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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ECOMMERCE ENABLERS

• Shoppimon, an Israel-based application performance management platform, closed $2.3M in seed funding. Link
• Wipro Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in Emailage, a US-based intelligent fraud risk assessment company. Link
• Delhi-based KartRocket, a do-it-yourself (DIY) e-commerce enabler platform for Indian retailers and SMEs, raised $2M from a Japanese investor. Link
• Private Equity group EQT has taken a majority stake in Sitecore, the Danish customer experience management software company. Link
• LA-based Fullscreen has acquired engagement marketing software and technology developer, StageBloc and will rename it Fullscreen Direct. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Shot & Shop (2015, SF) An app-based real-time visual search engine with patented image recognition retrieval algorithms that help retailers to create traffic and monetize photos with visual content digital ads. 
Showefy (2015, Milan) Provides a web portal for online furniture sale and also offers an AR app for visualisation. 

LEADER BOARD – ECOMMERCE ENABLERS

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Tapplerr (2016, Gurgaon) On-demand cloud based mobile app testing with real devices. Founder is from Truecaller, Microsoft, Amazon, alumnus of IIT-D and ISB. Local competitor includepCloudy (2013, Bangalore, Acq.). Global comparables include Perfecto Mobile (2006, Woburn, $83M) and Testin (2011, Beijing, $66M).

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

MyGlamm (2015, Pune) On-demand beauty services marketplace raises $6M in funding led by French cosmetics maker L’Occitane  participated by Tano Capital and Times Group-led Brand Capital Link

Petoo (2015, Bangalore) Internet first restaurant raises $1M in funding from Axilor Ventures Link

Nazara Games (2000, Mumbai) Mobile games developer has invested an undisclosed amount inTrulySocial (2011, London) mobile games studio with participation from London Venture Partners and Drussila Hollanda-Gronberg also Link

GirnarSoft (2007, Jaipur) Parent company of CarDekho acquires Help On Wheels (2014, Delhi)  Emergency roadside assistance provider company in an all-cash deal Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Africa Internet Group (2012, Lagos) African e-commerce platform receives $85M equity investment from Orange (1988, Paris) French telecommunication company Link

Bright Health (2015, Minneapolis) Internet-first health insurance provider secures $80M in series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and NEA with participation from Flare Capital Partners and others Link

Holaverse (2014, Shanghai) Mobile app studio completes $70M funding round led by Addor Capital with participation from Qihu360, Yi Capital and other institutional investors Link

CrownPeak (2001, CrownPeak) Cloud based digital experience management platform merges with ActiveStandards (1998, London) Enterprise Digital Quality Management (DQM) platform and receives $50M  from K1 Investment Management Link

FinanzCheck (2010, Hamburg) Online comparison site for personal loans and private financial products raises $37.5M series C funding from HarbourVest, Acton Capital Partners and Highland Europe Link

Lumos Pharma (2010, Austin) Biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics raises $34M in series B funding led by Deerfield Management Company with participation from Clarus Ventures, Roche Venture Fund, NEA, Sante Ventures and Belgian pharmaceutical company UCBLink

Ally Financial (2008, Detroit) Financial services company acquires TradeKing (2005, Fort Lauderdale) Online stock and option broker for $275M Link

SwervePay (2010, Chicago) Patient payment management solutions for healthcare providers acquires StatPayMD (2012, Chicago) Platform that allows patients to understand “out-of-pocket” costs for an undisclosed amount Link

Intel (1968, Santa Clara) Designer and manufacturer of semiconductor technology acquiresYogitech (2000, San Giuliano Terme) Provider of hardware & solutions for functional safety for an undisclosed amount Link

JLL Partners, New York-based private equity firm closes seventh fund at $1B Link

HarbourVest Partners, Boston based private equity fund of funds closes canada focussed early-stage and mid-stage VC Fund of Funds at $285M Link

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – SECOND-HAND AUTO

• The Zebra, an online Auto Insurance company raises $17 Million in Series A led by Ballast Point Ventures. Link
• French P2P car sharing startup TravelerCar raises €5 million. Link 
• Sedemac, an auto parts startup raises close to $7.5 million from Infosys’ co-founder Nandan Nilekani and NVP. Link 
• YourMechanic, an on-demand auto-repair startup, raises $24 million in funding. Link
• Fairlubo, a China-based total-loss and salvage vehicle auction platform raises $45 million from multiple investors. Link
• Guazi a C2C used car trading platform raises $204.5 million in funding. Link
• eBay acquires Cargigi to expand its eBay Motors team and improve tech for auto dealers. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

WipeHero (New South Wales, 2015) – On demand Waterless Car Wash marketplace in Australia.
eDealer UK (London, 2015) – Platform providing cloud based dealer management system.

LEADER BOARD – SECOND-HAND AUTO

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – SMART CITIES

• Understory, a Wisconsin-based weather monitoring company, raised $7.5M in a Series A funding round led by 4490 Ventures and Monsanto Growth Ventures, and participated in by existing investors. Link
• LiveSafe, a Virginia-based public safety application that crowd-sources incident reporting, raised $5.25M in a Series B funding round from FedEx CEO and President Frederick Smith, soon after raising $4M in December. Link
• TransitScreen, a UK-based start-up that installs screens with aggregated transportation availability information in multiple areas in cities, raised $800K from 1776 Ventures.Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Bintelligence (2015, Ireland US) – Retrofits waste bins with sensors that collect data about fill percentage and optimizes trash collection routes for municipalities.
Concrete Sensors (2015, Boston) – Non-destructive, quick concrete testing, with results delivered to a phone.

LEADER BOARD – SMART CITIES

Monitoring  
Inrix (2004, Kirkland, $143M) – Real time, historical and predictive traffic data. Backed by
Porsche, August Capital, Venrock, Bain Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Intel Capital.
Streetline (2005, SF, $50M) – Helps drivers find parking spaces and authorities to analyze parking occupancy. Backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, RockPort Capital Partners, True Ventures, Qualcomm, Citigroup.
Miovision (2005, Kitchener, $28.5M) – Video and web based technologies for monitoring and analyzing traffic data. Backed by Investco Capital,  MacKinnon, Bennett & Company, Renewal2 Social Investment Fund, Comerica Bank, Plazacorp Ventures.
Enevo (2010, Espoo, $27M) – Smart sensor networks to monitor waste containers and provide savings in waste collection. Backed by Lifeline Ventures, Industry Investment, Teollisuussijoitus, Earlybird VC, Draper, Foxconn, Finnish Industry Investment, Ginko Ventures, Earlybird.

Energy Efficiency
Sensity Sytems (2010, Sunnyvale, $74M) – Hi-speed, sensor based open networking platform known as Light Sensory Network. Backed by Mohr Davidow Ventures, Cisco Investments, GE Energy, Acuity Brands, Simon Venture Group, L.P.
FirstFuel Software (2011, Lexington, $44M) – Building wide energy analytics that helps utilities and government agencies deliver energy efficiency across commercial building portfolios. Backed byBattery Ventures, Nth Power, RockPort Capital Partners, E.ON, Next World Capital.
Petra Systems (2006, South Plainfield, $40M) – Advanced street lighting solutions based on solar power. Backed by Espí­rito Santo Ventures, OnPoint Technologies, Craton Equity Partners.

Renewable Energy 
Gogoro (2011, Taipei, $180M) – Electric scooters and battery swapping infrastructure. Backed by Panasonic, National Development Fund of Taiwan.
ChargePoint (2007, Campbell, $114M) – Builds Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure. Backed by Rho Ventures, Voyager Capital, Siemens Venture Capital, KPCB, Harbor Pacific Capital, BMW, Constellation Technology Ventures, The Hartford, Estag Capital.

Navigation
NextNav (2008, Sunnyvale, $89.2M) – Accurate location sensing indoors and in closed urban spaces for security and commercial applications. Backed by New Enterprise Associates, Oak Investment Partners, Columbia Capital, Telcom Ventures, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners.
MyCityWay (2009, NYC, $6M) – Mobile first platform which senses the micro-location through beacon or other sensor data and can be used to provide contextual information. Backed by IA Ventures, FirstMark Capital, NYC EDC.
TrafficCast (1999, Madison, $3.75M) – Technologies, applications, and content based on digital traffic data to provide travel time forecasting and traffic information. Backed by Ceres Venture Fund, NEW Capital Fund, Phenomenelle Angels, Women AngelsWelsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.

Network Provider
Sigfox (2009, Labege, $148M) – Cellular network operator to provide a low cost data transmission service built for IoT. Backed by IDINVEST Partners, Elaia Partners, Intel Capital, Partech Ventures, Bpifrance, IXO Private Equity, Telefonica, SK Telecom, DoCoMo, GDF SUEZ, Air Liquide Group, Eutelsat, Elliott Management.
Firetide (2003, Campbell, $40M) – Provides wireless mesh network solutions and products. Backed by Menlo Ventures, Coral Capital, ESCO Technologies.
Actility (2010, Paris, $25M) – Provides ThingPark, a platform for IoT deployments of varying sizes. Backed by Ginko Ventures, Foxconn, Orange, Truffle Capital.

Platform
Connecthings (2007, Paris, $11M) – Provides NFC tag, QR codes and iBeacon solutions. Backed by Xerys, Groupe Siparex, Calao Finance.
Cityzenith (2009, Chicago, $6M) –  Aggregates data from sources such as: public (Open Data), IoT and M2M (real-time operational) and citizens (Social Media) and makes it available through a standard and open platform. Backed by Mumbai Angels, Sequoia Capital.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

• Messaging App Kik launches Bot store with 16 new bots. Link
• Whatsapp completes end-to-end encryption for all the messages through whatsapp. Link
• Encrypted messaging app Telegram introduces redesigned chat screens and BOT API 2.0. Link
• Facebook updates its messenger app with chatbots. Link
• Location based anonymous messenger app Yik Yak`s CTO Tom Chernetsky drops out. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Yodel (2015, Miami Beach) – Video chat Messenger App that allows users to experience face to face chatting by recording the face reactions of user.
Myia (2015, Prague) – A platform that turns Wifi network into public chat rooms.

LEADER BOARD – MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

Messaging & Calling
Tango (2009, Mountain View, $369M) – Mobile app for OTT video calling & messaging. Backed by Alibaba, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Translink Capital, Qualcomm.
Kakao Talk (2010, Seongnam-si, $92M) – Messenger app to send and receive messages including photos, videos, voice notes, and contact information through one-on-one and group chats. Backed  by Tencent, Maverick Capital, CyberAgent Ventures, DCM.
Whatsapp (2009, Santa Clara, $58M, Acq.) – Cross-platform OTT messaging & voice calling app. Backed by Sequoia Capital. Acquired by Facebook in February 2014.
Hike (2012, Delhi, $86M) – OTT messaging & voice calling app.  Backed by BSB, Tiger Global.
Fring (2006, London, $30M, Acq.) – Video calling & messaging app through operator network. Backed by North Bridge Venture Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, VenFin, Veritas Venture Partners. Acquired by Genband in September 2013.
WeChat (2010, Shenzhen) – OTT messaging & calling app, also available for smartwatch. Part of Tencent Group.
Line (2011, Tokyo) – OTT video calling & messaging app which features news & coupon, based on user interest. Part of Naver Corporation.

Messaging
MiaoPai (2011, Beijing, $275M) – Chinese OTT video messaging app. Backed by Redpoint Ventures, Morningside Venture, SINA, KPCB, Sinanet, Star Ventures, Sequoia Capital, YG Entertainment, Sina.
Kik (2009, Toronto, $116M) – OTT messaging app with built-in browser. Backed by RRE Ventures, Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures, Foundation Capital, Tencent, Millennium Technology Value Partners, SV Angel.

Calling
UXIN (2012, Shenzhen, $100M) – Internet-based VoIP calling app. Backed by Sina.
TextPlus (2007, Marina Del Rey, $53M) – Free OTT calling app with paid service to call users without app. Backed by Matrix Partners, KPCB, Upfront Ventures, The Raine Group.

Ephemeral
Snapchat (2011, LA, $1.53B) – Real time photo messenger with timer to self destruct photos. Backed by Coatue Management, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Benchmark, Alibaba Group, Yahoo, KPCB, GIC, Institutional Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners, SV Angel.
Wickr (2012, SF, $39M) – End-To-End encrypted self-destructing messenger. Backed by Dolby Family Ventures, Riverwood Capital, Knight Foundation, Juniper Networks, Alsop Louie Partners.

Location Based
Yik Yak (2013, Atlanta, $72M) – Provides location based anonymous feed of what people are saying around. Backed by Vaizra Investments, Azure Capital Partners, DCM, Renren Inc., Sequoia Capital.
Whisper (2012, Santa Monica, $60M) – App to discover people around & share thought anonymously. Backed by Shasta Ventures, Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures.

Enterprise Messaging
TigerText (2010, Santa Monica, $81M) – Intra-organisation secure messaging app where messages are encrypted and self-destruct after a preset period of time. Backed by Easton Capital, New Science Ventures, Shasta Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors, Reed Elsevier Ventures, TELUS, New Leaf Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Invus, Accolade Partners.
Voxer (2007, SF, $30M) – A real-time, multimedia communication tool for groups or individuals with live push-to-talk audio with voice, text, photo and location saved in a timeline. Backed by Institutional Venture Partners, Intel Capital, CrunchFund, Windcrest Partners and Webb Investment Network.

Enterprise Calling
Biba (2012, SF, $20M) – Enterprise app for video conferencing. Backed by Benchmark, Trinity Ventures, InterWest Partners.
MobiVox (2007, Montreal, $11M) – A VOIP calling app focussed on businesses. Backed by Brightspark Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, IDG Capital Partners, IDG Ventures Vietnam and Skypoint Capital. Acquired by Sabse Technologies in September, 2009.

Business
HeyWire (2010, Cambridge, $13M) – Mobile messaging service for customer engagement. Backed by Lauder Partners.

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 Mobile Communication feed.

A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting startups globally

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – CONSUMER HEALTH -TECH

• Bright Health, an internet-first health insurance provider, has raised $80M Series A round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, NEA, and Flare Capital Partners. Link 
• Rythm, a wearable device for enhancing cognitive performance, has raised $4M in a round led by Laurent Alexandre and Xavier Niel. Link
• HealthJoy, a telemedicine, medical concierge service and health plans provider, has raised $3M in a round led by GoHealth and other angel investors. Link
• Dario, a cloud-based mobile diabetes management platform, has launched the device in the US, Dario secured its FDA 510(k) clearance in December. Link
• Honor, a home care focused digital health startup has landed a partnership with the American Cancer Society to license it’s proprietary care guidance. Link
• Nestle to use Medisafe app to track adherence to nutritional drink. Link
• Independence Blue Cross to offer members MDLive also reimburses remote visits with their own PCPs. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Thrive (2015, San Diego, $500k) – A baby bottle that will track how much milk a baby drinks from birth to between 60 and 90 days and send data to a companion app. Evaluates, measures, tracks, and records the feeding performance of the baby. The report is sent on a connected mobile app.
SafeMeds (2015, Hyderabad) –  Platform for authenticating the medicines purchased at the pharmacy. The medicines purchased in the pharmacy are authenticated and notified to the customer.    

LEADER BOARD – CONSUMER HEALTH -TECH

DOCTORS
Telemedicine 
TelaDoc (2002, Dallas, IPO) – Telemedicine provider offering web and mobile based video consultations. IPO June 2015.
AmericanWell (2006, Boston, $123M) – Telehealth platform that connects users with doctors over the video feed. Backed by Inventures Alliance Management Company.  

Homecare 
Pager (2014, NYC, $24M) – Mobile app for on-demand doctor house call. Backed by NEA, Summation Health Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Montage Ventures, Lux capital.
Heal (2014, LA, $10M) – Mobile app for on-demand home visits for a family doctor. Backed by Slow Ventures, Pritzker Group, March CP.

Appointment booking  
Guahao (2010, Hangzhou, $536M) – Online platform for appointment booking with doctors and ahealthcare information portal. Backed by Tencent, GS, HillHouse Capital, Fosun, CBD Capital, Morningside Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, and Henderson Shandong Tiyanye Co.
ZocDoc (2007, NYC, $225M) – An online platform which helps users to find a nearby healthpractitioner and instantly book an appointment online. Also provides scheduling software to providers. Backed by Atomico, Founders Fund, Baillie Gifford, GS, Khosla Ventures, DST Global Solutions, SV Angel.

DIAGNOSTICS
DxLabs 
Theranos (2003, Palo Alto, $492M) – Blood testing solution which claims to provide fast and high-quality tests at 1/1,000 sample size of the typical blood draw, directly marketed to consumers. Backed by ATA Ventures, DFJ, and Continental Ventures.

Dx Kits 
Ancestry (1983, Provo, IPO, Acq.) – Website offering family history information, historical records, and other genealogical information. Enables users to create their family tree and helps them discover, preserve and share their family history.  
23andMe (2006, SF, $232M) – A human genome research company enabling customers to study their ancestry, genealogy, and inherited traits. Backed by Google Ventures, MPM Capital, NEA, JJDC and Mohr Davidow Ventures.

Marketplace
MD Save (2012, Brentwood, $15.5M) – Online marketplace providing discovery and appointment booking facility for healthcare services. Backed by MTS Health Investors. 
WellnessFX (2010, SF, $6M) – An online platform which allows users to search for diagnostic tests, book appointments and do transactions online. Users provide samples offline and get reports online. Also provides training to monitor personal health. Backed by Javelin Ventures, Floodgate, Voyager Capital, and HealthTech Capital.

HEALTH INSURANCE
Internet-first Insurance providers 
Oscar Health (2012, New York City, $727.5M) –  An internet first health insurance provider that uses digital healthcare solutions to keep its members healthy. Backed by Thrive Capital, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Khosla Venters, Red Swan, BoxGroup, Goldman Sachs, Wellington, Google Capital, Lakestar, and Fidelity International. 

Aggregator  
GoHealth Insurance (2001, Chicago, $50M) – Online price comparison and shopping portal forhealth insurance. Backed by NEP.
Gravie (2013, Minneapolis, $26M) – Online health insurance marketplace for consumers to choose and buy insurance, pay for it and manage all healthcare expenses at one place. Backed by Aberdare ventures, Split Rock Partners, and Firstmark Capital. 

PHARMACY
7LK (2011, Guangzhou, $148M) – Online retailer of non-prescription drugs and healthsupplements such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and medical products. Backed by Grandyangtze, TusPark Ventures, and Govtor.  
Yiyao  (2010, Guangzhou, $72M) – Online drug store that sells over-the-counter medications, traditional Chinese remedies, and a variety of other health products.
PillPack (2013, Cambridge, $63M) – Mobile app-enabled telepharmacy service which periodically sends the required medications to the user. Backed by Accel Partners, Sherpa Ventures, CRV, Menlo VC, Atlas Ventures, Slow ventures, Highline VP, QueensBridge VP, Founder Collective, IDEO, and Techstarts.

CAREGIVERS
Marketplace
Care.com (2006, Waltham, IPO) – Online marketplace connecting families requiring babysitters and nannies (for children, senior adults or disabled), pet care, housekeeping with caregivers.
HomeHero (2013, Santa Monica, $23M) –  Web-based marketplace, which helps families find, hire and manage in-home care for seniors. Backed by Tencent, Social Capital, Graham Holdings, and Science. 

Own-Fleet
HomeTeam (2013, Manhattan, $43.5M) – An online platform which allows people expert caregiver matching and a care team to promote healthy & active days. Backed by Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Oak HC/FT, Lux Capital, AI Ventures, and Recruit Strategic Partners.  
Honor (2014, SF, $20M) – The web and mobile-based platform that allows users to find and book caregiver for elderly people. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, RockHealth, Homebrew, True Ventures, and Kapor Capital.

MEDICAL TOURISM FACILITATOR  
Medigo (2013, Berlin, $12M) – An online marketplace that facilitates searching, booking and arranging medical travel. Backed by Atlantic Labs, and Accel.

CLINICAL TRIAL ENROLLMENT
CureForward (2014, Cambridge, $19M) – Online clinical trial enrollment platform and DNA mapping from partnered labs. Backed by Apple Tree Partners. 
TrialReach (2009, Richmond, $17M) – Search engine for clinical trials which helps patients to explore, understand and access clinical trials. Backed by Octopus Ventures, Amadeus Capital, and Smedvig Capital.

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

For latest updates, visit the Consumer HealthTech feed.

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

iDelivr (2015, Mumbai) Mobile SDK provider for chat integration in mobile apps. Founders are ex-CSC, FoodPanda, McKinsey, BCG, Gobol, Flipkart, Letsbuy, Perella Weinberg Ventures, and IIT-KGP, IIM-A, IIM-C alumni. Local competitors include Helpshift (2011, Pune, $13M), HelpStack(2015, Chennai).  

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Varthana (2013, Bangalore) NBFC providing loans to affordable private schools raises $14M in series B funding from Kaizen Private Equity, Zephyr Peacock India and others Link

LegalRaasta (2015, Delhi) Online legal services provider raises $1M in angel funding from Pravin Khandelwal and Yatin Kumar Jain Link

KredX (2015, Bangalore) Invoice discounting platform for SMEs raises $750K in funding from Prime Venture Partners Link

Hippily (2013, Mumbai) Mobile application for product discovery through social connection raises $250K in seed funding from Dr. Sridhar Ramaswamy, VP, Ads & Commerce at Google and Rakesh Mathur, Founder, Junglee Link

Blue Box Media (2014, Jaipur) Online media portals for news and leisure raises $150K in angel funding from Mahavir Pratap Sharma and Ajay Data Link

BeaconsTalk (2014, Mumbai) IoT based proximity marketing and ad-exchange raises $100K in pre-series A funding from Rajeev Agarwal and Prashant Gooty Link

Wedwise (2015, Gurgaon) Listings for wedding services affiliated vendors raises undisclosed amount of seed funding from StartUp Equity Partners Link

Leap Skill Academy (2013, Delhi) Chain of vocational training center raises undisclosed amount of funding from Menterra Social Impact Fund and others Link

Freshdesk (2010, Chennai) Customer service support helpdesk acquires Airwoot (2012, Delhi) Real-time social media customer support tool for an undisclosed amount Link

Deal4Loans (2007, Delhi) Online marketplace for B2C loans raises undisclosed amount of funding from Ram Shriram, Neeraj Arora, and Puru Vashishtha Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Kala Pharmaceuticals (2009, Waltham) Nanoparticle based treatments developer for severe ophthalmic diseases raises $68M in series C funding round led by Longitude capital with participation from OrbiMed, Vivo Capital, CAM Capital, RA Capital Management, Wellington Management Company, Polaris Partners, Lux Capital, CVF Link

Nexthink (2004, Prilly) Machine learning based threat detection & monitoring solutions provider raises $40M in venture capital round led by Highland Europe with participation from Waypoint capital, Auriga Partners and Galeo Ventures Link

PoshMark (2011, Menlo Park) Mobile P2P Marketplace for fashion products raises $25M in a funding round led by GGV capital with participation from Mayfield, Menlo Ventures, Inventus Capital, Union Grove Venture Partners, Shea Ventures, AngelList and SoftTech VC Link

Toss (2013, Seoul) P2P money transfer service provider raises $23M from Goodwater Capital and Altos Ventures Link

Nauto (2015, Palo Alto) Intelligent Driver Monitoring & Collision Avoidance System raises $12M from Playground global and Draper Nexus Link

NanoMech (2002, Fayetteville) Patented nano-manufacturing platform developer raises $10M in series C from Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures Link

NodeSource (2014, SF) Enterprise Node.js solutions for performance and productivity raises $10M in series A funding round led by RRE Ventures with participation from Crosslink Capital and Resolute VC Link

Jalota (2012, Los Gatos) Real time network monitoring, analytics and performance optimization solutions provider raises $7M in a funding round from Spirent Communications, Ericsson and ATA Ventures Link

CloudEndure (2013, Tel Aviv) Enterprise cloud migration and business Continuity as a Service raises an additional $6M in series B round making a total of $13M in the round from undisclosed investors Link

OpenSpan (2005, Alpharetta) Activity intelligence and desktop automation solutions provider gets acquired by Pega Systems(1983, Cambridge) Business process and CRM applications provider for $52M Link

The InsuranceTech space witnessed the highest ever funding in the year 2015, amounting to a total of $2.7B across 136 funding rounds, the activity has carried on to Q1’16, with a total of $756M being invested across 39 rounds in just 3 months.

By number of deals Bain Capital Ventures, Rockhealth & Ribbit Capital were the top investors with 6, 6 & 4 deals each. Most notable investment for this quarter has been Oscar’s $400M round with participation from investors like General Catalyst, Fidelity, Google Capital, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures and more.

Here is a list of top 10 investors in the space:

For equal number of deals, investors are arranged by total funding.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

• Domo raises an additional $131M to add to its Series D funding from existing investers. It has reached a valuation of $2B+ and launched its own appstore including a free messaging app to compete with Slack. Link
• Mintigo, a predictive marketing platform raises $15M led by Sequoia Capital. Link
• Alooma, a big data integration platform raises $11.2M in Series A, led by Lightspeed VP and Sequoia. Link
• MapD raises $10M in Series A funding led by Vanedge Capital for its massive parallel processing visualization tool. Link
• CiValue, a retail intelligence solution raises $2.4M in a seed round led by Nielsen Innovate. Link 
• Geoblink, a geospatial intelligence platform raises $1.1M led bu Nauta Capital. Link
• Notion raises $3M for its workforce analytics platform led by Oregon Angel Fund. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Quantimind (2015, Leeds) – Predictive demand forecasting and dynamic pricing for retailers.
Metricsforce (2015, Mountain View) – AI based Mobile BI solution. 

LEADER BOARD – BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

BI – Suites
SAP (1972, Walldorf, IPO) – Provides data integration, visualization and predictive analytics suite of solutions through the product line of SAP Business Objects and SAP Lumira for individuals, SMEs , enterprise and on cloud. Went public in 1988.
IBM (1911, NY, IPO) – Provides data integration, visualization and predictive analytics solution through IBM Cognos and Watson analytics line of products. Went public in 1970.

BI – BigData
ZoomData (2012, Reston, $47M) – Big Data integration and Visual data discovery directly on BigData sources. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Comcast Ventures, Accel Partners, NEA, Razors VC and more.
Jaspersoft (2001, SF, $43.5M, Acq.) – Provides feaures to build reports, dashboards and analytics directly from Hadoop, MongoDB, Cassandra and more. Backed by Redhat Ventures, Quest VP, DCM Ventures, Partech Ventures,more. Acquired by Tibco in 2014.

BI – Visualization Tools
BI – Visualization Tools – Discovery and Exploration
Tableau (2003, Seattle, IPO) – Provides interactive data exploration through heat maps, pivot tables and geographical maps. Live data connectors and integrated in-memory ETL architecture. Went public in 2013.
Domo (2011, American Fork, $459M) – Provides self service data exploration with prebuilt role based Domo apps. Has over 300+ connectors and datafusion platform to cleans, transform and load data automatically. Backed by Glynncapital, GGVC, Blackrock, TPG Growth, Fidelity Investments, Greylock, IVP and more.

BI – Visualization Tools – Reporting Tools
iCharts (2008, Sunnyvale, $11M) – Provides standard reporting from Netsuite and Salesforce, web based apps and structured data sources. Backed by Plug and Play ventures, Software AG.

BI – Mobile BI
Roambi (2008, Solana Beach, $48M) – Provides mobile first ad-hoc analysis, visualisation and dashboards that can be instantly accessed via the iPhone or iPad. Backed by Sequia Capital.

BI – Data Preparation
BI – Data Preparation – Integration
Talend (2006, Redwood City, $102M) – An open source software vendor that provides big data integration, data management, enterprise application integration etc. Backed by Bpifrance, Iris Capital, Silver Lake Sumeru, Balderton Capital.
Snaplogic (2006, San Mateo, $96M) – Provides PaaS integration platform to integrate applications, data, APIs with each other. Backed by Microsoft, Silverlake, a16z, Ingnition Partners, Trianglepeak Partners and more.

BI – Data Prearation – Cataloging
Attivio (2007, Newton, $73M) – Provides ETL, data transforming, indexing and cleaning to Visualization tools like Tableau to understand relationships between data sources. Backed by Oak Investment Partners.
Tamr (2012, Cambridge, $41M) – Tamr catalogs and enrich the data analysis by filtering and searching through a wide number of data source repositories such as HDFS, Google cloud storage, Amazon Redshift, mongoDB, cassandra etc. Backed by GV, NEA, Thomson Reuters, Sinewave VC, Hewlettpackard Ventures and more.

BI & Advanced Analytics
Alteryx (2010, Irvine, $163M) – Offers advanced BI solutions including predictive forecasting alongwith ETL and visualisation. Backed by Iconiqcapital, Insightpartners, Meritech Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Toba Capital.
Platfora (2011, San Mateo, $95M) – Platfora is an end-to-end software platform to run natively on Hadoop and Spark, to provide raw data preparation, in-memory acceleration, and rich visualizations in the areas of security, marketing, finance, etc. Backed by a16z, Battery ventures, Allegis Capital, Citi Ventures, Cisco and more.
Datameer (2009, San Mateo, $77M) – Provides Big data Analytics solutions using Hadoop to discover insights from data via integration, iterative analytics and visualizations. Backed by Toptier Capital, Nextworld Capital, KPCB, Redpoint.

BI Verticals
BI Verticals – Corporate Performance Management
AdaptiveInsights (2003, Palo Alto, $171M) – Provides financial analytics solutions for planning, budgeting and forecasting enabling finance and management teams to plan, monitor, report on, and analyse financial and operational performance.. Backed by Salesforce, IVP, BVP, RBC VP, Onset Ventures, Cardinal VC and more.

BI Verticals – Marketing
MarketShare (2005, LA, $92M  Acq.) – Provides cross channel attribution and campaign performance KPI monitoring by integrating marketing, sales, social and customer data into one platform. Backed by FTV Capital and Elevation Partners. Acquired by Neustar in 2015.

BI Verticals – Sales
Insidesales (2004, Provo, $199M) – Provides sales forecasting and visualization with sales data based on Neuralytics, a predictive and prescriptive analytics self-learning engine for lead prioritization and hiring. Backed by Salesforce, Polaris Partners, Microsoft, KPCB, USVP, Humwin VP and more.

BI Verticals – HR
Visier (2010, Vancouver, $46.5M) – Provides workforce analytics and planning solution to reduce workforce costs, improve productivity, attract and retain top talent. Backed by Adamsstreet Partners, Foundation Capital, Summit Partners.

BI Verticals – ECommerce
RJMetrics (2008, Philadelphia, $24M) – Provides useful metrics such as Customer Lifetime Value, cohort analysis, marketing ROI, repeat purchase rate, revenue analytics, churn rate etc. Backed by Trinity Ventures, August Capital, Softtech VC, Lerer Ventures, SV Angel and more.

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 Business Intelligence feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – PAYMENTS

• eWAY, a payment gateway provider, was acquired by Global Payments Inc, a payment processor, for $50M in cash. Link
• Ixaris, an open payment solutions provider, secured $6M funding in an unattributed round from undisclosed investors. Link
• Cardtek, a payments technology provider, secured an undisclosed amount of funding in an unattributed round from Revo and MV holding. Link
• Vindi, a subscription billing solutions provider, secured $332K Series A funding from Bozano and Criatec 2. Link
• Bluefin Payment Systems, a hosted payment gateway and PoS systems provider, secured $6M funding in an unattributed round from Napier Park and Camden Partners. Link
• GoCardless, an online payments solutions provider for recurring payments, secured $13M Series C funding from  Accel Partners, Notion Capital, Balderton Capital and Passion Capital. Link
• Paystack, an online payment gateway service provider, secured $120K Seed funding from Y Combinator. Link
• Emailage, a cloud based email risk assessment solution provider, secured an undisclosed amount in an unattributed round from Wipro Technologies. Link
• Bank of Montreal to roll out biometric corporate cards in partnership with MasterCard. Link
• PCI to partner with European Card Payment Association (ECPA) to further the fight against global payment data theft. Link
• Orange and Ecobank have partnered to launch Bank-To-Wallet Money transfer service. Link
• Apple Pay has partnered with Ally Bank, an online-only bank, to support the latter’s customers with debit cards. Link
• First Data and First Tennessee Bank partner to support small businesses. Link
• Amazon launched Payments partner program to compete with PayPal and others. Link
• Square has launched a new online checkout API. Link
• EMVCo has updated Payment Tokenization Specs. Link
• National Payments Corporation of India has launched Unified Payment Interface Program, a platform designed to facilitate money transfer through email and text messages. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Paystack (2015, SF, $120k) – A horizontal payment gateway provider to Nigerian merchants, which offers micro-transaction processing solutions also. Backed by Y Combinator.
ChargebackOps (2015, Lehi) – A chargeback management services provider..

LEADER BOARD – PAYMENTS

Payment Gateway
Safecharge (2006, British Virgin Islands, IPO) – A customized payment acceptance portal for merchants. Went public in 2014.
Stripe (2010, SF, $300M) – A merchant acquirer and a payment gateway API provider for web and mobile payments. Backed by Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Y Combinator, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Allen & Company, AmEx, VISA, Kleiner Perkins, Thrive Capital, General Catalyst Partners.
Clear2Pay (2001, Brussels, $127M, Acq.) – Provider of payment solutions to financial institutions. Also provides white label remittance services. Acquired by Fidelity Information Services in September 2014 for $493M.
Braintree (2007, Chicago, $69M, Acq.) – A payment gateway API provider. Acquired by PayPal in September 2013 for $800M.

Payment Processor
First Data Corporation (1971, Atlanta, Acq, IPO) – A global payments service provider specializing in merchant transaction processing, private label cards and e-check acceptance services. Was acquired by KKR in 2007 for $27.5B. Went public in October 2015.
WorldPay (1993, London, IPO) – A London based payment processing company offering gateway and PoS services. Went public in October 2015.
Total System Services (1982, Columbus (Georgia), IPO) – A merchant acquirer and white label prepaid card solutions provider. Went public in 1983.
PayPal (1998, San Jose, Acq., IPO) – An online payment and money transfer service, offering payment gateway, merchant accounts and wallet solutions. Acquired by eBay in July 2002 for $1.5B. Went public in July 2015.
Adyen (2006, Amsterdam, $266M) – A merchant acquirer and omni-channel payment solutions provider. Backed by General Atlantic, Index Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Temasek, Iconiq Capital.

Payment Network
VISA (1958, Foster City, IPO) – An association of banks and other financial institutions, which facilitates card payment transactions. Went public in 2008.
MasterCard (1966, Purchase, IPO) – An interbank association facilitating card payments. Went public in 2006.
Ethoca (2005, Toronto, $45M) – A secure network for card issuers and merchants to connect and work outside the payment network. Backed by Spectrum Equity.
Ripple (2012, SF, $35.5M) – An open source, decentralized protocol to provide real time cross border payments and settlements. Backed by Mariano Belinky, Core VC, Venture51, IDG Ventures, Camp One Ventures, IDG Capital Partners, AME Cloud Ventures, China Rock Capital, RRE Ventures, CME Group, Seagate, China Growth Capital, Digital Currency Group, Vast Ventures, Venture 51, Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners.

PoS Suite
VeriFone (1981, San Jose, IPO) – Provides all kinds of PoS devices, along with a payment gateway. Went public in 2005.
Ingenico Group (1980, Paris, IPO) – A payment processing service provider specializing in NFC enabled PoS terminals, gateways and cross-border e-commerce solutions. Went public in 1985.
ShopKeep PoS (2008, NYC, $97M) – A cloud based PoS software solutions provider for restaurants. Also provides restaurant inventory management services. Backed by Tribeca Venture Partners, TTVCapital, Contour Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Thayer Street Partners, Activant Capital.

Wallet
Mozido (2008, Austin, $337M) – A white label web and mobile wallet solutions provider. Backed by  TomorrowVentures, Wellington Management, Brentwood Associates, Atlanticus.
Coinbase (2012, SF, $106M) – A wallet provider with bitcoin cold storage facility. Provides micro-payments facility. Backed by Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital, SV Angel, FundersClub, New York Stock Exchange, DFJ Growth, Reinventure Group.
Xapo (2012, Palo Alto, $40M) – A bitcoin wallet provider with cold storage facility. Backed by Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, Benchmark, Fortress Investment Group, Ribbit Capital.

Alternate Payment
PayNearMe (2009, Sunnyvale (CA), $56.5M) – Provides offline payment services for online solutions. Backed by True Ventures, Kapor Capital, Fenwick & West, Endeavor Partners, Floodgate, Maveron, GSV Capital, August Capital, Khosla Ventures
TrialPay (2006, Mountain View, $56M, Acq.) – Enables merchants to offer free action based rewards to their customers. Acquired by VISA in February 2015 for an undisclosed amount.

Technology
Kount (2007, Boise, $80M) – A SAAS based fraud prevention service provider for card-not-present transactions. Backed by CVC Capital Partners.
ThreatMetrix (2005, San Jose, $56M) – An payment fraud prevention service and context based authentication solution provider. Backed by  August Capital, US Venture Partners, CM Capital Investments, Technology Venture Partners, Adams Street Partners and Tenaya Capital.

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

For latest updates visit Payments feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – BLOCKCHAIN APPLICATIONS

• Distributed ledger consortium R3VEC has tied up with Micosoft Azure where the latter would provide cloud-based infrastructure for R3 labs. Link
• Bank of Ireland and BNP Paribas have announced successful proof-of-concept trials and pilot schemes. Link
• Ethereum partners with R3CEV to create a new blockchain based cryptocurrency, Lizardcoin. Link
• Blockchain security intelligence company Elliptic raises $5M in series A funding from Digital Currency Group, Santander Innoventures, Paladin Capital Group, Octopus Ventures. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

Blockchain Health Corporation (2016, SF) – Patient records management over a permissioned ledger, based on device identity model
Grid Singularity (2016, Vienna) – Decentralized energy data exchange platform

LEADER BOARD – BLOCKCHAIN APPLICATIONS

FinTech
Digital Asset Holdings (2014, NYC, $60M) – Blockchain based trade settlement solution provider. Backed by ABN AMRO Bank, Accenture, ASX, BNP Paribas, Broadridge, Citigroup, CMEGroup, Deutsche, ICAP, J.P. Morgan, Santander InnoVentures, DTCC, PNC Bank.
Ripple Labs (2012, SF, $36M) – Open source payment protocol. Backed by IDG Capital Partners, AME Cloud Ventures, China Rock Capital, Core VC, RRE Ventures, CME Group, Seagate, China Growth Capital, Digital Currency Group, Vast Ventures, Venture 51, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mariano Belinky, Venture51, IDG Ventures, Camp One Ventures, Pantera Capital, Google Ventures.

Smart Contracts
Mirror (2011, NYC, $13M) – OTC trading and hedging platform provider. Backed by Boost VC, SecondMarket, Crosslink Capital, Battery Ventures, Pascal Bouvier, RRE Ventures.
Symbiont (2015, NYC, $8M) – Smart securities issuance and trading platform.

Enterprise Solutions
Filament Networks (2012, Reno, $6M) – A decentralized Internet of Things stack. Backed by VegasTechFund, Resonant Venture Partners, James Conlon, Verizon Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Working Lab Capital, Techstars, Pantera Capital.
Keybase (2013, NYC, $11M) – Identity mapping service via a public key encryption tool. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz.

Technology Enablers
Blockstream (2014, SF, $76M) – Provides sidechain solutions to improve blockchain. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Real Ventures, Future Perfect Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Mosaic Ventures, Ribbit Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Cryptocurrency Partners, Horizons Ventures, AXA Strat Ventures, Garage.
Chain (2014, SF, $44M) – Provider of blockchain networks and applications to businesses. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, RRE Ventures, Pantera Capital, Capital One, Fiserv, NASDAQ, Orange, VISA, SV Angel, Crypto Currency Partners, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp.

Social Networks
Augur Project (2014, SF, $5M) – Decentralized prediction market based on blockchain.
The World Table (2013, Orem, $1M) – Decentralized comment system to improve online engagement and build writer credibility.

Marketplaces
OB1 (2015, Fairfax, $1M) – Blockchain based P2P marketplace that enables users to offer their goods and services directly to each other. Backed by Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
aidsafe (2013, Troon, $6M) – Crowd-sourced internet platform and identity storage.

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 Blockchain Applications feed.

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE

• Mesosphere, a data center operating system, raised $73.5M in Series C led by Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Microsoft. Link
• Spotinst, a cloud utilization optimization company, raised Series A financing round led by PICO Venture Partners. Link
• Accelerite, a Cloud and mobility infrastructure software provider, finalizes acquisition of Citrix cloud products.Link 
• Intralinks, an inter-enterprise content management and collaboration solutions company, acquires Cloud Infrastructure company Verilume. Link
• Apple signs up to Google’s Cloud Services. Link
• Egenera, a DCIM software company introduces CloudMigrate for Xterity Cloud. Link
• CenturyLink, a worldwide communications company launched government cloud product. Link
  

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

ParkMyCloud (2015, Dulles, $300K) – Switches off AWS infrastructure when not in use, resulting in significant cost reduction.Backed by White Hall Capital.
ASCAMSO (2015, Frankfurt) – Compares prices of various cloud providers and provides bench-marking among the services of different cloud service providers.

LEADER BOARD – CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE

Horizontal
AWS (2006, Seattle, IPO) – Provides remote computing  as web services. Backed by the retail giant Amazon.com. Amazon.com went public in May 1997.
Azure (2010, Redmond, IPO) – Provides an open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform.Backed by Microsoft. Microsoft went public in March 1986.
Google Cloud Platform (2008, Mountain View, IPO) –  Provides a cloud computing platform that offers hosting on the same supporting infrastructure that Google uses.Backed by the search engine giant Google. Google went public in August 2004.

IAAS
Digital Ocean (2011, NYC, 173M) – Offers cloud infrastructure as a service.Its products range from bare metal servers to virtualized infrastructure. Backed by accessindustries, a16z, IA Ventures, CrunchFund and Techstars
Bracket Computing (2011,Sunnyvale, 130M) – Offers virtual infrastructure software for hybrid cloud environment. Backed by Fidelity, GoldmanSachs, Allegis Capital, a16z, ARTIS Ventures, Columbus Nova Technology Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures 

Cloud OS
Mirantis (1999, Mountain View, $220M) – Provides enterprise grade OpenStack distributions. Backed by Dell Ventures, Intel Capital and West Summit Capital, Red Hat, SAP Ventures, IVP, Telefonaktiebolaget L.M. Ericsson and Goldman Sachs.
Eucalyptus (2009, Goleta, $55.5M, Acq.) – Provides free and open-source computer software for building Amazon Web Services (AWS)-compatible private and hybrid cloud. Acquired by HP in September 2014.
Mesosphere (2013, SF, $122M) – Provides a distributed operating system, based on Apache Mesos. Backed by Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Fuel Capital, Andersson Howritz, DCVC. KPCB, Foundation Capital.

Cloud Management Platform  
ScienceLogic (2003, Reston, $84M) – Provides IT monitoring platform for hybrid cloud infrastructure.Backed by Goldman Sachs, Intel Capital, NEA.
RightScale (2006, Santa Barbara, $58M) – Provides multi cloud management platform for hybrid cloud environments.Backed by DAG Ventures, Benchmark, Index Ventures, Presidio Ventures, Tenaya Capital.

Cloud Migration
Avepoint (2001, Jersey City, $90M) – Provides software solutions to migrate legacy systems to Sharepoint servers.Backed by Goldman Sachs and Summit Partners.
CloudVelox (2010, Santa Clara, $33M) – Developed automated cloud migration solution. Backed by Third Point Ventures, Mayfield,Pelion Ventures.
BackOffice Associates (1996, South Harwich, $30M) – Provider of data migration and information governance solutions. Backed by Goldman Sachs.

Cloud Integration
MuleSoft (2006, SF, $259M) – SaaS based Integration platform for connecting enterprise applications. Backed by Cisco Investments, ServiceNow, Morgenthaler, Lightspeed VP, Brookside Capital, Adage Capital, SalesForce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, NEA, Meritech Capital, HWVP, Bay Partners.

Cloud Analytics
SignalFX (2013, San Mateo, $28.5M) – Time series DB based advanced monitering and analytics platform for applications and infrastructure. Backed by CRV and a16z.
AccelOps (2007, Santa Clara, $25M) – Provides analytics-driven IT Operations Management. Backed by ATA Ventures, US Ventures, Miramar VP.

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

For latest updates visit Cloud Infrastructure feed.

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Shopperts (2016, Delhi) Community-based fashion product discovery platform. Founders are ex- IBM, Mentor Graphics, and IIT-KGP, Rice University, University of Maryland alumni. Local competitors include Yebhi (2009, Gurgaon, $40M)

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Nestaway (2015, Bangalore) Marketplace for managed rentals raises $30M in funding from Tiger Global and others Link

Naturals (Chennai, 2000) Chain of beauty salons invests $15M in Vyomo (Singapore, 2014) mobile-based beauty and wellness services startup, acquiring a majority stake and rebrands it to Naturals@Home Link

MindYourFleet (2014, Noida) Car fleet management solution raises undisclosed amount of angel funding from undisclosed investors Link

OrganicShop (2011, Jaipur) Online store of branded and certified organic products raises undisclosed amount of funding from Vivek Nathani, Yogesh Chaudhary and Kamal Kothari Link

IndiaQuotient, a Mumbai based micro VC firm is launching its accelerator program called IQ Snipers Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Flipp (2008, Toronto) App-based solution for retailers to digitize their promotion-based flyers raises $61M from General Atlantic Link

Quartet (2014, NYC) Population health management platform for integrated behavioral and medical health raises $40M in series B funding round led by GV with participation from Oak HC/FT Partners, F-Prime Capital Partners and Polaris Partners Link

ACCO Semiconductor (1994, Sunnyvale) CMOS RF solutions for smartphones and IoT raises $35M in funding round led by Bpifrance with participation from  Foundation Capital, Pond Ventures, Partech Ventures and others Link

Organogenesis (1985, Canton) Regenerative therapies developer for wound care raises $30M from undisclosed investors Link

Onfido (2012, London) Automated background and reference checking services for employers raises $25M from Idinvest Partners with participation from Wellington Partners and CrunchFundLink

OnShift (2008, Cleveland) Staff scheduling software for healthcare raises $18M in series D funding round led by Health Velocity Capital with participation from Draper Triangle Ventures, Early Stage Partners, Fifth Third Capital, HLM Venture Partners, North Coast Venture Fund and West Capital Advisors Link

EdCast (2013, Mountain View) Platform for creating own branded live courses raises $16M in series B round of funding led by GE Asset Management with participation from SoftBank Capital, Cervin Ventures, Stanford StartX Fund and Penta Global Link

TargEDys (2015, Rouen) Developer of solutions to regulate appetite raises $6.5M in series A funding round led by Seventure Partners, NCI and Pontifax Link

Crosswise (2013, Tel Aviv) Cross device advertising company gets acquired by Oracle (1977, Redwood city, IPO), Computer technology corporation developing and marketing computer hardware systems and enterprise software products, for $50M USD Link

Over $1.4B has been invested in the sector since 2010, with ~ $540M+ invested in 2015-16 YTD

While the adoption of technology in Legal Tech has been historically one of the slowest, the pace has surged in recent times. This has certainly reflected in the funding activity in the last three years, where a cumulative ~$1B was invested. 2014 witnessed the majority share, with startups raising a total $372M, with notable investments during the year including Legalzoom’s raise of $200M and Avvo receiving $37.5M.

According to our Tracxn Report on Legal Tech, over $1.4B has been invested in the sector since 2010, with ~ $540M+ invested in 2015-16 YTD. The report covers companies which develop and provide software for Law firms and Corporate Legal Departments. eDiscovery services which provide software solutions, as well as platforms for B2B and B2C lawyers’ marketplaces, have also been covered in the report.

In terms of the number of deals, 2013 saw the maximum with 56 deals where 53 companies received funding, the highest in the last 6 years. The year also witnessed the highest number of late stage and early stage deals, with notable investments happening in eDiscovery, IP Management, and Legal Document Services sectors.

2014, while seeing a relative decline in the number of deals, witnessed an increase in the funding total due to a large number of Seed and Series A deals. For instance, Ravellaw, Trademarknow, and CS Disco received Series A funding, while Everplans, Upcounsel and Contract Live received Seed funding.

2015 has seen a total 47 funding rounds, with the number of late stage rounds, and early stage rounds, both increasing from 2014. So far, 2016 till date has seen 10 rounds.

eDiscovery sector has received the highest overall funding

It is evident that most of the funding for the sector over the years has been contributed by the eDiscovery sector, with startups here, like Kcura, Catalyst, and Recommind, raising ~$464M.  Epiq systems, which is a public company with $500M market cap, accounts for nearly 19% of the eDiscovery global market share.The software segment witnessed its highest funding volume in 2012 and the services space is rapidly consolidating globally as evident from the number of M&A activity in the sector. Some of the recent activity of 2016 includes Content Analyst getting acquired by Kcura, and Huron Legal getting acquired by Consilio by $134M. In 2015 Epiq systems acquired Iris Data Services for $134M and Microsoft acquired Equivio for $200M.

Other notable funding activities have been observed in Legal Document Services, Lawyers’ Marketplace and IP Management, which are hot upcoming sectors. Another upcoming sector is Natural Language Processing which, along with other AI technologies, is gaining traction for automatic contract review and identifying legal barriers in the contracts to avoid litigation scenarios, and significantly reduces the time and resources spent by lawyers in the manual process for reviewing contracts.

Bessemer Venture Partners and SV Angel are the Most Active Investors

Bessemer Venture Partners was the most active investor in the space with Anaqua, CS Disco, and Clio as part of its portfolio. SV Angel follows with investments in Upcounsel and Judicata.

Check out the report here:

Magic Leap contributed a significant amount to the funding volumes of 2014 and 2016, raising $592M and $793M respectively

It is evident that Magic Leap plays a very important role in the augmented reality space, specifically when it comes to funding volumes. According to the Tracxn Report on the Augmented Reality space, the startup contributed significantly in the sector’s previous all-time high funding total during 2014, and the trend has repeated itself in 2016, wherein Magic Leap raised $793M, ~81% of the total $976M invested during the year.

Thanks to this deal, 2016 has already witnessed a surge in funding, creating somewhat of a resurgence for the sector, from the lukewarm funding activity witnessed during 2015. This trend indicates that there will be a surge in the funding ticket size as fewer companies are securing high amounts of funding, indicating that the sector might go through market consolidation in the near future.

The Tracxn report covers companies working on developing various technologies in the field of Augmented Reality, including companies using these technologies to develop products for use in both enterprise and consumer domain. According to the report over $2.1B has been invested since 2010, with ~45% of the amount invested in 2016 YTD.

As mentioned above, Magic Leap contributed a significant amount to the funding volumes of 2014 and 2016, raising $592M and $793M respectively. If we were to not consider Magic Leap’s rounds, 2014 would have witnessed a total raise of only $58M, making the overall funding volume raised in 2015, i.e. $342M without contribution from Magic Leap, rather impressive and marking an increase over the previous year. Notable investments during the year include Blippar’s $45M raise and Movidius’ $40M raise.

The number of funding rounds per year have seen an upward trend since 2010 and reached its peak in 2015. If 2016’s funding activity is any indication, we can expect this trend to continue over this year.

So far, 2016 has witnessed a total of 12 rounds, with one belonging to Magic Leap. Together, the other 11 deals have resulted in a cumulative funding of $183M, with MindMaze also raising $100M during the year,

With the Augmented Reality sector now grabbing the attention of industry players from diverse sectors, funding in AR sector should increase further and the application of AR will soon move beyond gaming to enterprises, healthcare, marketing etc.

Late Stage Funding has Increased Significantly in 2015

The Augmented Reality sector is now seeing a larger number of both early and late stage deals.

In fact, the number of early-stage rounds has been increasing at a faster rate than the late stage rounds, indicating that more startups are coming up in the sector.  

The highest number of companies were founded in the year 2015

The number of companies founded in the Augmented Reality space has seen an increasing overall trend since 2010, with only 2014 witnessing a marginal diversion from the trend.

2015 witnessed the highest number of companies, especially emerging from business models such as Application and Content providers. In general, there has been an increasing trend in the no. of startups founded in Technology Providers, Application, and Display Medium manufacturers.

Display Medium Manufacturers have attracted the most funding

With Augmented Reality still being a nascent ‘display-centric’ technology, it is not surprising that a majority of the initial funding has been focussed towards display medium manufacturers, with startups in this segment raising $1.6B so far. With Magic Leap leading the helm, the segment witnessed funding surges during 2014 and 2016, reflecting the overall trend of the industry as a whole.

Intel Capital, Rothenberg Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures are the most active investors

In terms of active investors, Intel Capital has 7 companies in its portfolio including Eyefluence and Occipital. Rothenberg Ventures follows with 6 companies including 8i and Augmate. Qualcomm Ventures rounds off the top three with 4 investments including Blippar, Navdy, and Magic Leap.

Preview the report here:

$2.8B was raised by Fashion Tech startups in 2015, with more than 40% of the total coming from just 8 rounds

According to our Tracxn Report, funding in Fashion Tech witnessed a 24% growth in the funding received during the 2015 – 2016 YTD time frame, with startups raising a total of $3B during the period, thus marking the sector highest funding volume of all-time. The funding volume during this time has been dominated by Chinese players, who have raised a total of $1.1B across 28 deals. This has been the trend witnessed by the sector over the last two years, where Chinese startups have raised the majority of the funding in the space. Startups based in the United States have witnessed the next highest funding volume, raising $961M in the 2015-16 YTD period.

Our Fashion Tech report covers companies in the fashion industry that include companies associated with the buying, selling and discovery of fashion products (include apparel, footwear, eyewear, jewelry, bags and other fashion accessories), business facing companies, service and technology providers. According to the report, the sector saw over $11.7B invested through 1392 rounds since 2010.

High Volume Deals Dominate 2015 Funding

The sector has also seen a greater number of deals in 2015, increasing to 292 from the 254 deals in 2014. What is significant about the rounds in 2015, is that more than 40% of $2.8B funding in 2015 came from just 8 rounds. Among the notable deals in last 6 months is Mogujie’s $200M raise from Tiantu Capital, Ping An Ventures. The period also saw Indochino raised $30M from the Dayang Group, the highest VC funding round in 2016.

Moreover, while startups in the Commerce business model, have consistently contributed significantly to the sector’s total funding volume, the increase in funding over the last year can be attributed to other Subsegments, i.e., Discovery and Second Hand, witnessing an increase of 239% and 118% in the funding received in 2015 compared to 2014.

Increase in funding from Late and Early Stage Deals

The Fashion Tech space has also witnessed an increase in the number of Late Stage and Early Stage Deals, in terms of the number of deals and the funding volumes.

Late stage deals contributed to $1.3B of the total funding in 2015, ~48% of the total invested value, with Commerce, Second Hand, and Discovery accounting for all the late stage deals. In terms of early stage rounds, the Commerce – Private Label sub-segment saw the highest no of Early Stage deals in 2016, so far has seen 19 Early Stage deals and 2 Late Stage rounds, raising a total of $76M and $46M respectively.

Number of Companies Founded highest in 2015/16YTD

The Fashion Tech sector has seen a steady increase in the number of companies founded, with the most coming in during the 2015-16YTD timeframe. Out of these, 387 companies were founded in 2015, the highest for any year till date, marking a 17% rise compared to the 2012-2014 period.

Since 2010, 64% of the companies have been founded in the commerce space, with 59% of these companies being private label brands. The discovery segment follows with ~17% of total companies founded.

Currently, direct to consumer brands are increasingly using personalization technologies that allow users to customize products online, with more than 100 start-ups in custom-made apparel and footwear categories being founded in last 3 years. Also, with technology now becoming a huge part of fashion, we can expect the next wave to be driven by wearables and connected clothing.

Commerce is the most funded business model

The Commerce segment has been the most funded business model till date, with startups in the space raising ~ $10.5B through 380 investment rounds. Within the Commerce Segment, Retailer, Marketplace, and Private Label are the highest funded business models, raising $3.0B, $2.4B and $2.8B respectively. As a whole, the Commerce segment raised $2.2B in 2015, contributing to more than 78% of total funding in the sector.

Within the commerce segment, the Private Label business model in fashion has consistently seen highest no of startups founded, and has received more than $1.1B in funding in 2015, highest received by any Business Model within a year .These is clear shift in terms of funding back to private labels operating in niche categories, with Apparel and accessories being the most funded categories in the Private Label business model.

500 Startups, Accel Partners, and Index Ventures are the Most Active Investors
Early-stage VC firm 500 Startups was the most active investor in fashion tech, having invested in 21 companies, including the likes of Tradesy, Le Tote, and TotSpot. Accel Partners and Index Ventures follow with 19 companies each with investments in Myntra, Bonobos, KupiVIP, ModCloth and Privalia, Farfetch, Myoptique, Nasty Gal respectively.

Note: The report excludes offline first companies, design studios, logistics companies involved directly or indirectly in the fashion business and also excludes horizontal players like Amazon etc. which also provide fashion products on its platform.

Preview the Fashion Tech Report here:

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

RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – NATURAL USER INTERFACE

• Apple files patent for a new laptop with a haptic touch keyboard. Link
• New technology for tracking finger movement using sonar. Link
• Google releases API to allow developers use its speech recognition software. Link
• Eye Tribe showed a new mobile eye tracking solution for Virtual Reality. Link
• Eye-tracking device for diagnosis of concussion. Link

SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND

NullSpace VR (2015, Rochester) – Developing a suit for virtual reality which will act as a full upper body haptic feedback system 
Neosensory (2015, Houston) – Developing a jacket for hearing impaired that converts sound into a haptic signal. 

LEADER BOARD – NATURAL USER INTERFACE

Gesture Recognition
Invensense (2003, San Jose, IPO) – Provides motion tracking system on chip (SoC) solution for consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, wearables, tablets, gaming devices. Went public in 2011.
Leap Motion (2010, SF, $44M) – Developing software and hardware for motion-control and motion-sensing technology. Backed by Andressen Horowitz, Highland Capital Partners, Founders Fund, SOS Ventures.
Extreme Reality (2005, Herzliya, $18M) – Develops 3D motion capture technology using a single standard 2D camera. Backed by Marker, Texas Instruments.
Nod (2013, Mountain View, $16M) – Gesture recognition hardware in form of a ring, joystick, also provides a SDK for developers. Backed by Atlantic Bridge, Menlo Ventures, Nautilus Ventures, Walden International.
Thalmic Labs (2012, Kitchener, $16M) – Developer of MYO, a gesture control armband. Backed by Intel Capital, YCombinator, Spark Capital, Funders Club.

Speech Recognition
Unisound (2012, Beijing, &67M) – Provides voice recognition technology that can be applied on wearable devices, smart home devices, mobile apps, and other smart devices. Backed by Qualcomm Ventures and Qiming Ventures.
Jibo (2012, Boston, $55M) – Personal home speech recognizing robot. Backed by. Backed by Charles River VC, Fair Haven Capital, Samsung Ventures, Osage Partners etc.
Viv Labs (2012, San Jose, $30M) – Creating advanced conversational interfaces. Backed by Iconiq Capital, Horizons Ventures.
Navdy (2013, SF, $26.5M) – Voice-controllable heads up display for cars. Backed by Upfront Ventures, Eniac Ventures, Lightbank, Ludlow Ventures, MESA+, Promus Ventures, Wareness, Formation 8, Qualcomm Ventures.
Vlingo (2006, Cambridge, Acq) – Voice enabled virtual assistant. Acquired by Naunce in 2011

Haptics
SensAble (1993, Woburn, Acq) – SensAble Technologies offers force feedback haptic devices and touch-enabled 3D modeling software solutions. Acquired by Geomagic in 2012.
Tactus Technology (Fremont, 2007, $25M) – Tactile user interface for touchscreen devices. Backed by Thomvest Ventures.
Ultrahaptics (Bristol,2013, $17M) – Developing technology for mid-air tactile sensations. Backed by Woodford Investment Management, IP Group Plc.
Novasentis (Burlingame, 2006, $11M) – Ultrathin Haptic EMP Actuator technology company. Backed by Samsung Ventures, Chengwei Capital. 
Medaphor (Cardiff, 2004, $11M) – Haptic Simulators for medical professionals. Backed by Finance Wales, Fusion IP, IP Group Plc, Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund.

Eye Tracking
Tobii Technology (2001, Danderyd, $62M) – Provides hardware and software solutions for eye tracking, having applications in research, analytics and natural user interfaces. Backed by Amadeus Capital Partners, Investor Growth Capital, Northzone, Intel Capital.
Eyefluence (Milpitas, 2013, $22M) –  Eyefluence provides wearable eye tracking technology for Head mounted displays. Backed by Intel Capital, Motorola Solutions, Dolby Ventures etc.

Brain Computer Interface
NeuroSky (2004, SF, $8M) – OEM for Brain Computer Interface technology. Backed by SoftBank, SAIF 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 Natural User Interface feed. if you are a premium subscriber. Yet to become a premium subscriber? Mail us at hi@tracxn.com

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

INTERESTING STARTUPS

Voorooms (2016, Gurgaon) Mobile app for finding flatmates. Founder is ex-EY and alumnus of MDI Gurgaon and Aston University. Local competitor is Flatchat (2013, Bangalore, $2.5M). Global comparable include Roomi (2013, NYC, $7M)

INDIA INTERESTING NEWS

Broomberg (2013, Delhi) Cleaning services provider has raised an undisclosed amount in funding in pre-series A round of funding from a group of angel investors and HNIs Link

Fashalot (2014, Gurgaon) Location-based fashion and store discovery mobile platform has raised an undisclosed amount in its pre-series A funding round led by YourNest Angel Fund and angel investor Rajul Garg Link

mishTag (2014, Gurgaon) Social commerce app has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from M&Y Partners, SVG Media, Anthil Ventures and other angels Link

MPaani (2013, Mumbai) Mobile-based loyalty and marketing programs for mass market consumers has raised a pre-series A round of funding led by Blume Ventures with participation from Adil Allana and Aprameya Radhakrishna Link

ICICI Venture Funds Management, an Indian private equity fund has raised $190M in the first close for its fourth fund Link

Matrix Partners, Mumbai-based venture capital firm has raised an amount of $110M to boost the corpus of its second fund Link

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

Cabify (2011, Madrid) On-Demand cab service raises $120M in series C funding round led by Rakuten Inc Link

Second Genome (2009, SF) Developer of microbiome-based personalized medicine closes $43M in series B funding led by Pfizer Venture Investments and Roche Venture Fund Link

G-Therapuetics (2014, Ecublens) Developer of implantable neurostimulator for patients with spinal cord injuries secures $29M in series A funding Link

Brighter (2011, Santa Monica) Online marketplace for dentists raises $21M in series D funding led by General Catalyst Partners Link

PicsArt (2011, SF) Mobile photo editor and collage maker receives $20M in funding from DCM Ventures and Siguler Guff & Company Link

PrecisionHawk (2011, Indianapolis) Civil unmanned aerial systems and remote sensing company closes $18M funding round Link

Enterome (2012, Paris) Developer of drugs and biomarkers for abnormalities of bacterial composition of the human intestine raises $16M series C funding round Link

Bugcrowd (2012, SF) Crowdsourced web application security testing company raises $15M in series B funding led by Blackbird Ventures Link

Takipi (2011, Tel Aviv) SaaS based application error and performance monitoring solution provider raises $15M in series B funding round Link

Fame and Partners (2014, Bondi) Custom made fast fashion apparel for women raises $10M in series A round co-led by Firstmark Capital and Upfront Ventures Link

Shots (2013, SF) Real time photo messaging app acquires Mindie (2013, Paris) Music video app for an undisclosed sum Link

Curbside (2014, SF) App to buy from local stores receives undisclosed investment from CVS Pharmacy Link

A cumulative of over $260M was invested in the Indian Home Improvements space since 2010, with 2015 seeing ~73% of the overall funding

Funding in the Home Improvements space, in India, skyrocketed in 2015, with the sector seeing a total $191M raised, owing to some extremely high ticket sized deals. Mature players raised the majority of the funding with Pepperfry alone raising $100M, followed by Urban Ladder with a $50M round, and Livspace with $8M. 2015 also witnessed a boom in the total number of companies founded, with a majority of the companies falling under the furniture and home décor commerce segments.

Our India report on Home Improvements covers 259 Indian online companies that provide commerce, services and technology platforms for home improvement. According to the report, a cumulative of over $260M was invested in the sector since 2010, with 2015 seeing ~73% of the overall funding

Drastic Increase in the Number of Deals in 2015

Besides witnessing a significant increase in the number of companies that got funded in 2015 as compared to 2014, the sector has also seen a greater number of deals in 2015, increasing to 23 from the 6 deals in 2014.

In fact, funding activity has been dominated by the large players, with Pepperfry and Urban Ladder attracting 79% of the total 2015 investments.

But apart from 3 major late stage deals, the funding activity during 2015 has been completely dominated by early stage rounds, with 20 taking place during the year. This means that the ratio of early stage to late stage rounds has increased more than 3x times in 2015 as compared to 2014, mostly attributed to furniture private label and marketplace sectors. But on a whole,there has been a steady increase in the number of Early and Late stage rounds of funding over the last two years.

Furniture – Marketplace and Furniture – Private label are two most funded sectors

Currently, in terms of funding, the Indian Home Improvements space has been dominated by Marketplace startups in the Furniture segment, raising a total of $135M. Private Label Startups in Furniture follow with a total $109M raised. In terms of companies being founded, the majority in 2015 fall under the furniture and home décor commerce segments.

Rentals and technology are the upcoming and emerging sectors in the industry as they are relatively new,  and the ratio of funded to total companies is relatively less. The concept of using Virtual and Augmented Reality to enhance the shopping experience  has picked up pace since 2014, with startups such as Infurnia and 3dphy leading the charge today.

Accel, Sequoia, and Norwest Venture are the Most Active Investors

Accel Partners was the most active investor in the Indian home improvements space, having invested in 3 companies and 4 funding rounds; Zansaar, CapriCoast, and Rentomojo. Sequoia Capital follows with investments in Urban Ladder and Home Lane. Norwest Venture Partners also features in the list by having participated in 4 funding rounds of Pepperfry.