Some startup funding news—including an unusual crowdfunding candidate—and a bit of Wall Street intrigue for a local tech giant in this week’s quick checkup on news from around the region:
—CoachUp, a Boston-based startup that connects people with private sports trainers, says it has raised an additional $6.7 million in Series A investment. The round was led by Point Judith Capital and General Catalyst Partners. CoachUp, a TechStars alum, says the new round is in addition to the $2.2 million it announced as part of its Series A last year. Led by CEO and founder Jordan Fliegel, CoachUp has also previously made connections with notable athletes as investors and advisors.
—Clypd, a TV ad-tech startup from veterans of the PayPal-acquired company Where, has added $7.25 million to its Series A round. The round was led by previous investor Atlas Venture, and includes several other backers from Clypd’s initial $3.2 million Series A investment, which was disclosed in March.
—Terrafugia, a Woburn, MA-based developer of flying cars (seriously!), is turning to an online crowdfunding service to raise some private investment. The company is featured on Wefunder, a website that allows SEC-accredited private investors to buy shares in growing companies. Terrafugia is looking to gather $500,000 from the campaign—not a huge amount compared to the roughly $10 million already raised, and the additional $45 million Terrafugia estimates it will need to hit big milestones.
—Would Apple ever buy Nuance? It’s a parlor game played by some on Wall Street, extrapolating from the companies’ partnership on voice-recognition tech for iOS’ virtual assistant, Siri. But it’s not an idea being pushed by Carl Icahn, the activist investor who has notable stakes in both companies. Icahn quashed any speculation that he’d seek an Apple acquisition of Burlington, MA-based Nuance (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]) during an event held by Reuters, saying “that is something I would never micromanage.”
