According to our Tracxn Report, the Industrial Robotics space witnessed an 80% increase in funding in 2015, with the sector seeing a total raise of $460M, vis-a-vis the $255M raised in 2014. 2016 witnessed $13M being invested to date, with the most notable deal being 5D Robotics $5.5M Seed Round.

Our Industrial Robotics report covers analysis on robots that interact with professionals in their natural course of work, are active in a commercial setup, and can perform tasks autonomously. According to the report, the companies have raised more than $1.3B in cumulative funding since 2010.

The high funding volume in 2015 is despite the decrease in funding towards the military robotics space, due to cut in defense spending in the US. On the other hand, healthcare robotics have contributed significantly, with Auris Surgical Robotics raising $150M in a single round, and standing out as the highest funding volume till date.

The sector has also seen an upward trend in the number of deals, peaking in 2015 with a total of 43 deals. Besides Auris Surgical Robotics, Procept Biorobotics was also among the high volume deals raising $42M from Novo A/S.

The Highest Number of Companies were founded in 2014

In terms of the emergence of new companies, the industrial robotics space has been pretty active with a healthy number of companies being founded every year, with 2014 seeing the highest figure.

The Manufacturing sub-sector has shown consistent activity, in this regard, with more than 50 companies being founded in the last 10 years. Healthcare is another sector which has shown fairly consistent activity within which Surgical robots and devices for rehabilitation are fast growing. Moreover, since 2007, there has been interest building for the agricultural sector, with the segment seeing the emergence of at least 1 company every year.

Healthcare is the most funded Business Model

By far, the healthcare segment has been the most attractive space for investors, with the sector seeing ~$1B funding, with 2015 witnessing the most funding. Within the segment, Surgical robots have been drawing the lion’s share of funding amounts over the years, with Intuitive Surgical’s Da Vinci Robot leading the pack.
The Manufacturing segment, while consisting of a large number of companies, is a distant second when it comes to funding, owing to a significant dip in investments during 2011. The industry is now evolving, considering that while automation and robotics have been the mainstay in manufacturing, innovations are happening in terms of how robots interact with people and other objects. In this regard, one of the most upcoming fields is Cobots, which are essentially robots that can work alongside humans and don’t need to be caged, made possible by advanced sensing capabilities. A lot of funding is also being channelled into newer areas such as material handling and inspection.

National Science Foundation, ABB and Blume Ventures are the Most Active Investors

National Science Foundation was the most active investor in industrial robotics, having invested in Andros Robotics, Energid Technologies and Persimmon Technologies. With 2 companies in their portfolio apiece, ABB and Blume Ventures follow, having invested in Grabit and Persimmon Technologies, and Grey Orange Robotics and Systemantics respectively.

Note: The Tracxn Report on Industrial Robotics covers analysis on robots that can interact with professionals only and work in a commercial setup, and perform tasks autonomously. The report does not cover robots that interact with humans in their place of residence or offices. Eg. – Service robots or bionic limbs etc.

Preview the Report here:

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

freshSupply (Delhi, 2015) B2B platform connecting farmers, wholesalers to businesses. Founders are from Walmart, Metso Paper and are alumnus of Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management and IIT Roorkee. Local competitors include Ninjacart (2015, Bangalore, $3M) which also supplies groceries to retailers and  Truce (2015, Mumbai, $370K). Global comparables include Meicai (2014, Beijing, $158.5M) and Provendor (2013, Montreal, $1.42M)

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Dil Mil (2014, SF) Curated mobile dating platform raises $2.7M in pre-series A funding from Nelstone Ventures, Transmedia Capital, Maiden Lane Ventures, CSC Upshot and other Link

Housing (2012, Mumbai) Verified real estate listing platform receives an undisclosed investment from Vineeth Singh – the former business head of 99Acres.com and the current MD of building materials startup Buildzar Link

Intgrea Partners (2015, Bangalore) Platform for M&A solution raises $100K seed funding from angel investors David A. Whitehorn and Philippe Bouchet Link

Process Nine Technologies (2015, Gurgaon) Provider of online translation and transliteration from English to Indian languages via a cloud-based application programming interface (API) raises an undisclosed amount in a pre-series A round of funding Link

Pics Dream (2015, Gurgaon) Online marketplace for photographs raises an undisclosed amount in an angel funding round led by chairman and managing director of Quatrro Global Services Raman Roy Link

Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (EVC) Chicago based investment firm announces the launch of its maiden India-focused $50M early stage investment fund that will focus mainly on enterprise software, internet and mobile-focused startups Link

IIIT-Hyderabad launches its first accelerator program to nurture startups related to the world of technology by joining hands with 50K Ventures, T-Hub and Co-Creation Consulting for the program Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP\

Slack Technologies (2009, SF) Team communication platform provider raised $200M in venture capital funding in a round led by Thrive Capital with participation from GGV Capital, Comcast Ventures, Sherpa Ventures and existing investors Link

Juicero (2013, SF) Smart kitchen appliance maker has raised $70M in series B funding from Artis Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GV (formerly Google Ventures) Link

ManagedbyQ (2013, NYC) Smart Office cleaning and management service raises $25 million in series B funding GV and Kapor Ventures Link

Home24 (2009, Berlin) Online furniture Marketplace raises $23M in venture capital funding from new and and existing shareholders Link

Trustlock (2013, San Jose) Provider of Mobile and IOT security solutions raises $14M in venture capital funding from a group of undisclosed investors Link

Blispay (2014, Baltimore) Mobile based credit product provider raises $13M in seed funding in a round led by FirstMark Capital, with participation from Accomplice, New Enterprise Associates and TriplePoint Capital Link

LoanLogics (2004, Trevose) Provider of mortgage loan quality and performance management software raises $10M in funding from Blue Cloud Ventures with participation from existing investors Volition Capital Link

Berkshire Partners, a Boston, MA based investment firm, closed its ninth private equity fund with total equity commitments of $5.5 billion Link

The Chinese Online-to-Offline (O2O) market has evolved in the last 15 months. Investors, who once looked towards the industry as a viable and highly investable area for investors, are now looking for profits.

Hence the O2O space, is now consolidating, with competitors now becoming partners and merger being the industry’s buzzword. In this spirit, here is a list of the major mergers in the Chinese O2O market in 2015.

Billion dollar funding rounds in China’s alternative lending sector. All is well? Or is it not?

China leads the way in FinTech funding for Q1’16

The first quarter of 2016 saw a spurt in terms of funding in the FinTech space with a total of $6.7B being pumped into the sector globally. Interestingly, of the total dollar invested in the sector, over $3.37B accounted for the investments in China.

Alternative lending grabs over 60% of China’s FinTech funding

Of the $3.37B more than 60% of the funding has been into the Alternative Lending space with notable rounds like Lufax’s $1.2B raise and $1B raise by JD Finance, both the rounds coming in as early stage investments.

Taking a closer look at the Alternative Lending space in China, the sector saw a total of 14 investment rounds of which 12 were early stage investments. Evidently, investor interest in the segment is still high owing to the large number of early stage rounds the sector continues to see.

Below is a list of the early stage investments in the sector with funding rounds < $100M

Investors betting big: Large early stage rounds

Of the 12 early stage rounds, Lufax and JD Financial’s raise of over $1B have been the most noticeable rounds in the sector for Q1’16
Below is a list of 4 Companies with $100M+ early stage rounds

Late stage funding rounds saw just two deals in Q1’16 for an undisclosed amount, namely Qufenqi & Damailicai.

All is not well?

Sources say everything is not as exhilarating as it seems. There have been multiple reports which have the following things to say:

• Multiple shocking frauds have occurred where it has been reported that P2P platforms absconded with investor’s money.
• One of China’s biggest P2P lending platform, Ezubao, turned out to be a ponzi scheme with over 95% of the projects being fake. Source 

Inspite of all of the above happening, China’s Alternative Lending market has been able to attract investor interest, which shows the confidence investors have on this sector. How the sector is going to emerge is something that only future will decide.

Disclaimer: Reports tell that funding numbers announced by some companies in China are inflated. So read these with a pinch of salt. Funding activity is captured only for the rounds which were made public.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ENTERPRISE COLLABORATION

• Task management app Asana raises $50M in Series C round at a $600M valuation led by Y-Combinator’s Sam Altman. Link
• M-Files Corp, a Finnish document management company, raised $36 million in a Series B funding round led by Partech Ventures. Link
• Looker, a data visualization and business intelligence startup created Slack Bot which inserts data directly into conversation. Link
• Slack, enterprise messaging app will soon start testing voice and video features in its platform. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – 3D PRINTING

• XJet’s Inkjet Metal 3D Printing raises $25 Million from Autodesk, Catalyst fund & more Link
• Smartphone 3D Printer OLO,  is backed with $1.8 Million and counting on Kickstarter with 16 days still remaining Link
• SLASH 3D Printer promises faster speeds than Carbon 3D. Reached Kickstarter goal of $50Kin 4 hours, is backed with $1.8 Million with 24 days left Link
• Denmark’s business authority, through its Green Conversion Fund, invests US$400K to develop 3D printing construction as sustainable solution Link
• Pinshape, a 3D designs marketplace, announced suspension of  its operations and  resurrected as they found backer Link
• Solidoodle, a 3D printer manufacturer, announces suspension of Operations Link
• Carbon3D unveils first commercial CLIP 3D Printer Link
• Carbon partners with Kodak for Ultra-Fast 3D Printing possibilities Link
• Fujifilm makes a unique entrance into 3D Printing by providing technical support Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Uniz (2014, San Diego) – Developing a new LCD-SLA 3D Printer SLASH which uses LCD contact exposure method to counter heating problem while printing objects at high speed. They claim printing rate at 1000cc/hr which higher than carbon M1, fastest in market with 60cc/hr. They priced it ~$1000 in kickstarter campaign, which is too low compared to other printers in market.
Trinus (2015, SF) – Developing a new 2 in 1 FFF 3D printer. It can be used as high-resolution 3D printer and laser engraver. They started Kickstarter campaign and priced printer at $299, cheapest in market.

LEADER BOARD – 3D PRINTING

3D Printers – Horizontal
3D Systems (1986, Rockhill, IPO) – Inventor of SLA Printing and is a horizontal player in providing advanced solid imaging solutions. IPO in 2008.
Stratasys (1989, Minneapolis, IPO) – Inventor of FDM Printing and develops 3D Printers for rapid prototyping and production. IPO in 2008.
Makerbot (2009, Brooklyn, $10M, Acq.) – Personal, Professional and Industrial 3D Printers built on RepRap Project. Acquired by Stratasys in 2013.

3D Printers – Industrial
Xjet3D (2014, Rehovot, $91M) – Metal 3D printers with their patented NanoParticle Jetting  technology.
Backed by Autodesk, Landa Ventures, Gemini Israel Funds, catalyst Fund.

3D Printers – Professional
Carbon 3D (2013, Redwood City, $151M) – CLIP Technology for 25-100 times faster 3D Printing. Backed by Google Ventures, Sequoia, Northgate and Reinet.
Mcor Technologies (2005, Louth, $31M) – 3D Printers for Rapid Prototyping by just using A4 Paper. Backed by WHEB.  

3D Printers – Personal
Form Labs (2011, Sommerville, $21M) – High Resolution SLA Desktop 3D Printers. Backed by DFJ Growth, Pitango Venture Capital and Innovation Endeavors.
XYZPrinting (2013, Taipei) – 3D Desktop Printers with dual printing nozzles.  

3D Printers – Electronics
Nano Dimension (2014, Israel, IPO) – 3D Printers and nano-inks for electronics. IPO in 2015.
Voxeljet (1999, Munich, IPO) – Industrial 3D printers and on-demand custom parts services to industrial and commercial customers. IPO in 2013.

3D Printing Pens
Creopop (2013, Singapore, $2M) – 3D Printing pens manufacturer with cool inks, fast curing photosensitive resins.

3D Scanning
Matterport (2011, Mountainview, $56M) – Camera for creating 3D Models of interior spaces. Backed by Felicis Ventures, Lux Capital, Greylock Partners and Qualcomm.
Structure (2008, Boulder, $20M) – 3D mapping attachable devices for smartphones. Backed by Techstars, Intel Capital and Grishin Robotics.

3D Modeling Tools
GrabCAD (2009, Cambridge, $13.5M, Acq.) – SaaS Based CAD Collaboration tool. Backed by Astrec Baltic, Matrix Partners, Atlas, NextView and Charles River Ventures. Acquired by Stratasys in 2014.
SketchFab (2012, Paris, $9.5M) – Online platform to publish, share and embed interactive 3D content. Backed by Balderton Capital, Partech, Borealis Ventures, FirstMark and Techstars.

3D Printed Objects
Shapeways (2008, NYC, $78.5M) – Marketplace to buy, make and sell 3D Printed Objects. Backed by Lux Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
Sols (2013, NYC, $19M) – 3D Printed customized Insoles. Backed by Lux Capital, Terawatt ventures and RRE.

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 3D Printing feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – LEGAL TECH

• Icertis, a cloud based software for Contract management raises $15M in Series B round led by Ignition partners. Link
• LegalSifter, a stratup which uses AI for reading contracts and legal documents raises $1.6M from in a seed round. Link
• Apperio, a legal spend management solution raises $1.9M in a seed round. Link
• Kcura acquires Content Analyst Company which provides advanced text analytics for eDiscovery. Link
• Mitratech acquires legal eBilling solution ViewaBill. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Thistoo (2016, Ottawa) – Personalized divorce assistant which provides analysis on financial impact. Also provides DIY divorce forms.

LEADER BOARD – LEGAL TECH

Enterprise Legal Management
ThomsonReuters (1800, NYC, IPO) – Legal solutions includes LPM for Enterprise and SMEs, Westlaw for LegalResearch, Findlaw for Lawyers directory and Online Legal Forms. Went IPO in 1984. 
LexisNexis (1973, Albany) – A member of Reed Elsevier, provides content-enabled workflow solutions including LegalResearch, Litigation Support, Legal Practice Management(LPM), IP management.

eDiscovery
Epiq (1988, Kansas City, IPO) – eDiscovery web-based technology products and legal services. Went IPO in 1997.
Kcura (2001, Chicago, $125M) – Litigation suite for information collection, legal hold, review, production and analysis. Backed by Iconiq Capital.
Catalyst Repository Systems (2000, Denver, $31M) – Provides Catalyst CR for review & analytics and hosted document repository. Backed by FTV Capitals.

Legal Practice Management (LPM)
Clio (2007, Vancouver, $26M) – LPM suite for solo lawyers and small​er​ law firms to manage cases, clients, documents, appointment​s​ and billing. Backed by BVP, Point Nine Capital, Version One Ventures.
Total Attorneys (2002, Chicago, $15M, Acq.​) – Provides LPM and marketing and leads generation for attorneys. Acquired by ​Internet ​Brands in 2015.
 
Legal Research
RavelLaw (2012, Palo Alto, $9M) – Legal research platform that provides citation based analytics to inform litigators about cases and judges. Backed by NEA, North Bridge V​P, Experiment Fund.
Judicata (2012, SF, $8M) – Big Data analytics tools for legal research using algorithmically assisted human review to turn unstructured court opinions into structured data. Backed by Khosla Ventures, SV Angel.
Casetext (2013, Palo Alto, $7M) – A community site for attorneys to share knowledge. Gives users free access to legal texts annotated by attorneys. Backed by Y​C, BoxGroup, Formation 8​,​ Union Square Ventures​.
LexMachina (2009, Menlo Park, $10M, Acq.) – Provides Intellectual Property (IP) litigation data and predictive analytics using Big Data to solve patent lawsuits. Acquired by LexisNexis in 2015.

Legal Document Services
LegalZoom (2001, Glendale, $266M) – Provides online legal document and legal consultation services for incorporating business, running business, wills, trust including plans for families and SMEs. Backed by Permira, Polaris VC, KPCB, IVP.
RocketLawyer (2008, ​SF, $53M) – Provides online legal forms for SMEs and families. Backed by LexisNexis, Investor Growth Capital, August Capital, GV and Industry Ventures.

Contract Management
SpringCM (2005, Chicago, $49M) – Provides work flow automation and document management for legal and sales team. Backed by Foundation Capital, North Bridge VP.
Exari (1999, Melbourne, $10M) – Document assembly and contract automation software using contract templates created for legal, procurement, sales, insurance, banking and government professionals. Backed by Beacon Equity Partners.
 
IP (Intellectual Property) Management
Anaqua (2004, Boston, $125M) – IP management system to support IP strategies and managing inventions, patents and other intellectual assets. Backed by Insight Partners and BVP.
Lecorpio (2006, Fremont, $25M) – Provides IP management to track workflow between inventors and attorneys of patent and trademark activities. Backed by Msquaredo incorporated. 
 
Lawyer’s Marketplace
Avvo (2007, Seattle, $132M) – Provides legal Q&A forum, lawyer’s directory, lawyer review forum and marketplace for legal advice on a fixed rate basis. Backed by Benchmark Capital, Ignition Partners and DAG Ventures.
Upcounsel (2012, SF, $14M) – Marketplace for on-demand legal services for projects like business formation, compliance, trademark registration . Backed by Homebrew, SV Angel, Collaborative Fund, AngelPad, Metamorphic Ventures and Crosslink Capital.

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

For the latest updates on this space, visit LegalTech feed

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ONLINE TRAVEL

• TravelZen, a B2B online travel agency, raises $92M Series C round led by Addor Cena and Tech Sina. Link
• Hopper, a data analytics company for flights, raises $16M funding led by BDC Capital IT Venture Fund. Link
• Vacation rental SaaS provider TurnKey raises $10M funding to expand its vacation rental management service. Link
• Distribusion, a GDS for bus transport, raises $6.7M Series A round led by HR Ventures. Link
• Tiqets, a marketplace for attractions, raises $4M Series A round led by Capital mills. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

LEADER BOARD – ONLINE TRAVEL

Horizontal
Online Travel Agency
Expedia (1996, Bellevue, IPO, Acq.) – Online travel agency offering hotels, flights, car rentals, etc. Acquired by IAC in 2003. 11 acquisitions. Went public in 1999. Currently has a market cap of $16.7B.
Ctrip (1999, Shanghai, IPO) – Chinese Online travel agency offering booking for hotels, flights, car rentals etc. Acquired Suanya and Travelfusion in 2015 and ToursForFun in 2014. Went public in 2003. Currently has a market cap of $16B.

Auction
Priceline (1998, Norwalk, IPO) – Online travel agency offering booking and bidding for hotels, flights, car rentals, and more. Subsidiary of The Priceline Group. Went public in 1999 and has a current market cap of $66B.

Meta-search
Kayak (2004, Norwalk, IPO, Acq.) – Travel search engine – helps users find flights, hotels, rental cars and cruise lines. Acquired SideStep in 2007. Went IPO in 2012. Acquired by pricelinegroup.com for $1.8B in 2012.
Qunar (2005, Beijing, IPO, Acq.) – World’s largest Chinese-language travel search engine online travel information provider. Went public in 2013. Acquired by ctrip.com in 2015. Currently has a market cap of $5.5B.

Holiday Packages
TravelBird (2010, Amsterdam, $59M) – Enables booking of holiday packages to destinations around the world. Backed by Rocket internet.
Qulv (2012, Shenzhen, $20M) – Provides holiday packages to Chinese travelers who are traveling abroad. Backed by Yuantai Changqing Fund.

Travel Agents Marketplace
Tuniu (2006, Beijing, IPO) – Online travel booking website for Chinese travelers. Went public in 2014. Current market cap of $1.56B.

Accommodation
Hotels
Marketplaces
Hotel Urbano (2011, Rio de Janeiro, $135M) – Marketplace for hotels and travel packages focusing on Latin America. Backed by Insight Venture, The Priceline Group and Tiger Global Management.
Ostrovok (2010, Moscow, $51M) – Travel e-commerce company enabling consumers to find and book hotels online. Backed by General Catalyst, Accel, Atomico and others.

Marketplaces – Flash Sales
Secret Escapes (2010, London, $73M) – Online member’s club offering flash sales on luxury hotels. Acquired MyCityVenue and JustBook in 2014. Backed by Atlas, Index Ventures, Google and others.

Marketplaces – Last Minute
Hotel Tonight (2010, SF, $80M) – Marketplace for last minute hotel bookings. Acquired PrimaTable in 2012. Backed by Accel, First Round, U.S. Venture Partners, Founder Collective and others.

Meta-search
Room 77 (2010, Mountain View, $44M) – Online hotel search and booking platform. Backed by Felicis, General Catalyst, Expedia and others.

Asset Light Hotels
OYO Rooms (2013, Gurgaon, $126M) – Asset light Hotel chain for budget accommodations operating across India. Backed by Lightspeed Venture, DSG Consumer Partners, Sequoia and others.
Zo Rooms (2014, Delhi, $36M, Acq.) – Chain of asset-light standardized branded budget rooms in India. Acquired by OYO Rooms in February, 2016. Backed by Tiger Global, Orios Venture, Sol Primero.

Vacation Rentals
Marketplaces
Airbnb (2008, SF, $2.4B) – Vacation rental marketplace currently valued over $25B. Acquired Lapka, and Vamo in 2015. Backed by TPG Growth, Sequoia, Greylock Partners and others.
HomeAway (2004, Austin, IPO, Acq.) – Vacation rental marketplace. Has 20 acquisitions under its name.Went IPO in 2011. Acquired by Expedia in 2015 for $3.9B.

Meta-search
Tripping (2010, SF, $17M) – Metasearch platform for home rentals and homestay. Backed by Quest Venture, Draper Associates and others.

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

Enablers
PillowHomes (2014, SF, $2.7M) – Property management services for vacation rentals. Backed by Peak Ventures, Home Brew, Expansion Venture Capital and others.

Transport
Flights
Private Jets
WheelsUp (2013, NYC, $115M) – Online travel company which offers private jet booking to guests based on membership. Backed by Rowe Price, Fidelity Investments, NEA.
JetSmarter (2012, Fort Lauderdale, $52M) – Online marketplace for online jet charter empty leg booking. Backed by Saudi Royal family and executives from Goldman Sachs and Twitter.

Marketplace
Onetwotrip (2011, London, $37M) – Online travel agency using a global network of IATA agencies for ticketing. Acquired dealangel.com in 2013. Backed by Phenomen Ventures, Atomico, Goldman Sachs.

Meta-search
Yapta (2007, Seattle, $24M) – Travel website and browser add-on that lets users track flight prices. Concur Technologies, First Round Capital, W Media Ventures, Amadeus and others.

Data Analytics
Hopper (2007, Montreal, $38M) – Provides data-driven research and analytics to help travelers determine when to fly. Backed by Brightspark Ventures, Atlas Venture, OMERS Ventures.
Farecast (1999, Seattle, $21M, Acq.) – Provides users with airfare predictions. Acquired by Microsoft in 2008. Backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, PAR Capital Management, Pinnacle Ventures, Greylock Partners, Madrona Venture Group.

Train
SilverRailTech (2009, London, $69M) – Provides solutions that helps railways and travel distributors to connect with each other. Backed by GrandBanks Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Accel Partners, Brook Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Mithri.

Bus
Busbud (2011, Montreal, $10M) – Online and mobile app based marketplace that
connects travellers to bus operators. Backed by Real Ventures, iNovia Capital, White Star Capital and others.ClickBus (2013, Sao Paulo, $10M) – Online portal and mobile app for booking bus travels. Backed by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Rocket Careers, Tengelmann Ventures.

Tours & Activities
Discovery
Crowdit (2012, London, $3.6M) – Mobile application to develop places, events, deals and routes in cities. Backed by First Eastern Investment Group.

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

Travel Planning
Online Travel Guide
TripAdvisor (2000, Massachusetts, IPO, Acq.) – Online travel guide that offers user generated reviews on hotels, restaurants, attractions and other travel-related businesses. Acquired by IAC in 2004. Went public in 2011. 21 acquisitions. Currently has a market cap of $12B.

Social Trip Sharing
Trippiece (2011, Tokyo, $82M) – Japan based service that allows you to share your travel plans on the web. Backed by Samurai Incubate.

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

Medical tourism
Medigo (2013, Berlin, $12M) – Curated marketplace for searching, booking and arranging medical travel. Backed by Atlantic Internet, Accel.

Enterprise
Enterprise – Horizontal
Sabre (1960, Southlake, IPO, Acq.) – Retails travel products and provides distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. Acquired by silverlake.com in 2006.Went public in 2014.Current market cap of $8B.

Enterprise – Hotels
Duetto (2012, SF, $63M) – Provides revenue management SaaS solutions to hotels and casinos. Backed by Accel, Battery, Benchmark and others.
Enterprise – Homestay
Leisurelink (2007, California, $38M, Acq.) – Provides horizontal SaaS for vacation rentals, resorts and independent hotels. Acquired by vacationroost.com in 2014.

Enterprise – Infotainment
MapmyIndia (1992, Delhi, $41M) – Provider of map data, GPS based navigation products and mobile apps. Backed by Nexus Venture, Qualcomm, Flipkart and others.

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

For latest update visit Online Travel feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – MOBILE ADVERTISING

• RNTS Media has acquired Inneractive, a RTB enabled mobile ad exchange for $72M. Link
• Yellow Pages has acquired Juice Mobile, programmatic mobile advertising company for $35M. Link
• ClicksMob, a mobile performance network merges with AppGrade, a mobile video monetisation platform. Link
• Nielsen introduces world’s first mobile ad rating in Indonesia. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Documobi (2015, North Yorkshire) – Provides technology to link a brand’s app to TV commercials, outdoor advertising, print and packaging advertising.   
Happiness Inc (2015, Toronto) – Creates interactive AR advertising apps for Android and iOS and incorporates vision, touch, camera and microphone inputs in the apps.
FoculHub (2015, NYC) – Provides technology to advertisers for product placements, branded content and 3D object advertisements across VR platforms and provides analytics for campaign monitoring.

LEADER BOARD – MOBILE ADVERTISING

Campaign Management
SessionM (2011, Boston, $38.5M) – Provides cloud-based solutions for ad serving and data management capabilities with integrated loyalty marketing technology. Backed by Causeway Media Partners, CRV, Highland Capital Partners, KPCB, Commerce Ventures, NTT Docomo Ventures.

Creatives
Flite (2006, SF, $40M) – Delivers programmatic creatives, content-driven ads and responsive ads as platform solutions and serves, updates, and measures advertising in real-time. Backed by General Catalyst Partners, HWVP, Iris Capital, Sequoia Capital, VivaKi.

New Ad Formats
Blippar (2011, London, $99M) – Blippar provides a mobile augmented reality advertising platform that allows users to point their camera at any object and instantly see all of the extra information around it, like a purchasing page or a conversation on social media. Backed by Qualcomm Ventures, Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Demand Side Platform
xAd (2009, NYC, $97M) – xAd is a location based Demand Side Platform which also provides analytics solution to marketers. Backed by SoftBank, Silicon Valley Bank, EMCap Partners.

Ad Network
Millennial Media (2006, Baltimore, IPO, Acq) – Independent mobile ad-platform and data company that partners with advertisers, app developers and mobile operators to reach consumers at scale. Went public in March 2012. Acquired by AOL in 2015.

Ad Exchange
Nexage (2000, Boston, $19.5M, Acq) – Provides mobile RTB, mobile private exchange, exchange based data solution which delivers behavioral, location data to buyers. Backed by GrandBanks Capital, Relay Ventures, Hearst Ventures, Singtel. Acquired by Millennial Media in 2014.

Supply Side Platform
PubMatic (2006, Redwood City, $63M) – Offers a sell-side platform for publishers to automate evaluation of ad inventories and provides unified auction engine with RTB capability across multiple channels, private marketplace, audience data management and ad campaign reporting tools to publishers. Backed by Helion VC, Nexus VP, DFJ, Silicon Valley Bank, August Capital, Nokia.

Native Ads
Outbrain (2006, NYC, $149M) – Provides content discovery and recommendation for publishers to increase traffic and generate revenue based on user-specific contextual analysis and collaborative filtering. Backed by Gemini Israel Ventures, LSVP, Glenbrook Partners, Rhodium, LGiLab, Carmel Ventures, GlenRock Israel, Index Ventures, HarbourVest Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, Susquehanna Growth Equity.

Ad Serving Platform
Medialets (2008, NYC, $33M, Acq) – Third-party ad serving and rich media ad platform that enables brands, agencies and publishers to create, deliver and measure mobile and tablet campaigns. Acquired by WPP in 2015. Backed by Foundry Group, 500 Startups, DFJ Gotham VC, Greenspring Associates.

In-App Advertising
App Annie (2010, SF, $156M) – Provides app store optimization and market intelligence via app ranking analysis, tracking track app downloads, revenues, tracking users’ data and usage. Backed by Infinity ventures, e.Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Sequoia Capital, IVP, Greenspring Associates.

Data Management Platform
Aggregate Knowledge (2006, San Mateo, $74M, Acq) – Media intelligence company that offers advertisers and agencies an exact science to pinpoint where to reach highest performing customers in a single platform. Acquired by Neustar in 2013. Backed by Foundation Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, OVP Venture Partners, First Round Capital, DAG Ventures, NSV.

Analytics
Marchex (2000, Seattle, IPO) – Delivers new customer phone calls to businesses and analyzes the data in these calls to improve ad campaign results. Went public in March 2004.

Retargeting
Nextperf (2009, Paris, $26M) – Nextperf technology combines real-time analysis of TV spots with media purchasing power, as well as dynamic user segmentation to retarget users who are browsing the internet at the same time as watching the TV. Backed by Kennet Capital.

Attribution
4INFO (2004, San Mateo, $60M) – Provides mobile attribution and audience targeting solutions to publishers, agencies and brand advertisers. Backed by DFJ Ventures, Gannett, Sand Hill Capital, US Venture Partners, Peacock Equity, Selby Ventures, Mitsui Global, Rogers Venture Partners, Avid Bank.

Cross-Device
Phunware (2009, Austin, $58M) – Provides multi-screen mobile marketing automation platform that offers mobile advertising, content management, alerts and notifications, analytics and BI solutions. Backed by Wavemaker Partners, Wild Basin Investments, Maxima Capital Management, Cisco, Fraser McCombs Capital, Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Samsung Ventures.

Deep Linking
Branch Metrics (2014, Palo Alto, $53M) – Helps mobile apps personalize the install experience for every user and provides SDKs to generate deeplinks that pass data through install to drive higher conversions and better engagement. Backed by Pejman Mar Ventures, NEA, Cowboy Ventures, TriplePoint Capital, Founders Fund, Madrona Venture.

Enabler
Yext (2006, NYC, $117M) – Enables businesses to update location-related information on multiple websites from one place, thereby providing a centralized yellow pages like service in online environment. Backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, SV Angel, CrunchFund, IVP, WGI Group, Marker LLC, Insight Venture Partners.

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

For the latest updates on this space, visit Mobile Advertising  feed

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

• LifeBeam, a startup manufacturing headgear for monitoring health and fitness raises $16M in a series A funding round. Link
• Fove, a startup that has developed an eye tracking VR headset has raised $11M in a series A funding round. Link
• Eight, a startup which manufactures smart mattress covers has raised $6M in a seed funding round. Link
• Mars Petcare acquires Whistle. Link
• Fossil launches 6 new watches in its Q collection with new non-display technology. Link
• This AutoDietary smart necklace counts calories through sound. Link
• Fitbit sales more than 1 million units of  Fitbit Blaze and Fitbit Alta. Link
• Nike’s self tying laces are a reality and more. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Baofeng Mojing (2015, Shenzen) – Manufactures smartphone based VR devices.
Relief Band (2015, Illinois) – Developed a wearable device for treatment of nausea.

LEADER BOARD – WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY

Saleforce is the most Active Acquirer in Artificial Intelligence since 2015

The Artificial space has been extremely active in terms of M&A activity, with the space seeing a total of 81 acquisitions. Out of this total, the last 16 months, till date, accounts for 38% with 31 acquisitions taking shape since 2015.

With the recent news of Salesforce acquiring deep learning startup, Metamind, the AI space has already witnessed 5 Acquisitions in 2016 alone.

With a total funding raise of $51M, Nexidia is the top Acquired Company

Multichannel Contact Center Interaction Analytics Software provider, Nexidia, stands out as being the top acquired startup, having raised a total of $51M from a host of investors such as Morgan Stanley, Paladin Capital Group, Cordova Ventures, H.I.G. Capital, Boston Millennia Partners, BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, Sandbox Industries, and HarbourVest Partners. Nexidia has been acquired by NICE in 2016 for $135M.

Here are the top 10 Acquisitions since 2015, based on the total funding received by the acquired entity.

Salesforce, Apple, and Twitter have made the most acquisitions since 2015

With its acquisition of Metamind, Salesforce has certainly shown its interest in the AI space, expanding its total number of acquisitions during the last 16 months(till date) to four. Besides Metamind, Salesforce has acquired PredictionIO, Tempo AI, and Minhash.

Apple follows with three acquisitions, namely, Emotient, VocalIQ, and Perceptio. Coming in the third spot is social networking giant, Twitter, who has acquired TellApart and Whetlab.

Interestingly, Salesforce has made an all-time total of five acquisitions in the space. Google which has the most number of acquisitions (11) does not feature in the acquirers list since 2015.

2015 – 16(YTD) Acquirers showed most interest towards Machine Intelligence Systems

Salesforce acquiring Metamind is yet another acquisition in the Machine Intelligence Systems, the segment which has witnessed the most number of acquisitions in the last 16 months (till date). The other acquired startups in this space are PredictionIO (which was, again, acquired by Salesforce), Saplo (acquired by Strossle), AlchemyAPI (acquired by IBM), Saffron Technology(acquired by Intel) and Perceptio (acquired by Apple)

SV Angel has the most exits since 2015

Early stage VC, SV Angel, has seen a total of three exits in the last 16 months (till date). These exits came in the form of Cruise Automation’s acquisition by General Motors, Twitter acquiring TellApart, and Facebook Acquiring Wit.ai.

Finally, here’s a quick look at the list of Acquisitions which have taken place since 2015

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting startups globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – BIOPHARMA

• Hutchison China MediTech, oncology-focussed pharma company raises $101M in US IPO. Link
• Corvus Pharmaceutical raises $71M in a discounted IPO. Link
• Gilead finally makes a buy, acquired Nimbus’ lead program targeting NASH in a $1.2B deal. Link
• Human Longevity, a genomics-based, technology-driven company raises over $220M in Series B funding. Link
• AstraZeneca spinout EntasisTherapeutics raises $50M in Series B for antibiotic resistant infection drugs. Link
• DNA Sequencing firm 10X Genomics bags another $55M in Series C, Led by Fidelity Management and Research. Link
• Bristol-Myers Squibb snaps up Padlock Therapeutics in deal up to $600M. Link
• Two months after its Series A, Tizona Therapeutics raises $43M in Series B to advance its antibodies targeting immunosuppressive cells. Link
• Agilent Technologies makes $80M investment in sequencing technology company Lasergen. Link
• Sanofi strikes $2.3B deal with DiCE molecules. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

LEADER BOARD – BIPOHARMA

Immunotherapy
Juno Therapeutics (2013, Seattle, IPO) – Immunotherapies based on chimeric antigen receptor and T cell receptor technologies to genetically engineer T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. Went public in 2014. Backed by Alaska Permanent Fund, ARCH Venture Partners, Venrock & Bezos Expeditions.
DBV Technologies (2002, Bagneux, IPO) – Epicutaneous immunotherapy for the treatment of various kinds of food and pediatric allergy. Went public in 2012. Backed by InnoBio Fund, Lundbeckfond Ventures and others.
Stemcentrx (2008, SF, $474M) – Antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) to target cancer stem cells. Backed by Founders Fund, Artis Ventures and Fidelity Investments.
Immunocore (2008, Abingdon, $320M) – Developing Immune mobilizing mTCR Against Cancer (IImmTACs) that enable the immune system to recognize and kill cancerous or bacterially/virally infected cells. Backed by Eli Lilly, Malin Corporation, and Woodford Investment Management.

Gene Therapy
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, 2002, IPO) – Developing therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi) for the treatment of rare genetic & cardio-metabolic diseases. Went public in 2004. Backed by Takeda Pharmaceutical, Genzyme and others.
Audentes Therapeutics (2013, SF, $137.5M) – Developing treatments for rare muscle diseases using adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy technology. Backed by OrbiMed Advisors, Deerfield Capital Management, Redmile Group, Sofinnova Ventures and others.
Moderna Therapeutics (2010, Cambridge, $675M) – Messenger RNA-based therapeutics that produces human proteins or antibodies inside patient cells for rare diseases & cancer. Backed by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Flagship Ventures, and others.
Editas Medicine (2013, Cambridge, IPO) – Developing therapeutics based on CRISPR/Cas genome editing technology to treat the underlying cause of a broad range of diseases at the genetic level. Backed by Flagship Ventures, Polaris Partners, Third Rock Ventures and others. Went public in 2016.

Microbiome Therapy
Seres Therapeutics (2010, Cambridge, IPO) – Ecobiotic microbiome therapeutics to treat dysbiosis in the colonic microbiome. Went public in 2015. Backed by Flagship Ventures, Enso Ventures, Nestle Health Science, Mayo Clinic and Alexandria Venture Investments.
C3 Jian (2005, LA, $105M) – Pathogen-specific antimicrobial peptide therapeutics to treat & prevent diseases caused by microbial dysbiosis. Backed by Renaissance Health Service Corp., Wyssta Investments, and Corvesta.
Evelo Therapeutics (2015, Cambridge, $35M) – Discovering & developing Oncobiotic therapies through the systematic understanding of cancer associated microbiome & bacterial immune activators. Backed by Flagship Ventures.

Synthetic Biology
Intrexon Corporation (1998, Blacksburg, IPO) – Employs modular DNA control systems to enhance capabilities, improve safety & lower cost in human therapeutics, protein production, industrial products, agricultural biotechnology, and animal science. Went public in 2013. Backed by Third Security and NewVa Capital Partners.
Twist Bioscience (2013, SF, $133M) – Developing a semiconductor-based system for synthetic DNA manufacturing. Backed by Illumina, Tao Venture Partners, ARCH Venture Partners and Paladin Capital Group.
Ginkgo Bioworks (2008, Boston, $54M) – Engineering microbes to produce cultured ingredients such as flavors, fragrances, cosmetics, and sweeteners. Backed by Viking Global Investors, Felicis Ventures, OS Fund and others.

Cell Therapy & Regenerative Medicine
Semma Therapeutics (2014, Boston, $44M) – Developing a cell therapy for Type 1 diabetes. Backed by MPM Capital, Fidelity Biosciences, ARCH Venture Partners, and Medtronic.
Humacyte (2004, Morrisville, $217.5M) – Developing human tissue-based products for vascular disease & replacement of anatomical conduits. Backed by Access Industries, Bangkok bank, Pacific Eagle Asset Management and Reignwood Group. 
Xeltis (2006, Zurich, $66M) – Developing bioabsorbable synthetic heart valves & vascular grafts aimed at restoring healthy valve and vessels. Backed by Kurma Life Science Partners, Life Sciences Partners and VI Partners.
Gamida Cell (1998, Jerusalem, $84M) – Developing treatments for orphan hematological diseases & malignancies using stem cells and NK cells. Backed by Auriga Partners, Israel Healthcare Ventures and Novartis.

Omics
Adaptive Biotechnologies (2009, Seattle, $409M) – Engages in immune-based discoveries & diagnostics by combining high-throughput sequencing & bioinformatics to profile immune cell receptor genes. Backed by Matrix Capital, Rock Springs Capital, Viking Global and others.
Metabolon (2000, Durham, $56M) – Metabolomics for advancing biomarker discovery, diagnostic tests, and personalized medicine. Backed by Camden Partners, The Aurora Funds and others.
Assurex Health (2006, Mason, $92M) – Offers a platform technology for clinicians to determine the right medication for patients suffering from neuropsychiatric conditions. Backed by Claremont Creek Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Allos Ventures and others.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (2005, Oxford, $404M) – Developing nanopore-based electronic systems for analysis of single molecules including DNA, RNA, and proteins. Backed by IP Group, Illumina, Lansdowne Partners and others.

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

For latest updates visit Biotech and Pharma feeds.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – FOOD TECH

• Online grocery delivery service, BigBasket raises $150M in a funding round led by Abraaj Group. Link
• On-demand food delivery service, DoorDash raises $127M in a series C round led by Sequoia. Link 
• Interent connected kitchen appliances manufacturing company, Juicero raises $70M in a series B round led by Artis Ventures. Link
• Recipe-kit delivery service, Marley Spoon raises $17M in a series B round. Link 
• Kuvee raises $6M in a round led by General Catalyst. Link
• Cricket protein bar company EXO raises $4M in a series A funding round. Link
• On-demand food delivery service, SpoonRocket shuts down. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Urban Steep (2015, NYC) – Market place for speciality coffee. It helps users discover and connect to roasters.
Mosaic Nutrition (2015, Nashville) – Delivers custom made vitamin and meal replacement shakes.
Salmon and Sable (2016, Honolulu) – A subscription based sea food startup, offers delivery on national mail to subscribers.

LEADER BOARD – FOOD TECH

Ordering & Delivery 
GrubHub (2004, Chicago, IPO) – Online and mobile platform for ordering food. Went public in 2014.
JustEat (2001, London, IPO) – Online ordering service. Take-away only. Went public in 2014.
Ele.me (2008, Shanghai, $2.34B) – Online ordering and delivery of food from restaurants with its own logistics network. Backed by Tencent, CitiCapital, Beijing-Hualian, Sequoia Capital etc.
DeliveryHero (2010, Berlin, $1.1B) – Online food ordering service. Backed by Rocket Internet and Insight Ventures.

Discovery 
Zomato (2008, Gurgaon, $224M) – Online and mobile restaurant discovery service. Currently in 22 countries. Backed by Sequoia.Table Booking
Open Table (1998, SF, IPO, Acq) – Online marketplace for restaurant reservation. Offers table-booking management system to restaurant owners. Went public in 2009. Acquired by Priceline in 2014.
BookaTable (2006, London, $63M, Acq) – Real time table booking. Provides marketing, database management and technical support to Restaurants. Acquired Swedish company 2Book in 2014. Backed by Balderton. Acquired by Michelin in 2016.

Reserve (2014, NYC, $15M) – Curates list of vetted restaurants based on user specifications and secures reservation. Backed by Sherpa Ventures.

Alcohol Delivery
Jiuxian (2010, Beijing, $310M) – An e-commerce liquor retail chain. Specializes in sales of high grade wine. Backed by Sequoia.
9bianli (2010, Zhengzhou, $61M) – Online retailer and O2O service provider for liquor. Backed by Legend Holdings. 

Lot18 (2010, NYC, $44.5M) – Online marketplace for wine. Backed by Accel.

Internet First Restaurants 
Munchery (2011, SF, $117M) – Internet first gourmet meal delivery service. Backed by Shepra Ventures.
Sprig (2013, SF, $57M) – Mobile based food ordering service (healthy organic meals). Delivery within 15 mins. Launched in Chicago in June 2015. Backed by Greylock.
Spoon Rocket (2013, Berkeley, $13.5M) – Delivers healthy high quality meals within 15 mins. Plans to expand services to college campuses. Backed by Foundation Capital and General Catalyst.Groceries
Ocado (2002, Hatfield, IPO) – Online grocery retailing company. Entered into a partnership with Morrisons in 2014, became profitable for first time in 2015. Went public in 2010.
Instacart (2012, SF, $275M) – Marketplace for same day grocery delivery. Calls in a personal shopper for picking items from local supermarkets. Backed by Sequoia and Khosla Ventures.

Womai (2008, Beijing, $330M) – Healthy food ordering and delivery service in China. Backed by COFCO, Taikang, Baidu and SAIF.

Recipe Box
Hello Fresh (2012, Berlin, $278.5M) – Weekly subscription based service that provides 3-4 recipes and related grocery. Sources seasonal and local organic food. Backed by Rocket Internet.
Blue Apron (2012, NYC, $193M) – Delivers meal kits, including pre-measured ingredients and recipes, in refrigerated boxes. Backed by Fidelity. 
Plated (2012, NYC, $56M) – Offers a subscription box service that contains meal ingredients and recipes by partnered chefs. Backed by Greycroft.Food Substitutes 
Impossible Foods (2011, Redwood City, $183M) – Sustainable food company focusing on plant based meat substitutes. Backed by Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures.
Hampton Creek (2011, SF, $120M) – Food technology company making plant based egg substitutes. Backed by Khosla Ventures.
Soylent (2013, LA, $22M) – Makes meal replacement shakes. Offers DIY to customers to make the drink. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz.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 FoodTech feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – CUSTOMER SERVICE SOFTWARE

• Cyara which provides omnichannel customer experience testing and monitoring platform raises $25M in series A from PeakSpan Capital and Greenspring Associates. Link
• Fusion completes acquisition of Technology for Business Corporation (TFB) for an undisclosed amount. Link
• eKomi acquired Reputami – Online reputation management software for the hospitality industry for an undisclosed amount. Link
• Avaya partners with Tencent QQ to integrate its contact center technologies with the QQ instant messaging application. LinkAmeyo launched a new integrated video call center solution powered by technology from Vidyo.
  Link
• 8×8 launches four new communications patents. Link
• Google announces release of speech recognition API(Google Cloud Speech API) to third party developers which is completely free initially. Link
• Inbenta launches hybrid chat to integrate its self service virtual assistant support with live chat technology. Link
• Clarabridge partners with Ditto Labs to deliver visual listening capabilities to its customers. Link
• Zendesk launches “basic voice” offering VOIP phone support solution. Link
• Fonolo awarded three patents related to call center queuing and IVR technology. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Odyano (2016, San Diego) – Claims to be building deep learning and AI technology using NLP for text and voice analysis to solve customer complaints. 
Techsee (2015, Tel Aviv) – Remote mobile support using AI, VR and image processing technologies.

LEADER BOARD – CUSTOMER SERVICE SOFTWARE

Suite
Verint (1994, Melville, IPO) – Customer engagement optimization suite, security intelligence and fraud prevention solutions. Went public in 2002.
RightNow Technologies (1997, Bozeman, IPO, Acq.) – Omnichannel customer experience suite solutions. Went public in 2004. Acquired by Oracle in 2011 for $1.5B.
Interactive Intelligence (1994, Indianapolis, IPO) – Omnichannel communication platform for unified communications, workforce optimization and business process automation. Went public in 1999.
Genesys (1990, Daly City) – Integrated multichannel customer experience and contact center solutions in the cloud and on-premises for SMB’s.

Call Center – ​Suite
8×8 (1987, San Jose, IPO) – Provides cloud hosted call center services including call center, video, mobile and unified communications to SMB’s. Went public in 1997 for developing video compression semiconductors and softwares.
inContact (1997, Midvale, IPO) – On demand call center software with ACD, skill based routing, CTI, speech recognition, customer feedback features. Went public in 2012.
Five9 (2001, California, IPO) – Cloud contact center software helping enterprises manage inbound, outbound and blended multi channel solutions. Went public in 2014.

Call Center – Suite ​- Crowdsourced Agents​
LiveOps (2000, Redwood, $51M) – Multi-channel cloud contact center solutions used for managing inbound, outbound and blended calls through crowdsourced customer service agents. Backed by CMEA Capital, Menlo Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Comerica Bank.

Call Center – Analytics
Mattersight (2006, Chicago, IPO) – SaaS based behavioural analytics solutions for call centers based on customer and employee interactions. Went public in 2011.
CallMiner (2002, Florida, $70M) – Cloud based speech and text analytics solutions for analyzing interactions across multi channel communication channels. Backed by NewSpring Growth Capital, In-Q-Tel, Inflexion Partners, Sigma Partners.

Call Center – Front End
Talkdesk (2011, SF, $25M) – Browser based call center software for sales and support using services like Twilio to integrate call facilities on browser and mobile. Backed by DFJ Growth, Storm Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.

Call Center – Agents Productivity
nVoq (2000, Boulder, $24M) – Provides workflow optimization and voice navigation system that enables customer service reps. Investors undisclosed.
CustomerMatrix (2013, NYC, $19.5M) – Cognitive computing platform for CRM teams. Backed by HSBC, NewFund Capital, Aster Capital, True Global Ventures.

Call Center – Virtual Agents
Nuance Communications (1992, Burlington, IPO) – Speech, Imaging and keypad solutions for businesses and consumers. Offers conversational virtual assistant solutions with speech recognition, natural language understanding and voice biometric solutions. Went public in 2000.
Interactions Corporation (2004, Franklin, $99M) – Conversational virtual assistant solutions using AI for delivering automated natural language communications for customer care. Backed by Sigma Partners, North Hill Ventures, Updata Partners, Cross Atlantic Partners, Prime Ventures, Softbank Capital.
Voxify (2001, Alameda, $33M, Acq.) – It develops, deploys and manages integrated speech solutions to automate customer interactions at contact centers. Acquired by [24]7 in 2011.

Helpdesk – Omnichannel
Zendesk (2007, SF, IPO)- Integrated multi channel cloud customer support ticketing system with self service, live chat and mobile support solutions. Went public in 2014.
Freshdesk (2010, SF, $95M)- Integrated multi channel cloud based Helpdesk ticketing solutions with self service, live chat, in-app support, internal service desk. Has its office in Chennai also. Backed by Accel, Google Capital, Tiger Global.

Helpdesk – Social
Hootsuite (2008, Vancouver, $225M) – Social media management system for businesses. Backed by Fidelity Investments, Insight Partners, Accel, OMERS Ventures, Hearst Ventures, Blumberg Capital.
Sprout Social (2010, Chicago, $61M) – Social media management and engagement tools for enterprises. Backed by NEA, Goldman Sachs, Lightbank.
Falcon Social (2010, Copenhagen, $25M) – Social media management platform for enterprises. Backed by Prime Ventures, Target Partners, Northcap Partners.

Helpdesk – E-Mail
Helpscout (2011, Boston, $6M) – E-Mail customer support Helpdesk for SMB’s. Backed by Foundry Group.

Helpdesk – Virtual Agents
Wise.io (2012, Berkeley, $2.59M) – Automates the process of ticket routing and recommended responses on tickets through machine learning and predictive analytics. Backed by Voyager Capital.

Self Service – Knowledge Management
Coveo (2005, Quebec, $70M) – Knowledge Management software for customer support and employee engagement through Big Data Analytics. Through enterprise search technology it creates relevant context from both structured and unstructured data. Backed by IQ Venture Advisors, Propulsion Ventures, BDC Venture Capital.
Bloomfire (2010, Austin, $20M) – SaaS workspace collaboration tool that provides internal knowledgebase to customer service and sales reps for collaboration and onboarding new employees. Backed by Austin Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Silver Creek Ventures.

Self Service – Customer Communities
Lithium (2001, SF, $152M) – Social Customer experience management software which combines online customer community applications with social web and CRM applications for engaging with customers through peer to peer support concept. Backed by Emergence Capital Partners, NEA, Benchmark Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Shasta Ventures.
VisionCritical (2000, Vancouver, $42.5M) – Customer Intelligence platform for customer communities for real time feedback from customers and stakeholders, insights, innovation and new product development. Backed by Georgian Partners, Difference Capital, Omers Ventures.
Mzinga (2007, Burlington, $42.5M) – Enterprise learning management and social engagement solutions for customer support. It builds social communities for brand management and peer to peer support with content authorization tools and services. Backed by W Capital Partners, Bluecrest Capital Finance, GE Equity, Acadia Woods Partners, Shared Capital Partners.

Live Chat
Liveperson (1995, NYC, IPO) – Live chat, voice and video with real time metrics and hosted platform. Went public in 2000.
Intercom (2011, SF, $66M)- Integrated platform for support, marketing and sales. Provides live conversation solutions to web and mobile customers. Backed by Iconiq Capital, BVP.

Live Chat – Marketplace
Needle (2010, Salt Lake City, $19.5M) – On demand advocates for engaging with customers for support and sales. Backed by Shasta Ventures, Lightbank, Rembrandt Venture Partners.
ChatID (2011, NYC, $19M) – Allows collaboration between brands and retailers enabling real time conversation between product experts and customers on retail sites and stores. Backed by Costanoa Venture Capital, FirstMark Capital, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Commerce Ventures, Mack Capital, BoxGroup.

Visual Communication
Cafex Communications (2013, NYC​, $31.5M) – Contextual communication solutions including live chat, co-browsing, screen sharing along with visual IVR for engagement across web and mobile. Backed by Intel Capital, Illuminate Ventures, USAA​.
Tokbox (2007, SF, $26M, Acq.) – PaaS company that provides hosted infrastructure, API and SDK for messaging, video and live chat, co-browsing, screen sharing. Acquired by Telefonica Digital in 2012.

Live Text
HeyWire (2010, Cambridge, $13M) – Enterprise mobile messaging platform by connecting customers with businesses with two way texting platform. Adds customer texting to existing toll free numbers and office phone numbers. Backed by Lauder Partners.
Relay Network (2010, Radnor, $6M) – Connects brands with customers through invitation based private mobile messaging channel. Backed by New Spring Capital, First Round Capital.

Live Text – Virtual Agents
Digital Genius (2013, London, $3.25M) – Uses AI, cognitive computing, neural networks and NLP to automate human like conversations in real time.

Complaints Resolution
Modria (2011, San Jose, $13M) – Cloud platform for resolving customer disputes with customized resolution rules. Facilitates mediation and negotiation between buyers and sellers. Backed by Foundry Group.

Complaints Resolution – Virtual Agents
Cognicor Technologies (2011, Barcelona, $1.07M) – Automated complaints resolution system using AI to resolve customer complaints. Backed by Wayra, Lanzame Capital.

Feedback Analytics – CEM – Omnichannel
Medallia (2001, Palo Alto, $255M) – SaaS CEM company which captures feedback across multi channel with text analytics for analyzing customer decision journey. Backed by Sequoia Capital.
Clarabridge (2006, Reston, $103M) – SaaS customer intelligence company which uses NLP and machine learning combining text analytics with customer metrics for analyzing customer journey. Backed by General Catalyst Partners, Summit Partners.

Feedback Analytics – CEM – Social
newBrandAnalytics (2010, Washington, $31M, Acq.) – Monitoring and analysis solutions for customer feedback on social review sites for hospitality, retail and government industries. Acquired by Sprinklr in 2015.

Feedback Analytics – Survey Tools + Market Research
Qualtrics (2002, Provo, $220M) – SaaS based platform to act on voice of customer, employee and customer feedback. Backed by Insight Partners, Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital.

Analytics
Nice Systems (1986, Ra’anana, IPO) – Customer interaction analytics solutions through Big Data infrastructure and predictive analytics. Went public in 1996 for it security solutions.
Attensity (2000, Palo Alto, $105M) – SaaS based text and voice analytics solutions for enterprises. Backed by In-Q-Tel, Palomar Ventures, Jefferson Partners, Triangle Venture Capital Group.

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 Customer Service Software feed.

Energy Storage startups raised more than $4.5B in cumulative funding since 2011, with ~$818M raised in 2015

According to our Tracxn Report, funding in Energy Storage decreased by 53% in 2015, with startups in the space raising ~$818M during the year, vis-a-vis the $1.7B raised in 2014. While at first glance this may seem a decline, we need to consider that the surge in funding during 2014, was mostly due to a $1B round of investment for Alevo batteries from Swiss investment firms.

If this deal were not to be considered, the sector is, in fact, witnessing an upward trend, and the momentum continues in 2016. Gogoro attributed to a significant portion of the funding in 2015, raising $130M in a Series B round led by Dr. Samuel Yin, Chairman of Ruentex Group with participation from Panasonic Group & National Development Fund of Taiwan. Vionx Energy also raised $63M during the year.

Our Energy Storage report covers companies which provide technology and solutions to develop new battery chemistry and manufacture batteries using existing proven technologies, as well as those which provide both grid locked as well as behind-the-meter Energy Storage solutions. According to the report, the companies have raised more than $4.5B in cumulative funding since 2011.

Funding in Energy Storage has increased since 2013

The sector has also seen an upward trend in the number of funding rounds, increasing to 87 in 2015 from the 72 deals in 2014. This trend has been continuing since 2013.

The increased deals in 2015 can be attributed to the rise in focus on the secondary industries which connects people to charging networks and batteries due to the rise of personal mobile devices.

Another reason for the positive funding activity is the increased interest which is now coming in from Governments. Government funding has been a major focus for a lot of innovative projects in this sector. The Department of Energy, US, in particular, has funded a lot of big-ticket grants for companies in battery cell chemistry, charging infrastructure etc.

Fluctuation in the Number of Companies Founded

While the number of companies founded in the space peaked in 2013, has since been dropping, continuing a trend of constant rise and fall through the years, with the lowest in early 2011, which was led by a decline in the Electric Vehicles market. With rapid evolution being made in the EV space in 2013, the number during the year surged.

Across the last few years, the highest number of startups were formed in Charging solutions and Energy Storage Systems, since the market has matured over the years with regards to the technology behind storage. Furthermore, there is now a huge demand for battery chargers, power banks and large Energy Storage Units in the market

Batteries and Energy Storage Systems are the most funded Business Model

Currently, in terms of funding, the Energy Storage  space has been dominated by two segments, i.e., Battery developers and Energy Storage Systems.

The upcoming sector is battery swapping, where companies are using technology to swap the existing batteries used in the user’s device with a new one. Battery swapping is extremely helpful for mobile consumers who need either an on-demand charging infrastructure or batteries for using their electronic devices or EVs.

Exciting Technologies coming up

Energy Storage is seeing some very interesting technologies being funded by the ARPA(E) program of the United States government. Research has advanced in some high potential game-changers who would hopefully be hitting the market by the turn of this decade by using non-conventional methods such as air or ice! Some notable examples being Voltserver which is developing power distribution products based on patented ‘Digital Electricity’ technology which enables remote charging, Constructis, which is developing devices to capture kinetic motion of heavy vehicle movements and converts it to power, or Big Delta Systems, which is developing a spray form of lithium batteries which converts any space into a potential storage device. Some of the other interesting companies are trying to develop viable, low-cost and sustainable solutions to reduce dependency on lithium ion batteries and use other metals such as aluminium or magnesium.

Intel, DFJ, and Khosla Ventures are the Most Active Investors

Intel Capital and Khosla Ventures were the most active investor in the space having invested in 6 companies a piece. Intel’s portfolio consists of Cymbet, Lucid, WiTricity, Prieto Battery, Chargifi, and Qnovo, while Khosla Ventures has invested in Sakti3, Lightsail Energy, Alveo Energy, Ambri, Seeo, and Firefly Energy.

DFJ Ventures also features with investments in Nevate, Imergy Power Systems, Nano Tune, Solicore, and Prudent Energy. Interestingly, Bill Gates has also made some key investments in the Energy Storage space, having funded Aquion energy, Lightsail Energy, and Energy Cache.

Note: The Tracxn Report on Energy Storage does not cover large established cell manufacturers such as Panasonic and Sony, and also companies like Tesla, which still has its primary focus on Automobiles. The report also does not cover companies which are offline, brick and mortar resellers of batteries across the globe

Preview the report here:

2015 witnessed a surge in funding in Virtual Reality Gaming with ~$268M being invested across the year

Considering VR technology is now going mainstream, investor interest in VR Gaming has been high, especially during the last year, if funding activity is to be believed. To take a step back, over $500M has been invested in the VR Gaming space in the last 4 years. During this period, Oculus stood out as the sector’s most prolific company, raising $2.4M through crowdfunding in 2012, and subsequently raising a total of $91M in 2013. The company was eventually acquired in a high-profile $2B deal by Facebook in 2014.

But with Oculus now making its move to the mainstream arena, there are signs of a shift in sight. Interestingly, in spite of all the big players such as Oculus, HTC and Playstation entering the HMD market, but failing to keep prices low, companies which are developing HMDs at much lower prices and with innovative UI have gained investors interest, and this has translated in the funding wherein 2015 witnessed a surge in funding with ~$268M being invested across the year.

Funding activity in the sector is currently at a stage wherein highly experienced teams received a majority of the funding. Notably, CCP Games attributed to a significant portion of the funding, raising $30M during the year.

Currently, it must be noted that in terms of gaming content, most of the major game developers & publishers have taken a wait and watch approach for VR. As penetration of VR HMDs increase, and the VR games market gets validated, more acquisition and funding activity can be expected in the VR game development space.

In terms of hardware, companies developing moving platforms, wearables and controllers with innovative ergonomic design have been gaining investors interest and the trend is expected to continue.

Display Devices have received most of the funding

Out of the total investment, Display devices accounted for the major portion (~65%), however, developers & peripherals saw a significant funding surge in 2015 and is expected to continue in 2016. In terms of display devices, there is a shift in terms of funding stages, with the segment receiving only early stage funding  In 2014. However, in 2015, 35% of the funding rounds were Series B or late stage rounds indicating the growth stage of the display devices market

On the other hand, Pureplay game developers started garnering increased popularity from investors during the last year as well, with 90% of their funding rounds being in the early stage.

Number of Companies Increased in 2014, riding on the Oculus Wave

While, a total of 175 companies founded in last 4 years, the VR Gaming arena clearly moved from a sci-fi concept to an actual mainstream business in 2014, where 75 companies were founded.

This can be attributed to the increasing attention garnered through the acquisition of Oculus VR by Facebook, which caused a sudden increase in the number of studios founded during the year. Over the last few years, with the concept of VR going mainstream imminent, the focus now is towards gaming. As a matter of fact, casual gaming has been seeing more focus considering, the VR game market is an unproven segment, and developers are looking to ease into the space through casual games rather than core games, especially due to their lower development costs.

But today, there is a constant push in the game development industry, especially for core games, to make games more immersive. With the high immersive capabilities of VR, it can be a great platform for highly immersive games, and we should see more companies coming out from this segment.

Moreover, as the technology evolves, companies which develop eye tracking technologies for HMDs can redefine the user interface in HMDs which in turn may open up more options for game developers to experiment with different genres.

Rothenberg Ventures is Virtual Reality’s most Active Investor

Rothenberg Ventures has been extremely active in the VR space as a whole, considering the firm has launched its River program where it funds startups at a very early stage. In the VR Gaming space, the VC firm holds a portfolio consisting of Reload Studios, Fove, Innerspace VR, Merge VR, and Retinad VR

Boost VC follows with investments in Ease VR, Pixel Ripped, and Ralph VR. Other marquee names among the sector’s most active investors are 2020 Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Intel Capital,  NHN Investment, Shanda Group, and World Innovation Lab

Check out the VR Gaming Report here:

A total of $75M was invested in the B2B Commerce space in 2016 till date, with  contributions from large ticket deals such as IndiaMart’s $22.2M raise

The B2B Commerce space has gotten off to a phenomenal start in 2016, when it comes to raising investments, with the year already witnessing 60% of the segment’s total funding. This total of $75M invested in 2016 till date has seen contributions from large ticket deals such as IndiaMart’s $22.2M raise, Power2SME raising $20M, JustBuyLive’s Series A $20M raise and Ofbusiness picking up $5M.

This already sets an all-year high in terms of dollars invested, beating our 2015’s $13M total raise. Together, both the years cumulative funding accounts for 77% of the total funding raised in B2B commerce. With so much time remaining in the year, one can certainly expect the funding in the space to further surge.

What is also noteworthy is the fact that, apart from larger funding rounds, the last three months have also witnessed ~328% more funding rounds as compared to the entirety of 2015.

According to the Tracxn Report on B2B Commerce, over $124M has been invested in the sector since 2006. The B2B commerce space has seen exponential growth in investments and funding with major investments being in the Marketplace space.

Entrepreneurial Activity Increase in 2015

In terms of the number of companies founded in the sector, 2015 witnessed its own surge, witnessing a close to 100% increase over the last year. 2016 YTD has seen the formation of 12 companies.

Among these companies, a majority have been founded in the marketplaces space. Besides witnessing a slew of new companies, the segment has also seen a decent amount of funding.

Horizontal Marketplaces is the most funded segment

Within the business models of B2B Commerce, the Horizontal marketplace segment has received the most VC with startups raising $59.7M. Within the sector, the Group buying segment is witnessing high funding with one player i.e., Power2SME performing exceptionally well and driving up the bubble in total funding.

Moreover, Investor interest towards newer sectors such Grocery B2B, which consists of Ninjacart which has so far raised $3M, has also been picking up. The Industrial segment has also been gaining interest with the Industrial Tools and Industrial Supplies subsegments seeing a decent amount of funding.

Accel Partners, Alpha Capital, and  Kalaari Group are the most active investors

Accel Partners stands out as the most active investor with investments in Power2SME, Moglix, and Bizongo. India-based Kalaari Group follows, having funded Power2SME, IndustryBuying. Alpha Capital portfolio includes JustBuyLive.

Preview the report here:

2015 saw the funding volume surge, owing to ComScore raising $287M in a round from Wind Point Partners

The Traditional Advertising space has witnessed a good amount of M&A Activity in recent times, with 38 companies being acquired till date. The trend has continued on to 2016, as well, with Rentrak being acquired by comScore in for $767.7M.

Due to this trend, investor sentiment in the sector has been revived, with the amount invested increasing by 182% in 2015, with startups in the space raising $423M, marking the sector’s highest funding volume since 2008. Among the notable investments of the year, ComScore contributed to a majority of the funding, raising $287M in an unattributed round from Wind Point Partners.

The increase in funding volumes can be attributed to the fact that the M&A activity in the space has been relatively high, with the 38 acquisitions taking place so far, the most recent being Rentrak’s acquisition by comScore for $767.7M. ComCast has also been active in the M&A scene having acquired This Tech and Visible World in 2015. With investors now presented with viable exit opportunities, we can expect funding in 2016 to follow the trend.

Moreover, with global advertising spending expected to increase in all areas, apart from print media, we can expect funding to increase further. Mobile will be the fastest-growing (41.7% CAGR) advertising channel followed by desktop advertising. With the current growth rate, Internet advertising (Desktop and Mobile) is expected to exceed TV as the highest ad spending medium by 2019. Unfortunately, there is no good news for print publications on the horizon, as Print media advertising spend is expected to decline, and it will lose its market share by ~ 6% in 2017

Late Stage Round Funding Dominates

Moving back to funding activity, the number of funding rounds has, in fact, been on a decline. But the surge in 2015’s funding volume indicates larger ticket sizes, due to the fact a majority of the funding in now coming in through late-stage rounds. In fact, the average ticket size during 2015 has reached $16.7M.

A similar trend was followed during the 2006-2008 timeframe, which resulted in 2008 witnessing a peak in funding during that period. Post-2008, however, funding volumes did decline, and the 2013 period witnessed the most number of early stage rounds, signifying that the industry had gone into ‘reset’ mode during the period. This is due to the fact that many companies during that period decreased their advertising spending drastically due to global economic conditions. Moreover, the move from traditional to digital advertising can also be attributed to the change in focus.

But now, with the increase in late stage rounds, the average early stage deal ticket size is also reducing gradually with 2015 seeing the lowest ticket size at $1.2M.

The number of companies has decreased steadily since 2011

While 2011 witnessed the most number of companies being formed, the figure has been declining since, due to the advertising budget shift from traditional to digital advertising (including mobile). Post-2011, however, Ad Networks for OOH advertising (including digital OOH), Transit Advertising, Audio Ad Network, Location based advertising are the business models that are gaining traction. Digital OOH, in particular, is increasing at a rapid pace.

Over the next few years, programmatic TV is expected to lead the next phase of growth in TV advertising revenue, in spite of challenges due to inadequate technology, and unavailability of programmatic inventory.

Analytics and Data Management Platform are the most funded business models
Companies into TV analytics and data management have received the maximum funding, signifying that the industry is moving towards a data-based model for TV ads. In fact, the surge in funding during 2015 has been led by Analytics, data management, and Interactive TV advertising companies.

Programmatic technology (for TV, Audio, DOOH) companies, multi-channel attribution, Location based OOH advertising, DOOH advertising are the emerging areas which could witness funding growth in coming years. Digital OOH ad networks have received more funding than OOH ad networks, signifying the shift in industry trend towards digital outdoor advertising

Moving forward, with the advent of programmatic technology and the advertisers’ need to improve ROI, access to reliable data and deriving insights from consumer demography, behavioural, geographical analytics is a crucial step for targeted ads.

Battery Ventures, Atlas Venture, and Menlo Ventures are the Most Active Investors

Battery was the most active investor in traditional advertising, having invested in 4 companies; Jelli, Bluekai, Lotame, and Spot Runner. Atlas Venture with investments in DataXu, Clypd, and OwnerIQ. Menlo Ventures also features in the list with Invidi, DataXu, and eXelate in its portfolio.

Note: The report covers the companies operating in Traditional advertising space that includes TV, Audio, Print and OOH advertising. We have covered companies which use technology to provide solutions in above mentioned sectors. We have included the companies which provide technology or facilitates the process of ad buying, ad selling, providing data, analytics, creative etc. We have excluded the companies for which the primary business focus is not into TV, Audio, Print or OOH. Media Agencies and advertising giants such as Google, Facebook and Twitter are also excluded from the scope of the report.

Preview the report here:

On the occasion of World Health Day, Tracxn looks at 10 of the Top Healthcare startups which have revolutionized the space.

NantHealth
Total Raised – $890M
Description – Combines medical data & patients’ genetic information to find individualized treatment for cancer and other diseases
Select Investors – Kuwait Investment Authority, Allscripts, Blackberry

Intarcia Therapeutics
Total Raised – $831M
Description – Osmotic pump for subcutaneous drug delivery
Select Investors – RA Capital Management, New Leaf Venture Partners, Venrock

Oscar
Total Raised – $727.5M
Description – A modern health insurer
Select Investors – Fidelity Investments, Google Capital, Founders Fund, Formation 8

Moderna Therapeutics
Total Raised – $675M
Description – Developing messenger RNA-based therapeutics
Select Investors – Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Flagship Ventures, RA Capital Management

Jawbone
Total Raised – $623M
Description – Fitness wrist-band with algorithm for activity and sleep tracking
Select Investors – Kuwait Investment Authority, BlackRock, Andreessen Horowitz, KPCB

Guahao
Total Raised – $536M
Description – Doctor Appointment Booking and healthcare information
Select Investors – Goldman Sachs, Hillhouse Capital Group, Tencent Holdings

Stemcentrx
Total Raised – $474M
Description – Develops antibodies and ADCs to target cancer stem cells
Select Investors – Fidelity Investments, ARTIS Ventures, Founders Fund

Privia Health
Total Raised – $420M
Description – Cloud-based PHM technology platform along with a physician quality network
Select Investors – Health Enterprise Partners, Goldman Sachs, Brighton Health

Adaptive Biotechnologies
Total Raised – $409M
Description – Engages in immune-based discoveries and diagnostics
Select Investors – Matrix Capital, Casdin Capital, Rock Springs Capital

Reata Pharmaceuticals
Total Raised – $409M
Description – Develops biologics & drugs for cancer, inflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases
Select Investors – Startech Early Ventures, Novo A/S

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – VR GAMING

• Archiact Interactive a VR casual game developer raised $3.2M funding from Chinese game developer 37Games. Link
• FOVE a VR HMD developer raised $11M in Series A funding from Colopl VR Fund, 2020 Ventures, Foxconn & Samsung Venture Investment. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Bolverk Games (2015, Copenhagen) is a VR game developer developing “Kittypocalypse” a tower defense VR game. Has raised undisclosed funding from Danish VC firm Capnova.
Vrwerx (2015, Los Angeles) is a VR games developer, has developed “Paranormal Avtivity VR”, a horror VR game.
Cyberith (2014, Herzogenburg) is a developer of moving platform for VR games. Users can control in-game character by moving on the platform.

LEADER BOARD – VR GAMING