Marketo, the marketing software giant that went public in 2013, is being taken private again: PE firm Vista Equity Partners has acquired the company for $1.79 billion in an all-cash deal. The news ends weeks of speculation in which people guessed that Marketo would be snapped up potentially by strategics like Microsoft (who is a big partner of Marketo) or SAP. In the end, it’s a PE… Read More
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Twiggle, a Tel Aviv-based startup that is developing a new e-commerce search engine, announced today that it has added Alibaba Group as a new investor. Alibaba’s funding counts as the second tranche of Twiggle’s Series A round. Read More
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Tynker, a startup that creates apps and curricula that teach kids the basics of coding using games and real-world gadgets, is looking to grow — and has raised $7.1 million in a Series A funding round to do so. Read More
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Lalamove, one of a number of companies offering logistics on-demand in China and across Asia, has closed $10 million in funding as it targets profitability this year. Read More
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If you have albums and shoeboxes stuffed with old photos, a startup called Photomyne wants to help you scan those photos, in order to bring them online where they can be saved and shared. Now the Tel Aviv-based company has raised $2.6 million in seed funding to continue to grow its business, which today is closing in on its first million users, over half of whom are paying customers.… Read More
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Althea, a Korea-based company that exports and sells cosmetics and beauty products to Southeast Asia, has closed a $3.5 million Series A round for expansion. Read More
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Creema is latest handmade marketplace in Asia to raise new funding. The Japanese startup announced this week (link via Google Translate) that it has received 1.1 billion yen (about $10 million) from Globis Capital Partners and returning investor KDDI Open Innovation Fund (the venture fund run by Japanese telecom KDDI). Read More
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Intel has acquired computer vision and machine learning startup Itseez to develop better navigation for self-driving cars. The value of the deal was undisclosed. Read More
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Twilio, the cloud communications platform, has revealed its IPO filing, signifying that it could enter the public markets as early as next month. If the company ends up going through with its plans, it would likely be just the third tech IPO of the year. This has been the worst year for public offerings since the 2009 recession. Twilio has been rumored to enter the public markets for a while.… Read More
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Edtech startup Skillshare Inc. has raised a $12 million round of venture funding to grow its marketplace of “bite-sized, self-paced courses for creators,” according to founder and CEO Michael Karnjanaprakorn. Amasia and Omidyar Network co-led the Series B investment in Skillshare joined by Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital. The funding brings the company’s total… Read More
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