Goodbox, a startup based in Bengaluru, wants to give small retailers a chance to take part in India’s e-commerce boom by making it easy to set up a store on its marketplace app. The company, which just raised a $2.5 million Series A from Nexus Venture Partners, sets itself apart from other online marketplaces with low transaction fees and unique features like in-app messaging that… Read More
from TechCrunch
One of the most sought-after, but never quite dominated, frontiers in online media and marketplaces has been centered on local communities. Hoodline, a San Francisco-based startup, is trying to tackle this with a unique focus on news about neighborhood retail corridors. The startup has built up a network of news on about two-dozen neighborhoods across San Francisco as a sort of Trojan horse into… Read More
from TechCrunch
Touch of Modern, an e-commerce service aimed at men, passed the $100 million annual recurring revenue mark (ARR) in October, the company told TechCrunch in an interview at its SOMA offices. It also processed its millionth order in September. The company has an interesting history. It pivoted several times before becoming its current incarnation in May of 2012. At the Time,… Read More
from TechCrunch
A number of investors, including Joe Lonsdale’s new fund 8 Partners, Google Ventures and StartX have added $5 million in initial funding to prescription delivery startup TinyRx. Several early employees from well-known startups such as Google and Airbnb also hopped into the round. TinyRx plans to use the money to build out the business and take on bigger chain pharmacies such as Walgreens… Read More
from TechCrunch
Craftsvilla, an India-based marketplace for ethnic goods, has closed a $34 million Series C round as it begins to ramp up its overseas expansion plans. The investment was led by existing investors Sequoia and Lightspeed Ventures. Nexus Venture Partners and Global Founders Capital, which are also existing backers, participated alongside Apoletto Asia. Read More
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Times Internet, the digital business run by India’s Times of India media group, has bought a majority (but undisclosed) stake in mobile-focused task marketplace Taskbucks for $15 million. Read More
from TechCrunch
Datto, the company that acts as a backup and disaster recovery service for small to medium sized businesses (SMBs), announced today that it has raised $75 million in a Series B investment. The round was led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) and brings the total investment across two rounds for the eight-year old company to just over $100 million. Ted Coons, a general partner at TCV said… Read More
from TechCrunch
There is an unnamed epidemic slowly traveling through the middle of the U.S. This epidemic goes by many names, but our venture fund refers to it as “early exit disease.” This disease spreads when founders realize sub-$20 million exits. Many of these exits could have grown much larger. Instead, early exits have been quietly devastating the Midwest region’s startup… Read More
from TechCrunch
That was fast: just as soon as it was reported that Pandora was in talks to buy Rdio, the two sides have confirmed that an acquisition is indeed taking place. Pandora has acquired “key assets” from Rdio for $75 million in cash, the company has just announced. But as part of it, the Rdio service as we know it is tanking: the streaming service is filing for bankruptcy.… Read More
from TechCrunch
Ample Hills Creamery, a Brooklyn-based chain of ice cream shops that has become renowned for its unusual and decadent creations, has raised $4 million in funding from Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Red Sea Ventures, and individual investors, including Brooklyn Brewer co-founder Tom Potter, who led a CircleUp syndicate that joined the round. Read More
from TechCrunch