Google is backing investing in ride-hailing companies. The U.S. search firm and China’s Meituan-Dianping are among the tech giants set to invest in Go-Jek, the Indonesia-based rival to Grab and Uber, a source with knowledge of discussions told TechCrunch. We understand a deal could be completed as soon as next week, though whether Go-Jek announces it is unclear since it has history of… Read More
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Who needs Amazon when you can make your own online distribution channel? At least, that’s the idea behind Grove Collaborative, a natural home care products company that ships natural cleaning brands like Method and Mrs. Meyer’s. Co-founder Stuart Landesberg started the company in 2014 after working with retail brands during his time as an investor at TPG. He noticed how limited… Read More
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One of the most prominent seed investors in Utah, Kickstart Seed Fund, has closed on its fourth fund at $74 million — nearly doubling from the last funding of $39 million and toppling Peak Ventures as the fund with the mostest raised in the region.
The large increase was driven by several institutional investors as well as several notable Utah entrepreneurs including Aaron Skonnard… Read More
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Content, as they say, is king — but these days, that may be true only for as long as you can figure out a good business model to deliver it. And today, a startup based out of Toronto, Canada is re-upping its coffers to fill out its ambition to do just that. Wattpad, a storytelling and reading/viewing app that combines crowdsourced content with professionally produced material, has picked… Read More
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Anomali, a threat detection and mitigation company, announced a hefty $40 million Series D investment today led by Lumia Capital. The company was previously known as ThreatStream. New investors Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP), Telstra and Sozo Ventures along with returning investors GV, General Catalyst, IVP and Paladin Capital Group also participated in the round. The company would… Read More
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Grab, Uber’s main rival in Southeast Asia, is continuing to develop its mobile payment strategy after it announced the acquisition of India-based startup iKaaz. The deal — which is undisclosed — will see iKaaz’s engineering team join the Bangalore-based engineering office which Grab opened last year. The firm declined to say how many new recruits are moving over… Read More
from TechCrunch
After years of drought and parched conditions, the U.S. tech IPO market could see a number of well-known players push forward with their debuts in 2018. That sentiment is grounded in the number of companies currently rumored to have filed or started preparation for a public debut. However, the wave may not manifest. In the past few years, there has been a surprising dearth of IPO activity. Read More
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Delivery logistics platform Bringg announced today it has raised another $12 million in Series B funding, bringing the total round to $22 million. The round, which follows the initial Series B from last spring includes new, strategic investment from automotive leader Dr. Shmuel Harlap, shipping and real estate magnate Eyal Ofer, and Salesforce Ventures. Previously, Bringg had raised $10… Read More
from TechCrunch
Earlier this month, I wrote that crypto companies are going to become investors in 2018. I didn’t quite imagine that happening as quickly as mid-January, but here we are. Ripple, the fintech startup behind the controversial XRP token that’s worth over $50 billion, has its first investment after it backed U.S.-based storage startup Omni via a $25 million round. Omni was founded… Read More
from TechCrunch
BMW has acquired Parkmobile, an app that provides guidance and services for those looking for parking in North America, including on-street and garage parking payments and spot reservation. BMW Group had already held a minority investment in the company, and owned its Parkmobile Group Europe affiliate, but today it increased its holdings to reach majority ownership of Parkmobile, LLC, which… Read More
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