO in association with Carnation (2009, Noida) Online marketplace to buy new and used cars along with car service Link

Flipkart (2007, Bangalore) India’s largest online retailer acquires PhonePe (2015, Bangalore) Mobile payments solution provider for an undisclosed amount Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Garena Interactive (2009, Singapore) Mobile entertainment and communication company closes a $170M series D funding round from Khazanah Nasional Berhad, General Atlantic LLC, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Keytone Ventures Link

Ceridian (1968, Toronto) Global human capital management technology company raises $150M from Thomas H. Lee Partners, Fidelity National Financial Ventures Group and Ceridian management Link

Airware (2011, SF) Developer of an operating system for commercial drones raises $30M in series C funding from Next World Capital with participation from John Chambers, Andreessen Horowitz and KPCB Link

Mashable (2005, NYC) Online news and media company raises $15M in funding from Turner with participation from returning investors Time Warner Investments, Updata Partners, David Jones, and Mike Lazerow, as well as R&R Venture Partners Link

Playbuzz (2012, NYC) Platform for online content engagement and social distribution raises $15M in a funding round led by Saban Ventures with participation from The Walt Disney Company and existing investors 83North, Carmel Ventures and FirstTime Ventures Link

Gauss Surgical (2011, Los Altos) Provider of blood loss monitoring platform closes $12.6M series B financing from Providence Ventures, with participation from Jump Capital, Promus Ventures and others Link

Galavantier (2011, Las Vegas) Online travel company that provides destination travel experiences acquires Bucket ( 2014, SF) Online trip planning company that allows travelers to collect trip recommendations to create their own personalized trip guides for undisclosed amountLink

IBM (1911, NYC) Technology solutions provider acquires Bluewolf Group (2000, NYC) Provider of cloud consulting and implementation services for undisclosed amount Link

McCarthy Capital, an Omaha, Nebraska based growth equity firm, closes its Fund VI at $353mLink

500 Startups, Global early stage venture capital firm Launches $30M Canadian Venture Capital Fund Link

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ONLINE VIDEO

• Douyu TV, a Chinese live gaming platform, raised $100M in Series B round of financing led by Tencent. Link
• iflix, a streaming TV service in Southeast Asia, raised $45M in a funding round led by European Pay TV operator Sky. Link
• Mirriad, an In-video advertising technology platform, raised $15M in Series D round of financing led by IP Group. Link
• fubo TV, a video streaming service that provides OTT bundle of sports TV channels,raised $6M apiece in Series B round of financing from Sky Plc and 21st Century Fox. Link
• Beamr, a video optimization solution, raised $15M in funding round led by Disruptive Growth. Link
• SourceKnowledge, a video Ad Exchange, raised $1.5M financing round from BDC Capital. Link
• Burst, a mobile video technology platform, received equity investments from Sinclair Digital Ventures and Horizon Media. Link
• Warner Bros. acquires video-on-demand service DramaFever. Link
• Global video on demand (VoD) service market was valued at $45 billion in 2014 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.3% over the forecast period 2016-2026. Link
• Hulu partners with Samsung to launch VR app with exclusive content. Link
• Meerkat is pivoting from live video streaming to live video social network. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Squadeo (2015, Puteaux) – Offers cross-platform video software solutions for the broadcast and TV-industry. Provides secure premium video players on open platforms pre-integrated with major DRMs and also claims to reduce bandwidth network need by a factor of about 30%.
There App (2014, Lisbon) – Social network that allows users to view places live, through another person’s smartphone. Users can stream video in real-time to multiple friends or request and watch together a live stream happening anywhere.

LEADER BOARD – ONLINE VIDEO

Content Creation
Animoto (2006, NYC, $30M) – Cloud based video creation app. Runs a freemium service that lets users create short video slideshows from collections of pictures and videos. Backed by Amazon, SoftTech VC, Madrona Venture Group, Spectrum Equity.
StudioNow (2007, Nashville, $20M) – Global marketplace of services and technology tools designed to match video content producers with enterprises. Backed by Claritas Capital, FCA Venture Partners, Clayton Associates, Launch Tennessee.

Video Content Management
Brightcove (2004, Boston, IPO) – Online video platform suites. Offers product to distribute and publish digital media. Went IPO in 2012.
Qumu (2002, San Bruno, IPO, Acq.) – Enterprise video platform. Provides tools to create, manage, secure, deliver and measure the success of videos. Acquired by Rimage Corporation in October 2011. Went public in 2011.

Video distribution- On demand
Netflix (1997, Los Gatos, IPO) – Subscription based online and offline video rental portal. Went public in 2002.
iQIYI (2010, Beijing, $350M) – Ad-supported television and movie portal. Provides fully-licensed, high-definition, professionally produced content. Part of Baidu. Backed by Baidu, Providence Equity Partners, Xiaomi, Shunwei.
Vessel (2013, SF, $132.5M) – Platform which provides early access to videos from YouTube stars. Offers short form videos spanning gaming, music, sports, beauty, lifestyle, comedy, fashion, science, tech, design and more. Backed by Benchmark, Greylock Partners, Bezos Expeditions, Institutional Venture Partners.
Hulu (2007, LA, $100M) – Subscription based online movies and TV streaming. Backed by 21st Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, Providence Equity Partners.

Video distribution- Technology
Ustream (2007, SF, $49M, Acq.) – Provider of live and on demand video solutions.  Backed by  DCM, Band of Angels, Western Technology Investment, SoftBank, Fenwick & West, KT Corp. Acquired by IBM in 2016.
Elemental Technologies (2006, Portland, $43M, Acq.) – Provider of software-based video solutions for content delivery to any device. Acquired by Amazon in 2015.

Multi Channel Networks
Machinima (2000, West Hollywood, $92M) – Provides gamer content across multiple video platforms. Backed by MK Capital, Google, Redpoint Ventures, Warner Bros.
Tastemade (2012, Santa Monica, $80M) – YouTube Multi Channel Food Network. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Comcast Ventures, Redpoint Vnetures, Liberty Media, Raine Ventures, Scripps Network Interactive and Third Wave Digital.

Social Videos – Live Streaming
Azubu (2012, Sherman Oaks, $94M) – Offers live streaming eSports videos, news and analysis from tournaments, teams and players across multiple devices. Backed by Sapinda, Sallfort Privatbank AG.
Twitch (2011, SF, $43M, Acq. ) – Live and On-demand eSports streaming website. Website for gamers to stream and watch live and recorded video games. Acquired by Amazon in 2014.
Periscope (2014, SF, Acq.) – Live video streaming and broadcasting mobile app. Acquired by Twitter in 2015.

Social Videos – Video Sharing
Keek (2010, Toronto, IPO) – Web and mobile short video sharing platform. Allows users to create 36-second videos (“keeks”) using webcam, iPhone or Android devices and share them with others around the world. Went IPO in 2014.
Miaopai (2011, Beijing, $275M) – Chinese Online Video sharing company. Allows users to shoot up to ten seconds of video, and then edit or add frames to the video clips before sharing them to friends. Owned by Yixia Technology. Backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Redpoint Ventures, Sina Weibo and StarVC
Vine (2012, NYC, Acq.) – Video taking and sharing platform. Lets users record and edit up to six-second-long looping video clips and revine, (share other’s posts) with followers. Acquired by Twitter in 2012.

Video Marketing and Syndication
Eyeview (2007, NYC, $30M) – Offers personalized digital video advertising solutions for brand marketers. Backed by Gemini Israel ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nauta Capital, Innovation Endeavors, Marker LLC.
Tout (2010, SF, $16M) – Video syndication network. Connects publishers, advertisers and content creators. Backed by  819 Capital, SRI International, Seavest Capital Partners.

Video Advertising – DSP
TubeMogul (2006, Emeryville, IPO) – Video Demand Side Platform. Programmatic (desktop only) video advertising platform used by brands and agencies. Went IPO in 2014.
Extreme Reach (2007, Needham, $196M) – Enables advertisers and agencies to manage, execute, and track advertising campaigns across all video mediums (broadcast, cable, website, mobile, VOD). Backed by Village Ventures, Long River Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Spectrum Equity, TD Bank.

Video Advertising – SSP
Liverail (2008, SF, $12M, Acq.) – Supply-side video advertising platform. Provides premium publishers with RTB based video ad targeting technology to serve better ads in the videos that appear on their websites and apps. Acquired by Facebook in 2014.
Altitude Digital (2009, Denver, $35M) – Independent video Supply-side platform. Backed by Cypress Growth Capital, Mercato Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, FastPay.

Video Advertising – Ad Networks
YuMe (2004, Redwood City, IPO) – Develops video advertising technology for both the supply side and the demand side of the digital video ecosystem. Went IPO in 2013.
SpotX (2006, Denver, $12M, Acq.) – Programmatic video advertising platform. Connects thousands of publishers with trusted demand sources, running top brand campaigns through its marketplace. Acquired by RTL Group in 2014.

Video Advertising – Ad Exchanges
Tremor Video (2005, NYC, IPO) – Provides online video advertising services for advertisers, agencies, and publisher partners. Went IPO in 2013.
Brightroll (2006, SF, $46M, Acq.) – Delivers, manages and measures the performance of digital video ad campaigns across web, mobile, and connected TV. Acquired by Yahoo in 2014.

Video Advertising – Interactive Video
Innovid (2007, NYC, $53M) – Interactive Video Ad delivery platform. Provides advertisers with the tools to create, deliver, and measure video campaigns in any format on any screen, publisher, and ad network. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Cisco Investments, NewSpring Capital, Silicon Valley Bank.
Interlude (2010, NYC, $37M) – Designs, develops and markets interactive video technology. Backed by MGM, Warner Music, Samsung, Sequoia Capital and Intel Capital.

Video Analytics
Visible Measures (2005, Boston, $71M) – Analyzes the performance of video advertising for publishers and advertisers. Backed by Advance Publication, Commonfund, Northgate Capital, DAG Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, General Catalyst Partners.
iSpot.tv (2012, Seattle, $27M) – Analytics for TV ads. Backed by Insight Venture Partners, Madrona Venture Group, TL Ventures.

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

For latest updates visit Online Video feed.