FiveStars, a five year-old startup that has built a platform and app to run loyalty and rewards programs for small brick-and-mortar retailers, has received a reward of its own: the company has raised a round of $50 million, funding that it plans to use to continue its focus on “mom and pop shops” and building its brand and business across the U.S., CEO and co-founder Victor Ho… Read More
from TechCrunch
Uber may have pulled its project to work with auto-rickshaws in India, but that isn’t stopping startup Jugnoo from zooming ahead with its plans to turn the iconic and budget transportation service into an on-demand one. Read More
from TechCrunch
The jewelry industry is notorious for its insane markups on products and confusing array of terminology related to the metals used or gemstone grades – as with the “four C’s” of diamonds, for example. Now, a new startup – that’s managed to snag the old domain name Ice.com – is trying to change that. With its online jewelry marketplace, the company… Read More
from TechCrunch
Numerous startups over the years have tried to tackle the problem of helping people track down the photos others have taken, but hadn’t yet shared with you. Today, the outsize winner in the space is Facebook, whose Moments application has taken over the social network’s photo syncing function, while leveraging Facebook’s massive scale to allow for easier private… Read More
from TechCrunch
Olo, the digital ordering business, has raised $40 million in funding from The Raine Group. The capital will be used to expand its recently launched Dispatch delivery service. With over 150 restaurant groups as clients, New York-based Olo works with large chains including Chipotle, Five Guys and Jamba Juice to power their online ordering and pick up business. Olo provides the white label… Read More
from TechCrunch
IBM confirmed that it has acquired video conferencing service UStream this morning. With several cloud video acquisitions in tow, the company also announced it was forming a new cloud video services unit.
Fortune first reported the UStream purchase and reports peg the purchase price at $130 million. IBM would not confirm that amount.
The new unit will be comprised of four acquisitions… Read More
from TechCrunch
Nubo, whose software enables employees to access company files on their own mobile devices, has raised $7 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Magma Venture Partners and Motorola Solutions Venture Capital. Read More
from TechCrunch
QuizUp, the Icelandic company that put trivia in an app, has announced that it is receiving up to $7.5 million in funding from Glu Mobile, with an option to call to acquire. This comes in the wake of a partnership forged between NBC and QuizUp, announced in October, with the network looking to turn QuizUp content into a proper TV show played both in studio and at home through the app. The… Read More
from TechCrunch
Some more big news for the world of open source. MariaDB Corporation — the startup formerly known as SkySQL and building for-profit solutions on the SQL fork managed by the MariaDB foundation — has raised another $9 million in funding and announced a new CEO, Michael Howard, a veteran executive from the enterprise world. The funding brings the total raised by MariaDB to just over… Read More
from TechCrunch
ForeScout, a security company that helps firms detect devices on their networks they might not know about, announced a $76 million investment round today on a billion dollar valuation, making it of course a member of the vaunted unicorn club.
The company has come a long way in a short time to attain that unicorn status, reporting it has tripled its value in just 18 months.
What’s… Read More
from TechCrunch